Computers, Curriculum, and Cultural Change


Book Description

Computers, Curriculum, and Cultural Change: An Introduction for Teachers, Second Edition is a comprehensive introduction to using computers in educational settings. What distinguishes this text from others on the topic is its focus on: *the issue of how computers are redefining our culture and society and the work of schools; *the idea of using the computer as a tool for increasing efficiency and productivity in curriculum; and *the concept of the computer as a tool not only for efficiency, but actually as a means of enhancing intelligence. This text provides students with an introduction to basic computer skills and experience, enhanced by helpful pedagogical aids, including case studies and highlighted features, such as Portfolio Development, Reflective Practice, Computing Timelines, Filmographies, bibliographical sources, and a text-linked glossary of key computer terms. New in the Second Edition: In addition to being thoroughly updated, a new section has been added to Chapter 1, "Creating an Electronic Portfolio," with activities linked to the standards for educational computing established by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Electronic portfolio activities at the end of each chapter give students the hands-on practical skills they need and, at the same time, cover the necessary theoretical and conceptual material for an introductory educational computing course.




Computers, Curriculum, and Cultural Change


Book Description

Computers, Curriculum, and Cultural Change is a comprehensive introduction to using computers in K-12 settings. It includes not only the "nuts and bolts" of educational computing and up-to-date coverage of hardware and software issues, but is distinguished by its emphasis on the deeper questions of how computers are redefining the way we teach and learn. More specifically, the questions addressed include: * how computers are changing our culture and society; * how they are changing the traditional curriculum, the work of teachers, and the work done in schools; * the use of computers as tools for increasing efficiency and productivity in the curriculum; and * the concept that the computer is not only a tool for efficiency, but actually a means of enhancing our intelligence. Supported by its own Web site, with links to major computer and educational sites, Computers, Curriculum, and Cultural Change includes many special features, such as case studies, activities for reflective practice, model curriculum plans, questions for discussion, software evaluation models, and model acceptable use policies.




Mindstorms


Book Description

In this revolutionary book, a renowned computer scientist explains the importance of teaching children the basics of computing and how it can prepare them to succeed in the ever-evolving tech world. Computers have completely changed the way we teach children. We have Mindstorms to thank for that. In this book, pioneering computer scientist Seymour Papert uses the invention of LOGO, the first child-friendly programming language, to make the case for the value of teaching children with computers. Papert argues that children are more than capable of mastering computers, and that teaching computational processes like de-bugging in the classroom can change the way we learn everything else. He also shows that schools saturated with technology can actually improve socialization and interaction among students and between students and teachers. Technology changes every day, but the basic ways that computers can help us learn remain. For thousands of teachers and parents who have sought creative ways to help children learn with computers, Mindstorms is their bible.




Stuck in the Shallow End, updated edition


Book Description

Why so few African American and Latino/a students study computer science: updated edition of a book that reveals the dynamics of inequality in American schools. The number of African Americans and Latino/as receiving undergraduate and advanced degrees in computer science is disproportionately low. And relatively few African American and Latino/a high school students receive the kind of institutional encouragement, educational opportunities, and preparation needed for them to choose computer science as a field of study and profession. In Stuck in the Shallow End, Jane Margolis and coauthors look at the daily experiences of students and teachers in three Los Angeles public high schools: an overcrowded urban high school, a math and science magnet school, and a well-funded school in an affluent neighborhood. They find an insidious “virtual segregation” that maintains inequality. The race gap in computer science, Margolis discovers, is one example of the way students of color are denied a wide range of occupational and educational futures. Stuck in the Shallow End is a story of how inequality is reproduced in America—and how students and teachers, given the necessary tools, can change the system. Since the 2008 publication of Stuck in the Shallow End, the book has found an eager audience among teachers, school administrators, and academics. This updated edition offers a new preface detailing the progress in making computer science accessible to all, a new postscript, and discussion questions (coauthored by Jane Margolis and Joanna Goode).




Computing and Educational Studies


Book Description

This special issue calls for a greater awareness of computing as a critical area of study for those interested in educational studies. Its purpose is to open up a wider dialogue about computing and education than has previously existed in the field. The questions raised provide the basis for a lively discussion and analysis of the role of educational studies in interpreting the role of computing in our culture and educational system. This issue also provides a model for exploring other topics of similar significance and importance to the field in future issues of the journal.




