This book investigates a wide variety of situations and models which fall under the umbrella of information and referral. It examines traditional views in public libraries and library systems as well as descriptions of programs in nontraditional settings, such as academic libraries. A human services perspective is explored and research models are presented.

Equally grounded in the research and the practical applications developed by the authors over a number of years, this book shows how virtual learning environments could represent the future of higher education. As academics begin to use environments such as Second Life to reach a broader student audience, this volume offers the distance-learning community (administrators, faculty, and students) a different, yet successful, approach to delivering content over the Internet through 3D virtual learning environments that have the potential to transform higher education. Covering a broad spectrum of frameworks, from commercial multiplayer video games to online learning, the book shows just how powerful these environments can be in the arena of education, and concludes that data-driven practice will ensure almost universal take-up, even among those currently unwilling to use V-learning. The authors provide numerous practical examples of distance learning in its current state of development, as well as making informed predictions about how future environments might evolve. This much-needed book is right at the cutting edge of its subject, and comes at a time when research in both educational gaming and distance learning are converging.

Based on the empirical case of an e-learning project of the International Cooperation agency InWEnt / Capacity Building International, this study does all three-in-one: First, it reflects current Web-based and Blended Learning scenarios. Second, it provides a space-theoretical discussion of the foundations of Internet research: the online and physical environments of reference. Moreover, it applies Actor Network Theory to blending online and physical interaction spaces.

Improving Schools with Blended Learning is specifically designed to address the important issues needed to successfully modernise education within the context of technological change. It does this by first providing a clear roadmap for designing Blended Learning environments able to respond to the technological imperatives challenging schools at present, and then illustrating this roadmap via specific, original research that details the 'how to' aspects of a successful technology-based design process. School leaders, teachers, teacher education students and researchers will all find highly relevant information about how to manage for disruption in the new and informative approach to Blended Learning (BL) they will discover in this book. This book arose from two different research projects the authors have been pursuing over the last 3-5 years, including school improvement research and Blended Learning research designed to investigate the role of technology in effective teaching and learning. By combining the insights gained from these two different research areas, this book is able to present a novel understanding of BL that is both insightful and clearly evidence-based. Improving Schools with Blended Learning also provides several original contributions to specific knowledge in the areas of BL and school improvement that most educators will find highly useful, including the use of BL schemas, a clear and extended BL continuum, how to measure and evaluate the success of BL, how to scaffold teacher ICT knowledge and skills, and a specific process for contextualising applied BL in relation to the 'disruption' imperatives of the Knowledge Economy.

In responding strategically to the need to increase online enrollments at a time when enrollments for traditional face-to-face delivered courses are declining annually, higher education institutions recognize not only that they urgently have to develop faculty capacity to teach online but also leverage the affordances of a now bewildering array of new technologies. This book constitutes a guide to the wide range of new and emerging transformative learning technologies, to give leaders the context they need to position their institutions in the changing online environment. It is intended for campus leaders and administrators who work with campus teams charged with identifying learning technologies to meet an agreed upon program- or institution-level educational needs; for those coordinating across campus to build consensus on implementing online strategies; and for instructional designers, faculty developers and assessment directors who assist departments and faculty effectively integrate learning technologies into their courses and programs. It will appeal to faculty who take an active interest in improving online teaching. The contributors to this volume describe the potential of artificial intelligence algorithms, such as those that fuel learning analytics software that mines LMS data to enable faculty to quickly and efficiently assess individual students' progress in real time, prompting either individual attention or the need to more generally clarify concepts for the class as whole. They describe and provide access to a hybrid professional development MOOC and an associated WIKI that curate information about a wide range of learning software solutions currently available; and present case studies that offer guidance on building the buy-in and consensus needed to successfully integrate learning technologies into course, program- and institution-level contexts. In sum, this book provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of the technological capabilities available to them and identifies collaborative processes related to engaging and building institutional support for the changes needed to provide the rapidly growing demand for effective and evidence-based online learning.

* Examines the impact of COVID-19 on our education and training systems and what the long-term ramifications might be for the pedagogy and purpose of education. * Includes case studies to show how teachers, pupils and schools have adapted to online teaching and learning * Looks at the new pedagogies that have developed in areas such as curriculum modelling, parental engagement, assessment, home learning, and on-line and blended learning and how these might be used in the longer term to create a more personalised approach to education that is inclusive of a far wider range of learners

This book offers a much-needed resource for faculty and professional staff to build quality online courses by focusing on quality standards in instructional design and transparency in learning outcomes in the design of online courses. It includes effective instructional strategies to motivate online learners, help them become more self-directed, and develop academic skills to persist and successfully complete a program of study online. It also includes a more in-depth understanding of instructional design principles to support faculty as they move their face-to-face courses to the online environment.

