Knowledge Society Research Articles

Teachers’ ICT in pedagogy: A case for mentoring and mirrored practice

The rapid expansion of the knowledge society, due mainly to the ubiquity and access of information and communication technology (ICT), places a professional demand on teachers to acquire relevant knowledge to make use of technology in their classrooms. Thus, for teachers to effectively integrate ICT into their teaching repertoire, they must transform their pedagogical practices. In this regard, the quality of pre-service and in-service training is pivotal in preparing teachers for effective technology integration. Utilising a case study approach and Activity Theory principles as a theoretical lens, this study set out to explore the influence of ICT as a tool of instruction on the classroom practice of in-service teachers in Rwanda. Qualitative methods were employed to capture data through interviews, observations, and document analysis. Data was analysed using content analysis to understand in-service teachers’ constructions about learning through ICT and how it influenced their classroom practice. The investigation of the influence of ICT as an instructional tool to in-service teachers yielded unique patterns of their ICT learning-teaching experiences. The findings were two-fold. First, the ICT learning experiences of the in-service teachers changed their perspective towards teaching and learning with ICT in their own classrooms. Second, the teacher participants vicariously mirrored their lecturers’ use of ICT in their own classroom practice. This unintended experience created affordances for the in-service teacher trainees to not only learn ‘about’ ICT, but significantly ‘how to teach’ pedagogically with ICT. It is crucial for teacher trainees to experience the same type of learning environments they are expected to create in their own classrooms.

Do we still need deep learning?

Deep learning and superficial learning are two distinct approaches to the educational process, each with significant implications for knowledge retention and cognitive skill development. Deep learning is characterized by conceptual understanding and critical thinking, associated with intrinsic motivation and practical application of knowledge. In contrast, superficial learning is based on rote memorization, without integrating information into a wider context, being motivated by extrinsic factors. In the digital age, easy access to information and artificial intelligence (AI) have radically changed the way learning is done. However, deep learning remains critical to developing critical thinking skills, adaptability and long-term retention. Recent studies highlight the importance of continuing to promote deep learning to meet the challenges of a knowledge and innovation-based society. This comparative analysis highlights the need to balance the use of modern technologies with educational methods that promote a deep and applicable understanding of knowledge.

Critical Aspects of a Higher Education Reform for Continuous Lifelong Learning Opportunities in a Digital Era

In the knowledge society today, there is a strong need for providing continuous lifelong learning opportunities. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for technology enhanced learning, involving new challenges for higher education. The main focus for this study has been the ongoing reform of higher education for providing lifelong learning opportunities. This study is the second phase of a Delphi study on higher education reform. Data were gathered by email interviews with an expert panel, where all respondents have genuine knowledge in the field of technology enhanced lifelong learning. The interview answers were analysed according to the Grounded Theory concepts of open coding and axial coding. The central main category for the axial coding was ‘Higher education reform for the provision of lifelong learning opportunities. This category was later found to be dependent on ‘Infrastructure’, ‘Multimodal delivery’, ‘Pedagogical change’, ‘Financial aspects’, and ‘Quality and organisation’, ‘Digital literacy’, ‘Accessibility’, and ‘Equity, diversity and inclusion’.

Knowledge for the unknown? A history of the future in Swedish higher education and research policy, 1970–2020

AbstractThis article analyses how the future has been discussed in Swedish higher education and research policy, providing an overview of public inquiries during the period 1970–2020. Expanding on the conceptual framework of German historian Reinhart Koselleck, the article approaches discourses on the future through the analytical lens of sociology of expectations. The findings demonstrate that all inquiries that attempt to advance arguments for policy change address the future—with temporal perspectives usually limited to the coming 15–20 years—whereby the future is conceptualised as an unknown and complex ‘knowledge society’, characterised by acceleration, high demands and fierce competition. A number of inquiries discuss the future development based on empirical data like shrinking age cohorts among potential students, while others describe threats and challenges based on needs for creating a sense of urgency. Inter- and multidisciplinarity, with respect to such future needs in both research and education, is consequently a key area of discussion throughout the period in question. Several other themes emerge as prevalent, including technological change and digitalisation as well as broader issues of how to organise the curriculum and lifelong learning. The historical analysis presented in this article is crucial for ongoing university debates, as it is demonstrated that temporal dynamics and future imaginaries have been highly formative for the development of Swedish higher education and research.

