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Assessment Strategies for Online Learning
Assessment has provided educational institutions with information about student learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But has it informed practice and been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Openo argue that the potential inherent in many of the new learning environments being explored by educators and students has not been fully realized. In this investigation of a variety of assessment methods and learning approaches, the authors aim to discover the tools that engage learners and authentically evaluate education. They insist that moving to new learning environments, specifically those online and at a distance, afford opportunities for educators to adopt only the best practices of traditional face-to-face assessment while exploring evaluation tools made available by a digital learning environment in the hopes of arriving at methods that capture the widest set of learner skills and attributes.
Blended Learning Environments to Foster Self-Directed Learning
This book on blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning highlights the focus on research conducted in several teaching and learning contexts where blended learning had been implemented and focused on the fostering of self-directed learning. Several authors have contributed to the book, and each chapter provides a unique perspective on blended learning and self-directed learning research. From each chapter, it becomes evident that coherence on the topics mentioned is established. One of the main aspects drawn in this book, and addressed by several authors in the book, is the use of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework when implementing teaching and learning strategies in blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning. This notion of focusing on the CoI framework is particularly evident in both theoretical and empirical dissemination presented in this book. What makes this book unique is the fact that researchers and peers in varied fields would benefit from the findings presented by each chapter, albeit theoretical, methodological or empirical in nature – this, in turn, provides opportunities for future research endeavors to further the narrative of how blended learning environments can be used to foster self-directed learning.
Educational Technology's Influence in Higher Education Teaching and Learning
Although many educational researchers were pioneers in the integration of technology into teaching and learning prior to 2000, institutions started extensively adopting technology in their courses around this period. However, the adoption process was slow and mainly followed the traditional mode of teaching in the formal university learning environment. The COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption “forced” everyone to use technology for teaching and learning purposes, supporting synchronous and/or asynchronous teaching and learning processes. This book aims not only to present successful practice examples from before or during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to provide useful information to university teachers, assisting them in further understanding the higher education context, demands and challenges of digital education. Including evidence from the current higher education landscape from all over the world and discussing various frameworks allows institutions and policymakers to take decisions about the future digital education transformation, while teachers and educational researchers can find examples of how various digital learning tools (i.e., virtual simulations and e-portfolios) are integrated into teaching and learning processes in various environment (i.e., online, and blended learning). Considering experiences prior to the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the opportunities and challenges brought about by the pandemic, this book can support the higher education sector in considering curriculum reformations and introducing innovative teaching and learning approaches to meet the Industrial 4.0 revolution.
Essentials for Blended Learning
Essentials for Blended Learning provides a practical, streamlined approach for creating effective learning experiences by blending online activities and the best of face-to-face teaching. Effective blended learning requires rethinking of teaching practices and a redesign of course structure. Suitable for instructors in any content area, this book simplifies these difficult challenges without neglecting important opportunities to transform teaching. The revised second edition is more streamlined and easier to user, and includes more real-world examples of blended teaching and learning, the latest technologies, and additional research-based learning activities.
Go Blended! A Handbook for Blending Technology in Schools
Craft a blended learning program tailor-made for your students Go Blended! is a practical implementation guide for educators interested in getting blended learning off the ground. Author Liz Arney is a seasoned developer of blended learning programs at Aspire Public Schools, and she also closely collaborates with district and charter leaders from across the country on this work. Go Blended! offers boots-on-the-ground support for laying the foundation for a blended learning program in our schools and classrooms. Throughout the book teachers with blended learning experience share helpful tips and lesson plans to help educators make purposeful choices in using technology to fulfill students' needs without becoming an end in itself. This useful guide also offers key documents and timelines to support a blended learning implementation and provides step-by-step practical advice for avoiding mistakes. Readers will gain expert insight into both the broad and narrow of blended transition, from sweeping concepts like program goals to nitty-gritty details like teaching routines around technology use. Technology is rapidly changing the landscape of education; teacher effectiveness and student achievement are both tied to the ability to adapt to new technology, and blended learning has become a hot topic in schools across the nation. Go Blended! helps school leaders and teachers take their first steps toward blended learning, putting them in a better position to continuously adapt as the world changes. You'll learn how to: Investigate leadership and staff readiness to "go blended." Learn how to evaluate and purchase the right educational software. Keep the program's goals in mind throughout the development process. Teach lessons that set students up for success when using classroom technology. Tailor the program to the students, not the other way around. Aspire's impressive track record of high performance, along with a growing body of evidence from blended schools across the nation, testifies to the reality that incorporating technology into the classroom can improve student outcomes. But improved student outcomes will only occur when teachers and administrators intentionally tailor technology and curricula to meet their goals. With Go Blended!, you can be confident that you're focused on the ultimate goal of blended learning: increasing student achievement.
