With the emerging generation of born digital natives, it is imperative for educators to be able to leverage existing technologies in effort to enhance the online and classroom learning experience. Integrating Technology into the classroom goes far beyond its sole use. Digital games, social networking, simulations, virtualization, and open source applications are just some of the few technologies that can be used in the classroom to enhance the students learning experience. The following resources provide valuable insight in to the different research outcomes, strategies, and methods for the effective integration of technology in education.
Key Search Terms: I located the majority of these resources by querying SPC's Primo (federated) Search with the following phrases:
“Academics and educators who are interested in the thorny problem of technology infusion will find the handbook to be a useful resource…Instead of advocating the use of technology for its own sake, the handbook proposes a more nuanced and thoughtful approach that maintains a focus on effective learning. Taken together, the chapters of the book suggest valuable new approaches for schools of education. The book is highly recommended for both teacher educators and researchers in the field of educational technology.”
“This is an essential resource for anyone designing or facilitating online learning. It introduces an easy, practical model (R2D2: read, reflect, display, and do) that will show online educators how to deliver content in ways that benefit all types of learners (visual, auditory, observational, and kinesthetic) from a wide variety of backgrounds and skill levels. With a solid theoretical foundation and concrete guidance and examples, this book can be used as a handy reference, a professional guidebook, or a course text. The authors intend for it to
help online instructors and instructional designers as well as those contemplating such positions design, develop, and deliver learner-centered online instruction.”
“This book presents cutting-edge research on such topics as network learning, e-learning, managing Web-based learning and teaching technologies, and building Web-based learning communities. It provides researchers, practitioners, and decision makers in the field of education with essential, up-to-date research in designing more effective learning systems and scenarios using Web-based technologies.”
Effective Electronic Gaming In Education; by Ferdig, Richard, E. (2008)
“Games and gaming have always been an important part of society and culture. Within the last 35 years, due to numerous technology innovations, electronic games in many formats have not only become ubiquitous in everyday recreational life but have also permeated many professional fields and disciplines for multiple purposes including teaching and learning.
The Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education presents a framework for understanding games for educational purposes while providing a broader sense of current related research. Compiling over 50 groundbreaking research studies from leading international authorities in the field, this advanced and uniquely comprehensive reference is a must-have for academic and research libraries and for all those interested in expanding their theoretical and practical knowledge of the exciting field of electronic gaming.”
“Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available—from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for students, self-learners, faculty, and educational institutions—we have yet to take full advantage of shared knowledge about how these are being used, what local innovations are emerging, and how to learn from and build on the experiences of others. Opening Up Education argues that we must develop not only the technical capability but also the intellectual
capacity for transforming tacit pedagogical knowledge into commonly usable and visible knowledge: by providing incentives for faculty to use (and contribute to) open education goods, and by looking beyond institutional boundaries to connect a variety of settings and open source entrepreneurs. These essays by leaders in open education describe successes, challenges, and opportunities they have found in a range of open education initiatives. They approach—from both macro and micro perspectives—the central question of how open education tools, resources, and knowledge can improve the quality of education. The contributors (from leading foundations, academic institutions, associations, and projects) discuss the strategic underpinnings of their efforts first in terms of technology, then content, and finally knowledge. They also address the impact of their projects, and how close they come to achieving a vision of sustainable, transformative educational opportunities that amounts to much more than pervasive technology.”
Technology and diversity in higher education New challenges; by Inoue, Y. (2007).
“This book examines current and effective educational practices as well as new challenges involving emerging technologies in increasingly diverse learning environments in higher educationand the impact of the explosion of technology. These challenges are well documented in this collection of essays, case studies, and research reports.”
Using emerging technologies to enhance student engagement;by Junco, R., & Timm, D. M. (2008).
“Today's college students have never known a time when personal computers did not exist. They attended K-12 schools where most of their classrooms were equipped with computers. Information technology has always been part of their learning process, not to mention the impact it has had on the development of their friendships, research and writing skills, shopping, and choice of college or university to attend. They expect that institutions of higher education will respond to their inquiries without delay, much in the same way that customer service is handled on the Web. Student expectations are driving the creation of live Web chats, in-house social networking sites, university wiki, and shared virtual spaces.
