Breakthrough Teaching and Learning: How Educational and Assistive Technologies are Driving Innovation

Breakthrough Teaching and Learning: How Educational and Assistive Technologies are Driving Innovation Review

See more picture

Breakthrough Teaching and Learning: How Educational and Assistive Technologies are Driving Innovation Feature

The many technology-related educational changes of the past decade have been propelled by even greater changes in the general consumer technology landscape. Education has become increasingly entwined with the digital consumer landscape. We are no longer asking whether digital materials and tools should be integrated into teaching and learning, but how and how well. Meanwhile, the overall academic performance of U.S. students has not kept pace with our international peers. Many policymakers have called for increased attention to students' 21st century skills and work readiness, pointing to the critical role technology should play in educational innovation. These changes mean that many mainstream accessible technologies can be used in the classroom to benefit a diverse population of learners, including students with disabilities and English language learners, reflecting the national shift from separate special education programs to more inclusive classrooms. Changes to policies and standards have pushed assistive and accessible technologies to the forefront, including the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which requires teacher preparation programs to address educational technology and principles of universal design for learning (UDL), and the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), which creates a public-private infrastructure to provide more timely delivery of digital text to students with physical and print disabilities. This volume represents pioneering ideas that examine how accessible educational technologies can be harnessed for breakthrough learning for all students. Chapters will cover innovation trends in educational and assistive technologies, cognitive and neuroscience findings on how individual differences impact technology use and choice; the intersection of educational, leisure, health habits and exer-gaming; the use of social networking tools by students with and without disabilities; the use of social networking for teacher professional learning communities; the future of assessments for decision-making; and an analysis of the habits of mind and work traits of innovators NCTI has interviewed over the past five years.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

Leadership Mindsets: Innovation and Learning in the Transformation of Schools (Leading School Transformation)

Leadership Mindsets: Innovation and Learning in the Transformation of Schools (Leading School Transformation) Review

See more picture

Leadership Mindsets: Innovation and Learning in the Transformation of Schools (Leading School Transformation) Feature

The evidence is clear - school leaders make a difference to the learning of the pupils they serve. And yet, not all leaders have the same degree of impact. What are the factors that make the difference to student learning? Why are some leaders able to raise student achievement in schools in the most challenging circumstances whilst other leaders struggle to simply maintain the status quo?

Drawing from international case study research over many years, from the experience of hundreds of school leaders serving widely diverse communities, Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser argue that there are six distinct mindsets that characterize the way successful, learning-oriented leaders operate and make sense of their professional world. These leaders are:

• motivated by intense moral purpose
• knowledgeable about current models of learning
• consistently inquiry-oriented
• able to build trusting relationships
• evidence-informed
• able to move to wise action.

This book outlines an alternative way of thinking about school leadership. It examines research evidence that leaders will find most useful and suggests how they might use this evidence to maximise their learning and the learning of their students. Leadership Mindsets has been written specifically for aspiring to newly-appointed school leaders who are determined and motivated to create quality and equality for learners in the schools they serve, through networks of inquiry, learning and support.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

Breaking Free from Myths About Teaching and Learning: Innovation as an Engine for Student Success

Breaking Free from Myths About Teaching and Learning: Innovation as an Engine for Student Success Review

See more picture

Breaking Free from Myths About Teaching and Learning: Innovation as an Engine for Student Success Feature

"What the teacher wants me to say is more important than what I want to say." "If I get too far behind, I will never catch up." "What I'm learning doesn't have much to do with my life, but it isn't supposed to--it's school." These are just some of the many pernicious axioms that keep students from achieving to their potential. In Breaking Free from Myths About Teaching and Learning, Allison Zmuda analyzes and promptly dispels these and other harmful untruths that have inhibited student learning for decades and offers a wealth of ideas for combating them, including
* Refocusing learning environments with students' best interests in mind.
* Designing engaging lessons that spark students' imaginations.
* Motivating students to learn for the joy of it, not just for the grade.
* Developing authentic assessments that truly capture the extent of students' progress.
* Creating effective school missions that provide both educators and students with achievable objectives.

In addition to these strategies, Zmuda offers tips from prominent creative thinkers in a variety of fields on how to approach projects creatively and stimulate fresh thinking.

Students have been captive to falsehoods about learning for far too long. This provocative and insightful book shows why it's vital for administrators and teachers to help students shed their faulty assumptions and offers a blueprint for creating more innovative, inviting, and effective schools.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools (Jossey-Bass Teacher)

Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools (Jossey-Bass Teacher) Review

See more picture

Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools (Jossey-Bass Teacher) Feature

An educational innovator who worked at Sesame Workshop and The George Lucas Educational Foundation offers a new vision for learning

As a result of constant innovation, learning is no longer limited by traditional confines and we're moving beyond students tied to their chairs, desks, and textbooks-and teachers locked away in classrooms. In Education Nation author Milton Chen draws from extensive experience in media-from his work on Sesame Street in its nascent years to his role as executive director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation-to support a vision for a new world of learning.

This book, in six chapters, explores the "edges" in education—the places where K-12 learning has already seen revolutionary changes through innovative reform and the use of technology.

• Examines ways in which learning can be revolutionized through innovative reform and the use of technology
• Explores the ever-expanding world of technology for breakthroughs in teaching and learning
• Includes many wonderful resources to support innovation in schools across the nation

This important book offers a clear vision for tomorrow's classrooms that will enhance learning opportunities for all children.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review