Technology-enhanced, collaborative and blended learning settings can promote more effective approaches to teaching, learning and assessment when context, agency and individual characteristics are taken into account. This book presents critical insight into the theoretical and practical progress made towards establishing effective, valid and reliable strategies for using and evaluating such approaches, and the challenges and implications of doing so. Topics explored include technology-enhanced learning and student evaluations; student engagement and the perception of teaching quality; instructional design and assessment strategies; blended network and mobile technologies for enriching learning and for monitoring and assessment; and the motivations of students to engage with evaluation. Contributors examine issues such as the underlying variabilities in student evaluation of teaching; the implications of inherited cultural and pedagogic practices for educators using collaborative and blended learning; and the international empirical progress in research to understand and measure interactions between cognition, successful learning, and individual difference in technology-augmented settings. This book will be an essential resource for international researchers and undergraduate and postgraduate students wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the leading perspectives and insights into technology enhanced, blended and collaborative learning, as well as for practitioners and policy makers interested in technology applications in education and training in varied pedagogical and cultural settings. This book was originally published as a special issue of Educational Research and Evaluation.

Technology-enhanced, collaborative and blended learning settings can promote more effective approaches to teaching, learning and assessment when context, agency and individual characteristics are taken into account. This book presents critical insight into the theoretical and practical progress made towards establishing effective, valid and reliable strategies for using and evaluating such approaches, and the challenges and implications of doing so. Topics explored include technology-enhanced learning and student evaluations; student engagement and the perception of teaching quality; instructional design and assessment strategies; blended network and mobile technologies for enriching learning and for monitoring and assessment; and the motivations of students to engage with evaluation. Contributors examine issues such as the underlying variabilities in student evaluation of teaching; the implications of inherited cultural and pedagogic practices for educators using collaborative and blended learning; and the international empirical progress in research to understand and measure interactions between cognition, successful learning, and individual difference in technology-augmented settings. This book will be an essential resource for international researchers and undergraduate and postgraduate students wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the leading perspectives and insights into technology enhanced, blended and collaborative learning, as well as for practitioners and policy makers interested in technology applications in education and training in varied pedagogical and cultural settings. This book was originally published as a special issue of Educational Research and Evaluation.

As the state withdraws from welfare provision, the mixed economy of welfare - involving private, voluntary and informal sectors - has become ever more important. This second edition of Powell's acclaimed textbook on the subject brings together a wealth of respected contributors. New features of this revised edition include: * An updated perspective on the mixed economy of welfare (MEW) and social division of welfare (SDW) in the context of UK Coalition and Conservative governments * A conceptual framework that links the MEW and SDW with debates on topics of major current interest such as 'Open Public Services', 'Big Society', Any Qualified Provider', Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and 'Public Private Partnerships' (PPP) Containing helpful features such as summaries, questions for discussion, further reading suggestions and electronic resources, this will be a valuable introductory resource for students of social policy, social welfare and social work at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

When Aunt Belinda comes to stay, the sun disappears and the sky turns grey. She never laughs and we cannot play, we have to hide our sweets away! Help us get Aunt Belinda out, So we can sing and dance and shout!

As the state withdraws from welfare provision, the mixed economy of welfare - involving private, voluntary and informal sectors - has become ever more important. This second edition of Powell's acclaimed textbook on the subject brings together a wealth of respected contributors. New features of this revised edition include: * An updated perspective on the mixed economy of welfare (MEW) and social division of welfare (SDW) in the context of UK Coalition and Conservative governments * A conceptual framework that links the MEW and SDW with debates on topics of major current interest such as 'Open Public Services', 'Big Society', Any Qualified Provider', Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and 'Public Private Partnerships' (PPP) Containing helpful features such as summaries, questions for discussion, further reading suggestions and electronic resources, this will be a valuable introductory resource for students of social policy, social welfare and social work at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.