This book provides instructors with a holistic way of thinking about learners, learning, and online course design. The distinctive strategies derived from an integrated framework for designing the online learning experience help create an experience that is more personalized, engaging, and meaningful for online learners. The focus of this book is on the learners and the design of their online learning experiences. The authors refer to learning design instead of instructional design - which focuses on instruction and places the instructor at the center stage of the process. Therefore, the focus is on approaching a learner's online course experience as a journey consisting of a combination of learning interactions with content, instructor, and other learners. In most online courses, instructors and learners are separated in time and space and depend on technology to facilitate interactions that often lack a strong personal dimension. As online learning continues to proliferate and mature, the emphasis on simply making content available to students online is no longer acceptable. Creating online courses now requires a new way of thinking that incorporates new design ideas and approaches from a variety of fields; it also requires a new set of learning design skills for instructors and course designers. Organized into eight chapters, this volume focuses on enhancing online learning experiences for each of the major aspects of an online course, providing evidence-based principles and strategies to promote learner engagement and deep learning. The concluding chapter provides an example illustrating a real-world application of the principles and strategies covered in the book, using Design Thinking to create learning experiences. This book provides strategies for approaching the learning experience from an integrative perspective for both experienced online instructors and those new to online course design. These strategies are based on evidence-based learning design principles and encourage the reader to adopt an empathic mindset focused on the experience of the learner.

This volume brings together advanced concepts from leading academic scientists, educationalists, administrative policymakers, and researchers on their experiences and research results on many aspects of digital educational methods and teaching practices. It provides an interdisciplinary compilation of recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as the challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of digital pedagogies and educational design. It is becoming increasingly important to develop adaptive, robust, scalable, and digital teaching-learning mechanisms in academics. This volume addresses this need by discussing the advancements in flipped and blended learning, student- and teacher-centric learning in technical institutes, critical digital pedagogies, and the complex analyses and collaborations with organizations outside the academy. This book also deals with protocols for educational and administrative policies, IoT-based teaching-learning methodology, teaching education and the process of assessment, testing and evaluation, integration of technology with digital education, and different case study-based approaches in digital teaching-learning methodology.

Critical Mobile Pedagogy is an exploration of mobile technologies for designing and delivering equitable and empowering education around the globe. Synthesizing a diverse range of projects and conceptual frameworks, this case-based collection addresses the ambitions, assumptions, and impacts of interventions in under-researched, often disadvantaged communities. The editors and authors provide a nuanced and culturally responsive approach to showcasing: indigenous, nomadic, refugee, rural, and other marginalized communities emerging pedagogies such as curation, open resources, massive open online courses (MOOCs), and self-directed learning contextual factors, including pedagogy, ethics, scaling, research methodology and culture, and consequences of innocuous or harmful implementation and deployment the nature of participation by global capital, multinationals, education systems, international agencies, national governments, and telecoms companies. Scholars, academics, policymakers, and program managers are increasingly using mobile technologies to support disadvantaged or disempowered communities in learning more effectively and appropriately. This book's diverse research precedents will help these and other stakeholders meet the challenges and opportunities of our complex, increasingly connected world and work with greater cultural and ethical sensitivity at the intersection of education, research, and technology.

This book provides instructors with a holistic way of thinking about learners, learning, and online course design. The distinctive strategies derived from an integrated framework for designing the online learning experience help create an experience that is more personalized, engaging, and meaningful for online learners. The focus of this book is on the learners and the design of their online learning experiences. The authors refer to learning design instead of instructional design - which focuses on instruction and places the instructor at the center stage of the process. Therefore, the focus is on approaching a learner's online course experience as a journey consisting of a combination of learning interactions with content, instructor, and other learners. In most online courses, instructors and learners are separated in time and space and depend on technology to facilitate interactions that often lack a strong personal dimension. As online learning continues to proliferate and mature, the emphasis on simply making content available to students online is no longer acceptable. Creating online courses now requires a new way of thinking that incorporates new design ideas and approaches from a variety of fields; it also requires a new set of learning design skills for instructors and course designers. Organized into eight chapters, this volume focuses on enhancing online learning experiences for each of the major aspects of an online course, providing evidence-based principles and strategies to promote learner engagement and deep learning. The concluding chapter provides an example illustrating a real-world application of the principles and strategies covered in the book, using Design Thinking to create learning experiences. This book provides strategies for approaching the learning experience from an integrative perspective for both experienced online instructors and those new to online course design. These strategies are based on evidence-based learning design principles and encourage the reader to adopt an empathic mindset focused on the experience of the learner.

