Technology Literacy Applications in Learning Environments presents readers with a view of technology literacy in a learning environment. While word processing skills are important, the development of technology skills covers the areas of presentation software, storage, human interaction, and virtual reality. Instructional technology is dedicated to discovering and developing the pedagogical skills of teaching and learning in a technology-enhanced learning environment. Technology Literacy Applications in Learning Environments discusses many important topics, such as: the defining aspects of instructional technology skills, the use of technology literacy in higher education, and the growing digital divide. This book provides readers a series of examples and guides that support instructional technology literacy, making it a necessary collection addition for academics, researchers, educators, and IT professionals everywhere.

This work discusses issues relating to distance education and distributed learning. There are essays covering: rethinking assessment for the online environment; the role of collaborative learning in social and intellectual development; and the embodiment of knowledge in virtual environments.

This volume provides new insights on creativity while focusing on innovative methodological approaches in research and practice of integrating technological tools and environments in mathematics teaching and learning. This work is being built on the discussions at the mini-symposium on Creativity and Technology at the International Conference on Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness (ICMCG) in Denver, USA (2014), and other contributions to the topic. The book emphasizes a diversity of views, a variety of contexts, angles and cultures of thought, as well as mathematical and educational practices. The authors of each chapter explore the potential of technology to foster creative and divergent mathematical thinking, problem solving and problem posing, creative use of dynamic, multimodal and interactive software by teachers and learners, as well as other digital media and tools while widening and enriching transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary connections in mathematics classroom. Along with ground-breaking innovative approaches, the book aims to provide researchers and practitioners with new paths for diversification of opportunities for all students to become more creative and innovative mathematics learners. A framework for dynamic learning conditions of leveraging mathematical creativity with technology is an outcome of the book as well.

The effective communication of science through language, including reading, writing, listening, speaking, and visual representation, is an essential part of scientific learning, understanding, and practice. Language is the medium by which scientific reasoning occurs, whether be it formal language or symbolic representations of scientific phenomena. Sustainable Language Support Practices in Science Education: Technologies and Solutions presents cases on the results of a study done in Australia on first-year university students and the impact of new techniques of language acquisition on science education. The project covered biology, chemistry, and physics. Nearly 3,400 students were involved in the project, drawn from the University of Canberra, the University of Technology-Sydney, the University of Sydney, the University of Tasmania, and the University of Newcastle in Australia. This book serves as the latest research available on meta-cognitive assessment and language needs for a diverse student body; it is a vital resource for academics and practitioners designing and implementing science education around the world today.

Do computers foster cultural diversity? Ecological sustainability? In our age of high-tech euphoria we seem content to leave tough questions like these to the experts. That dangerous inclination is at the heart of this important examination of the commercial and educational trends that have left us so uncritically optimistic about global computing. Contrary to the attitudes that have been marketed and taught to us, says C. A. Bowers, the fact is that computers operate on a set of Western cultural assumptions and a market economy that drives consumption. Our indoctrination includes the view of global computing innovations as inevitable and on a par with social progress--a perspective dismayingly suggestive of the mindset that engendered the vast cultural and ecological disruptions of the industrial revolution and world colonialism. In Let Them Eat Data Bowers discusses important issues that have fallen into the gap between our perceptions and the realities of global computing, including the misuse of the theory of evolution to justify and legitimate the global spread of computers, and the ecological and cultural implications of unmooring knowledge from its local contexts as it is digitized, commodified, and packaged for global consumption. He also suggests ways that educators can help us think more critically about technology. Let Them Eat Data is essential reading if we are to begin democratizing technological decisions, conserving true cultural diversity and intergenerational forms of knowledge, and living within the limits and possibilities of the earth's natural systems.