Academic citizenship through the bundle of academic roles

As academic developers and higher education researchers, we, the authors, have pondered why engaging in public discourse is often found to be difficult by academics and how we can conceptualise and help prepare for the role of academic citizen in general and in more discipline-specific terms. Rather than approaching citizenship as an extraordinary task or role for the academic, we find that it may be best understood and approached as integral to being a researcher and teacher. We use perspectives on the knowledge society and the concept of co-production of science and society to suggest some conceptual inroads for understanding what shape the task of academic citizenship might take.

Digital content and reading encouragement initiatives... A vision towards a knowledge society

Perhaps it is enough to read the importance and destiny and consider it a key to knowledge and the achievement of civilized renaissance, as it is the first divine command that came with the faithful revelation of the illiterate prophet, the last of the prophets and messengers. This is indisputable proof that reading outweighs everything of importance and value in life. Therefore, no two disagree that the decisive factor in the present and future life revolves around knowledge, by which the progress and superiority of nations and societies is measured and their arrangement among the developed and less developed countries of the world, since the early nineties of the last century, and with the increasing spread and development of the use of information and communication technology The governments of all countries are actively seeking to pay attention to information management, knowledge production, and civilizational value creation. Of course, the use or consumption of information and the production of knowledge, and the growing interest in the growing awareness of the role of creativity and innovation by using knowledge to add value, come only through the availability of digital content in a way that guarantees availability and rapid access in order to enhance knowledge and cultural openness and create information awareness among generations. At this juncture, the problematic of this research paper emerges in: The nation of Iqra does not read, as it is one of the least countries in the world in demand for reading, which negatively affects its awareness and awareness of achieving the civilizational renaissance, as the main question on which the axes of the paper are based to answer is: • What is the method or the elements through which it is possible for the Arab countries to be a nation of reading in the full sense of the word, and to be able to achieve the civilizational renaissance and progress towards the knowledge society with merit and competence?

The value of local wisdom for peatland fire risk reduction in the wetland area of South Kalimantan

Mitigation of land fires that occur in wetland areas, especially in peatlands, continues to be addressed by the community in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan Province. Local wisdom that applies in the community, which includes local knowledge, local value, local skills, local sources, and regional society solidarity, is expected to reduce the risk of land fires. The research objective is to analyze the value of local wisdom for peatland fire reduction in the wetland area of South Kalimantan. The respondents interviewed were 30 from the Community and Fire Care Community or Masyarakat Peduli Api (MPA) members. Local wisdom prevailing in the community can reduce the risk of peatland fires. The community has the local knowledge, local value, local skills, local sources, and local society solidarity in managing peatlands. Peatlands managed by communities are less likely to burn than unmanaged lands. The tapulikampar system is a local wisdom in the Banjar community to prepare agricultural peatlands without burning. The Banjar community also has good skills in managing peatlands, which are not easily damaged and prone to burning. Cooperation between community groups in MPA is also well implemented in monitoring land fires and suppression efforts. The community makes maximum efforts so that peatlands are not damaged, and the risk of fire can be reduced because potential resources on peatlands must be passed on to the next generation.

Thinking different as an act of resistance: Reconceptualizing the German protests in the COVID-19 pandemic as an emergent counter-knowledge order

Massive anti-government protests erupted during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. The crisis activated a potential for resistance that has been simmering under the impositions of late-modern knowledge society. Made salient by the pandemic conditions of sudden extreme reliance on scientific (non) knowledge, the corona protestors activated this potential for resistance and constructed their own counter-knowledge order bound by shared resentment of and distrust in the established order and facilitated by digital platforms. Utilising social network analysis and structural topic modeling for digital critical discourse analysis, in this paper I explore how the corona protest counter-knowledge order is constructed with a particular focus on its contexts, roles, and hierarchies. I find that far-right and conspiracy imaginations are used to level out hierarchies and detach epistemic roles from their contexts to reinstate a superior self into interpretative power. The counter-knowledge order’s inherent construction of unwarranted omnipotence points to a more fundamental resistance to the established normative orders of our society that should be addressed more effectively if we want to be prepared for future crises and not lose common ground for making sense of them.