Unfortunately, higher education faculty and staff in general, and student affairs professionals in particular, are behind the curve in their use of information technology. Student affairs professionals are only starting to become aware that they should learn about the technologies that students have already integrated into their lives.
It is imperative that student affairs professions understand these technologies and learn how to implement them to
• enhance student learning
• build a sense of community
• increase student engagement
• facilitate communication
This volume examines recent research on how information technology is affecting college student development and explores ways in which institutions are responding to increased demands for using emerging technology in supporting students.”
The tower and the cloud: Higher education in the age of cloud computing; by Katz, R. N. (2008).
“The emergence of the networked information economy is unleashing two powerful forces. On one hand, easy access to high-speed networks is empowering individuals. People can now discover and consume information resources and services globally from their homes. Further, new social computing approaches are inviting people to share in the creation and edification of information on the Internet. Empowerment of the individual -- or consumerization -- is reducing the individual's reliance on traditional brick-and-mortar institutions in favor of new and emerging virtual ones. Second, ubiquitous access to high-speed networks along with network standards, open standards and content, and techniques for virtualizing hardware, software, and services is making it possible to leverage scale economies in unprecedented ways. What appears to be emerging is industrial-scale computing -- a standardized infrastructure for delivering computing power, network bandwidth, data storage and protection, and services. Consumerization and industrialization beg the question "Is this the end of the middle?"; that is, what will be the role of "enterprise" IT in the future? Indeed, the bigger question is what will become of all of our intermediating institutions? This volume examines the impact of IT on higher education and on the IT organization in higher education.”
Technology enhanced learning: Best practices; by Lytras, M. D. (2008).
“This book goes beyond traditional discussion on technology enhanced learning provides research and insights on increasing the efficiency of learning for individuals and groups, facilitating the transfer and sharing of knowledge in organizations, and understanding of the learning process by exploring links among human learning, cognition, and technologies.”
Computer-supported collaborative learning in higher education; Roberts, T. (2005).
“Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in Higher Education provides a resource for researchers and practitioners in the area of computer-supported collaborative learning (also known as CSCL); particularly those working within a tertiary education environment. It includes articles of relevance to those interested in both theory and practice in this area. It attempts to answer such important current questions as: how can groups with shared goals work collaboratively using the new technologies? What problems can be expected, and what are the benefits? In what ways does online group work differ from face-to-face group work? And what implications are there for both educators and students seeking to work in this area?”
Handbook of research on educational communications and technology; by Spector, J. M. (2008).
“What does research tell us about television learning or computers as cognitive tools or the design of graphics and text in the technological environment? How are various research methodologies applied in the field of educational communications and technology? These are just a few of the 42 chapters in this latest in Macmillan's series of research handbooks in education. Authoritative researchers and practitioners summarize the literature and explore research methods and models. Chapters are arranged in seven sections.
"Foundations for Research" includes viewpoints from the fields of behaviorism, communication, cognitive and ecological psychology, sociology, and theory, among others. Examples of topics from the sections on hard and soft technologies relate to specific media (e.g., television, distance learning, virtual realities) and instructional and informational design research (e.g., visual literacy, cognitive teaching models, adaptive systems, library information access). The role of illustrations, text, sound, and multiple-channel communications is explored in "Instructional Message Design.
"Instructional Strategies" covers learner control, ergonomics, and more, and "Issues of Organization and Change" and "Research Methodologies" (experimental, qualitative, descriptive, developmental) round out the volume. Each chapter concludes with an extensive bibliography. Tables, illustrations, and photographs are usually included where appropriate, although the contrast between the chapters on visual message design (no illustrations) and text design (numerous helpful graphics and design examples) is somewhat surprising. An index provides detailed access to the text.
Although the text is written by and for academic researchers and requires a certain level of familiarity with the subjects for comprehension and appreciation,
undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty in communications, education, psychology, and computer science will find this title a useful and necessary addition to the reference or circulating collection.”
Integrating information & communications technologies into the classroom; by Tomei, L. A. (2007).
“This book promotes state-of-the-art application of classroom technology for teaching and learning. Teachers, educational researchers, and scholars are offered some twenty chapters filled with practical applications research, practice, and thought-provoking stances on many of the key issues associated with teaching and learning in today's classroom environment.”