In recent years, the use of technology for the purposes of improving and enriching traditional instructional practices has received a great deal of attention. However, few works have explicitly examined cognitive, psychological, and educational principles on which technology-supported learning environments are based. This volume attempts to cover the need for a thorough theoretical analysis and discussion of the principles of system design that underlie the construction of technology-enhanced learning environments. It presents examples of technology-supported learning environments that cover a broad range of content domains, from the physical sciences and mathematics to the teaching of language and literacy.
The emphasis in this book is not on the design of educational software but on the design of learning environments. A great deal of research on learning and instruction has recently moved out of the laboratory into the design of applications in instructional settings. By designing technology-supported learning environments instructional scientists attempt to better understand the theories and principles that are explicit in their theories of learning. The contributors to this volume examine how factors such as social interaction, the creation of meaningful activities, the use of multiple perspectives, and the construction of concrete representations influence the acquisition of new information and transfer.

Local Management of Schools (LMS) has placed considerable pressures on heads, managers and school governors. It has raised the issues of budget management and wider decision making and on top of this has been the additional pressure of OFSTED inspection. Drawing on their research into 18 secondary schools, the authors of this work examine the practicalities of managing a budget. They discuss their findings from the perspectives of all those involved, including parents, pupils, governors, teachers, heads and support staff. Using a variety of case studies, the book illustrates and analyzes the effectiveness of a range of management styles, and focuses in particular on the effect these have on the pupils on these schools. It describes how schools can successfully use their responsibility over resources to develop and support a wide range of initiatives. Throughout the book, the authors highlight examples of good practice, placing this in the context of OFSTED inspections. This work should be of use to all heads, managers and governors who are concerned about how management of resources can be linked to the educational experiences of the pupils in their schools.

* Digital education and smart pedagogy is topical and highly relevant to modern education * Uses a multidisciplinary approach based on the editor's engagement in education improvement projects * Internationally relevant with a broad range of global contributors

This book is the outgrowth of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop, held in Milton Keynes (United Kingdom) in the summer of 1990. The workshop brought together about 30 world leaders in the use of advanced technologies in the teaching of mathematics and science. Many of these participants commented that the workshop was one of the more productive and exciting workshops that they had attended. It was not uncommon to see participants engaged in informal discussion far into the evenings and early mornings, long after formal sessions had ended. It is my hope that this book captures the substance and excitement of many of the ideas that were presented at the workshop. Indeed, the process by which this book has come about has given every opportunity for the best thinking to get reflected here. Participants wrote papers prior to the workshop. After the workshop, participants revised the papers at least once. In a few instances, three versions of papers were written. Some participants could not resist the urge to incorporate descriptions of some of the newer developments in their projects. The papers in this book demonstrate how technology is impacting our view of what should be taught, what can be taught, and how we should go about teaching in the various disciplines. As such, they offer great insight into the central issues of teaching and learning in a wide range of disciplines and across many grade levels (ranging from elementary school through undergraduate college education).

As technology continues to develop and prove its importance in modern society, certain professions are acclimating. Aspects such as computer science and computational thinking are becoming essential areas of study. Implementing these subject areas into teaching practices is necessary for younger generations to adapt to the developing world. There is a critical need to examine the pedagogical implications of these technological skills and implement them into the global curriculum. The Handbook of Research on Integrating Computer Science and Computational Thinking in K-12 Education is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of computer science curriculum development within primary and secondary education. While highlighting topics including pedagogical implications, comprehensive techniques, and teacher preparation models, this book is ideally designed for teachers, IT consultants, curriculum developers, instructional designers, educational software developers, higher education faculty, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and graduate students.

'Shirley zips into her skin-tight school uniform, which on the outside looks something like a ski suit. The lining of the suit in fact contains cabling that makes the suit a communication system and there are pressure pads where the suit touches skin that give a sense of touch. Next, she sits astride something that is a bit like a motorbike, except that it has no wheels and is attached firmly to the floor. Her feet fit on to something similar to a brake and accelerator and her gloved hands hold onto handlebars. She shouts, "I'm off to school, Dad". Her father, who is taking time out from his teleworking, begins to remind her that the family are going teleshopping in the virtual city later in the day, but it is too late, his daughter has already donned her school helmet. She is no longer in the real world of her real home, she is in the virtual world of her virtual school.' Is this the shape of the future of education? This book presents a vision of what will happen to education and training as information technology develops. The argument is simple. To prepare people for life in an information society they need to be taught with the technology of an information society. But what shape will that take? Can the classroom as we know it - a communications system which has been in place for four thousand years - be replaced? The authors argue that through the development of telecommunications for telelearning a genuine revolution in education is in the making. The book describes how, through the convergence of a cluster of new technologies including virtual reality, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and the superhighways of telecommunications, a new educational paradigm will emerge in the form of a virtual class. Teachers, trainers and educators who worry about how best to prepare students for life in an ever-changing world will find much inspiration in this engagingly written and jargon-free book

