The integration of information and communication technologies in education is unavoidable, as an increasing percentage of educators embrace modern technology, others are faced with the decision to reevaluate their own pedagogical practices or become obsolete. To meet the needs of students, one must first define what stipulates a successful K-12 student, the best practices of online classrooms, the warning signs for low-performing students, and how to engage web-based students. Optimizing K-12 Education through Online and Blended Learning addresses the models, support, cases, and delivery of K-12 online education. Seeking to further the conversation about the most effective ways to integrate ICT into the classroom, this publication presents theoretical frameworks to support educators and administrators. This book is an essential collection of research for teachers, administrators, students of education, IT professionals, developers, and policy makers.

This timely collection explores the role of digital technology in language education and assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. It recognises the unique pressures which the COVID-19 pandemic placed on assessment in language education, and examines the forced shift in assessment strategies to go online, the existing shortfalls, as well as unique affordances of technology-assisted L2 assessment. By showcasing international examples of successful digital and computer-assisted proficiency and skills testing, the volume addresses theoretical and practical concerns relating to test validity, reliability, ethics, and student experience in a range of testing contexts. Particular attention is given to identifying lessons and implications for future research and practice, and the challenges of implementing unplanned computer-assisted language assessment during a crisis. Insightfully unpacking the 'lessons learned' from COVID and its impact on the acceleration of the shift towards online course and assessment delivery, it offers important guidelines for navigating assessment in different instructional settings in times of crisis. It will appeal to scholars, researchers, educators, and faculty with interests in educational measurement, digital education and technology, and language assessment and testing.

This book explores the state of open education in terms of self-directed learning on the African continent. Through a combination of conceptual, systematic literature review and empirical chapters, readers will get a research-based impression of these aspects in this area. Apart from presenting existing wider trends regarding open education, this book also reports on effective open practices in support of self-directed learning.

Digital Futures for Learning offers a methodological and pedagogical way forward for researchers and educators who want to work imaginatively with "what's next" in higher education and informal learning. Today's debates around technological transformations of social, cultural and educational spaces and practices need to be informed by a more critical understanding of how visions of the future of learning are made and used, and how they come to be seen as desirable, inevitable or impossible. Integrating innovative methods, key research findings, engaging theories and creative pedagogies across multiple disciplines, this book argues for and explores speculative approaches to researching and analysing post-compulsory and informal learning futures - where we are, where we might go and how to get there.

* Explores the emergent movement away from transmission based to coaching based learning * Champions education as a dialogic process between learners and coaches * Strives for a training model in which the motivated learner embraces challenges and learns to assess his/her own level, * Includes data and examples from schools in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

Foundations of Educational Technology offers a fresh, interdisciplinary, problem-centered approach to educational technology, learning design, and instructional systems development. As the implementation of online, blended, hybrid, mobile, open, and adaptive learning systems rapidly expands, emerging tools such as learning analytics, artificial intelligence, mixed realities, serious games, and micro-credentialing are promising more complex and personalized learning experiences. This book provides faculty and graduate students with a conceptual, empirical, and practical basis for the effective use of these systems across contexts, integrating essential theories from the fields of human performance, learning and development, information and communications, and instructional design. Key additions to this revised and expanded third edition include coverage of the latest learning technologies, research from educational neuroscience, discussions about security and privacy, new attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion, updated activities, support materials, references, and more.

Home Schooling and Home Education provides an original account of home education and examines ways in which the discourses of home education are understood and contextualised in different countries, such as the UK and USA. By exploring home education in the global and local context of traditional schooling, the book bridges a much-needed gap in educational and social scientific research. The authors explore home education from two related perspectives: firstly how and why home education is accessed by different social groups; and secondly, how these groups are perceived as home educators. The book draws upon empirical case study research with those who use home education to address issues of inequality, difference and inclusion, before offering suggestions for viable policy shifts in this area, as well as broadening understandings of risk and marginality. It engages and initiates debates about alternatives to the standard schooling model within a critical sociological context. The scholarly emphasis and original nature of Home Schooling and Home Education makes this essential reading for academics and postgraduate researchers in the fields of education and sociology, as well as for educational policymakers.

