Transactional Distance and Adaptive Learning takes a fresh look at one of the pioneering educational theories that accommodates the impact of information and communications technologies in learning. The theory of transactional distance (TTD) provides a distinct analytical and planning foundation for educators to conduct an overarching inquiry into transitioning from mass instructional and management systems in higher education to dynamic and transformational futures that focus on each individual learner. Based on the TTD, this pragmatic approach offers instructors, administrators, students, and other stakeholders a comprehensive planning method to assess the current state of their instructional, learning, and management practices and to develop alternative models to prescribe future improvements in their institution. This complex, self-organized, and adaptive method includes current and emergent properties of: hardware, software, and telecommunications systems that allow faculty, students, and administrators to communicate; instructional and curriculum systems that provide teaching and learning environments for faculty and students; and management, societal, and global systems that influence how institutions are supported, funded, and managed.

This handbook provides a comprehensive compendium of research in all aspects of mobile learning, one of the most significant developments in the field of education. For more than a decade, researchers and practitioners have been exploring this area of study as the growing popularity of smartphones, tablets, and other such devices, as well as the increasingly sophisticated applications for these devices, has allowed educators to accomodate and support an increasingly mobile society. This handbook provides the first authoritative account of the theory and research that underlies mobile learning, while also exemplifying models of current and future practice.

Digital Technologies and Change in Education provides professionals and other leaders with a road map of the processes of change for teachers, schools, universities, and educational systems, including extensive case studies and evidence that clarify the benefits and challenges of digital technologies in education. To this end, Niki Davis offers a theoretical framework-the Arena-as a tool for exploration and analysis of our own experiences of teaching, leadership, and research. With a blend of local, regional, and global examples from all sectors of education, this book allows readers to move past the potentially misleading glitter of new technologies and into the co-evolving ecologies that make up education and training locally and globally.

Published in Association with the Online Learning Consortium E-learning has entered the mainstream of higher education as an agent of strategic change. This transformation requires e-learning leaders to develop the skills to innovate successfully at a time of heightened competition and rapid technological change. In this environment e-learning leaders must act within their institutions as much more than technology managers and assume the prime role of helping their institutions understand the opportunities that e-learning presents for faculty, for students, and for client organizations in the community. They need to prepare to participate in policy development around these opportunities. They must understand the multiple dimensions of practice in the field-operations, administration, and working within the complex culture of a higher education institution-while also functioning as scholars of the field who can bring the best ideas from other institutions to help shape policy around e-learning. The second edition builds on the success of the first edition and presents both the collective expertise of veterans who have pioneered the field for 20 years, and of a rising generation of e-learning leaders that are transforming online programs at their own institutions, to address these challenges. This edition has been updated and expanded to reflect the increasing complexity of the field. New and updated topics include: The evolving role of the chief online learning officer Issues of diversity as more women and minorities enter leadership roles in the field The increasing role of learning analytics and data-based decisions The potential tensions involved in cohort-based versus individualized instruction. The increasing need for faculty professional development The affordances of cloud computing, adaptive learning, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and mobile learning to the field The open educational resources movement and the implications for institutional policy and practice The challenges of an increasingly complex competitive environment Accessibility There are few comparable positions in higher education than that of e-learning leaders who work across multiple academic and support units and whose work fundamentally affects the institution as a whole. This volume is written for them.

Culture, Learning, and Technology: Research and Practice provides readers with an overview of the research on culture, learning, and technology (CLT) and introduces the concept of culture-related theoretical frameworks. In 13 chapters, the book explores the theoretical and philosophical views of CLT, presents research studies that examine various aspects of CLT, and showcases projects that employ best practices in CLT. Written for researchers and students in the fields of Educational Technology, Instructional Design, and the Learning Sciences, this volume represents a broad conceptualization of CLT and encompasses a variety of settings. As the first significant collection of research in this emerging field of study, Culture, Learning, and Technology overflows with new insights into the increasing role of technology use across all levels of education.