As new and emerging technologies continue to become more familiar to educators and the education system, the vast opportunities for web-based learning has transformed the ideals of the traditional classroom. Pedagogical Considerations and Opportunities for Teaching and Learning on the Web concentrates on theory, application, and the development of web-based technologies for teaching and learning and its influence on the education system. This book would be of particular interest to academics, professionals, and researchers interested in the best practices of virtual learning environments.

Over the past decade, computer-enhanced learning has increased in demand due to developments in technological aids such as multimedia presentation and the internet. In this age of technology, it is imperative for teachers to consider the importance of technological integration in the classroom.""Applied E-Learning and E-Teaching in Higher Education"" presents international practices in the development and use of applied e-Learning and e-Teaching in the classroom in order to enhance student experience, add value to teaching practices, and illuminate best practices in the area of e-Assessment. This innovative title provides fresh insight into e-Learning and e-Teaching practices, while exploring the varying roles of academic staff in adoption and application.

This volume offers an expansion of ideas presented at a recent conference convened to identify the major strategies and more promising practices for assessing technology. The authors -- representing government, business, and university sectors -- helped to set the boundaries of present technology assessment by offering perspectives from computer science, cognitive and military psychology, and education. Their work explores both the use of techniques to assess technology and the use of technology to facilitate the assessment process.
The book's main purpose is to portray the state of the art in technology assessment and to provide conceptual options to help readers understand the power of technology. Technological innovation will continue to develop its own standards of practice and effectiveness. To the extent that these practices are empirically based, designers, supporters, and consumers will be given better information for their decisions.

Highlighting and illustrating several important and interesting theoretical trends that have emerged in the continuing development of instructional technology, this book's organizational framework is based on the notion of two opposing camps. One evolves out of the intelligent tutoring movement, which employs artificial-intelligence technologies in the service of student modeling and precision diagnosis, and the other emerges from a constructivist/developmental perspective that promotes exploration and social interaction, but tends to reject the methods and goals of the student modelers. While the notion of opposing camps tends to create an artificial rift between groups of researchers, it represents a conceptual distinction that is inherently more interesting and informative than the relatively meaningless divide often drawn between "intelligent" and "unintelligent" instructional systems.
An evident trend is that researchers in both "camps" view their computer learning environments as "cognitive tools" that can enhance learning, performance, and understanding. Cognitive tools are objects provided by the instructional environment that allow students to incorporate new auxiliary methods or symbols into their social problem solving which otherwise would be unavailable. A final section of the book represents researchers who are assimilating and accommodating the wisdom and creativity of their neighbors from both camps, perhaps forming the look of technology for the future. When the idea of model tracing in a computer-based environment is combined with appreciation for creative mind-extension cognitive tools and for how a community of learners can facilitate learning, a camp is created where AI technologists and social constructivist learning theorists can feel equally at home.

It is surprising that there is so little research on textbooks, given their centrality to teaching and learning in elementary and secondary schools. Textbooks have become a focus of political and cultural controversy, advocating a multicultural curriculum that has sparked some vigorous protests. Research is absent in this debate; therefore, questions of legitimate knowledge, the role of textbooks, textbook design, policy selection issues, and economic issues concerning the marketplace are not part of the current debate. Without insights of research on considerate text, mentioning, illustrations and so forth, the current controversy will result in publishers responding to demands for more content not less; thus, textbooks will become compendia of information that on the surface satisfy everyone.
This volume demonstrates how research on important issues relative to textbook design can advance our knowledge about what makes textbooks effective learning tools, and thus inform policymakers, publishers, and those involved in textbook selection. Representing pure and applied approaches, researchers present papers on the quality of writing, the role of questions, the role of pictures and illustrations, and the role of auxiliary materials in the design of effective textbooks. The chapters provide insight into research and its application to textbook design and improvement -- stimulating others to follow this lead.