The Hybrid Teacher
A practical, educational technology resource for educators teaching remotely or in the classroom. The most effective hybrid teachers are those that have a vast knowledge of instructional strategies, technologies, tools, and resources, and can masterfully build meaningful relationships with students in-person and through a screen. The Hybrid Teacher: Using Technology to Teach In-Person and Online will teach educators to leverage the technology they have access to both in their traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms and in remote learning environments, including established online and hybrid schools; emergency response models for pandemics, natural disasters; rural education; and connecting with students who can't make it to school. Many of us had to adapt to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we still need resources for optimizing our instruction and becoming the best teachers we can be. This book is a practical guide for teachers who want to prepare for current and future remote instruction or leverage the best practices of remote instruction and EdTech tools to bring back to their brick-and-mortar classrooms. Inside, you'll learn about the impact of social and economic differences on classroom technology, and you'll find strategies and advice for maximizing success in each situation. Learn how best to leverage technology in traditional brick-and-mortar and remote classrooms, with case studies of the hybrid school model. Gain tips and techniques to ensure that your teachers, students, and parents have the skills to succeed with technology. Discover strategies for setting norms and expectations and transitioning between online and traditional learning. Put into place proven methods for accountability and assessment of classroom successes. Gain resources to the most effective educational technologies available today in multiple subject areas including English language arts, science, math, social studies, visual arts, dance, drama, music, and general education. View sample lesson plans for how to implement tools into your classroom, build culture and community, and adapt for different learners. Given the current push to remote teaching during the pandemic and the uncertainty over what the return to school and the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom will look like, The Hybrid Teacher will be an invaluable resource on the shelves of teachers and administrators alike.
Learning to Collaborate, Collaborating to Learn
Students who know how to collaborate successfully in the classroom will be better prepared for professional success in a world where we are expected to work well with others. Students learn collaboratively, and acquire the skills needed to organize and complete collaborative work, when they participate in thoughtfully-designed learning activities. Learning to Collaborate, Collaborating to Learnuses the author's Taxonomy of Online Collaboration to illustrate levels of progressively more complex and integrated collaborative activities. - Part I introduces the Taxonomy of Online Collaboration and offers theoretical and research foundations. - Part II focuses on ways to use Taxonomy of Online Collaboration, including, clarifying roles and developing trust, communicating effectively, organizing project tasks and systems. - Part III offers ways to design collaborative learning activities, assignments or projects, and ways to fairly assess participants' performance. Learning to Collaborate, Collaborating to Learnis a professional guide intended for faculty, curriculum planners, or instructional designers who want to design, teach, facilitate, and assess collaborative learning. The book covers the use of information and communication technology tools by collaborative partners who may or may not be co-located. As such, the book will be appropriate for all-online, blended learning, or conventional classrooms that infuse technology with "flipped" instructional techniques.
The Perfect Blend: A Practical Guide to Designing Student-Centered Learning Experiences
Learn how to redesign lessons with technology to individualize and personalize instruction, transforming what learning looks like for your students. Many blended learning initiatives start from the top down and are designed for specific populations or make drastic changes to a school’s learning structure. But any K-12 classroom teacher can find ways to leverage blended learning, regardless of the constructs of their learning environment. All they need is a willingness to rethink their role — moving from content deliverer to architect of learning. In The Perfect Blend, you’ll learn how to create a “homemade recipe” for effective blended learning for your students. Rather than focusing on finding and implementing a specific established model, author Michele Eaton shows teachers how to embrace the flexibility of blended learning to take an active role as a designer of learning and, in the process, help students become advocates for their education. This book provides an accessible resource for teachers beginning to use technology, as well as master blended teachers who are looking for new ideas or strategies. Includes templates and planning tools that can be used as is or modified to fit the needs of your students. Focuses on understanding and reflecting on your role as a designer of learning experiences, and creating and using digital content in the classroom. You’ll gain practical skills, strategies and lesson ideas for various types of blended learning thanks to examples from real classrooms and educators. Along the way, you’ll discover how to build on the skills you already have to support blended learning. Audience: K-12 teachers and instructional coaches.
Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry
Teaching in Blended Leaning Environments provides a coherent framework in which to explore the transformative concept of blended learning. Blended learning can be defined as the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies. A direct result of the transformative innovation of virtual communication and online learning communities, blended learning environments have created new ways for teachers and students to engage, interact, and collaborate. The authors argue that this new learning environment necessitates significant role adjustments for instructors and generates a need to understand the aspects of teaching presence required of deep and meaningful learning outcomes.