A Systematic Review of STEAM Education’s Role in Nurturing Digital Competencies for Sustainable Innovations

This systematic review examines the intricate relationship between Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education, digital competence, and sustainable innovations in the context of academic institutions. This study, conducted through a meticulous PRISMA-guided literature review, spans the decade from 2013 to 2023, focusing on publications from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The NOISE analysis model guides the exploration, emphasizing the Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, and Strengths in upskilling educators for the digital age. By synthesizing findings, this review highlights the multifaceted nature of digital competence, emphasizing its critical role in the knowledge society. Sustainable innovation emerges as a complex yet essential concept for future digital competencies. Key findings underscore the imperative for a continuous upskilling of educators and the transformative potential of STEAM pedagogy in fostering a holistic, transdisciplinary approach to education. The NOISE analysis offers practical insights, paving the way for future research directions, including the development of a robust conceptual framework for STEAM-based pedagogy. This review contributes by adding a culturally sustaining education framework for STEAM, which adds to existing knowledge by elucidating the symbiotic relationship between STEAM education, digital competence, and sustainable innovations, providing a nuanced understanding crucial for navigating the evolving educational landscape.

Acute decompensation of cirrhosis versus acute-on-chronic liver failure: What are the clinical implications?

It is essential to identify the subgroup of patients who experience poorer outcomes in order to adapt clinical management effectively. In the context of liver disease, the earlier the identification occurs, the greater the range of therapeutic options that can be offered to patients. In the past, patients with acute decompensation (AD) of chronic liver disease were treated as a homogeneous group, with emphasis on identifying those at the highest risk of death. In the last 15years, a differentiation has emerged between acute-on-chronic liver failure syndrome (ACLF) and AD, primarily due to indications that the latter is linked to a less favorable short-term prognosis. Nevertheless, the definition of ACLF varies among the different knowledge societies, making it challenging to assess its true impact compared with AD. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to provide a detailed analysis emphasizing the critical importance of identifying ACLF in the field of advanced liver disease. We will discuss the differences between Eastern and Western approaches, particularly in relation to the occurrence of liver failure and disease onset. Common characteristics, such as the dynamic nature of the disease course, will be highlighted. Finally, we will focus on two key clinical implications arising from these considerations: the prevention of ACLF before its onset and the clinical management strategies once it develops, including liver transplantation and withdrawal of care.

Digital and Social-Civic Skills in Future Primary Education Teachers: A Study from the Didactics of Social Sciences for the Improvement of Teacher Training in Competences

The use of technology, especially among young people, is providing new possibilities, including in the academic field, and requires teacher training through the development of skills and competences. At this point, Social Science Didactics plays a fundamental role, as it prepares future teachers to teach social knowledge in order to achieve useful and meaningful learning for students and society. Using an online questionnaire, structured with the Likert scale, which had previously been validated and published by Professors Peart, Gutiérrez-Esteban, and Cubo-Delgado, 156 students of the Degree in Primary Education of the subject Didactics of Social Sciences at the University of Granada (Spain) participated (academic year 2023–2024), with the aim of investigating the digital and socio-civic competences of trainee teachers in order to seek ways to improve their training. The results were processed in the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 programme, carrying out a descriptive statistical analysis, considering the mode and the variance ratio. The participating students mainly use digital environments to communicate with acquaintances and, although they know and value a democratic society, they do not exercise their citizenship on the Internet. This makes it even more necessary to train future teachers in digital competences, based on digital and socio-civic skills, as only in this way will they be able to train citizens capable of facing the challenges of the knowledge society.

Cambodia’s aspirations to become a knowledge-based society: Challenges and recommendations

Cambodia aspires to become a knowledge-based society to remain relevant in the context of the global knowledge-based economy. However, it remains uncertain how this aspiration can be realized considering the low quality of the country’s education system. Drawing on secondary sources, this article aims to shed light on Cambodia’s aspirations for a knowledge-based society. The article begins by defining the term “knowledge-based society” before providing an overview of the Cambodian education system and discussing key challenges that limit Cambodia’s ability to realize its vision to become a knowledge society. Key challenges were related to low higher education enrollment, a shortage of educational staff with doctoral degrees, a weak innovation capacity, and other critical challenges such as low academic salaries, a lack of clear academic career pathways, limited research funding, and limited knowledge about research. The article provides a set of recommendations that concerned stakeholders should consider to improve the quality of the Cambodian education system and support the country to achieve its goal in developing into a knowledge-based society. It concludes with suggestions for future research to generate new knowledge about Cambodia—a context underrepresented in international literature.