There is an increasing trend for educators and trainers to produce instructional materials themselves. With the aid of desktop publishing and computer software, even those with minimal talent can produce visually stunning graphics and diagrams. This text gives guidelines for the design of instructional diagrams and aims to provide readers with confidence to develop material which is clear and unconfusing. The author takes a systematic approach to the process of diagram development. By demonstrating how principles of good design can be applied to realistic development problems, the reader is taught how to use the principles in a practical context. The text uses a problem-solving approach to tackle the task. It provides activities that lead the reader through various aspects of diagram design, from the earliest conceptual stages to the eventual finished product.

Artificial Intelligence is at the top of the agenda for education leaders, scientists, technologists and policy makers in educating the next generation across the globe. Beyond applying AI in daily life applications and educational tools, understanding how to learn and teach AI is increasingly important. Despite these emerging technology breakthroughs, AI learning is still new to educators especially to K-16 teachers. There is a lack of evidence-based studies that inform them about AI learning, including design principles for building a set of curriculum content, and pedagogical approaches as well as technological tools. Teaching AI concepts and techniques from programming languages and developmentally appropriate learning tools (e.g., robotics, serious games, software, intelligent agents) across different education levels emerged in recent years. The primary purpose of this book is to respond to the need to conceptualize the emerging term "AI literacy" and investigate how to teach and learn AI in K-16 education settings. This book examines different aspects of learning artefacts, pedagogies, content knowledge and assessment methods of AI literacy education, from theoretical discussions to practical recommendations for curriculum and instructional design. An exhaustive summary of current evidence with examples is illustrated in this book, as well as cutting-edge research that serves as an AI literacy model for different countries' contexts. Part I, "Conceptualizing AI literacy", provides a detailed discussion on the development of the concepts and frameworks on AI literacy education, discusses the differences and similarities between AI in education (AIED) and AI literacy education, and illustrates the reasons why K-16 students need to learn AI. These concepts are brought together in Part II, "K-16 AI literacy education" to further summarize the pedagogies, learning content, learning tools and assessment methods to inform K-16 educators how to design their AI instruction at each education level. After that, part III "AI literacy for instructional designers" explores how instructional designers (i.e., AI developers and teachers) prepare themselves to become ready to design developmentally appropriate tools, platforms, services and curricula to empower students with AI literacy skills.

A student's learning experience can be enhanced through a multitude of pedagogical strategies. This can be accomplished by visually engaging students in classroom activities. Visual Imagery, Metadata, and Multimodal Literacies Across the Curriculum is a pivotal reference source that examines the role of visual-based stimuli to create meaningful learning in contemporary classroom settings. Highlighting a range of relevant topics such as writing composition, data visualization, and literature studies, this book is ideally designed for educators, researchers, professionals, and academics interested in the application of visual imagery in learning environments.

This volume centers on the words and experiences of teachers and students who used QUILL -- a software package developed by the authors to aid in writing instruction. It looks in detail at the stories of these early users and considers questions relevant for other teachers, students, researchers, and developers of educational innovations. Questions posed include:
* What does it mean to develop an environment for literacy in an actual classroom?
* How can a teacher create an environment in which students work together toward meaningful goals?
* How can a teacher promote the rich communication so necessary for developing language?
* What is the role of technology in the practice and development of literacy?
The examination of the QUILL experiences provides a fuller and more revealing account of what it meant to use QUILL than would have been possible through standard evaluation techniques. At the same time, the focus on the particulars also finds analogues in analyses of similar pieces of open-ended software or educational innovations in general.

Cooperative Computer-Aided Authoring and Learning: A Systems Approach describes in detail a practical system for computer assisted authoring and learning. Drawing from the experiences gained during the Nestor project, jointly run between the Universities of Karlsruhe, Kaiserslautern and Freiburg and the Digital Equipment Corp. Center for Research and Advanced Development, the book presents a concrete example of new concepts in the domain of computer-aided authoring and learning. The conceptual foundation is laid by a reference architecture for an integrated environment for authoring and learning. This overall architecture represents the nucleus, shell and common denominator for the R&D activities carried out. From its conception, the reference architecture was centered around three major issues: Cooperation among and between authors and learners in an open, multimedia and distributed system as the most important attribute; Authoring/learning as the central topic; Laboratory as the term which evoked the most suitable association with the envisioned authoring/learning environment. Within this framework, the book covers four major topics which denote the most important technical domains, namely: The system kernel, based on object orientation and hypermedia; Distributed multimedia support; Cooperation support, and Reusable instructional design support. Cooperative Computer-Aided Authoring and Learning: A Systems Approach is a major contribution to the emerging field of collaborative computing and is essential reading for researchers and practitioners alike. Its pedagogic flavor also makes it suitable for use as a text for a course on the subject.