Originally published as a special issue of the Creativity Research Journal, this volume gives a balanced and reflective account of the challenges and opportunities of technology-enabled creative learning in contemporary societies. Providing a current and updated account of the challenges posed by the Coronavirus to online education, chapters more broadly offer conceptual reflections and empirically informed insights into the impact of technology on individual and collective creativity and learning. These thoughts are explored in relation to school achievement, the development of digital educational resources, online collaboration, and virtual working. Further, the book also considers how the creative use of technology poses risks to learning through the accidental or deliberate dissemination of misinformation, and online manipulation of common societal values in the era of COVID-19. Creative Learning in Digital and Virtual Environments looks at the connection between creativity, learning, and school achievement, and analyses the impact of virtual environments on creative expression. It will appeal to postgraduate students in the fields of creativity and learning, as well as to students and academics involved with broader research in areas such as the role of technology in education, e-Learning and distance education. Vlad P. Glaveanu is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology and Counselling at Webster University Geneva, Switzerland, as well as Associate Professor II at the University of Bergen, Norway. Ingunn Johanne Ness is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology, University of Bergen, Norway. Constance de Saint Laurent is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bologna, Italy.

Thriving as an Online K-12 Educator is the perfect all-in-one guide to taking your K-12 class online. We know, now more than ever, that teachers have not been equally or systematically trained and resourced to make a sudden transition to online or blended instruction. This concise, accessible book collects time-tested strategies and fresh perspectives from experienced educators to help you smooth out even the most abrupt shift to technology-enhanced teaching and learning. With these insights into institutional supports, effective digital tools, equitable practice, social-emotional considerations, and beyond, you will be better prepared than ever to help your students thrive in online and blended learning environments.

Digital Learning in Motion provides a theoretical analysis of learning and related learning media in society. The book explores how changing media affects learning environments, which changes the learning itself, showing that learning is always in motion. This book expounds upon the concept of learning, reconstructing how learning unfolds and analyzing the discourse around pedagogy and Bildung in the age of new digital media. It further discusses in detail the threefold relationship between learning and motion, considering how learning is based on motion, generated by new experiences and changes with the environment and through its own mediatization. The book presents a normative model that outlines how learning can be structured on the basis of society's values and self-understanding discourses in the digital age. This book will be of great interest for academics, postgraduate students, and researchers in the fields of digital learning and inclusion, education research, educational theory, communication and cultural studies.

"What does a new instructional designer need to know to find her or his feet when working with faculty to create online classes?" This is a practical handbook for established and aspiring instructional designers in higher education, readers who may also be identified by such professional titles as educational developer, instructional technologist, or online learning specialist. Jerod Quinn, together with a team of experienced instructional designers who have worked extensively with a wide range of faculty on a multiplicity of online courses across all types of institutions, offer key guiding principles, insights and advice on how to develop productive and collegial partnerships with faculty to deliver courses that engage students and promote enduring learning. Designing and developing online classes for higher education takes a combination of pedagogical knowledge, the ability to build trust with faculty, familiarity with frameworks on how people learn, understanding of accessibility and inclusion, and technical skills to leverage a learning management system into an educational experience. Coming from diverse backgrounds, few instructional designers enter academia well versed in all of these aspects of creating online classes. This book provides the foundation on which instructional designers can build their careers. The guiding principle that animates this book is that the student experience and successful learning outcomes are paramount, and governs discussion of course design, pedagogy, the use of multimedia and technological advances, as well as the use of different forms of interactive exercises and group assignments. The succinct, informally written chapters offer ideas and means to apply theory to the daily work of instructional design and cover the four key components that drive thus work in higher education: Defining the scope and main design approaches of our work Building trust with the faculty we work with Applying frameworks of how people learn Mastering common online instructional practices

Merging the Instructional Design Process with Learner-Centered Theory brings together the innovations of two previously divided processes - learning design strategies/theories and instructional systems development - into a new introductory textbook. Using a holistic rather than fragmented approach that includes top-level, mid-level, and lower-level design, this book provides guidance for major topics such as non-instructional interventions, just-in-time analysis, rapid-prototype approaches, and learner-centered, project-based, anytime-anywhere instruction. Informed by the authors' considerable experience and leadership throughout dramatic shifts in today's learning landscape, this book offers the next generation of instructional designers a fresh perspective that synthesizes and pushes beyond the basics of design and development.