Teaching Science By Inquiry In The Curricular Area Of Science And Technology

For centuries, education was conceived as the unilateral transmission of knowledge between sender and receiver, the evaluation of which stamped a classifying stamp on the participants. However, the knowledge society of which we are a part, characterized by the leading role that knowledge obtained as a product of inquiry has assumed, which, as it is not observed in our classrooms, motivates the search for changes in the methodology of teaching, with the firm conviction that it results in the formation of critical individuals. autonomous, with the ability to solve problems in their environment, finding it necessary to influence the strengthening of scientific inquiry through the Inquire of Science and Technology competition, in order to train researchers from secondary school classrooms. 
 This reality motivated us to propose in this study, the application of the ECBI program in the Indaga S&T competition, with the purpose of strengthening it. The study is positivist, applied research, experimental design with pre- and post-testing to a single group. The sample of 25 third-grade high school students from the 7 de Enero Technical Educational Institution (IET) was selected from the population of 182 students, by non-probabilistic convenience sampling.
 From the general objective, whose statistical results with p - value of 0.00, theoretical bases and comparisons with studies carried out in varied contexts, allowed to conclude that the methodology proposed in the ECBI – Indaga program, significantly strengthens the Indaga competence of S&T, therefore its application in students of all educational levels is proposed.

TYPES OF INNOVATIONS IN THE SPHERE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The work is devoted to the study of the main types of innovations in the sphere of higher education. The following types of innovations are considered: innovations of technological and organizational type; innovations of educational and pedagogical type; innovations of structural and pedagogical type; innovations of economic and market type. Also analyzed innovative information technologies, information and innovation management, as well as innovative marketing are widely used in the management of innovative activities in education. They are combined into a group of means and tools for managing innovative activities in education. They can occur in almost all types of innovations in the education system, which can lead to innovative changes to achieve new quantitative and qualitative education parameters. The analysis in the article of some types of innovations in the higher education system shows that they can lead to innovative changes. These are organizational-type innovations in the field of higher education; educational and pedagogical innovations in the higher education system; means and tools for managing innovative activities in education; innovations to solve problems of forced or emergency distance learning, etc. Also are important innovations in higher education related to the protection of life on Earth (environmental, resource-saving and alternative fuels, food security, health care, population control, etc.), as well as new types of innovations in higher education and science caused by global changes, extraordinary and force majeure circumstances. The authors argue that the prospect of building a knowledge society with an innovation-oriented type of economy in any country requires a profound reform of the national economy humanitarian sphere, innovative development of higher education system, science and scientific-technology activity. This should be done on the basis of reasonable combination of the best foreign experience with national traditions. The results of the research can be useful both for specialists in the field of higher education and science, as well as for students, postgraduates, and researchers in the field of innovative activity and innovative development.

Curricular innovation in the knowledge society

Introduction: the problematization of the phenomenon of curricular innovation has been approached by research in the international and local context and confronting positions have emerged around the curriculum; and in order to make effective the transformation in the educational field and in a peculiar way in the decisions of the Curriculum, it is necessary to assume policies of change in the educational management. The objective of this work focuses on the characterization, reflection and theoretical deepening of curricular innovation within the framework of the knowledge and information society. Methods: qualitative-hermeneutic, narrative and exploratory study based on literature review. Results: the concept of curriculum is polysemic, with numerous definitions that indicate the richness of this concept and also the difficulty of its study; Furthermore, the need to think from a curricular vision the principles for educational innovation and as a model of socio-political transformation in decision making as a contribution to the culture of peoples, promoting the search for and production of knowledge, and that as a collective process the emergence of the knowledge society will require, among other things, reflection and practices on the effective conditions of possibility of its social, political and economic nature through appropriate educational policies that need to be elucidated and explored collectively as a challenge of Curricular Innovation. Conclusions: in relation to the phenomenon of curricular innovation and based on the bibliographic exploration, a series of descriptive studies emerged that problematize the subject from an analysis of the local reality, therefore many questions remain to be asked regarding curricular innovation such as: what is the most important and substantive change in the curriculum, how does the innovative intention of the curriculum originate, how should one proceed in the search for curricular innovation, how is the innovative intention of the curriculum transmitted to the political levels?

‘School is the Foundation of Everything’: Master- and Counter-narratives in Lower Secondary School Pupils’ Stories About the Importance of Schooling and Education

Cultural images of the knowledge society and the achievement generation are prevalent in current public and policy narratives about young people’s education. This article investigates how young people themselves give meaning to education, by reconstructing their narratives about the importance of schooling and education in today’s society. We present results from a qualitative in-depth study, consisting of focus group interviews with lower-secondary school pupils in suburban middle-class areas of Norway. From the perspective of narrative methodology, the article identifies how pupils construct, thematize and emplot the role and importance of education in their lives. The article finds that young people navigate a complexity of meaning dimensions in their lives. Although a master narrative of the knowledge society and its inherent achievement imperative certainly dominates the pupils’ accounts, they also present refinements and counter-narratives to these cultural imaginaries.

