This book is a collection of my experience teaching lower elementary technology over the course of one year. There are lessons, curriculum documents, and thoughts regarding many issues that can arise while teaching technology to young children. This book is intended to be a reference for those who are interested in starting from scratch or for those who are looking for new ideas on how or what to teach regarding information literacy.
This book successfully integrates instructional design principles, methods, media, and computing, and it uses a learner-centered approach that focuses on how to design solid technology-enhanced instruction that increases learning. It details the basic theories and applications of educational technology in a reader-engaging format. Includes a new chapter,Using the Internet andDistance Education , which is particularly timely given the explosion of on-line technology. For educators and school administrators
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 They're often outdated as soon as they hit students' desks.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.
Professional growth and social media savvy at your fingertips! This information-packed resource from digital experts Anderson and Whitby makes it easy to build a thriving professional network using social media. Easy-to-implement ideas, essential tools, and real-life vignettes help teachers learn to: Find and choose the best social media tools, products, and communities Start and grow a collaborative, high-quality PLN using Twitter, blogging, LinkedIn, and more Use social media to enhance 21st Century education Engage in authentic personal and professional learning Includes invaluable resources and an in-depth analysis of the social media landscape. Collaboration has never been easier with this must-have guide!
First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice, now making a real connection between classroom activities and learning behavior. This edition includes far-reaching suggestions for research that could increase the impact that classroom teaching has on actual learning. Like the original edition, this book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do-with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methodsâ€"to help children learn most effectively? New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain. How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn. What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach. The amazing learning potential of infants. The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace. Learning needs and opportunities for teachers. A realistic look at the role of technology in education.
An easy-to-use guide to implementing the most exciting technologies to energize any classroom, High-Tech Teaching Success! A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Innovative Technology in Your Classroom gives classroom teachers exactly what they're looking for: advice from technology education experts on how the latest tools and software can be implemented into lesson plans to create differentiated, exciting curriculum for all learners. Focused on implementing technology in the four core areas of learning—math, science, language arts, and social studies—this book covers topics like podcasting, blogging and digital diaries, building Web sites and Wikis, creating Web Quests, using Google Earth, using online programs like YouTube and social networking sites to connect to other classrooms, creating videos, and more. Geared for teachers in grades 4–8, this essential book offers practical tools, tips for implementation, step-by-step instructions, and handy screen shots to give educators everything they need to create interesting, technology-based learning experiences in their classrooms. Features lessons developed by top educators covering Google Earth, YouTube, wikis, WebQuests, and much more Includes screen shots and easy-to-follow directions for using each technology tool Suggests innovative ways of implementing tools like website design, podcasts, social networking, and blogging Gives teachers an overview and advice on implementing the latest exciting technology tools Prufrock Press offers award-winning products focused on gifted, advanced, and special needs learners. For more than 20 years, Prufrock has supported parents and teachers with a wide range of resources based on sound research. The average day of a parent or teacher of a gifted or special needs learner is filled with a thousand celebrations and challenges. Prufrock's goal is to provide practical solutions to those challenges—to provide readers with timesaving, research-based tools that allow them to spend less time on the challenges and more time on the celebrations. Prufrock Press' line of products features: Resources on parenting the special needs learner Sage advice on teaching in the inclusive classroom Advanced learning tools for gifted children and inquisitive learners Cutting-edge information on innovative teaching approaches Resources for college planning for gifted and special needs learners Prufrock Press is committed to resources based on sound research. It has a senior advisory group composed of the top scholars in the field of education and psychology. All of the company's editors have graduate degrees in education or children's literature, and they all have classroom experience. In essence, when a reader holds a book by Prufrock Press, he or she knows that the information found in that book will be research-based and reflect agreed upon best practices in the field of education and child psychology.
How do you get a fourth-grader excited about history? How do you even begin to persuade high school students that mathematical functions are relevant to their everyday lives? In this volume, practical questions that confront every classroom teacher are addressed using the latest exciting research on cognition, teaching, and learning. How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom builds on the discoveries detailed in the bestselling How People Learn. Now, these findings are presented in a way that teachers can use immediately, to revitalize their work in the classroom for even greater effectiveness. Organized for utility, the book explores how the principles of learning can be applied in teaching history, science, and math topics at three levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Leading educators explain in detail how they developed successful curricula and teaching approaches, presenting strategies that serve as models for curriculum development and classroom instruction. Their recounting of personal teaching experiences lends strength and warmth to this volume. The book explores the importance of balancing students' knowledge of historical fact against their understanding of concepts, such as change and cause, and their skills in assessing historical accounts. It discusses how to build straightforward science experiments into true understanding of scientific principles. And it shows how to overcome the difficulties in teaching math to generate real insight and reasoning in math students. It also features illustrated suggestions for classroom activities. How Students Learn offers a highly useful blend of principle and practice. It will be important not only to teachers, administrators, curriculum designers, and teacher educators, but also to parents and the larger community concerned about children's education.
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.
A comprehensive guide for integrating educational technology in the K-12 classroom This is a must-have resource for all K-12 teachers and administrators who want to really make the best use of available technologies. Written by Doug Johnson, an expert in educational technology, The Classroom Teacher's Technology Survival Guide is replete with practical tips teachers can easily use to engage their students and make their classrooms places where both students and teachers will enjoy learning. Covers the most up-to-date technologies and how they can best be used in the classroom Includes advice on upgrading time-tested educational strategies using technology Talks about managing "disruptive technologies" in the classroom Includes a wealth of illustrative examples, helpful suggestions, and practical tips This timely book provides a commonsense approach to choosing and using educational technology to enhance learning.