There is much evidence to show that digital technologies greatly impact children's lives through the use of computers, laptops and mobile devices. Children's uses of digital technologies are, therefore, currently of huge concern to academics, teachers and parents. Disabled Children and Digital Technologies investigates disabled children's learning with digital technologies within the context of inclusive education. Sue Cranmer explores the potential benefits of using digital technologies to support disabled children's learning whilst recognising that these technologies also have the potential to act as a barrier to inclusion. Cranmer provides a critical overview of how digital technologies are being used in contemporary classrooms for learning. The book includes detailed analysis of a recent study carried out with disabled children with visual impairments aged between 13 - 17 years old in mainstream secondary schools. The chapters consider the use of digital technologies in relation to access, engagement, attitudes, and skills, including safety and risk. These perspectives are complemented by interviews with teachers to explore how digital technologies can support disabled children's learning and inclusion in mainstream settings more effectively.

The use of mobile technology for learning in organizations and the workplace is spreading widely with the development of infrastructure and devices that allow ubiquitous learning and training. Since learning, teaching, and training in a mobile-saturated environment is a developing field, implications for a combined overview of these topics may be beneficial both for research and practice in the broader view of a user's lifespan. Mobile Technologies for Organizational Learning is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of mobile technologies in learning and training and explores best practices of mobile learning in organizations and the workplace. While highlighting topics including ethics, informal education, and virtual reality, this book is ideally designed for teachers, administrators, principals, higher education professionals, instructional designers, curriculum developers, managers, researchers, and students.

This book re-examines the field of New Literacy Studies and promotes a shift away from binary constructions of literacies as 'old' or 'new' and to encourage critical reflection on the part of readers as to the uses of these constructs. First, the book examines the entanglement of pasts, presents and futures in contemporary literacy practices. Second, it considers representations of literacies as actors, having their own power and consequences. Third, it critically examines the place of 'new' and 'old' literacies in a marketplace in which social, economic and political power advantage is contested. The book demonstrates the use of assemblage theory drawing on semiotics, geo-semiotics and Actor Network Theory for analyzing literacies as assemblages. It provides readers with tools of analysis with which to interrogate claims made for the value of literacy, innovations and traditions alike. It also discusses implications for literacy policy, curriculum, teacher education and research.

Educational Communities of Inquiry: Theoretical Framework, Research, and Practice is an extensive reference that offers theoretical foundations and developments associated with the COl theoretical framework. This collection is a valuable source of ideas, research opportunities, and challenges for scholars and practitioners in the field of education technology.

The designers of educational or training programs that employ electronic technology might have many questions about a project while it is still in the early stages of development. For instance: Is the program's presentation too simple, or too complex for its target audience? Does the pacing of the program help or hinder comprehension? Which aspects of the program are the most appealing, and why? Formative evaluation can answer these, or similar questions. It can help guide designers of television programs, microcomputer software, interactive videodiscs, or virtually any other educational item, in making modifications that can lead to the development of a final product that fully achieves its stated goals.
Until very recently, however, the person interested in avoiding potential problems through the use of formative evaluation would have been faced with difficulties of a different kind. Comprehensive treatment of formative evaluation has been scarce, and published discussion on formative evaluation of computer-based materials has been virtually nonexistent. Until now, that is.
Barbara Flagg's "Formative Evaluation" for Educational Technologies provides comprehensive treatment of formative evaluation. The book offers:
* extensive coverage of all the methods evaluators might use to assess the user friendliness, the appeal, and the outcome effectiveness of an educational program.
* extensive focus on new technologies
* coverage of all phases of program development, from initial idea to final product
* discussion of formative evaluation as part of the broader field of curriculum evaluation
* numerous case studies.
This volume will appeal to a widevariety of people engaged in formative evaluation. It is an excellent guide for newcomers to the field; it is a state-of-the art document for established practitioners of instructional design and curriculum evaluation.