Designs For Learning

The Internet and associated technologies have been around for almost twenty years. Networked access and computer ownership are now the norm. There is a plethora of technologies that can be used to support learning, offering different ways in which learners can communicate with each other and their tutors, and providing them with access to interactive, multimedia content. However, these generic skills don’t necessarily translate seamlessly to an academic learning context. Appropriation of these technologies for academic purposes requires specific skills, which means that the way in which we design and support learning opportunities needs to provide appropriate support to harness the potential of technologies. More than ever before learners need supportive ‘learning pathways’ to enable them to blend formal educational offerings, with free resources and services. This requires a rethinking of the design process, to enable teachers to take account of a blended learning context.

We live in a time of educational transformations towards more 21st century pedagogies and learning. Games and Education explores new designs in and for learning and offer inspiration to teachers, technologist and researchers interested in changing educational practices.

Few things are as certain as societal changes—and the pressing need for educators to prepare students with the knowledge and ways of thinking necessary for the challenges in a changing world. In the forward-thinking pages of Designs for Learning Environments of the Future, international teams of researchers present emerging developments and findings in learning sciences and technologies at the infrastructure, curricular, and classroom levels. Focusing on ideas about designing innovative environments for learning in areas such as biology, engineering, genetics, mathematics, and computer science, the book surveys a range of learning technologies being explored around the world—a spectrum as diverse as digital media, computer modeling, and 3D virtual worlds—and addresses challenges arising from their design and use. The editors’ holistic perspective frames these innovations as not only discrete technologies but as flexible learning environments that foster student engagement, participation, and collaboration. Contributors describe possibilities for teaching and learning in these and other cutting-edge areas: Working with hypermodels and model-based reasoning Using visual representations in teaching abstract concepts Designing strategies for learning in virtual worlds Supporting net-based collaborative teams Integrating innovative learning technologies into schools Developing personal learning communities Designs for Learning Environments of the Future will enhance the work of a wide range of professionals, including researchers and graduate students in the learning and cognitive sciences, and educators in the physical and social sciences.

Participatory Design is a field of research and design that actively engages stakeholders in the processes of design in order to better conceptualize and create tools, environments, and systems that serve those stakeholders. In Participatory Design for Learning: Perspectives from Practice and Research, contributors from across the fields of the learning sciences and design articulate an inclusive practice and begin the process of shaping guidelines for such collaborative involvement. Drawing from a wide range of examples and perspectives, this book explores how participatory design can contribute to the development, implementation, and sustainability of learning innovations. Written for scholars and students, Participatory Design for Learning: Perspectives from Practice and Research develops and draws attention to practices that are relevant to the facilitation of effective educational environments and learning technologies.

Anne Meyer and David Rose, who first laid out the principles of UDL, provide an ambitious, engaging discussion of new research and best practices. This book gives the UDL field an essential and authoritative learning resource for the coming years. In the 1990s, Anne Meyer, David Rose, and their colleagues at CAST introduced Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework to improve teaching and learning in the digital age, sparking an international reform movement. Now Meyer and Rose return with Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice, an up-to-date multimedia online book (with print and e-book options) that leverages more than a decade of research and implementation. This is the first significant new statement on UDL since 2002, an ambitious, engaging exploration of ideas and best practices that provides the growing UDL field with an essential and authoritative learning resource for the coming years. This new work includes contributions from CAST's research and implementation teams as well as from many of CAST's collaborators in schools, universities, and research settings. Readers are invited to contribute ideas, perspectives, and examples from their own practice in an online community of practice. --

Designing for Learning in a Networked World provides answers to the following questions: what skills are required for living in a networked world; how can educators design for learning these skills and what role can and should networked learning play in a networked world? It discusses central theoretical concepts and draws on current debates about competences necessary to thrive in contemporary society. The book presents detailed analyses of skills needed and investigates the question of how one can design for learning in specific empirical cases, ranging in academic level from preschool to university teaching. The book clarifies the different conceptions of design within the educational field and offers a framework for thinking critically about instances of networked learning. It analyses digital and Computational Literacy and discusses participatory skills for learning in a networked world. Examples of specific empirical cases include teaching programming to students not necessarily intrinsically motivated to learn; facilitation of a participatory public in the library and designs for children’s transition from day-care to primary school, discussed as a matter of networked contexts. Engaging thoughtfully with the question of ‘21st century skills’, this book will be vital reading to scholars, researchers and students within the fields of education, networked learning, learning technology and the learning sciences, digital literacy, design for learning, and library studies.

Products, technologies, and workplaces change so quickly today that everyone is continually learning. Many of us are also teaching, even when it's not in our job descriptions. Whether it's giving a presentation, writing documentation, or creating a website or blog, we need and want to share our knowledge with other people. But if you've ever fallen asleep over a boring textbook, or fast-forwarded through a tedious e-learning exercise, you know that creating a great learning experience is harder than it seems. In Design For How People Learn, you'll discover how to use the key principles behind learning, memory, and attention to create materials that enable your audience to both gain and retain the knowledge and skills you're sharing. Using accessible visual metaphors and concrete methods and examples, Design For How People Learn will teach you how to leverage the fundamental concepts of instructional design both to improve your own learning and to engage your audience.