Online politicizations of science: Contestation versus denialism at the convergence between COVID-19 and climate science on Twitter.

This study investigates how scientific knowledge is politicized on Twitter. Identifying discursive modes of online politicization and analyzing how they relate to different online issue publics allows us to weigh in on the scholarly debate about when the politicization of science on social media becomes problematic in a democratic context. This is a complicated question in "knowledge societies" where increasing science-politics confluence means that some degree of politicization is necessary for science-informed policymaking and (online) public debate. We look at how pandemic science was politicized through becoming discursively linked with an already highly politicized science issue on Twitter, namely, climate change. Our mixed-methods analysis demonstrates that some politicizations of science seek to contest science-informed policy while others are better characterized as ideological science rejection. We argue for the advantages of this approach of identifying science rejection over approaches that seek to distinguish information from dis-/misinformation.

Study on the status and problems of teaching system of “medical advanced mathematics”: data based on a research of 11 universities in China

Background and aimDriven by Innovation 2.0 (the information age, the innovation form of the knowledge society), the form evolved by the Internet development, giving rise to economic and social development (“Internet +”). With this background, a novel approach is presented for fostering excellence in physicians, aligning with the contemporary demands of our era.MethodsSelf-administered questionnaire was used to facilitate the collection of data on medical advanced mathematics course offerings, distribution of teaching hours of each major and the perception of the course teaching system in 11 medical universities in China. The distribution of course offerings in each major was analyzed, and one-sample t-test was conducted on the perspectives of course offerings, content settings (theoretical & practical), educational objectives, teaching reforms, and Synthetical Sensation (SS) of the curriculum system and educational model.ResultsThe study included various specialties such as clinical medicine, pharmacy, public health, health management, and life sciences, all of which offered advanced mathematics course. The content of medical mathematics textbooks was designed to meet the practical needs of relevant professions, and encompass online laboratory classes and social practice. However, a noticeable misalignment was observed between the content of medical mathematics courses and the realistic requirements of professions (t = -3.614~-3.018, P < 0.05). The perceived difference in the completeness of curriculum systems was not significantly apparent. There was a difference in the perception of the effectiveness of teaching reforms (t = -4.485, P < 0.05), and there was a difference in the perception of the synthesis of the educational model in all cases (t = -5.067, P < 0.05).ConclusionThere are localized differences in curricula, and the number of course hours is basically reasonable; course content needs to be updated; the implementation of course objectives is not in place; the curriculum system can meet the needs of talent training; the innovation of the education model needs to be put into practice; and there are obvious differences in the comprehensive cognition of the teaching system and the education model. Based on the analysis of the problems, we build a new STC teaching mode with smart classroom based on “professional needs, practical needs and requirements for cultivating excellent physician talents”.

Engineering Education goes Lifelong Learning: Modularized Technical Vocational Education and Training Program for the Automotive Sector

Continuing technical vocational education and training (TVET) and professional development of the entire automotive sector towards implementing Industry 4.0 and 5.0 tools, methods and technologies has become an essential component of today's knowledge society. The principle of lifelong learning permeates all areas of professional and private life and has manifested itself as an essential component of today's knowledge society. Especially the automotive sector is challenged to successfully master the green and digital transformation. This needs engineers with expertise to actively shape the dual transformation. In this context, continuing education and training on a postgraduate level is indispensable. This paper illustrates continuing technical vocational education and training at Graz University of Technology, managed by the Life Long Learning organizational unit. As an example, a course concept is described in more detail on the basis of the university course Automotive Mechatronics. The aim of this paper is to present a successful TVET program and to show how postgraduate education over the lifespan can succeed sustainably for engineering professionals in the automotive sector.

ОПЫТ СКАНДИНАВСКИХ СТРАН В РАЗВИТИИ НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫХ СИСТЕМ НЕПРЕРЫВНОГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

The article examines the experience of the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands) in the development of national systems of continuing professional education, through which, based on European educational cooperation, the global goals of forming a “knowledge society” in national spaces, responding to modern challenges of the time, competitive, having continuity in the education of the population and an innovative component are realized. The article presents the general and special features in the systems of continuing professional education in the Scandinavian countries, analyzes the current state and long-term national strategies of continuing professional education. Continuing education abroad is considered from the perspective of the possibilities of using its experience in domestic education, taking into account its own traditions and peculiarities of educational practice.