Teaching Lab Science Courses Online is a practical resource for educators developing and teaching fully online lab science courses. First, it provides guidance for using learning management systems and other web 2.0 technologies such as video presentations, discussion boards, Google apps, Skype, video/web conferencing, and social media networking. Moreover, it offers advice for giving students the hands-on “wet laboratory” experience they need to learn science effectively, including the implications of implementing various lab experiences such as computer simulations, kitchen labs, and commercially assembled at-home lab kits. Finally, the book reveals how to get administrative and faculty buy-in for teaching science online and shows how to negotiate internal politics and assess the budget implications of online science instruction.
With the increasing focus on science education, growing attention is being paid to how science is taught. Educators in science and science-related disciplines are recognizing that distance delivery opens up new opportunities for delivering information, providing interactivity, collaborative opportunities and feedback, as well as for increasing access for students. This book presents the guidance of expert science educators from the US and from around the globe. They describe key concepts, delivery modes and emerging technologies, and offer models of practice. The book places particular emphasis on experimentation, lab and field work as they are fundamentally part of the education in most scientific disciplines. Chapters include: * Discipline methodology and teaching strategies in the specific areas of physics, biology, chemistry and earth sciences. * An overview of the important and appropriate learning technologies (ICTs) for each major science. * Best practices for establishing and maintaining a successful course online. * Insights and tips for handling practical components like laboratories and field work. * Coverage of breaking topics, including MOOCs, learning analytics, open educational resources and m-learning. * Strategies for engaging your students online. A companion website presents videos of the contributors sharing additional guidance, virtual labs simulations and various additional resources.
Online teaching and learning has surged in recent years, and faculty who normally teach in face-to-face settings are increasingly called upon to teach blended, hybrid, and fully online courses. Best Practices in Online Teaching and Learning across Academic Disciplines provides insights from experienced university teachers and scholars across multiple disciplines—including social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, and professional programs such as nursing, education, and business administration—who share innovative practices, pedagogies, and instructional design techniques. This work highlights and features effective, practical, innovative, and engaging best-practices and approaches in online teaching and instructional design that can assist university faculty members and teachers, course designers and developers, and administrators invested and involved in online education. Using a common theme and structure, each chapter is co-authored by faculty members possessing a wealth of experience and credentialing in online teaching and instructional design in the relevant discipline or sub-discipline. Chapters include best-practices, approaches, and techniques within the discipline as well as relevant, innovative, and specific tools and strategies that improve student engagement and outcomes. The book will appeal to faculty members and administrators in higher education teaching or designing online courses or entire online curricula, as well as instructional design staff working with and training faculty. Readers will be especially interested to discover lessons about how contributors have successfully taught and designed courses in disciplines not typically associated with online learning, such as mathematics, composition/writing, drawing, "hard" sciences, and speech, among others. Distributed for George Mason University Press
In this digital age, faculty, teachers, and teacher educators are increasingly expected to adopt and adapt pedagogical perspectives to support student learning in instructional environments featuring online or blended learning. One highly adopted element of online and blended learning involves the use of online learning discussions. Discussion-based learning offers a rich pedagogical context for creating learning opportunities as well as a great deal of flexibility for a wide variety of learning and learner contexts. As post-secondary and, increasingly, K-12 institutions cope with the rapid growth of online learning, and an increase in the cultural diversity of learners, it is critical to understand, at a detailed level, the relationship between online interaction and learning and how educationally-effective interactions might be nurtured, in an inclusive way, by instructors. The Handbook of Research on Online Discussion-Based Teaching Methods is a cutting-edge research publication that seeks to identify promising designs, pedagogical and assessment strategies, conceptual models, and theoretical frameworks that support discussion-based learning in online and blended learning environments. This book provides a better understanding of the effects and both commonalities and differences of new tools that support interaction, such as video, audio, and real-time interaction in discussion-based learning. Featuring a wide range of topics such as gamification, intercultural learning, and digital agency, this book is ideal for teachers, educational software developers, instructional designers, IT consultants, academicians, curriculum designers, researchers, and students.
This work provides overviews and summaries of the research and practice of distance education in the USA. It addresses such questions as how distance education is best practised at the level of the teacher, as well as the administrator.
The current learning environment is substantially different than what existed for most of the 20th century. Learners and teachers today must navigate in perpetually changing contexts where education is influenced by technological advancement and obsolescence, economic barriers, a changing employment landscape, and even international politics. Studies indicate that employers seek to hire graduates with strong skills in areas coalescing around international awareness, creativity, communication, leadership, and teamwork. Skills and experiences in these areas are necessary preparation for the current economy and to pursue jobs that do not exist yet, while providing some insulation against the obsolescence of industries that lack these characteristics. These interpersonal skills are not often the subject of students’ degrees, yet there are opportunities in online education to cultivate them. With increased interest in new career options comes the need to reconsider how to teach subjects in the increasingly online environment. Advancing Online Course Design and Pedagogy for the 21st Century Learning Environment is a critical reference book that navigates today’s dynamic education requirements and provides examples of how online learning can foster growth in skill areas necessary for career advancement through effective course design. Moreover, it helps educators gain insight into online pedagogy and course design for the 21st century learner and prepares them to convert traditional courses and enhance existing online courses, thereby supporting students’ growth and development in the highly dynamic online learning environment. Focusing on specific learning activities, assessments, engagement, communication techniques, and more, this book provides a valuable resource for those seeking to upgrade teaching and learning into the online environment, those that seek better employment outcomes for their students, and those seeking to explore contemporary online course design strategies or examples. This includes teachers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, academicians, researchers, and students.
