title: Teaching children's literature online: Co-constructing stories in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

authors: Daly, Nicola

abstract: Most scholarship on teaching children’s literature has focused on teaching fiction in university literature courses (Bedford & Albright, 2011; Butler, 2006). While there is a vast literature associated with online teaching dating back more than 20 years (e.g., Palloff & Pratt, 2005), and there is increasing use of online teaching in university contexts (Rapanta et al., 2020), there are very few published descriptions or analyses of the online teaching of children’s literature. In this article we document and discuss the development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to be delivered in mid-2021 focusing on picturebooks developed at a university, in partnership with a popular MOOC provider. The MOOC development is analysed with respect to supporting the presence of the educators, creating clarity in the delivery of the content, providing spaces for reflection and interaction, and generating human connections in an online environment. These features are linked to the notion of storytelling (Bietti, Tilston & Bangerter, 2019). The contribution of picturebooks to supporting these aspects of effective online teaching is also discussed.

text: Teaching children's literature online: Co-constructing stories in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Most scholarship on teaching children’s literature has focused on teaching fiction in university literature courses (Bedford & Albright, 2011; Butler, 2006). While there is a vast literature associated with online teaching dating back more than 20 years (e.g., Palloff & Pratt, 2005), and there is increasing use of online teaching in university contexts (Rapanta et al., 2020), there are very few published descriptions or analyses of the online teaching of children’s literature. In this article we document and discuss the development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to be delivered in mid-2021 focusing on picturebooks developed at a university, in partnership with a popular MOOC provider. The MOOC development is analysed with respect to supporting the presence of the educators, creating clarity in the delivery of the content, providing spaces for reflection and interaction, and generating human connections in an online environment. These features are linked to the notion of storytelling (Bietti, Tilston & Bangerter, 2019). The contribution of picturebooks to supporting these aspects of effective online teaching is also discussed.

year: 2021

title: Current sheet formation in uniformly twisted magnetic flux tubes

authors: Ali, Farhad

abstract: A viable mechanism for coronal heating is conversion of magnetic field energy into heat through magnetic reconnection in current sheets. Two processes capable of generating current sheets in the solar corona are studied here. The corkscrew kink instability of an axisymmetric magnetic flux tube, as a result of uniform twisting, is addressed first. Linear growth rates of the instability due to a helical perturbation are calculated for a variety of tubes. It is shown that plasma pressure and tube radius reduction are stabilising.

The helically symmetric geometry allows us to use an effectively two-dimensional formulation. A magneto-frictional code is developed to simulate relaxation to a second helical equilibrium of the tubes. Lower energy equilibria resulting from the kink are studied. Only one tube, whose twist decays with radius, is shown to result in a true field singularity or a current sheet. The Gold-Hoyle tube relaxes to a smooth kinked equilibrium. Tubes having reversal of a field component result in current concentrations as they kink and relax to a neighboring equilibrium. Plasma pressure reduces the strength of the kink in all cases.

The second process resulting in current sheet formation is the interaction of multiple flux tubes. The same frictional code is used to show that repelling tubes move away from each other as the superposed field relaxes to equilibrium. Twisting them together results in current concentrations. Attracting tubes with no neutral point also give rise to current concentrations when they are twisted together and relax to equilibrium. Current sheets are formed when attracting flux tubes, whose initial combined field have a neutral point, coalesce in the absence of plasma pressure. Introducing plasma pressure prevents current sheet formation when the tubes are not twisted together. In case the tubes are twisted together we again see current sheets, the lack of symmetry permitting plasma to flow out from between approaching flux surfaces, allowing them to come into contact. Interaction of unequal attracting tubes results in curved current sheets.

text: Current sheet formation in uniformly twisted magnetic flux tubes A viable mechanism for coronal heating is conversion of magnetic field energy into heat through magnetic reconnection in current sheets. Two processes capable of generating current sheets in the solar corona are studied here. The corkscrew kink instability of an axisymmetric magnetic flux tube, as a result of uniform twisting, is addressed first. Linear growth rates of the instability due to a helical perturbation are calculated for a variety of tubes. It is shown that plasma pressure and tube radius reduction are stabilising.

The helically symmetric geometry allows us to use an effectively two-dimensional formulation. A magneto-frictional code is developed to simulate relaxation to a second helical equilibrium of the tubes. Lower energy equilibria resulting from the kink are studied. Only one tube, whose twist decays with radius, is shown to result in a true field singularity or a current sheet. The Gold-Hoyle tube relaxes to a smooth kinked equilibrium. Tubes having reversal of a field component result in current concentrations as they kink and relax to a neighboring equilibrium. Plasma pressure reduces the strength of the kink in all cases.

The second process resulting in current sheet formation is the interaction of multiple flux tubes. The same frictional code is used to show that repelling tubes move away from each other as the superposed field relaxes to equilibrium. Twisting them together results in current concentrations. Attracting tubes with no neutral point also give rise to current concentrations when they are twisted together and relax to equilibrium. Current sheets are formed when attracting flux tubes, whose initial combined field have a neutral point, coalesce in the absence of plasma pressure. Introducing plasma pressure prevents current sheet formation when the tubes are not twisted together. In case the tubes are twisted together we again see current sheets, the lack of symmetry permitting plasma to flow out from between approaching flux surfaces, allowing them to come into contact. Interaction of unequal attracting tubes results in curved current sheets.

year: 2001

title: Transitioning from kōhanga reo to kura

authors: Hohepa, Margie Kahukura

abstract: This is a collaborative cross-sector research project involving a kōhanga reo (Māori immersion early childhood language nest) kura (Māori language immersion school) and university-based researchers. It focuses on tamariki (children) moving from kōhanga reo to kura classrooms and will examine the development of an 'akoranga whakawhiti', a transition programme that will be based at Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka in Hamilton. The over arching research question for this project is: Pēhea rā te āhuatanga me te kounga o ngā whakawhitinga mai i te kōhanga ki te kura mō ngā tamariki, whānau, kaiako me te hāpori? - What do effective transitions from kōhanga reo to kura look like, feel like, and sound like, for tamariki, whānau, kaiako and the community? The project aims to provide important new insights into learning and teaching in Māori-medium settings and into ways of enhancing transitions from Maori-medium early childhood education to Māori medium classrooms.

text: Transitioning from kōhanga reo to kura This is a collaborative cross-sector research project involving a kōhanga reo (Māori immersion early childhood language nest) kura (Māori language immersion school) and university-based researchers. It focuses on tamariki (children) moving from kōhanga reo to kura classrooms and will examine the development of an 'akoranga whakawhiti', a transition programme that will be based at Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka in Hamilton. The over arching research question for this project is: Pēhea rā te āhuatanga me te kounga o ngā whakawhitinga mai i te kōhanga ki te kura mō ngā tamariki, whānau, kaiako me te hāpori? - What do effective transitions from kōhanga reo to kura look like, feel like, and sound like, for tamariki, whānau, kaiako and the community? The project aims to provide important new insights into learning and teaching in Māori-medium settings and into ways of enhancing transitions from Maori-medium early childhood education to Māori medium classrooms.

year: 2014