With e-learning technologies evolving and expanding at high rates, organizations and institutions around the world are integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other open educational resources (OERs). MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South explores the initiatives that are leveraging these flexible systems to educate, train, and empower populations previously denied access to such opportunities. Featuring contributors leading efforts in rapidly changing nations and regions, this wide-ranging collection grapples with accreditation, credentialing, quality standards, innovative assessment, learner motivation and attrition, and numerous other issues. The provocative narratives curated in this volume demonstrate how MOOCs and OER can be effectively designed and implemented in vastly different ways in particular settings, as detailed by experts from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific/Oceania, and the Caribbean. This comprehensive text is an essential resource for policy makers, instructional designers, practitioners, administrators, and other MOOC and OER community stakeholders.

From New York Times bestselling author and news anchor Raymond Arroyo comes the first book in the Turnabout Tales series-a picture book biography of one of America's most famous inventors, Thomas Alva Edison, and a story about how a small spark can create a big light. No one thought much of young Thomas Alva Edison. He couldn't focus at school and caused trouble around the house. But where others saw a distracted and mischievous boy, his mother saw imagination and curiosity. At only seven years old, Al, as he was called as a young child, was educated by his mother, who oversaw his rigorous at-home education while also allowing him great freedom to explore and dream. Those early years of encouragement and loving guidance formed the man who would apply those valuable lessons as well as his rich imagination to inventing the phonograph, the motion picture camera, the light bulb, and more. In The Unexpected Light of Thomas Alva Edison readers will: meet the larger-than-life personality of Thomas Alva Edison hear an inspiring tale of an underdog overcoming all the odds learn about the power of curiosity and imagination take a carefully researched and actively told romp through history The Unexpected Light of Thomas Alva Edison includes: an annotated list of resources and suggested reading realistic illustrations by artist Kristina Gehrmann an author's note by Raymond Arroyo, the author of the bestselling The Spider Who Saved Christmas The Turnabout Tales series highlights little-known yet fascinating stories of historical figures who went from underdog to hero, and the adults who inspired them to be true to themselves and do big things that changed the world.

Countries in the Arab Gulf are currently experiencing some of the fastest rates of growth and progress in the world. Transforming Education in the Gulf Region argues that education systems in these countries need to use innovative pedagogies and best practices in teaching and learning to educate all citizens so that they obtain the knowledge and skills to be productive members of society. This book will contribute to the transformation of education in the Gulf countries by suggesting best practices, research outcomes and case studies from experts in the Gulf region. It has become increasingly evident in recent years that Gulf countries need to use emerging learning technologies to cater for the needs of learners and to provide maximum flexibility in learning. There is also a growing practical need to use electronic technologies, since learning materials are more widely available in electronic formats than in paper-based formats. This book focuses on the role of emerging technologies and innovative pedagogies in transforming education in six Gulf countries in the region (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain). With contributions from experts around the world, the book argues that the time is right for Arab Gulf countries to make the transition to electronic learning and that they need to implement the outcomes of research and adopt best practices to transform and revolutionize education to prepare learners in the Gulf region for the 21st Century. The book should be of interest to academics and students in the areas of higher education, learning technologies, education policy and education reform. It should also be of interest to educators and policymakers in the Gulf region.

Mobile learning (m-learning) can be seen as learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices such as handheld computers, smart devices (e.g. Smartphone and tablets), notebooks, mobile phones, etc. It reflects how society and its institutions can accommodate and support an increasingly mobile population. M-learning is convenient in that it is accessible from virtually anywhere and at any time. Like other forms of e-learning, m-learning is also collaborative. Sharing is almost instantaneous among everyone using the same content, which leads to the reception of instant feedback and tips. This highly active process can help in improving students' performance and motivation. M-learning also brings strong portability by replacing books and notes with mobile devices, filled with tailored learning content. The challenges that face e-learning and m-learning systems come from the growth rate of students, education contents, services that can be offered and resources made available. These challenges include: optimising resource computation, storage and communication requirements, dealing with dynamic concurrency requests, etc. Such challenges highlight the necessity of the use of a platform that meets scalable demands and cost control. This environment is cloud computing. The cloud computing environment rises as a natural platform to provide support to e- and m-learning systems. The book contains a variety of relevant topics. The first chapter gives an overall view on mobile learning. The next three chapters discuss the psychological issues related to mobile learning and learners' motivation in addition to the contextualisation of mobile learners. The following two chapters introduce some theoretical framework for mobile learning and its cloud-based applications in addition to a mobile-based recommendation system. The last four chapters focus on case studies of mobile learning on natural language education.

