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Enables readers to understand the key issues underpinning e-learning with a view to enabling them to use it effectively in their professional practice.

The successful introduction of mobile learning into education is arguably premised on sustainability in the sense of an ability to maintain innovation over time and to become embedded into mainstream practice. This paper argues that such an endeavour requires a discursive approach, decoupling sustainability from the notion of unambiguity tendentiously inherent in technological paradigms. Learning with mobile devices is an educational response to societal transformation characterized among other things by the detraditionalization of established modes of media and communication in everyday life. Detraditionalization can be seen to refer to the process of breaking down, or challenging, traditional social structures but also encompasses rather more fundamental transformations in the spheres of politics, the economy and culture. In this paper, with particular but not exclusive reference to education, we focus on the tension between established institutions, systems, regulations and practices on the one hand, and emerging forms of teaching and learning afforded by new media and technology on the other. Delimitation (Beck and Lau, 2004), a central conceptual perspective discussed in this paper, can be viewed as one consequence of detraditionalization, namely the blurring of previously rigid boundaries (e.g. those pertaining to social class or political certainties). An important conceptual frame for this paper is the mobile complex (Pachler, Bachmair and Cook, 2010), which shapes mobile learning and results from the delimitation of structures, agency and practices. In turn delimitation does not lead to new, transformed but stabile features; instead it is characterised by provisionality. Provisionality is an important aspect of the continuous process of detraditionalization, where stable practices, norms and social structures are replaced by perpetually fluid and transient ones. The key issue under consideration here, therefore, is the interdependence of mobile learning and sustainability within societal structures, agency and cultural practices. The paper proposes some operational tools for the discussion and consideration of sustainability of mobile learning under the specific societal conditions of the mobile complex, i.e. the 'new normal' of provisionality.

Designed to complement Learning to Teach Modern Foreign Languages in the Secondary School , this book focuses specifically on the skills and processes of teaching MFL at A and A/S level in schools and colleges. The book is divided into three sections: the changing nature of A and A/S level courses; bridging the gap between GCSE and A level; and planning, teaching and assessment. With chapters on learner independence, teaching and learning grammar, planning topics and programmes of work, working with literature, and vocational alternatives, the book will be an essential text for all secondary MFL students and teachers.

This article explores the potential of mobile learning in adult education with a particular focus on identity formation and self-representation. It draws on the mobile learning experiences implemented within MyMobile–Education on the move, a European project (2010–2012) whose main purpose was to develop guidelines for mobile learning in adult education. This was achieved through a series of national workshops aimed at testing the use of mobile devices as cultural and learning resources for identity (trans)formation by and social empowerment of adults. In this context, the article addresses two particular cases: workshops conducted in Italy and Britain. It begins with a discussion of the concepts of adult education in relation to mobile learning and identity formation, and then moves to an analytical description of the workshops, exploring participants’ self-perceptions and productions. Based on this exploration, it concludes with a reflection on the extent to which adult learners’ participation in the mobile learning experiences that the project designed for them supported the formation and development of their identities; it also offers some recommendations for future research in the field.

Today’s healthcare can be characterised by the increasing importance of specialisation that requires cooperation across disciplines and specialities. In view of the number of educational programmes for interdisciplinary cooperation, surprisingly little is known on how learning arises from interdisciplinary work. In order to analyse the learning and teaching practices of interdisciplinary cooperation, a multiple case study research focused on how consults, i.e., doctor-to-doctor consultations between medical doctors from different disciplines were carried out: semi-structured interviews with doctors of all levels of seniority from two hospital sites in Switzerland were conducted. Starting with a priori constructs based on the ‘methods’ underpinning cognitive apprenticeship (CA), the transcribed interviews were analysed according to the principles of qualitative content analysis. The research contributes to three debates: (1) socio-cognitive and situated learning, (2) intra- and interdisciplinary learning in clinical settings, and (3), more generally, to cooperation and problem solving. Patient cases, which necessitate the cooperation of doctors in consults across boundaries of clinical specialisms, trigger intra- as well as interdisciplinary learning and offer numerous and varied opportunities for learning by requesting doctors as well as for on-call doctors, in particular those in residence. The relevance of consults for learning can also be verified from the perspective of CA which is commonly used by experts, albeit in varying forms, degrees of frequency and quality, and valued by learners. Through data analysis a model for collaborative problem-solving and help-seeking was developed which shows the interplay of pedagogical ‘methods’ of CA in informal clinical learning contexts.