The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Education identifies and confronts key ethical issues generated over years of AI research, development, and deployment in learning contexts. Adaptive, automated, and data-driven education systems are increasingly being implemented in universities, schools, and corporate training worldwide, but the ethical consequences of engaging with these technologies remain unexplored. Featuring expert perspectives from inside and outside the AIED scholarly community, this book provides AI researchers, learning scientists, educational technologists, and others with questions, frameworks, guidelines, policies, and regulations to ensure the positive impact of artificial intelligence in learning.

Discover the Diversity of Homeschooling
Confused and intimidated by the complexities of homeschooling, many parents assume it could never work for them. Now an updated edition of "So You're Thinking About Home Schooling" by Lisa Whelchel--herself a homeschooling mother of three--introduces to readers fifteen composite portraits of homeschooling families who show how every family can successfully face the unique challenges of its situation. The story-based approach deals with common questions of time management, teaching weaknesses, and outside responsibilities, as well as children's age variations, social and sports involvement, learning disabilities, and boredom. Seeing a wide variety of homeschooling families in action gives parents the information and confidence they need to make their own decisions about home-based education. Includes a new chapter from Lisa and an all-new resource guide with recommendations from real-life homeschooling families

"I'm Thinking About Homeschooling"
You're also probably thinking, "But can I really teach my children? Where do I start? What if I need to work outside the home? Must I have twelve children, raise goats, and bake my own bread? And what about socialization? "
I could tell you the answers to these questions, but I would rather show you. Beginning with my own, I want to introduce you to fifteen families in fifteen unique situations who have all chosen to homeschool for different reasons, using a variety of learning methods. So... let's rap lightly on the homeschool door and peek inside before we decide if we are ready to move in

Story Behind the Book
"My hope is that by the end of the book, and a stroll through the neighborhood, you will feel more confident as you identify a family situation and teaching method that resonates with your personality and philosophy of education. From there, you can simply look to the end of each chapter to find a sample schedule for the homsechool day and list of curriculum suggestions for that particular teaching method."
--Lisa
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Deciding if homeschooling is right for your family just got easier with this warm, entertaining, information-packed portrayal of its flexibility, diversity, triumphs, and challenges. "Grab a cup of tea and enjoy " "
--Linda Dobson, author of "The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child"

The integration of technology into educational environments has become more prominent over the years. The combination of technology and face-to-face interaction with instructors allows for a thorough, more valuable educational experience. Intelligent Web-Based English Instruction in Middle Schools addresses the concerns associated with the use of computer-based systems in teaching English as a foreign language, proving the effectiveness and efficiency of technological integration in modern classrooms. Highlighting cases based on current practices in four diverse schools, this book is a vital reference source for practitioners and researchers interested in the educational benefits of educational technologies in language acquisition.

This book chronicles a 10-year introduction of blended learning into the delivery at a leading technological university, with a longstanding tradition of technology-enabled teaching and learning, and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Hence, both teachers and students were familiar with the idea of online courses. Despite this, the longitudinal experiment did not proceed as expected. Though few technical problems, it required behavioural changes from teachers and learners, thus unearthing a host of socio-technical issues, challenges, and conundrums. With the undercurrent of design ideals such as "tech for good", any industrial sector must examine whether digital platforms are credible substitutes or at best complementary. In this era of Industry 4.0, higher education, like any other industry, should not be about the creative destruction of what we value in universities, but their digital transformation. The book concludes with an agenda for large, repeatable Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to validate digital platforms that could fulfil the aspirations of the key stakeholder groups - students, faculty, and regulators as well as delving into the role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as surrogates for "fees-free" higher education and whether the design of such a HiEd 4.0 platform is even a credible proposition. Specifically, the book examines the data-driven evidence within a design-based research methodology to present outcomes of two alternative instructional designs evaluated - traditional lecturing and blended learning. Based on the research findings and statistical analysis, it concludes that the inexorable shift to online delivery of education must be guided by informed educational management and innovation.

