The educational technology Canon: want to do a better job of integrating technology and curriculum? Reading these books will move you to the head of your class.Countless articles and conference speakers stress the importance of educational technology plans and remind us that schools need to assemble all relevant stakeholders in the formulation of that plan. The problem is those stakeholders often know little about technology's revolutionary potential to enhance the learning process or the issues involved in successful integration. The following is a list intended to kick-start the development of an educational technology canon. Share these books with your colleagues before you meet to define future directions for your district. While this list is hardly exhaustive, you can use it to expand your professional library. Father of Educational Computing A mathematician, computer scientist and artificial intelligence pioneer, Seymour Papert Seymour Papert (born March 1, 1928 Pretoria, South Africa) is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language. worked with Jean Piaget Noun 1. Jean Piaget - Swiss psychologist remembered for his studies of cognitive development in children (1896-1980) Piaget , created the Logo programming language and is widely recognized as the father of educational of computing. Papert began advocating for personal computers in the hands of every learner nearly 40 years ago. It would be a huge mistake to overlook his wisdom, experience and profoundly moving books when thinking about the future of education. Papert has written three books on learning and computers. If you can only read one, I recommend starting with 1993's The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer. Mindstorms: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas is arguably the most-read book about learning and computers since its publication in 1980. The Connected Family: Bridging the Digital Generation Gap (1996) embraces the Internet as a vehicle for connecting family members and expanding the learning environment into the home. Understanding the Past Critics would like us to believe that educational computing is an accident of corporate marketing. The following books remind us that many of the visionaries, scientists and dreamers responsible for the computer revolution have always viewed the computer as a way to expand intellectual power and human creativity. Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology by Howard Rheingold Howard Rheingold (born July 7, 1947) is a critic and writer; his specialties are on the cultural, social and political implications of modern communication media such as the Internet, mobile telephony and virtual communities (a term he is credited with inventing). (2000) tells the fascinating and often entertaining tales of the men and women responsible for personal computers and digital communication. Unlike other technology historians, Rheingold connects these inventions to personal visions of revolutionizing the learning process. You will be amazed to learn how much children influenced the development of the personal computer. The New Media Reader, edited by Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort Nick Montfort is a poet, computer scientist, scholar of new media and game studies, and author of interactive fiction who is moving away from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His collaborative literary projects include The Ed Report, 2002, Implementation, and (2003), makes an enormous historical contribution by assembling dozens of the most important articles and scholarly papers by the men and women responsible for the most powerful ideas of the digital age. Best of all, this exhaustive anthology includes a CD-Rom containing examples of important computer programs and digital artifacts of the past. Now you can show your students what computers used to do. The Victorian Internet The Victorian Internet is a term coined in the late 20th century to describe advanced 19th century telecommunications technologies such as the telegraph and pneumatic tubes. : The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers by Tom Standage Tom Standage is a journalist and author from England. A graduate of Oxford University, he has worked as a science and technology writer for The Guardian, as the business editor at The Economist, has been published in Wired, The New York Times (1999) offers a context for thinking about the impact of the Internet by comparing the current era to a time when the telegraph transformed society. Media Convergence Media convergence is a theory in communications where mass mediums merges together to create a new product offering a variety of the properties of each. Such an example is that of the internet. Media convergence was the hot topic of the late nineties. The confluence of multiple forms of media holds great promise for engaging many kinds of learners. Neil Gershenfeld's When Things Start to Think (2000), will capture your imagination about the fanciful ways computers may enhance lives in ways similar to those described earlier by his colleague Nicholas Negroponte Nicholas Negroponte (born 1943) is an architect and computer scientist best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. He is the younger brother of John Negroponte, current United States Deputy Secretary of State. in the important book, Being Digital (1996). Gershenfeld and Negroponte work at MIT's Media Lab. Author Stewart Brand chronicled the early days of this important imagination factory in 1987's The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Though out-of-print, Brand's book is widely available. Safety, Security and Sanity Internet & Computer Ethics (philosophy) computer ethics - Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. for Kids: (and Parents & Teachers Who Haven't Got a Clue) by Winn Schwartau (2001) has been embraced as a lifesaver by many schools. The book explores dozens of moral dilemmas created by high technology in breezy fashion appropriate for middle schoolers and the adults in their lives suffering from Internet hysteria. These Kids Today There has been a great deal of discussion about videogames and learning. James Paul This article is about the American conductor. For the British officer of arms, see James Balfour Paul. James Paul (born 1940 in Forest Grove, Oregon, U.S.) is an American conductor. He studied voice at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Gee's book, What Video Games See video game console. Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2004), offers the most thoughtful insights on the issue. Online Learning The Concord Consortium is a leading R&D organization concerned with math, science and online education. Its virtual high school is the gold-standard for effective K-12 e-learning. Its experience and advice are shared in Facilitating Online Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderators by George Collison The Rev. George Collison (1772-1847) was an English Congregationalist and educator. Early life The Rev. George Collison (1772-1847) was born in Beverley, Yorkshire, on 6 January 1772 and became articled to a solicitor in Bridlington. , Bonnie Elbaum, Sarah Haavind and Robert Tinker (2000). Respected artificial intelligence researcher Roger Schank Roger Schank (* 1946) is president and CEO of Socratic Arts, and a leading visionary in artificial intelligence. Career Schank was formerly professor of computer science and psychology at Yale University and director of the Yale Artificial Intelligence Project. authored Designing World-Class E-Learning: How IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , GE, Harvard Business School Harvard Business School, officially named the Harvard Business School: George F. Baker Foundation, and also known as HBS, is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. , And Columbia University Are Succeeding At E-Learning (2001). Although intended for corporate leaders, this fine book contains many important lessons for K-12 educators and administrators concerned with professional development. Laptops Despite the book's curious rifle, Never Mind the Laptops: Kids, Computers, and the Transformation of Learning by Bob Johnstone (2003) meticulously chronicles the implementation of laptops in schools over the past 15 years while rooting this global trend in important educational ideas. Reasonable Criticism For the sake of balance, I recommend Larry Cuban and David B. Tyack's book, Tinkering Towards Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform (1997). While I disagree with many of the book's conclusions, the authors do a good job reviewing the history of other educational interventions. Educational Research Idit Harel's book, Children Designers: Interdisciplinary Constructions for Learning and Knowing Mathematics in a Computer-Rich School, earned the Book of the Year Award from the American Educational Research Association The American Educational Research Association, or AERA, was founded in 1916 as a professional organization representing educational researchers in the United States and around the world. in 1991. Her comprehensive research demonstrates how elementary students who program computers to design their own educational software make impressive academic gains in math and other domains. Cynthia Solomon has made countless contributions to technology and education for decades. Her book, Computer Environments for Children: A Reflection on Theories of Learning and Education (1988), provides an analysis of several competing learning theories and their high-tech manifestations. Constructionism constructionism the use of or reliance on construction or constructive methods. — constructionist, n. See also: Attitudes by Papert & Harel (1991), Constructionism in Practice : Designing, Thinking and Learning in a Digital World by Mitchel Resnick and Yasmin Kafai (1996) and Robotics for Kids: Exploring New Technologies for Learning by Allison Druin and James Hendler (2000) are anthologies chock-full of case studies about innovative educational technology research and classroom implementations. Ricki Goldman-Segall demonstrates how digital ethnography may be used as a research tool in Points of Viewing Children's Thinking: A Digital Ethnographer's Journey (1997). Her development of new video-based scholarship is an important contributions to classroom research. Understanding the Future The Clock of the Long Now I want to build a clock that ticks once a year. The century hand advances once every one hundred years, and the cuckoo comes out on the millennium. I want the cuckoo to come out every millennium for the next 10,000 years.: Time and Responsibility: The Ideas Behind the World's Slowest Computer by Stewart Brand (2000) will inspire you to look beyond the upcoming round of testing or next quarter's profits. This provocative book uses the construction of a clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years as a philosophical metaphor for deep thinking about the future. Ever wanted to really understand how computers work? The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work by Daniel Hillis (1999) answers all of your questions in a stimulating and readable fashion. Gary Stager is editor-at-large and an adjunct professor at Pepperdine Univ. |
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