The increasing normalization of mobile devices in everyday life, including the lifeworlds of young people, raises questions about their potential for learning. Attempts to appropriate media from the world of work, as well as everyday life, have a long tradition in education and tend to be discussed under the guise of 'technology-enhanced learning'. A certain degree of optimism has tended to surround new media resources - be they from mass communication, such as video, or from business, such as the computer - and their meaningful integration into teaching and learning in schools. Of course, the question of whether new media resources are appropriate for school has long been debated: do media really enhance learning, or, in view of their rootedness in entertainment, do they actually subdue the educational rationale for learning? It is not easy to formulate an answer, because there exist no general educational principles for media use, owing to the societal and cultural character of media, technology, learning and education. For this reason, we propose a line of argumentation that defines mobile devices such as mobile phones as cultural resources. Mobile cultural resources emerge within what we call a 'mobile complex', which consists of specific structures, agency and cultural practices (see Pachler, Bachmair and Cook, 2010). These specific structures, agency and cultural practices of the mobile complex are in perpetual flux. The mobile cultural resources of the mobile complex are becoming integrated into schools' institutionalized learning bit by bit. In the following, we will discuss two interrelated fields: the first is the sociocultural field, which considers the mobile complex; the second is the educational field, with its focus on learning as meaning-making and as appropriation of cultural artefacts.

Education is a contentious area of public policy that is almost always embroiled in some kind of crisis or overlapping crises. This chapter presents educational research as a public enterprise designed to inform policy discussions about practice in the field. It provides an overview of key approaches to educational research including attention to the philosophical assumptions underlying each; the kinds of questions asked; and the research methods employed. The chapter describes how research develops from general topics through focused research questions to the design of specific studies. Discipline and rigour are characteristics of all good research in education. All approaches to educational research include well worked-out and generally agreed-upon standards of practice for things such as setting questions, collecting and analysing data, reporting results, and drawing out the implications of those results. Qualitative research in education focuses on interpreting and understanding particular educational experiences and contexts.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore efforts to bridge conceptualisation and practice in work-based learning by reflecting on the legacy and sustainability of the Centre for Excellence in Work-based Learning for Education Professionals at the Institute of Education, University of London. The Centre was part of the national CETL (Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) initiative (2005-2010) and focussed on exploring ways of transforming current models of work-based learning (WBL) in a bid to respond to the diversity of professional learning needs within education and beyond.Design methodology approach - The paper presents three case studies which are representative of the Centre's approach to drive theoretical development in WBL.Findings - The three projects featured contributed to the development of WBL through synergetic cross fertilisation while operating independently from each other. Also, they are characterised by sustainability beyond the end of the CETL initiative. The Putting Knowledge to Work project developed and operationalised the concept of recontextualisation for WBL in successfully moving knowledge from disciplines and workplaces into a curriculum; and from a curriculum into successful pedagogic strategies and learner engagement in educational institutions and workplaces. The London Mobile Learning Group developed a research dynamic around theory and practice of learning with mobile media which contributed to the development of new approaches in (work-based) learning. The Researching Medical Learning and Practice Network created a community of practice bringing together educational researchers with medical education practitioners and researchers resulting in a greater understanding of how professional attitudes and practices develop in both undergraduate and postgraduate contexts.Originality value - The experience of the WLE offers an example of innovative ways to continue to develop our understanding of work-based learning and inform practice. The impact of the WLE activities on theory, policy and practice is evident in the creation of national and international platforms strengthening existing institutional links.