This is an essential resource for anyone designing or facilitating online learning. It introduces an easy, practical model (R2D2: read, reflect, display, and do) that will show online educators how to deliver content in ways that benefit all types of learners (visual, auditory, observational, and kinesthetic) from a wide variety of backgrounds and skill levels. With a solid theoretical foundation and concrete guidance and examples, this book can be used as a handy reference, a professional guidebook, or a course text. The authors intend for it to help online instructors and instructional designers as well as those contemplating such positions design, develop, and deliver learner-centered online instruction.

Empowering Online Learning has 25 unique activities for each phase of the R2D2 model as well as summary tables helping you pick and choose what to use whenever you need it. Each activity lists a description, skills addressed, advice, variations, cost, risk, and time index, and much more.

This title is loaded with current information about emerging technologies (e.g., simulations, podcasts, wikis, blogs) and the Web 2.0. With a useful model, more than 100 online activities, the latest information on emerging technologies, hundreds of quickly accessible Web resources, and relevance to all types and ages of learners--Empowering Online Learning is a book whose time has come.

In recent years, digital badging systems have become a credible means through which learners can establish portfolios and articulate knowledge and skills for both academic and professional settings. Digital Badges in Education provides the first comprehensive overview of this emerging tool. A digital badge is an online-based visual representation that uses detailed metadata to signify learners' specific achievements and credentials in a variety of subjects across K-12 classrooms, higher education, and workplace learning. Focusing on learning design, assessment, and concrete cases in various contexts, this book explores the necessary components of badging systems, their functions and value, and the possible problems they face. These twenty-five chapters illustrate a range of successful applications of digital badges to address a broad spectrum of learning challenges and to help readers formulate solutions during the development of their digital badges learning projects.

Social media and online social networks are expected to transform academia and the scholarly process. However, intense emotions permeate scholars' online practices and an increasing number of academics are finding themselves in trouble in networked spaces. In reality, the evidence describing scholars' experiences in online social networks and social media is fragmented. As a result, the ways that social media are used and experienced by scholars are not well understood. Social Media in Academia examines the day-to-day realities of social media and online networks for scholarship and illuminates the opportunities, tensions, conflicts, and inequities that exist in these spaces. The book concludes with suggestions for institutions, individual scholars, and doctoral students regarding online participation, social media, networked practice, and public scholarship.

Social media and online social networks are expected to transform academia and the scholarly process. However, intense emotions permeate scholars' online practices and an increasing number of academics are finding themselves in trouble in networked spaces. In reality, the evidence describing scholars' experiences in online social networks and social media is fragmented. As a result, the ways that social media are used and experienced by scholars are not well understood. Social Media in Academia examines the day-to-day realities of social media and online networks for scholarship and illuminates the opportunities, tensions, conflicts, and inequities that exist in these spaces. The book concludes with suggestions for institutions, individual scholars, and doctoral students regarding online participation, social media, networked practice, and public scholarship.

Thinking about teaching in educational terms has become increasingly difficult because of the conceptions of higher education that predominate in both policy and public debate. Framing the benefits of higher education simply as an economic good poses particular difficulties for making educational sense of teaching. Moreover, the assumptions about social mobility, usefulness, and the economic advantages of higher education, upon which these conceptions are based, can no longer be taken for granted. The chapters in this book all wrestle with understandings of education and teaching experiences in changing global, national, and institutional contexts. They explore questions of difference and privilege, the social transformation of teaching through transforming teachers, contestations of global citizenship and interculturality, learning and sensibilities of self-in-the-world, the relationship between programme content and student decision-making, divergent conceptions of learning in international education, and subject-centred approaches to embodied teaching. The book considers the value of disciplinary tools of analysis in addressing contextual challenges in developing societies, connections between pedagogies, autonomy and intercultural classrooms, and ways of countering the marketization of higher education through online teaching communities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Teaching in Higher Education.

