CPD Scotland
Glossary
This glossary explains terms used in CPD - Continuing Professional Development. It is not intended to be exhaustive in educational terms, nor does it include an explanation of every word used in the case study extracts. Instead, it seeks to clarify meanings in order to remove potential barriers to understanding and help the reader to appreciate the messages intended more fully.
Keyword search
| occasional paper | Occasional papers present the findings of the National CPD team's research projects and are intended to help provide information about educational CPD in Scotland. |
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| OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) | The OECD groups 30 member countries sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. Best known for its publications and its statistics, its work covers economic and social issues from macroeconomics to trade, education, development, and science and innovation. The OECD plays a prominent role in fostering good governance in the public service and in corporate activity. |
| Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) | Its principal task is the management of the independent system of school inspection defined originally by the Education (Schools) Act 1992. This provides for the regular inspection of all 24,000 schools in England which are wholly or mainly state-funded. |
| Open question | A question carefully formulated so that possible answers are not predetermined, thus allowing a fuller qualitative response or opinion. It is designed to promote higher-order, independent thought. Responses are expected to be reflective, requiring thinking time. |
| Operating system | This is the fundamental software program on a computer. It is the program on which all other applications depend. It performs the basic functions for the computer such as recognising all the hardware inputs and outputs such as the mouse and the monitor. It acts as the traffic police directing all the functions of the computer along the right lines. Examples: Microsoft Windows, MacOS X, Ubuntiu (Linux) |
| Oral feedback | A return of information on the result of a process or activity which is given orally, rather than in written form. This may be in one-to-one conversation, in a small group tutorial, or in a whole-class situation, as appropriate. |
| Orange Order | Irish Protestant organization formed in 1795 with the aim of celebrating and defending Protestantism in Northern Ireland, called this because it was originally formed out of loyalty to William of Orange (William III). |
| Orthodox / Orthodoxy | The terms orthodox / orthodoxy come from the Greek for "right opinion" and represents an emphasis on having the proper beliefs. |