Educational Innovations Beyond Technology

The text explores the concept of innovation, and analyse and compare different dimensions of innovation found in the various case studies; the transfer of innovation and the mechanisms of change; on an innovative online case study database on education innovations that has been designed to be used by education practitioners to support organizational leadership, international collaboration and reflective practice in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) eEducation Leadership initiative; on a project aimed to support the establishment of communities of practice for education practitioners facilitated through an extendable online database that can be used to contribute and share case studies of their own ICT-supported pedagogical innovations. It discusses roles of the teacher and the anticipated changes to the education profession at a system level, in the coming decade on the basis of emerging changes observed in the case studies, and leadership issues at the school level. The book analyses change mechanisms for different kinds of innovation and how different contextual and cultural factors interact to bring about the changes observed.

The text explores the concept of innovation, and analyse and compare different dimensions of innovation found in the various case studies; the transfer of innovation and the mechanisms of change; on an innovative online case study database on education innovations that has been designed to be used by education practitioners to support organizational leadership, international collaboration and reflective practice in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) eEducation Leadership initiative; on a project aimed to support the establishment of communities of practice for education practitioners facilitated through an extendable online database that can be used to contribute and share case studies of their own ICT-supported pedagogical innovations. It discusses roles of the teacher and the anticipated changes to the education profession at a system level, in the coming decade on the basis of emerging changes observed in the case studies, and leadership issues at the school level. The book analyses change mechanisms for different kinds of innovation and how different contextual and cultural factors interact to bring about the changes observed.

Annotation The text explores the concept of innovation, and analyse and compare different dimensions of innovation found in the various case studies; the transfer of innovation and the mechanisms of change; on an innovative online case study database on education innovations that has been designed to be used by education practitioners to support organizational leadership, international collaboration and reflective practice in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) eEducation Leadership initiative; on a project aimed to support the establishment of communities of practice for education practitioners facilitated through an extendable online database that can be used to contribute and share case studies of their own ICT-supported pedagogical innovations. It discusses roles of the teacher and the anticipated changes to the education profession at a system level, in the coming decade on the basis of emerging changes observed in the case studies, and leadership issues at the school level. The book analyses change mechanisms for different kinds of innovation and how different contextual and cultural factors interact to bring about the changes observed.

Drawing from the information presented at conference sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Technology in Education Consortium, leading educators, researchers, and policymakers, Scaling Up Success translate, theory into practice and provide, a hands-on resource that clearly describes different models for “scaling up” success. This important resource is filled with illustrative examples of best practices that are grounded in real-life case studies of technology-based educational innovation3⁄4from networking a failing school district in New Jersey to using computer visualization to teach scientific inquiry in Chicago. Scaling Up Success show how the lessons learned from technology-based educational innovation can be applied to other school improvement efforts.

While many school districts and institutions of higher education still cling to the traditional agrarian school year with a factory model delivery of education and Carnegie units based on seat time when most people are no longer farmers, factory workers, or reliant on learning in a classroom, there are bursts of promising practices that buck the norm by questioning the educational value of these traditions. Though researchers have investigated the potential of students learning in their own homes via personalized instruction delivered by computers rather than attending traditional institutions, the status quo in education has remained stubbornly resistant to change. Mixed-reality simulations, year-round schooling, grouping students by competencies instead of age, and game-based teaching are just a few of the educational innovations that seek to maximize learning by recognizing that innovation is essential for successfully teaching students in the modern era. The Handbook of Research on Innovations in Non-Traditional Educational Practices is a comprehensive reference source that examines various educational innovations, how they have developed workarounds to navigate traditional systems, and their potential to radically transform teaching and learning. With each chapter highlighting a different educational innovation such as experiential learning, game-based learning, online learning, and inquiry-based learning and their applications in all levels of education, this book explores the issues and challenges these educational innovations face as well as their impact. It is intended for academicians, professionals, administrators, and researchers in education and specifically benefits academic deans, vice presidents of academic affairs, graduate students, faculty technology leaders, directors of teaching and learning centers, curriculum and instructional designers, policymakers, principals and superintendents, and teachers interested in educational change.

Beyond Technology offers a challenging new analysis of learning, young people and digital media. Disputing both utopian fantasies about the transformation of education and exaggerated fears about the corruption of childhood innocence, it offers a level-headed analysis of the impact of these new media on learning, drawing on a wide range of critical research. Buckingham argues that there is now a growing divide between the media-rich world of childrens lives outside school and their experiences of technology in the classroom. Bridging this divide, he suggests, will require more than superficial attempts to import technology into schools, or to combine education with digital entertainment. While debunking such fantasies of technological change, Buckingham also provides a constructive alternative, arguing that young people need to be equipped with a new form of digital literacy that is both critical and creative. Beyond Technology will be essential reading for all students of the media or education, as well as for teachers and other education professionals.

The major purpose of this book is to clarify the importance of non-technological factors in innovation to cope with contemporary complex societal issues while critically reconsidering the relations between science, technology, innovation (STI), and society. For a few decades now, innovation—mainly derived from technological advancement—has been considered a driving force of economic and societal development and prosperity. With that in mind, the following questions are dealt with in this book: What are the non-technological sources of innovation? What can the progress of STI bring to humankind? What roles will society be expected to play in the new model of innovation? The authors argue that the majority of so-called technological innovations are actually socio-technical innovations, requiring huge resources for financing activities, adapting regulations, designing adequate policy frames, and shaping new uses and new users while having the appropriate interaction with society. This book gathers multi- and trans-disciplinary approaches in innovation that go beyond technology and take into account the inter-relations with social and human phenomena. Illustrated by carefully chosen examples and based on broad and well-informed analyses, it is highly recommended to readers who seek an in-depth and up-to-date integrated overview of innovation in its non-technological dimensions.

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the following SEFM 2012 satellite events: InSuEdu, the First International Symposium on Innovation and Sustainability in Education; MokMaSD, the First International Symposium on Modelling and Knowledge Management for Sustainable Development and Open Cert, the 6th International Workshop on Foundations and Techniques for Open Source Software Certification, held in Thessaloniki, Greece, in October 2012. The total of 14 regular papers and 7 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 35 submissions. The papers cover the topics related to the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Open Source Software (OSS) as tools to foster and support Education, Innovation and Sustainability.