The companion to The Call of the Wild + Free: styled in the lush aesthetic of the Wild + Free brand, a four-color book offering crafts, activities, and essays, that parents, educators, and caregivers can use to inspire their children. Wild + Free Handcrafts is a beautiful, four-color resource book for parents, educators, and caregivers to enjoy doing hands-on activities with kids. A handcraft engages one's hands, requires a level of learned skill, encourages children to do their best work, and produces an end product that is useful. It has been used in homeschool settings for decades as one way to encourage them to work with their hands and discover a skillful craft they love to practice. It also is a great way for traditionally educated kids who are home for the summer, or in afterschool programs, or with their families on the weekends, to do fun activities that will stimulate their imaginations and creativity. This book will feature crafts such as: Felted acorns Paper beads Nature wreaths Cocoa mint lip balm Woven willow hearts Finger knit bracelets Eco-dyed kitchen towels Fairy tale treehouse Flower crowns Bug hotel With the same lush photography as The Call of the Wild + Free, this book includes step-by-step pictures that show parents how to do the craft, and essays on the usefulness and purpose of handcrafts as a tool to spark children's curiosity and wonder.

Conducting Research in Online and Blended Learning Environments examines various perspectives, issues, and methods for conducting research in online and blended learning environments. The book provides in-depth examinations of the perspectives and issues that anyone considering research in online or blended learning will find insightful as they plan their own inquiries. Grounded in educational research theory, this is invaluable to both the serious researcher as well as the occasional evaluator. Conducting Research in Online and Blended Learning Environments provides comprehensive, useful information on research paradigms, methodologies, and methods that should be considered in designing and conducting studies in this area. Examples of the most respected research in the field enhance each chapter's presentation.

This unique and unforgettable picture book uses rock art and simple text to tell the story of the miracle of Christmas-the birth of Jesus. Through the arrangement of a few rocks and powerful words directly from Scripture, the entire Christmas story is told in A Savior Is Born: Rocks Tell the Story of Christmas. Readers will be intrigued by the nature-filled artwork that shows the birth of Jesus and the celebration of the very first Christmas in a powerful and unique way. A Savior Is Born is perfect for: Children ages 4-8 Sharing the true story of Christmas in a new way Advent and Christmas gift-giving Inspiring creative art projects using natural items such as rocks, sticks, and leaves This unique holiday picture book: sparkles and shines with foil, embossing, and spot gloss on the cover features beautiful photographs of the rock art uses the Gospel of Luke from the NKJV translation to tell the Christmas story If you enjoy A Savior Is Born, check out He Is Risen: Rocks Tell the Story of Easter.

Best Practices for Flipping the College Classroom provides a comprehensive overview and systematic assessment of the flipped classroom methodology in higher education. The book: Reviews various pedagogical theories that inform flipped classroom practice and provides a brief history from its inception in K-12 to its implementation in higher education. Offers well-developed and instructive case studies chronicling the implementation of flipped strategies across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, physical environments, and student populations. Provides insights and suggestions to instructors in higher education for the implementation of flipped strategies in their own courses by offering reflections on learning outcomes and student success in flipped classrooms compared with those employing more traditional models and by describing relevant technologies. Discusses observations and analyses of student perceptions of flipping the classroom as well as student practices and behaviors particular to flipped classroom models. Illuminates several research models and approaches for use and modification by teacher-scholars interested in building on this research on their own campuses. The evidence presented on the flipped classroom methodology by its supporters and detractors at all levels has thus far been almost entirely anecdotal or otherwise unreliable. Best Practices for Flipping the College Classroom is the first book to provide faculty members nuanced qualitative and quantitative evidence that both supports and challenges the value of flipping the college classroom.

