As the field of Information and Communication Technologies rapidly expands, the applications to language learning continue to grow. Computer-Enhanced and Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: Emerging Issues and Trends compiles the latest research into computer-enhanced language learning, as well as the integration of mobile devices into new language acquisition. Though new information is constantly coming out as technologies continue to evolve, this important new follow-up publication will be distributed worldwide among academic and professional institutions and will be instrumental in providing researchers, scholars, students, and professionals access to the latest knowledge related to research on computer-enhanced and mobile assisted language learning.

As emerging technologies drive innovation, educators and administrators have an array of resources at their disposal. Thank to outstanding developments in technology which have greatly improved the delivery of distance education course delivery, the number of students and educators taking part in online education has grown exponentially. Cases on Distance Delivery and Learning Outcomes: Emerging Trends and Programs provides a firm foundation of best practices for distance course delivery and learning outcomes in order to discuss the rapid developments in online education technologies. The cases presented in this reference publication detail best and emerging practices of distance education, issues that develop as distance education grows, and an international perspective on distance education. Discussing such topics as cost and design strategies of distance course design, communication and dealing with student conduct in distance courses, developing distance programs to meet student needs and how to manage the growth of these programs, as well as the use of new technology tools in distance courses, this essential reference publication provides professional developments through a case book for distance education practitioners, administrators, librarians, and students.

Due to advancing technologies and an evolving professional world, various strategies for preparing and engaging students are necessary for sufficient professional development. Methods that integrate technologies and skillsets related to technologies are becoming more prevalent and essential for success beyond the classroom. The Handbook of Research on Diverse Teaching Strategies for the Technology-Rich Classroom is an essential research publication that explores diverse teaching strategies and their applications to enhance and improve the design of curricula, the development of materials, and the assessment of students' knowledge and skills. Featuring a wide range of topics such as distance learning, social media, and management education, this book is ideal for educators, principals, academicians, curriculum designers, administrators, and researchers.

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.

Digital integration is the driving force of teaching and learning at all levels of education. As more non-traditional students seek credentialing, certification, and degrees, institutions continue to push the boundaries of innovative practices to meet the needs of diverse students. Programs and faculty have moved from merely using technology and learning management systems to unique and innovative ways to engage learners. The Handbook of Research on Innovative Digital Practices to Engage Learners is an essential scholarly publication that offers theoretical frameworks, delivery models, current guidelines, and digital design techniques for integrating technological advancements in education contexts to enforce student engagement and positive student outcomes. Featuring a wide range of topics such as gamification, wearable technologies, and distance education, this book is ideal for teachers, curriculum developers, instructional designers, principals, deans, administrators, researchers, academicians, education professionals, and students.

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.

"Respecting Childhood" critically examines modern day views and practices related to children and childhood.
It begins with a discussion of how Western society conceptualizes and often idealizes children as being fragile, innocent and 'incompetent' (or 'immature'). Childhood is often reduced by adults to being seen as preparation for the future, instead of being viewed as a stage of life worthy of respect in its own right. This is evidenced in parenting styles, practices and structures in schools, and media representations. As a result of these views of childhood, many extreme ways of living and working with children have been proposed, from over-permissiveness on the one hand, to a call for a 'back to basics' strict style of discipline and education on the other.
Childhood is now seen as being so complex that parents and teachers frequently feel the need to seek out and follow often conflicting 'expert advice' on how to raise and teach children, rather than following their natural instincts and common sense.
"Respecting Children" advocates a more balanced approach, calling for views of children that allow them to be children, and to live their childhood in the present, rather than constantly having to follow the dubious proposition of 'maximizing' their learning and development in order to become more competitive, successful adults in the future.

Each chapter explores a different aspect of children's lives, such as their relationships with others, their capabilities, their behaviour, and looks to how these compare in the different contexts of society, home and school life. 'Windows on research', case studies and discussion questions engage the reader, making this book accessible for undergraduate students of courses such as Childhood Studies, Early Childhood Education and Education Studies, and to those of MA Education and MA Childhood and Society programmes.

A volume in International Social Studies Forum: The Series Series Editors Richard Diem, University of Texas at San Antonio and Jeff Passe, University of North Carolina, Charlotte The purpose of this volume is to provide a review and analysis of the theory, research, and practice related to geospatial technologies in social studies education. In the first section, the history of geospatial technologies in education, the influence of the standards movement, and the growth of an international geospatial education community are explored. The second section consists of examples and discussion of the use of geospatial technologies for teaching and learning history, geography, civics, economics, and environmental science. In the third section, theoretical perspectives are proposed that could guide research and practice in this field. This section also includes reviews and critiques of recent research relevant to geospatial technologies in education. The final section examines the theory, research, and practice associated with teacher preparation for using geospatial technologies in education.

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.

In an environment where some countries are coming out of the recession at different speeds and others remain in a gloomy economic environment, education plays a vital role in reducing the negative impact of the global economic problems. In this sense, new technologies help to generate human resources with a better quality of education. Augmented Reality for Enhanced Learning Environments provides emerging research on using new technologies to encourage education and improve learning quality through augmented reality. While highlighting issues such as global economic problems impacting schools and insufficient aid, this publication explores new technologies in emerging economies and effective means of knowledge and learning transfer. This book is a vital resource for teachers, students, and aid workers seeking current research on creating a new horizon in science and technology to strengthen the current system of learning.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

At the centre of the methodology used in this book is STEM learning variability space that includes STEM pedagogical variability, learners' social variability, technological variability, CS content variability and interaction variability. To design smart components, firstly, the STEM learning variability space is defined for each component separately, and then model-driven approaches are applied. The theoretical basis includes feature-based modelling and model transformations at the top specification level and heterogeneous meta-programming techniques at the implementation level. Practice includes multiple case studies oriented for solving the task prototypes, taken from the real world, by educational robots. These case studies illustrate the process of gaining interdisciplinary knowledge pieces identified as S-knowledge, T-knowledge, E-knowledge, M-knowledge or integrated STEM knowledge and evaluate smart components from the pedagogical and technological perspectives based on data gathered from one real teaching setting. Smart STEM-Driven Computer Science Education: Theory, Methodology and Robot-based Practices outlines the overall capabilities of the proposed approach and also points out the drawbacks from the viewpoint of different actors, i.e. researchers, designers, teachers and learners.

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.

Teachers of political science, social studies, and economics, as well as school library media specialists, will find this resource invaluable for incorporating the Internet into their classroom lessons. Over 150 primary source Web sites are referenced and paired with questions and activities designed to encourage critical thinking skills. Completing the activities for the lessons in this book will allow students to evaluate the source of information, the content presented, and it usefulness in the context of their assignments.

Along with each Web site, a summary of the site's contents identifies important primary source documents such as constitutions, treaties, speeches, court cases, statistics, and other official documents. The questions and activites invite the students to log on to the Web site, read the information presented, interact with the data, and analyze it critically to answer such questions as: Who created this document? Is the source reliable? How is the information useful and how does it relate to present-day circumstances? If I were in this situation, would I have responded the same way as the person in charge? Strengthening these critical thinking skills will help prepare students for both college and career in the 21st century.