Teaching Information Technology 14+


Book Description

The world of information technology is diverse, impacting on, driving and supporting westernised business and industry as well as affecting every individual. Teachers of IT need to ensure that students recognise and understand why information technology is so important to business and society, as well as helping them to develop functional skills. Teaching Information Technology 14+ helps teachers of IT do just that. It explores the nature of Information Technology (IT), describes some of the current issues and debates surrounding IT and suggests appropriate strategies for successful learning and assessment. In addition to providing teachers with support in differentiating between the numerous Information Technology qualifications, it also includes some examples of relevant teaching and learning strategies and includes case studies and quotations from successful IT teachers and industry practitioners, drawn from a range of environments to highlight key concepts. Teaching Information Technology 14+ is not designed simply as another resource book, but as a means to engage students in the wider aspects of IT through the inclusion of reflective questions, encouraging readers to research and debate the place of IT today.




Media Education


Book Description

This book examines recent changes in media education and in young people’s lives, and provides an accessible set of principles on which the media curriculum should be based, with a clear rationale for pedagogic practice. David Buckingham is one of the leading international experts in the field - he has more than twenty years’ experience in media education as a teacher and researcher. This book takes account of recent changes both in the media and in young people’s lives, and provides an accessible and cogent set of principles on which the media curriculum should be based. Introduces the aims and methods of media education or 'media literacy'. Includes descriptions of teaching strategies and summaries of relevant research on classroom practice. Covers issues relating to contemporary social, political and technological developments.







The Nature of Technology


Book Description

How does technology alter thinking and action without our awareness? How can instantaneous information access impede understanding and wisdom? How does technology alter conceptions of education, schooling, teaching and what learning entails? What are the implications of these and other technology issues for society? Meaningful technology education is far more than learning how to use technology. It entails an understanding of the nature of technology — what technology is, how and why technology is developed, how individuals and society direct, react to, and are sometimes unwittingly changed by technology. This book places these and other issues regarding the nature of technology in the context of learning, teaching and schooling. The nature of technology and its impact on education must become a significant object of inquiry among educators. Students must come to understand the nature of technology so that they can make informed decisions regarding how technology may influence thinking, values and action, and when and how technology should be used in their personal lives and in society. Prudent choices regarding technology cannot be made without understanding the issues that this book raises. This book is intended to raise such issues and stimulate thinking and action among teachers, teacher educators, and education researchers. The contributions to this book raise historical and philosophical issues regarding the nature of technology and their implications for education; challenge teacher educators and teachers to promote understanding of the nature of technology; and provide practical considerations for teaching the nature of technology.




Digital Literacies


Book Description

Dramatic shifts in our communication landscape have made it crucial for language teaching to go beyond print literacy and encompass the digital literacies which are increasingly central to learners' personal, social, educational and professional lives. By situating these digital literacies within a clear theoretical framework, this book provides educators and students alike with not just the background for a deeper understanding of these key 21st-century skills, but also the rationale for integrating these skills into classroom practice. This is the first methodology book to address not just why but also how to teach digital literacies in the English language classroom. This book provides: A theoretical framework through which to categorise and prioritise digital literacies Practical classroom activities to help learners and teachers develop digital literacies in tandem with key language skills A thorough analysis of the pedagogical implications of developing digital literacies in teaching practice A consideration of exactly how to integrate digital literacies into the English language syllabus Suggestions for teachers on how to continue their own professional development through PLNs (Personal Learning Networks), and how to access teacher development opportunities online This book is ideal for English language teachers and learners of all age groups and levels, academics and students researching digital literacies, and anyone looking to expand their understanding of digital literacies within a teaching framework.