This book analyses the classroom blending of face-to-face and online technologies in the teaching and learning of second languages. Its theoretical framework integrates the rapidly changing and developing fields of both applied linguistics and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). It examines such themes as the normalization of the computer and the rise of mobile devices, the development of open educational resources, flipped learning, gamification, and the increased focus on communication and problem-solving tasks in class. The author illustrates how the design or 'bricolage' of blended learning is part of a radical shift in our conceptualisation of the learning environment. Building on the framework established in its first edition, this book will appeal to teachers-in-training, scholars and practitioners of second language education.

Distance education technology combines communication with educational and intelligent methods to develop software and hardware systems that support learning activities with spatiotemporal flexibilities. ""Future Directions in Distance Learning and Communication Technologies"" presents theoretical studies and practical solutions for engineers, educational professionals, and graduate students in the research areas of e-learning, distance education, and instructional design. This book provides readers with cutting-edge solutions and research directions pertinent to these evolving fields.

Primary and secondary school students, college students, and corporate employees are all engaging more and more in some form of online or blended online/face-to-face education. Given the large number of pedagogical and design choices that we must make, however, where do we begin when designing new environments? This book argues that it is important for us to consider how technological design choices interact with pedagogical choices and cognitive states to affect learning behaviors. Specifically, this book focuses on synchronous, text-based chat and asks two questions: first, since research has often reported that chat environments promote conversational equity, which features of this technology seem to help create conversational equity; and second, how this change impacts the content of small group discussions. Using ethnographic-style observations and quasi-experimental studies, this book shows how changing conversational media influences (or does not) the resulting discussion among students. Based on these findings, Chatting to Learn examines the broader implications for the design of conversational environments, whether for educational or business use.

The information age is changing how we experience the world and interact with it. This has implications for young people and their learning both in and out of the classroom. This book offers practical strategies for working with young people, helping educators and parents understand and react to this changing situation. The print dominated society led to linear thinking while the electronic world is interconnected, dynamic and ever changing. Linear thinking isn't enough anymore. To be successful our children need additional skills. We introduce the concept of a tangible world and virtual world and show how to make the most of both worlds by staying safe, by knowing how to move within the highly stimulating, interconnected world of the internet as well as when to disconnect and think more deeply, to become skilful thinkers, who understand how they think. This book offers practical ways to develop and deepen thinking at home and at school with both curriculum content and real world home issues. We explore the power of well-formed questions and questioning techniques, the concept of mindset, the power of failure and the dangers inherent in the wrong kinds of praise.

Information and communication technologies play a crucial role in a number of modern industries. Among these, education has perhaps seen the greatest increases in efficiency and availability through Internet-based technologies. E-Learning as a Socio-Cultural System: A Multidimensional Analysis provides readers with a critical examination of the theories, models, and best practices in online education from a social perspective, evaluating blended, distance, and mobile learning systems with a focus on the interactions of their practitioners. Within the pages of this volume, teachers, students, administrators, policy makers, and IT professionals will all find valuable advice and enriching personal experiences in the field of online education.

This book addresses key issues of Technology and Innovation(s) in Mathematics Education, drawing on heterogeneous ways of positioning about innovation in mathematical practice with technology. The book offers ideas and meanings of innovation as they emerge from the entanglement of the various researchers with the mathematical practice, the teacher training program, the student learning and engagement, or the research method that they are telling stories about. The multiple theoretical or empirical perspectives capture a rich landscape, in which the presence of digital technology entails the emergence of new practices, techniques, environments and devices, or new ways of making sense of technology in research, teaching and learning.

Mobile technologies influence the way that we interact with the world, the way that we live. We use them for communication, entertainment, information and research. In education settings, there has been substantial investment in mobile devices, often without a concomitant investment in developing pedagogy and practices. With mobile technologies evolving rapidly, and the number of educational apps growing, there is a need for research into how they facilitate mathematics learning. Such research is of particular importance regarding how such devices may be used to open up new ways of envisaging mathematics and mathematics education, and to help develop conceptual rather than procedural or declarative knowledge. This volume draws upon international research and reports on a range of research projects that have incorporated mobile technologies for mathematics education. It presents research on the use of mobile technologies, such as iPads, iPods, iPhones, Androids, and Tablets, across a diverse range of cultures, year levels and contexts. It examines the ways in which mobile technologies, including apps, might influence students' engagement, cognition, collaboration and attitudes, through the reshaping of the learning experience. In addition, the book presents appropriate ways to integrate mobile technologies into teaching and learning programmes. It is a significant reference book for those involved with teaching mathematics or using mobile technologies in education, while also offering insights and examples that are applicable to the use of digital technologies in education generally.

