This unit first defines the notion of Information Revolution. It then provides a brief history of the technological innovations that caused significant changes to the way we live, work and communicate. The unit also describes the impact of this Revolution on contemporary democracies and argues that the Revolution has provided citizens with tools that can safeguard their democratic rights. However, oppressive regimes can use these same tools against the citizens. ; N/A
Citizens in democracies enjoy freedom of speech and expression. This unit discusses the significant role of the mass and social media in contemporary societies. It argues that the media give citizens and politicians a space where they can share their ideas and perhaps protest against injustices and wrong policies. The media also help in keeping the people's representatives and leaders accountable. The new social media have penetrated deeper into our social lives and, thereby, they have become extremely important in democracies. ; N/A
Asylum seekers are still moving, in great numbers, from Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) and the Middle East to the European Union (EU) to seek protection from political oppression, war and poverty, as well as to reunite with family, and benefit from entrepreneurship and education (EC, 2017; EU, 2018). The UNHCR (2019) notes that 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced from their native countries. Mediterranean EU Member States are seeing an ever-growing influx of illegal migrants, through land and sea routes. During the first month of 2019, 6,727 migrants arrived in Europe, of which 5,685 were sea arrivals through Malta, Spain, Greece and Italy – the strategic entry points to the EU. In the previous year, Malta took 1,445 arrivals. The issue of mass migration and population movement has dominated European discourse for at least 40 years. Since the invasion of Iraq and the various destabilization efforts against countries like Libya, Syria and Afghanistan, however, an entirely new phenomenon has erupted onto the centre stage – millions of people fleeing failed States, violence, terrorism and despair. Especially in the case of Syria (now in its fifth year of war) the problem of millions seeking to depart from the chaos has become huge. We are now entering a period of real transition however. Far from the malicious impact of war and violence, new problems arise around family fragmentation, emotional trauma, and the need to rebuild lives.
There are great concerns about the sustainability of welfare systems and the supply of labour in many European member states due to increasingly aging populations. In the past decade, urged by the European Commission, national governments have tried to motivate more workers to remain in employment beyond their retirement age through various incentives and initiatives that included a more widespread provision of continuous education and training programmes. However, older workers face many challenges to attend classroom-based courses because of their employment, social and family commitments. They want courses that offer more accessibility and flexibility. Online courses can, in part, answer this demand. The transition from face-to-face education to online learning however presents many challenges. This paper attempts to identify these challenges and barriers by exploring the findings of a grounded theory investigation of an online course by the University of Malta. It reports on the students' experiences and perceptions of their transition from local face-to-face education characterised by schooling practices that are dominated by the transmission of knowledge teaching model, to an online course that uses methodologies inspired by constructivist learning theories. The findings indicate that this shift from brick-and-mortar to online courses may be problematic for non-traditional students who grew up, were educated and worked in a society where banking education practices are pervasive if this shift is not well-planned, gradual and involves a process of scaffolding. In this process, the instructor must play a central and determining role. Through his or her presence, the instructor must create activities, in which dialogue is a key element. These activities must create adequate social and cognitive presences in order to sustain an active and democratic community of enquiry. It is also essential that each student's motivation is maintained through constant communication and formative assessment tasks, and, above all, the students are treated as adults and their prior knowledge and experiences are built into the course. ; peer-reviewed
This chapter focuses on a longitudinal survey of the trade union education (TUE) programmes organized by Malta's largest trade union – the general workers' union – over the years since its establishment. It argues that partially reflecting the traditional 'paternalist' culture, TUE was 'transformative' to the extent that it aimed at overcoming the traditional workers' subculture of 'compliance with paternalism'. The chapter suggests that the future development and effectiveness of the trade union require a more proactive and 'transformative' TUE role to be played. It also argues that the traditional, indirect forms of democratic participation through collective bargaining and the direct forms are indeed complementary and mutually reinforcing. One main characteristic of TUE methodology should be the use of both a formal and informal learning context and strategy. The survival of organizations like trade unions, their effectiveness and development require the realization of both 'cultural reproduction' and 'cultural transformation'. ; peer-reviewed
Asylum seekers are still moving, in great numbers, from Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) and the Middle East to the European Union (EU) to seek protection from political oppression, war and poverty, as well as to reunite with family, and benefit from entrepreneurship and education (EC, 2017; EU, 2018). The UNHCR (2019) notes that 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced from their native countries. Mediterranean EU Member States are seeing an ever-growing influx of illegal migrants, through land and sea routes. During the first month of 2019, 6,727 migrants arrived in Europe, of which 5,685 were sea arrivals through Malta, Spain, Greece and Italy – the strategic entry points to the EU. In the previous year, Malta took 1,445 arrivals. The issue of mass migration and population movement has dominated European discourse for at least 40 years. Since the invasion of Iraq and the various destabilization efforts against countries like Libya, Syria and Afghanistan, however, an entirely new phenomenon has erupted onto the centre stage – millions of people fleeing failed States, violence, terrorism and despair. Especially in the case of Syria (now in its fifth year of war) the problem of millions seeking to depart from the chaos has become huge. We are now entering a period of real transition however. Far from the malicious impact of war and violence, new problems arise around family fragmentation, emotional trauma, and the need to rebuild lives. ; peer-reviewed
