e-Learning and Social Networking Handbook


Book Description

Digital resources—from games to blogs to social networking—are strong forces in education today, but how can those tools be effectively utilized by educators and course designers in higher education? Filled with practical advice, the e-Learning and Social Networking Handbook, Second Edition provides a comprehensive overview of online learning tools and offers strategies for using these resources in course design, highlighting some of the most relevant and challenging topics in e-learning today, including: • using social networking for educational purposes • designing for a distributed environment • strengths and weaknesses of delivering content in various formats (text, audio, and video) • potential constraints on course design • implementation, evaluation, induction, and training Illustrated by short, descriptive case studies, the e-Learning and Social Networking Handbook, Second Edition also directs the reader to useful resources that will enhance their course design. This helpful guide will be invaluable to all those involved in the design and delivery of online learning in higher education.




Urbanismo Regenerativo


Book Description

We are living in a critical moment, a reality marked by environmental and socio-economic limits that requires innovative and realistic forms of action and planning. This is what regenerative urbanism proposes, a new approach based on utopian pragmatism that seeks to restore balance to the urban territory by designing systems that allow it to adapt and transform. It is a methodology that defines models that do not consume available resources, but rather generate new ones that ensure compatibility between economic and social prosperity and nature. Santander, Hábitat Futuro (Santander, Future Habitat) is the city model created from this methodology, a proposal for the transformation of this city for the year 2055. It is an open model based on innovation and citizen participation that prepares and adapts the territory for the different scenarios to come. Santander, Habitat Futuro is a guide that directs the commitment of the different social, economic and political agents towards a common goal: to achieve a circular, sustainable, resilient, vertebrate, prosperous, vital and inclusive city. A model that, due to its innovative nature, can serve as an example to other intermediate cities around the world.




The Power of Geographical Thinking


Book Description

In this book geography educators from around the globe discuss their research into the power of geographical thinking and consider successful strategies to implement, improve and advance geography education in research and practice. It addresses key topics in geography education, such as multicultural competence, the role of teachers, the geography curriculum, spatial thinking, geographic information systems, geocapabilities, and climate change. At a global level the contributors and editors bring together the most advanced collection of research and discussion surrounding issues in geography education. The book will be of interest to geography education researchers worldwide, including academics at university and teachers in schools, as well as professional geographers with an interest in education.




Engaging People in Sustainability


Book Description

The book is based on the exchange of professional experiences which featured in an IUCN CEC workshop in August 2002. Practitioners from around the world shared their models of good practice and explored the challenges involved in engaging people in sustainability. The difficulties facing practitioners vary between country and context but some challenges are universal: A lack of clarity in communicating what is meant by sustainable development; An ambition to educate everyone to bring about a global citizenship; Social, organisational or institutional factors constrain change to sustainable development, yet there is an emphasis on formal education, and community educators do not receive the same support; A lack of balance in addressing the integration of environmental, social and economic dimensions leading to an interpretation that ESD is mainly about environment and conservation issues; New learning (rather than teaching) approaches are called for to promote more debate in society. Yet, few are trained or experienced in these new approaches. Practitioners need support to explore new ways of promoting learning. [Foreword, ed].




Toward a Coherent Curriculum


Book Description




The Failure of Environmental Education (And How We Can Fix It)


Book Description

“The hope for the future depends on teaching current and future students the analytical and critical thinking skills for dealing with the most critical problems. My own hope is for this book to be read by everyone, even those outside the field of environmental education. Read this book, read it again, share it widely, and do something - anything - to help our needy and wounded planet."-Marc Bekoff, author of The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Expanding Our Compassion Footprint "Saylan and Blumstein provide a compelling vision of what can be, and what should be, if we have the courage to open our eyes and the boldness to act.”-Peter Saundry, Ph.D., Executive Director of the National Council for Science and the Environment “A clarion call to incorporate environmental education in all grades K-12, across all academic disciplines, in order to produce future generations of environmental stewards."-Mark Gold, President, Heal The Bay "We need a sea change in the educational system. After all, if we can teach schoolchildren that vandalism is wrong, why can we not teach them that environmental destruction is wrong? This book is a haunting call to action. A beautifully written manifesto that gets it right."-Ron Swaisgood, Director of Applied Animal Ecology, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global “The greatest threat to the future of all species on the planet is the huge gap between what is understood about global climate change by the scientific community and what is known about climate change by the people who need to know -- the public. The sound prescriptions in this book need to be read now. We are running out of time.”-Dr. James Hansen, world-renowned climatologist and author of Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity “Environmental education is a disaster and educating the public on environmental issues is the greatest challenge facing humanity today. This book will help us understand why we are headed toward the collapse of civilization, and more important, how to fix it. Packed with sound science, useful information, and brilliant ideas, it is a book we must read, and give, to our local school boards and principals nationwide. Our children will thank us."-Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb and Humanity on a Tightrope




Learning to Write


Book Description

First published in 1982, this influential and classic text poses two questions: what is it that a child learns when he or she learns to write? What can we learn about children, society and ourselves, by looking at this process? The book is based on a close analysis of a series of written texts by primary school children and is written for student teachers with little or no knowledge of linguistics. In this new edition, Gunther Kress has made extensive revisions in the light of recent developments in linguistics and in education. The theoretical focus is now a social semiotic one, which allows a fundamental rethinking of issues such as 'preliteracy' and broad social and cultural questions around the making of texts.




Online Tutor 2.0: Methodologies and Case Studies for Successful Learning


Book Description

After centuries of rethinking education and learning, the current theory is based on technology’s approach to and affect on the planned interaction between knowledge trainers and trainees. Online Tutor 2.0: Methodologies and Case Studies for Successful Learning demonstrates, through the exposure of successful cases in online education and training, the necessity of the human factor, particularly in teaching/tutoring roles, for ensuring the development of quality and excellent learning activities. The didactic patterns derived from these experiences and methodologies will provide a basis for a more powerful and efficient new generation of technology-based learning solutions for high school teachers, university professors, researchers, and students at all levels of education.