Let an award-winning school library media specialist who has implemented a local area network (LAN) in her media center help you plan this important addition to your media center while avoiding the pitfalls. This hands-on practical guide contains all the information the network novice needs to plan, fund, create, and maintain a LAN in the media center. Based on the experience of the school library media specialist who received the 1994 Follett/AASL "Microcomputer in the Media Center Award" for creating a local area network in the high school media center, this guide describes the procedures for planning, designing, funding, installing, organizing, training, evaluating, and maintaining a LAN in a library media center setting. Step-by-step nontechnical instructions and advice for creating an information network are presented in an understandable format. How to expand into a school-district wide area network (WAN) and gain access to the Internet are also discussed. This comprehensive work takes the network novice from dream to implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of a local area network. It covers funding sources, tips for writing technology grants, requests for proposals from vendors, staff inservice and student training, evaluation and assessment, student internships, technology teams, troubleshooting equipment, and network administration. Useful forms, simple network schematic diagrams, a model school-board approved electronic resources policy, a glossary of technical terms, and sample assessment tools are included. No other book walks the library media specialist through every step in creating a LAN. Media professionals who want to provide networked electronic information to thestaff and students but are not sure of how to proceed will benefit from this clear, nontechnical guide to the process.

This book features a selection of articles from the second edition of the conference Europe Middle East & North Africa Information Systems and Technologies to Support Learning 2018 (EMENA-ISTL'18), held in Fez, Morocco between 25th and 27th October 2018. EMENA-ISTL'18 was a global forum for researchers and practitioners to present and discuss recent findings and innovations, current trends, professional experiences and challenges in information systems & technologies to support learning. The main topics covered are: A) information systems technologies to support education; B) education in science, technology, engineering and Mathematics; C) emerging technologies in education learning innovation in the digital age; D) software systems, architectures, applications and tools; E) multimedia systems and applications; F) computer communications and networks; G) IOT, smart cities and people, wireless, sensor and ad-hoc networks; H) organizational models and information systems and technologies; I) human-computer Interaction; J) computers & security, ethics and data-forensic; K) health informatics, and medical informatics security; l) information and knowledge management; m) big data analytics and applications, intelligent data systems, and machine learning; n) artificial intelligence, high performance computing; o) mobile, embedded and ubiquitous systems; p) language and image processing, computer graphics and vision; and q) the interdisciplinary field of fuzzy logic and data mining.

The book introduces techniques to improve the effectiveness of serious games in relation to cognition and motivation. These techniques include ways to improve motivation, collaboration, reflection, and the integration of gameplay into various contexts. The contributing authors expand upon this broad range of techniques, show recent empirical research on each of these techniques that discuss their promise and effectiveness, then present general implications or guidelines that the techniques bring forth. They then suggest how serious games can be improved by implementing the respective technique into a particular game.