Innovative Practices in Teaching Information Sciences and Technology


Book Description

University teaching and learning has never been more innovative than it is now. This has been enabled by a better contemporary understanding of teaching and learning. Instructors now present situated projects and practices to their students, not just foundational principles. Lectures and structured practice are now often replaced by engaging and constructivist learning activities that leverage what students know about, think about and care about. Teaching innovation has also been enabled by online learning in the classroom, beyond the classroom and beyond the campus. Learning online is perhaps not the panacea sometimes asserted but it is a disruptively rich and expanding set of tools and techniques that can facilitate engaging and constructivist learning activities. It is becoming the new normal in university teaching and learning. The opportunity and the need for innovation in teaching and learning are together keenest in information technology itself: Computer and Information Science faculty and students are immersed in innovation. The subject matter of these disciplines changes from one year to the next; courses and curricula are in constant flux. And indeed each wave of disciplinary innovation is assimilated into technology tools and infrastructures for teaching new and emerging concepts and techniques. Innovative Practices in Teaching Information Sciences and Technology: Experience Reports and Reflections describes a set of innovative teaching practices from the faculty of Information Sciences and Technology at Pennsylvania State University. Each chapter is a personal essay describing practices, implemented by one or two faculty that challenge assumptions and push beyond standard practice at the individual faculty and classroom level. These are innovations that instructors elsewhere may find directly accessible and adaptable. Taken as a set, this book is a case study of teaching innovation as a part of faculty culture. Innovation is not optional in information technology; it inheres in both the disciplinary subject matter and in teaching. But it is an option for instructors to collectively embrace innovation as a faculty. The chapters in this book taken together, embody this option and provide a partial model to faculties for reflecting on and refining their own collective culture of teaching innovation.




Learning Technologies for Transforming Large-Scale Teaching, Learning, and Assessment


Book Description

This volume provides a contemporary glance at the drastically expanding field of delivering large-scale education to unprecedented numbers of learners. It compiles papers presented at the CELDA (Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age) conference, which has a goal of continuing to address these challenges and promote the effective use of new tools and technologies to support teaching, learning and assessment. Given the emerging global trend to exploit the potential of existing digital technologies to improve the teaching, learning and assessment experiences for all learners in real-life contexts, this topic is a unifying theme for this volume. The book showcases how emerging educational technologies and innovative practices have been used to address core global educational challenges. It provides state-of-the-art insights and case studies of exploiting innovative learning technologies, including Massive Open Online Courses and educational data analytics, to address key global challenges spanning from online Teacher Education to large-scale coding competence development. This volume will be of interest to academics and professional practitioners working in the area of digital technology integration in teaching, learning and assessment, as well as those interested in specific conference themes (e.g., designing and assessing learning in online environments, assessing learning in complex domains) and presenters, invited speakers, and participants of the CELDA conference.




Igniting Your Teaching with Educational Technology


Book Description

The authors of Igniting Your Teaching with Educational Technology are here to reduce the stress of learning how to use technology in the first few years of teaching. As fellow educators, we understand the challenges you may experience and have written this textbook to support you in your learning. Ultimately, we want you to be to navigate the waters of educational technology without it becoming an additional burden on top of everything else on your plate as a preservice or first-year teacher. We have over one-hundred years of combined, total teaching experience, in various capacities, grade levels, and content areas. Igniting Your Teaching with Educational Technology addresses six core themes that are of great significance when using technology in one's teaching. * Chapter 1: Classroom Management explores classroom management tools for classrooms of all ages of students. * Chapter 2: Learning Management Systems discusses learning management systems that are likely to be central in your student teaching experience and as a first-year teacher. * Chapter 3: Assessing Learning addresses measuring student learning using technology, using both formative and summative approaches. * Chapter 4: Collaboration Tools outlines tools you can utilize with your students as well as your colleagues and professors to contribute to the creation of a resource together. * Chapter 5: Selection of Educational Technology describes how preservice teachers can select technological tools and applications for various experiences and situations they may encounter as teachers. * Chapter 6: Professional Development via Social Media provides information regarding how to use social media to network with other teachers as well as to grow professionally as an educator.




Being Fluent with Information Technology


Book Description

Computers, communications, digital information, softwareâ€"the constituents of the information ageâ€"are everywhere. Being computer literate, that is technically competent in two or three of today's software applications, is not enough anymore. Individuals who want to realize the potential value of information technology (IT) in their everyday lives need to be computer fluentâ€"able to use IT effectively today and to adapt to changes tomorrow. Being Fluent with Information Technology sets the standard for what everyone should know about IT in order to use it effectively now and in the future. It explores three kinds of knowledgeâ€"intellectual capabilities, foundational concepts, and skillsâ€"that are essential for fluency with IT. The book presents detailed descriptions and examples of current skills and timeless concepts and capabilities, which will be useful to individuals who use IT and to the instructors who teach them.