This book brings together research from mathematics education and instructional design to describe the development and impact of online environments on prospective and practicing teachers’ learning to teach mathematics. The move to online learning has steadily increased over the past decade. Its most rapid movement occurring in 2020 with most instruction taking place remotely. Chapters in this book highlight issues related to teacher learning in three main contexts: formal, informal, and experiential or practice-based. This volume brings together researchers from the different but related fields of instructional design and mathematics education to engage in dialogue around how we design and study the impacts of online learning in general and online mathematics education more specifically. The book is very timely with most instruction taking place online and mathematics educators addressing challenges related to supporting teachers’ formal, informal, and experiential learning online. A chapter in each section will synthesize ideas presented by instructional designers and mathematics educators as it relates to teacher learning in each context. At the end of each section, a retrospective chapter is presented to reflect on what the different perspectives offer to better understand mathematics teacher learning in online environments. This book is of interest to mathematics educators, researchers, teacher educators, professional development providers, and instructional designers.
Changing student profiles and the increasing availability of mainstream and specialized learning technologies are stretching the traditional face-to-face models of teaching and learning in higher education. Institutions, too, are facing far-reaching systemic changes which are placing strains on existing resources and physical infrastructure and calling into question traditional ways of teaching through lectures and tutorials. And, with an ever-increasing scrutiny on teaching and teachers’ accountability for positive educational outcomes, the call for closer attention to learning, teaching and, most especially, to the design and delivery of the curriculum is given increasing relevance and importance. Research provides strong evidence of the potential for technologies to facilitate not only cognition and learning but also to become integral components in the redesign of current curriculum models. Some Universities and individual academics have moved along this pathway, developing new and innovative curriculum, blending pedagogies and technologies to suit their circumstances. Yet, there are others, unsure of the possibilities, the opportunities and constraints in these changing times. Curriculum Models for the 21st Century gives insights into how teaching and learning can be done differently. The focus is on a whole of curriculum approach, looking at theoretical models and examples of practice which capitalize on the potential of technologies to deliver variations and alternatives to the more traditional lecture-based model of University teaching.
It has quickly become apparent in the past year that online learning is not only an asset, but it is critical to the continued education of youth during times of crisis. However, districts and schools across the nation are in need of guidance and practical, research-backed approaches to distance and hybrid learning. The current COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that effective learning in K-12 is possible, but many districts struggled and continue to struggle in achieving that reality. There is also the growing consensus that even if things “return to normal,” distance and blended learning strategies should continue to be employed in many ways across the K-12 environment. Designing Effective Distance and Blended Learning Environments in K-12 provides key insights into the ways that school districts and educators from across the world have effectively designed and implemented distance and blended learning approaches to enable and enhance student learning. The diverse collection of authors from various demographics and roles in school systems will benefit readers across a wide spectrum of school community stakeholders. There will also be an emphasis on how research and theory is put into practice, along with an honest discussion of what strategies and actions were successful as well as those that were less so. This book is essential for professionals and researchers working in the field of K-12 education, particularly superintendents, curriculum developers, professional learning designers, school principals, instructional technology specialists, and teachers, as well as administrators, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the effective practices being used in blended learning approaches.
You've heard about "flipping your classroom"—now find out howto do it! Introducing a new way to think about higher education,learning, and technology that prioritizes the benefits of the humandimension. José Bowen recognizes that technology is profoundlychanging education and that if students are going to continue topay enormous sums for campus classes, colleges will need to providemore than what can be found online and maximize "naked"face-to-face contact with faculty. Here, he illustrates howtechnology is most powerfully used outside the classroom, and, whenused effectively, how it can ensure that students arrive to classmore prepared for meaningful interaction with faculty. Bowen offerspractical advice for faculty and administrators on how to engagestudents with new technology while restructuring classes into moreactive learning environments.
The year 2020 brought an unprecedented worldwide health crisis through the COVID-19 pandemic that has been affecting all sectors, including education. There were questions surrounding the effectiveness of online trainings for teachers, online teaching practices, the motivation and engagement of students, and the quality of learning and education in these times. Action research emerged to address these concerns, being a systematic process of inquiry using reflection within a cyclical model of planning, acting, implementing, evaluating, and continuous reflection. This method of research is employed with the expertise and passion from educators to better enhance online practices and education while using authentic learning and experiences. Using collaboration, social advocacy, and action research, there is the opportunity to advance teaching for students, families, and communities without a physical context involved. The Handbook of Research on the Global Empowerment of Educators and Student Learning Through Action Research explores successful teaching and learning skills through the method of action research and intersects it with online learning in order to uncover best teaching practices in online platforms. This book showcases educational professionals’ action research for solutions in advancing teaching and learning, the practical benefits of action research, recommendations for improving online teaching and learning, and a focus on professional growth as well as social justice advocacy. It highlights important topics including student learning, teacher collaboration, authentic learning, advocacy, and action research in both K-12 and higher education settings. This book is ideal for inservice and preservice teachers, administrators, teacher educators, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in how action research is improving and advancing knowledge on the best teaching practices for online education.
This book offers an accessible, practical and engaging guide that provides sample instructional activities supported by theoretical background information, with a focus on the nature of the instructional process in relation to several variables. It approaches instructional models, strategies, methods, techniques, tactics and planning from a new perspective and shares effective tips to help readers better understand the instructional process and its theoretical elements. The book addresses the following questions: What is the nature of the instructional process? What are the classifications of contemporary models and strategies developed within the instructional process? Which groups yield the most effective methods and techniques, and how can they best be practically implemented? What are the instructional tactics teachers need to take into consideration, in which groups are they collected, and which tips can help us employ each tactic? Additionally, readers can adapt the book’s ready-to-use sample activities to their own educational settings. Overall, this book offers an enlightening discussion on contemporary practices related to the teaching process, a broad and holistic theoretical framework, and an ideal reference source for all students and scholars who are interested in the educational sciences.