This book aims at discussing the development of MOOCs in China in relation to MOOCs in other countries or areas. Based on the history of MOOCs, we summarize and compare the development of MOOCs in China and other countries with empirical evidence from a comprehensive investigation about MOOCs in Asian, United States, and Europe. Then we discuss about the importance of MOOCs in China and its role in the reform of higher education system, and the model of teaching and learning in China. After all, we provide suggestions about how to improve MOOCs at the national, institutional, and individual level. In this book, we analyse and present the current construction and development of MOOCs in China from four dimensions including platforms, courses, learners, colleges and universities based on huge empirical evidence from a comprehensive investigation of 14 platforms, 42 universities, 1388 MOOCs, and 22895 learners. Our investigation mainly focused on seven topics: platform construction and operation, learner groups, curriculum organization form, teaching interaction, learning evaluation model, learning support service, and courses certification and academic score system. Based on the investigation, we found there is an emerging trend of collaboration among government, universities and enterprise in the development of MOOCs in China, which provides great opportunities to build an innovative educational service system for all kinds of learners. We also discuss our findings in relation to the corresponding development of MOOCs in United States, Europe and other regions and then focus on the unique challenges that China faces, such as the lack of deep learning in MOOCs, the low information literacy and self-regulated learning abilities of MOOC learners, the lack of individualized support for MOOC learners, and so on. At last, this book summarizes the overall development of MOOCs in China and other countries and then put forward the future trends and suggestions in this field.

When facilitating high-quality education, using digital technology to personalize students' learning is a focus in the development of instruction. There is a need to unify the multifaceted directions in personalized learning by presenting a coherent and organized vision in the design of personalized learning using digital technology. Digital Technologies and Instructional Design for Personalized Learning is a critical scholarly resource that highlights the theories, principles, and learning strategies in personalized learning with digital technology. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as collaborative learning, instructional design, and computer-supported collaborative learning, this book is geared towards educators, professionals, school administrators, academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on the area of personalized learning with digital technology.

Technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives. As today's teachers prepare to instruct a new generation of students, the question is no longer whether technology should be integrated into the classroom, but "how?" The Handbook of Research on Integrating Technology Into Contemporary Language Learning and Teaching is a critical scholarly publication that examines the relationship between language education and technology and the ability to improve language education through technological advances. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics, such as computer-assisted language learning, flipped instruction, and teacher education, this publication is geared toward researchers, practitioners, and education professionals seeking relevant research on the improvement of language education through the use of technology.

This book is the first to explore the big question of how assessment can be refreshed and redesigned in an evolving digital landscape. There are many exciting possibilities for assessments that contribute dynamically to learning. However, the interface between assessment and technology is limited. Often, assessment designers do not take advantage of digital opportunities. Equally, digital innovators sometimes draw from models of higher education assessment that are no longer best practice. This gap in thinking presents an opportunity to consider how technology might best contribute to mainstream assessment practice. Internationally recognised experts provide a deep and unique consideration of assessment's contribution to the technology-mediated higher education sector. The treatment of assessment is contemporary and spans notions of 'assessment for learning', measurement and the roles of peer and self within assessment. Likewise the view of educational technology is broad and includes gaming, learning analytics and new media. The intersection of these two worlds provides opportunities, dilemmas and exemplars. This book serves as a reference for best practice and also guides future thinking about new ways of conceptualising, designing and implementing assessment.

Recently, there has been an increased understanding that learning occurs outside of the traditional classroom setting, particularly for adult lifelong learners. This perspective has enhanced an attentive design in the underlying technological architecture that is required for the integration of formal and informal learning environments. Synergic Integration of Formal and Informal E-Learning Environments for Adult Lifelong Learners presents a collection of issues and research from adult education professionals who define, develop, implement, and evaluate the integration of formal and informal eLearning environments for adult lifelong learners. Academics, teachers, administrators, and learning technologists will benefit from this publication s unique approach to discussing and analyzing the challenges of introducing and implementing learning technologies for adult lifelong learners."

The book provides a systemic view of the state-of-the- art of Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL) across the lifespan, from age-specific game design requirements to technological devices that could overcome child and older adult difficulties in the use of DGBL technologies. Other topics include cross-generational digital game-based learning, workplace gaming, exergaming, serious games to tackle societal challenges,and implications of DGBL across the lifespan for game designers. In addition to the state-of-the-art methodologies provided for age-specific gamedesign, development, implementation and assessment, a significant portion of the book focuses on case studies where DGBL have been designed and implemented in every age groups and in cross-generational situations.