Blink Monitor » education

Instructional Design for Librarians

rleir — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:01:02 +0000

Instructional Design for Librarians and Information Professionals, Lesley Farmer, – 2011

Educators will want to read this book. The section on course-ware is useful. 200 pages.

Apps for Autism

rleir — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:15:40 +0000

Apps for Autism – An Essential Guide to over 200 Effective Apps for Improving Communication, Behavior, Social Skills, and More!, Lois Brady, – 2011

Primary educators will want to read this book. It reviews 200 iPad apps that are useful in teaching special needs kids. Large format, 400 pages.

Cyber Crime Secrets

rleir — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:54:10 +0000

Cyber Crime Secrets, John Townsend, 2012

Kids in grades 5 to 8 will like this book. Large format hardcover, 30 pages.

Reference Reborn

rleir — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:01:25 +0000

Reference Reborn – Breathing New Life into Public Services Librarianship (- 2011)

Librarians will want to read this collection of essays about the changing roles of American university librarians. 400 pages.

Language and Learning

rleir — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:42:15 +0000

Language and Learning in the Digital Age, James Paul Gee, 2011

An academic look at how education is affected by the rise of the Internet. 150 pages.

Geek Dad’s Guide

rleir — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:06:09 +0000

The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun – Cool Hacks, Cutting-edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family, Ken Denmead, – 2011

Quoting a 10 year old boy: “I found some extremely good stuff”.

The projects include:
NERF Dart Blowgun
Backyard Zip Line
Measuring the Speed of Light With Chocolate
Pun Wars

200 pages.

Science Fair Season

rleir — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:19:31 +0000

Science Fair Season – Twelve Kids, A Robot Named Scorch– and What It Takes to Win, Judy Dutton, 2011

Parents of science minded kids and teachers will want to read this account of robot making for science fairs. Hardcover, 250 pages.

Lowering Higher Education

rleir — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:07:29 +0000

Lowering Higher Education – The Rise of Corporate Universities and the Fall of Liberal Education, James E. Côté, University of Toronto Press, 2011

This book by a sociology professor discusses the trends in higher education and how universities are failing. The book is mostly not about technology. However, the section on new technology is interesting. It disputes the concept of the ‘Digital Native’, and argues that the proponents of web 2.0 technologies in the university do not understand higher education. He singles out Don Tapscott, using the word ‘hubris’. Well written, 200 pages.

New Cool FIRST Robotics

rleir — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:52:14 +0000

The New Cool – A Visionary Teacher, His FIRST Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts, Neal Bascomb, 2011

This book about the FIRST robotics competitions for students (the brainchild of Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway), gets an outstanding review by Kamen himself. Hardcover, 300 pages.

Teaching Digital Natives

rleir — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:07:41 +0000

Teaching Digital Natives – Partnering for Real Learning, Marc Prensky, – 2010

This book for teachers about using new technology is inspiring.

Contents:

Partnering: a pedagogy for the new educational landscape
Moving to the partnering pedagogy
Think people and passions rather than classes and content
Always be real (not just relevant)
Planning: content to questions, questions to skills
Using technology in partnering
Understanding the nouns, or tools
Let your students create
Continuous improvement through practice and sharing
Assessment in the partnering pedagogy.

200 pages.