Computer Science in K-12


Book Description

Coding teaches our students the essence of logical thinking and problem solving while also preparing them for a world in which computing is becoming increasingly pervasive. While there's excitement and enthusiasm about programming becoming an intrinsic part of K-12 curricula the world over, there's also growing anxiety about preparing teachers to teach effectively at all grade levels.This book strives to be an essential, enduring, practical guide for every K-12 teacher anywhere who is either teaching or planning to teach computer science and programming at any grade level. To this end, readers will discover:? An A-to-Z organization that affords comprehensive insight into teaching introductory programming.? 26 chapters that cover foundational concepts, practices and well-researched pedagogies related to teaching introductory programming as an integral part of K-12 computer science. Cumulatively these chapters address the two salient building blocks of effective teaching of introductory programming-what content to teach (concepts and practices) and how to teach (pedagogy).? Concrete ideas and rich grade-appropriate examples inspired by practice and research for classroom use.? Perspectives and experiences shared by educators and scholars who are actively practicing and/or examiningthe teaching of computer science and programming in K-12 classrooms.




Infusing Technology into the Classroom: Continuous Practice Improvement


Book Description

Technology has impacted how many teachers develop methods of instruction in their classroom settings. The Continuous Practice Improvement (CPI) professional development program introduces teachers to infusing computers into the curriculum and classroom activities seamlessly. Infusing Technology into the Classroom: Continuous Practice Improvement retells compelling stories of a successful computer-related professional development program that was implemented into Kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms of a Philadelphia school. Through an analysis of the study, a theoretical model to guide technology infused professional development for teachers is discovered.




Understanding and Shaping Curriculum


Book Description

Understanding and Shaping Curriculum: What We Teach and Why introduces readers to curriculum as knowledge, curriculum as work, and curriculum as professional practice. Author Thomas W. Hewitt discusses curriculum from theoretical and practical perspectives to not only acquaint readers with the study of curriculum, but also help them to become effective curriculum practitioners. Key Features: Emphasizes the various dimensions of curriculum practice: Becoming a curriculum practitioner requires understanding academic-practice knowledge, the forces shaping curriculum, the array of curriculum work from policymaking to evaluation, and how those are integrated forming a sense of professional practice. This book examines curriculum knowledge that is both academic and practice based. Brings theoretical concepts to life: ′Perspective into Practice′ sections illustrate the relevance of the material to both elementary and secondary school settings and contexts. In addition, end-of-chapter resources provide ideas for further discussion and assignments that address different roles and the various dimensions of curriculum practice. Examines current issues: Part of being a good practitioner is understanding the inevitability of change and the necessity to keep current about issues and trends that affect both the knowledge and the work of curriculum. Separate chapters on issues and trends give students the opportunity to explore what is happening in today′s schools and curriculum. Intended Audience: This is an ideal text for masters and doctoral-level courses on Curriculum, Curriculum Development, and Curriculum Design.




The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics


Book Description

The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics contains 39 original chapters on a broad range of topics in applied linguistics by a diverse group of contributors. Its goal is to provide a comprehensive survey of the current state of the field, the many connections among its various sub-disciplines, and the likely directions of its future development. The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics addresses a broad audience: applied linguists; educators and other scholars working in language acquisition, language learning, language planning, teaching, and testing; and linguists concerned with applications of their work. Systematically encompassing the major areas of applied linguistics-and drawing from a wide range of disciplines such as education, language policy, bi- and multi-lingualism, literacy, language and gender, neurobiology of language, psycholinguistics and cognition, language and computers, discourse analysis, language and concordances, ecology of language, pragmatics, translation, and many other fields, the editors and contributors to The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics provide a panoramic and comprehensive look at this complex and vigorous field. This second edition includes five new chapters, and the remaining chapters have been thoroughly revised and updated to give a clear picture of the current state of applied linguistics.




Let Them Eat Data


Book Description

Do computers foster cultural diversity? Ecological sustainability? In our age of high-tech euphoria we seem content to leave tough questions like these to the experts. That dangerous inclination is at the heart of this important examination of the commercial and educational trends that have left us so uncritically optimistic about global computing. Contrary to the attitudes that have been marketed and taught to us, says C. A. Bowers, the fact is that computers operate on a set of Western cultural assumptions and a market economy that drives consumption. Our indoctrination includes the view of global computing innovations as inevitable and on a par with social progress--a perspective dismayingly suggestive of the mindset that engendered the vast cultural and ecological disruptions of the industrial revolution and world colonialism. In Let Them Eat Data Bowers discusses important issues that have fallen into the gap between our perceptions and the realities of global computing, including the misuse of the theory of evolution to justify and legitimate the global spread of computers, and the ecological and cultural implications of unmooring knowledge from its local contexts as it is digitized, commodified, and packaged for global consumption. He also suggests ways that educators can help us think more critically about technology. Let Them Eat Data is essential reading if we are to begin democratizing technological decisions, conserving true cultural diversity and intergenerational forms of knowledge, and living within the limits and possibilities of the earth’s natural systems.