Learning for the Age of Artificial Intelligence is a richly informed argument for curricular change to educate people towards achievement and success as intelligent machine systems proliferate. Describing eight key competences, this comprehensive volume prepares educational leaders, designers, researchers, and policymakers to effectively rethink the knowledge, skills, and environments that students need to thrive and avoid displacement in today’s technology-enhanced culture and workforce. Essential insights into school operations, machine learning, complex training and assessment, and economic challenges round out this cogent, relatable discussion about the imminent evolution of the education sector.

Table of Contents

1. Overview

2. Human Life in the Age of Smart Machines

3. Competence Needed to Work in the Age of Smart Machines

4. Public Schools Today and What Is Missing

Introduction

Goals of Education in the Past

Goals for Education in the Future

5. Schooling: Curriculum and How It Should Change

Transition: Living in Two School Worlds at Once

The Ability to Learn Efficiently and Quickly

Socioemotional Skills

Skills of Civic Participation

Ability to Evaluate Information

Facility in Collaborative Activity

Management of Personal Finances

Confidence

Physical and Mental Fitness

6. Where Can Children Learn All This?

The Importance of Redundancy

7. Some Personal Reflections

8. How Do Schools Evolve?

Dealing with the History of American Education

Schooling in the Age of Smart Machines

9. Apprenticeships and Similar Experiences

Traditional Apprenticeships

Porous Career Paths

Learning the Eight Competences In and Out of School

Deepening the Subject-Matter Curriculum

An Example of In-School Focus on the Eight Competences

Out-of-School Opportunities for Every Child

10. Creating a "Third Place"

11. A Few Possible Ways to Address the Eight Competences

Stories

Informal Apprenticeships

Scaffolded Real Tasks

Scaffolded Simulated Tasks

Games

Clubs and Sports

Governance Structures

12. Learning to Teach the Eight Competences

Teachers

Parents, Political Leaders, and Business Leaders

"Third Places"

13. Assessing Learning of the Eight Competences

The Tyranny of Assessments

Tests That Do Good without Causing Problems

Stealth Assessment

Structured Social Moderation and the Use of Rubrics

Simulation-Based Assessment

A Choice: Continuous Improvement for All Children or Strong Public Control

Transparency

14. Concluding Observations

Preserving Democracy

The Value of Redundancy

The Role of Charters

Lifelong learning

Needed Data Systems

Investing in Learning Opportunities

It Is Time to Act

Other Countries Are Pursuing These Goals

A Possible Path toward a Transformed Educational System

We Are a Society that Can Do Hard Things

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Thinking Collaboratively is a theoretical and practical guide to thinking and learning in deep and meaningful ways within purposeful communities of inquiry. Critical thinking has long been recognized as an important educational goal but, until now, has largely been conceived and operationalized as an individual attitude and ability. Increasingly, however, a more relevant and complete cognitive construct has been emerging: thinking collaboratively. Thinking collaboratively is the means to inquire, test, and apply new understandings, and to make sense of the information that bombards us continuously. In short, thinking collaboratively is required to flourish in our highly connected world and, in this book based on more than a decade of research, Garrison provides an essential introduction to this vital concept.

As colleges and universities in North America increasingly identify "internationalization" as a key component of the institution's mission and strategic plans, faculty and administrators are charged with finding innovative and cost-effective approaches to meet those goals. This volume provides an overview and concrete examples of globally-networked learning environments across the humanities from the perspective of all of their stakeholders: teachers, instructional designers, administrators and students. By addressing logistical, technical, pedagogical and intercultural aspects of globally-networked teaching, this volume offers a unique perspective on this form of curricular innovation through internationalization. It speaks directly to the ways in which new technologies and pedagogies can promote humanities-based learning for the future and with it the broader essential skills of intercultural sensitivity, communication and collaboration, and critical thinking.