The Knowledge Gap


Book Description

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.




The Google Infused Classroom


Book Description

"New updated version. In The Google Infused Classroom, EdTech experts Holly Clark and Tanya Avrith provide a guidebook to help you use technology to engage your learners and amplify the learning experience in your classroom and beyond. The authors walk you through the process of designing instruction that allows students to show their thinking, demonstrate their learning, and share their work (and voices!) with authentic audiences."--cover




Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology


Book Description

This practical, how-to guide makes it easy for teachers to incorporate the latest technology in their classes. Employing an informal workshop approach, the book avoids technical jargon and pays special attention to the needs of teachers who are expanding the use of computers in their classrooms. The authors focus on what teachers do and how they can do it better, and provide a wide variety of proven tools, tips, and methods for enhancing these activities with technology."Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology" provides extensively illustrated tutorials for a wide variety of software, online tools, and teaching techniques. It covers everything from lesson plans, to time management, how to show animation, blogging, podcasts, laptop strategies, and much, much more. In addition, periodic updates to the text will be available on the authors' website.




Examining the Roles of Teachers and Students in Mastering New Technologies


Book Description

The development of technologies, education, and economy play an important role in modern society. Digital literacy is important for personal development and for the economic growth of society. Technological learning provides students with specific knowledge and capabilities for using new technologies in their everyday lives and in their careers. Examining the Roles of Teachers and Students in Mastering New Technologies is a critical scholarly resource that examines computer literacy knowledge levels in students and the perception of computer use in the classroom from various teacher perspectives. Featuring a wide range of topics such as higher education, special education, and blended learning, this book is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, academicians, policymakers, administrators, researchers, and students.




Ditch That Textbook


Book Description

Textbooks are symbols of centuries-old education. They're often outdated as soon as they hit students' desks. Acting "by the textbook" implies compliance and a lack of creativity. It's time to ditch those textbooks--and those textbook assumptions about learning In Ditch That Textbook, teacher and blogger Matt Miller encourages educators to throw out meaningless, pedestrian teaching and learning practices. He empowers them to evolve and improve on old, standard, teaching methods. Ditch That Textbook is a support system, toolbox, and manifesto to help educators free their teaching and revolutionize their classrooms.




National Educational Technology Standards for Students


Book Description

This booklet includes the full text of the ISTE Standards for Students, along with the Essential Conditions, profiles and scenarios.




New Educational Technology


Book Description

Educational technology is a creative blending of 'idea' and 'product' technologies with subject-matter content in order to engender and improve teaching and learning processes. Educational technology is often associated with the terms instructional technology or learning technology. 'Product' technologies are tangible; for example, computer hardware or software. 'Idea' technologies are cognitive frameworks or schemes; for example, the Multiple Intelligence Theory proposed by Howard Gardner. When products are thoughtfully blended with subject matter content (such as mathematics or science concepts) for a specific audience in a specific educational context (such as a school), one is using 'educational technology'. The words educational and technology in the term educational technology have the general meaning. Educational technology is not restricted to the education of children, nor to the use of high technology.




Tools for Teaching


Book Description

This is the long-awaited update on the bestselling book that offers a practical, accessible reference manual for faculty in any discipline. This new edition contains up-to-date information on technology as well as expanding on the ideas and strategies presented in the first edition. It includes more than sixty-one chapters designed to improve the teaching of beginning, mid-career, or senior faculty members. The topics cover both traditional tasks of teaching as well as broader concerns, such as diversity and inclusion in the classroom and technology in educational settings.




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.




Digital Tools for Teachers - Trainers' Edition V.2


Book Description

In this second version of the Trainers’ Edition of Digital Tools for Teachers, I have built on the original volume of Digital Tools for Teachers by updating and extending many of the original chapters and also by adding seven additional new chapters. In this book, the first four chapters are provided as a guide for teachers who want to use the book for teacher training and development. Contents 1. - Introduction ........................................................ 1 2. - Conceptual Models ...........................................11 3. - Training Tips ..................................................... 25 4. - Training Activities ............................................ 31 5. - Training Tools .................................................. 52 6. - Reading Tools .................................................. 60 7. - Writing Tools ................................................... 73 8. - Listening Tools ................................................ 94 9. - Speaking Tools .............................................. 102 10. - Grammar Tools ............................................ 114 11. - Presentation Tools ...................................... 122 12. - Poll & Survey Tools ..................................... 130 13. - Infographic Tools ........................................ 137 14. - Course Creation Tools ................................ 148 15. - Games & Gamification ................................ 163 16. - Virtual Reality Tools ................................... 172 17. - e-Safety ........................................................ 179 Using the tools, tips and activities provided in these first chapters a teacher with some basic experience of using technology in the classroom should be able to create motivating hands-on edtech training for their peers or for pre-service trainee teachers. The fifth additional chapter is dedicated to providing a range of links to ready-made computer games that can be used for language acquisition and development. The sixth additional chapter focuses on virtual reality and provides links to a range of tools and resources that can enable teachers to exploit this area of technology within their classroom practice. The seventh additional chapter looks at the area of e-safety and the things that we can do to protect our students, ourselves and our computers from some of the potential threats that we can encounter online. The remainder of the book, like the first edition, is a collection of more than 100 links to tools and resources that have been chosen and organised to enable teachers to easily find ways of applying technology to the activities they do with their students. I sincerely hope you find this book useful and that it helps you to enhance your teaching and training and helps to make your students’ learning experience richer and more engaging.