Winner of the Association of Educational Computing and Technology (AECT) 2018 Design and Development Outstanding Book Award
Educators and researchers worldwide are confronted by a tantalizing challenge - how should contemporary technologies be used to enhance learning? This book provides a broad academic and teaching audience with an integrated understanding of learning technology research, and how it can be used to enhance the design of learning environments.
Whereas some books focus exclusively on research relating to learning technology and others propose ways to use technology effectively, this book synthesises research for the purpose of informing best practice. After laying pedagogical, technological and content foundations, it examines research relating to the educational use of Web 2.0, social networking, mobile devices and virtual worlds. Analysis across these contexts leaves readers with a nuanced understanding of how technology-enhanced learning design principles may (or may not) be abstracted across different learning technology environments.
Providing an integrated portrayal of learning technology research enables educators (academics, school teachers, pre-service teachers and educational designers) to immediately adopt evidence-based approaches in their teaching. The comprehensive synthesis of the literature also helps learning technology researchers to more clearly identify the interrelationships between different areas of learning technology research, as well as position their work amongst the practical problems of the field.
Rich with examples, this book is suitable for those who want to adopt a design-based and research-driven approach to enhancing learning using technology.
Industry Reviews
Educators who are trying to integrate technology into their programs often do not have the time or background to search through the research literature to find out what platform might work best for a given application, says Bower. Therefore, in order to move technology-enhanced learning research and practice closer together, he synthesizes the general and empirical learning-technology literature to identify the key educational potentials, issues, and design considerations relating to technology-enhanced learning. -- Annotation (c)2017 * (protoview.com) *
"A valuable resource that provides detailed syntheses of the literature for a variety of technologies currently used in education, overviews of pedagogy, and valuable learning design recommendations. It would be very useful for graduate students in education fields as well as new and pre-service teachers." - Sylvia E. Rogers in TechTrends, 2018
This volume does the best job of pulling together knowledge in the field toward textured but practical guidance. Bower does not overstate what is known or veer into theoretical determinism. The content is excellently grounded in theory and provides excellent examples from practice. It is very well-structured and well-written. Impactful! Faulty could use this as a foundational text in a course for technology for teachers and even for college faculty. Association of Educational Computing and Technology 2018