Online learning has been one of the fastest growing areas of educational technology over the past few decades. With a rise of new online colleges and universities due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, as well as the adoption of online learning in traditional institutions, the adoption rate of online learning has moved from an optional service to a mandatory one, requiring higher educational institutions to completely rethink the nature of teaching and learning and how it can be provisioned to meet the needs of students, institutions, and society. This volume considers the technology implementation, faculty training and professional development, and adjustments of university and departmental budgeting required to meet this seismic and momentous challenge. Focusing on effective practices in online teaching, this volume of Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning begins with discussing the use of videos in online teaching and then pivots to consider methods for supporting and managing faculty who teach online. From there, authors focus in on different aspects of the online learning experience including lurking, student engagement, cultural implications for online instruction. Understanding that the greatest challenge for higher education institutions has been not so much how to implement online teaching and learning, but how to do it effectively, the collection closes with an analysis of online course syllabi and effective methods for facilitating tutoring online.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems in E-Learning Environments: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation presents the e-learning community with innovative research concerning the background of intelligent tutoring systems in the new educational era. This scholarly reference provides researchers and e-system developers with a survey of the latest trends and practical experiences in student modeling.

Drawing from many disciplinary areas, this edited volume explores how the Coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately harmed vulnerable and marginalized people in the U.S. Chapters address harm to people of color that exacerbated structural racism and harm to low-wage workers that highlighted existing inequalities. In addition, the volume provides strategies that have been successful in mitigating these harms and recommendations for a postpandemic more peaceful and just future.

The use of virtual world platforms is still in its infancy and many educators are wondering how best to use such platforms as a complement to their teaching and facilitation strategies. Targeted at educators and researchers wishing to use virtual environments in their teaching practice "Higher Education in Second Life" provides practical advice specifically for educators in higher education. This book focuses on the use of Second Life - a free, readily-accessible virtual world which is increasingly being used for both formal and informal learning. "Second Life" provides a platform where people can meet and collaborate, teach and learn, play roles and live through experiences. For the experienced this publication provides case studies and ideas for implementing effective learning experiences, for the novice it offers suggestions for overcoming potential barriers and joining the community of 'new frontier educators'. It has a broad appeal to educators from a wide range of disciplines, from the academic community, to training and development managers, and companies with corporate universities looking to reduce their costs through the use of technology and distance learning.

Foundations of Embodied Learning advances learning, instruction, and the design of educational technologies by rethinking the learner as an integrated system of mind, body, and environment. Body-based processes-direct physical, social, and environmental interactions-are constantly mediating intellectual performance, sensory stimulation, communication abilities, and other conditions of learning. This book's coherent, evidence-based framework articulates principles of grounded and embodied learning for design and its implications for curriculum, classroom instruction, and student formative and summative assessment for scholars and graduate students of educational psychology, instructional design and technology, cognitive science, the learning sciences, and beyond.

Is heaven real? What is it really like? Award-winning author Lee Strobel tracked down the evidence and provides answers to the questions children 8-12 ask about both heaven and hell in this young reader's edition of The Case for Heaven that is perfect for teaching your child about the biblical evidence for eternal life. Every child wonders at some point what happens after we die-especially after the loss of a pet, a grandparent, or another loved one. Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) understands your child's questions, and presents a kid-friendly examination of the evidence for heaven, packed full of research that: Helps readers 8-12 understand the biblical, historical, and contemporary facts about the afterlife in a logical and easy-to-follow way Explains what happens after we die Explores what heaven and hell are really like, based on tested biblical truths Presents what it means to have eternal life The Case for Heaven Young Reader's Edition is perfect for: Sunday school and homeschool education Comforting kids 8-12 following a death, and reassuring those experiencing grief Unpacking biblical principles in a way anyone can understand By the end of this book, your child will have a clearer understanding of the afterlife, as well as peace knowing the Christian view of heaven is sound. Don't forget to also check out The Case for Christ Young Reader's Edition!