"What does a new instructional designer need to know to find her or his feet when working with faculty to create online classes?" This is a practical handbook for established and aspiring instructional designers in higher education, readers who may also be identified by such professional titles as educational developer, instructional technologist, or online learning specialist. Jerod Quinn, together with a team of experienced instructional designers who have worked extensively with a wide range of faculty on a multiplicity of online courses across all types of institutions, offer key guiding principles, insights and advice on how to develop productive and collegial partnerships with faculty to deliver courses that engage students and promote enduring learning. Designing and developing online classes for higher education takes a combination of pedagogical knowledge, the ability to build trust with faculty, familiarity with frameworks on how people learn, understanding of accessibility and inclusion, and technical skills to leverage a learning management system into an educational experience. Coming from diverse backgrounds, few instructional designers enter academia well versed in all of these aspects of creating online classes. This book provides the foundation on which instructional designers can build their careers. The guiding principle that animates this book is that the student experience and successful learning outcomes are paramount, and governs discussion of course design, pedagogy, the use of multimedia and technological advances, as well as the use of different forms of interactive exercises and group assignments. The succinct, informally written chapters offer ideas and means to apply theory to the daily work of instructional design and cover the four key components that drive thus work in higher education: Defining the scope and main design approaches of our work Building trust with the faculty we work with Applying frameworks of how people learn Mastering common online instructional practices

Learn how to keep the rigor and motivation alive in a remote learning or hybrid K-12 classroom. In this essential book, bestselling author Barbara R. Blackburn shares frameworks and tools to help you move online without compromising the rigor of your instruction. You'll learn... how to create a remote culture of high expectations; how to scaffold so students reach higher levels of learning; how to have students collaborate in different settings; and how to provide virtual feedback and deliver effective assessments. You'll also discover how common activities, such as virtual field trips, can lack rigor without critical thinking prompts. The book provides practical strategies you can implement immediately to help all students reach higher levels of success.

For busy academics of all subject disciplines who have been asked to convert their face to face teaching into an online model of delivery. The chapters present the steps that need to be taken to design and facilitate a high quality learning experience for students using a variety of modes and media. Each chapter includes a task and a checklist designed to help the reader through the transition process, covering such aspects as tools, structure, presentations, live and 'on demand' teaching, assessment, ideas for activities, inclusion and trouble-shooting.

Needs Assessment for Learning and Performance offers comprehensive coverage of the knowledge and skills needed to develop and conduct needs assessments and to analyze, interpret, and communicate results to clients and organizations. Though critical to planning any performance improvement system, needs assessments can feel abstract and vague to students who have not yet managed the process in a professional setting. This first-of-its-kind textbook uses a variety of real-world examples to connect major theories and models to effective principles for practice. Each chapter offers guiding questions, key terms and concepts, recommended readings, and case studies illustrating how needs assessment training can be applied. Graduate students and researchers of instructional design, human resources, performance improvement, program evaluation, and other programs will find this volume relevant to a range of academic and organizational contexts.

Needs Assessment for Learning and Performance offers comprehensive coverage of the knowledge and skills needed to develop and conduct needs assessments and to analyze, interpret, and communicate results to clients and organizations. Though critical to planning any performance improvement system, needs assessments can feel abstract and vague to students who have not yet managed the process in a professional setting. This first-of-its-kind textbook uses a variety of real-world examples to connect major theories and models to effective principles for practice. Each chapter offers guiding questions, key terms and concepts, recommended readings, and case studies illustrating how needs assessment training can be applied. Graduate students and researchers of instructional design, human resources, performance improvement, program evaluation, and other programs will find this volume relevant to a range of academic and organizational contexts.

The movement away from teacher-centered toward student-centered learning and teaching (SCLT) in higher education has intensified in recent decades. Yet in spite of its widespread use in literature and policy documents, SCLT remains somewhat poorly defined, under-researched and often misinterpreted. Against this backdrop, The Routledge International Handbook of Student-Centered Learning and Teaching in Higher Education offers an original, comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the fundamentals of SCLT and its discussion and applications in policy and practice. Bringing together 71 scholars from around the world, the volume offers a most comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the fundamentals of SCLT and its applications in policy and practice; provides beacons of good practice that display how instructional expertise manifests itself in the quality of classroom learning and teaching and in the institutional environment; and critically discusses challenges, new directions and developments in pedagogy, course and study program design, classroom practice, assessment and institutional policy. An essential resource, this book uniquely offers researchers, educators and students in higher education new insights into the roots, latest thinking, practices and evidence surrounding SCLT in higher education.