Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Teaching Math for Emergent Bilinguals: Building on Culture, Language, and Identity
Ji-Yeong I; Ricardo Martinez · Iowa State University · 2020
This book is designed for pre-service/in-service teachers and others who will work or work with K–12 students who have linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds, especially students of other languages (English language learners/Emergent bilingual/multilingual). The core concept of this course is helping teachers understand the needs of various Emergent Bilinguals (a.k.a. English language learners (ELLs)/English Learners (ELs), learn to use their language and culture as a resource in mathematics classrooms and implement research-based instructional strategies that are effective to teach mathematics for Emergent Bilinguals.
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Building Democracy for All: Interactive Explorations of Government and Civic Life
Robert Maloy; Torrey Trust · EdTech Books · 2020
Designed as a core or supplementary text for upper elementary, middle and high school teachers and students, Building Democracy for All offers instructional ideas, interactive resources, multicultural content, and multimodal learning materials for interest-building explorations of United States government as well as students’ roles as citizens in a democratic society. It focuses on the importance of community engagement and social responsibility as understood and acted upon by middle and high school students—core themes in the 2018 Massachusetts 8th Grade Curriculum Framework, and which are found in many state history and social studies curriculum frameworks around the country. Building Democracy for All has been developed by a collaborative writing team of higher education faculty, public school teachers, educational librarians, and college students who are preparing to become history and social studies teachers. The primary editors and curators are from the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education. Contributing teachers come from school districts in the Connecticut River valley region of western Massachusetts (Amherst, Gateway, Westfield, Hampshire Regional, and Springfield). As an open resource, the book is being revised constantly by the members of the writing team to ensure timely inclusion of online resources and information.
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Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science
Gloria Snively ; Wanosts’a7 Williams · University of Victoria · 2016
Knowing Home attempts to capture the creative vision of Indigenous scientific knowledge and technology that is derived from an ecology of a home place. The traditional wisdom component of Indigenous Science—the values and ways of decision-making—assists humans in their relationship with each other, the land and water, and all of creation. Indigenous perspectives have the potential to give insight and guidance to the kind of environmental ethics and deep understanding that we must gain as we attempt to solve the increasingly complex problems of the 21st century. Braiding Indigenous Science and Western Science is a metaphor used to establish a particular relationship. Linked by braiding, there is a certain reciprocity. Each strand remains a separate entity, but all strands come together to form the whole. When we braid Indigenous Science with Western Science we acknowledge that both ways of knowing are legitimate forms of knowledge. The book provides a window into the vast storehouse of innovations and technologies of the Indigenous peoples who live in Northwestern North America. It is our hope that the Indigenous Science examples, research and curriculum models will inspire deep reflection regarding the under-representation of Aboriginal students in the sciences. It is intended that the rich examples and cases, combined with the resources listed in the appendices, will enable teachers and students to explore Indigenous Science examples in the classroom, and in addition, support the development of curriculum projects in home places.
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Romeo and Juliet
Rebecca Olson · Oregon State University · 2021
This edition of Romeo and Juliet was edited by students for students. We believe that reliably edited versions of the play should be available for free online. But we wanted ours to be easy to get in other ways as well. The editors—Oregon State University students who remember, far better than their professors, what it was like to read the play for the first time—carefully considered every pronoun, punctuation mark, and footnote. Our goal: to make a friendly, confidence-building edition that supported classroom activities at the high school and college level.
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Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology
Richard West · EdTech Books · 2018
This book received the 2018 AECT Outstanding Book Award! "What is this field?" "Where have we come from as a discipline, and where are we going?" "What do I want to study?" These and other questions are typical for new students in the field of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. This textbook is designed to help answer these questions and provide the quickest route to understanding the history and current trends in the field. After surveying classic theories and writings, as well as more recent applications of theory and practice, students will be better prepared to chart their own course and careers within the discipline. This book is designed to support foundations courses common in departments, as well as seminars on current trends and issues.
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Design for Learning: Principles, Processes, and Praxis
Jason McDonald; Richard West · EdTech Books · 2021
Our purpose in this book is twofold. First, we introduce the basic skill set and knowledge base used by practicing instructional designers. We do this through chapters contributed by experts in the field who have either academic, research-based backgrounds, or practical, on-the-job experience (or both). Our goal is that students in introductory instructional design courses will be able to use this book as a guide for completing a basic instructional design project. We also hope the book is useful as a ready resource for more advanced students or others seeking to develop their instructional design knowledge and skills.
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Exploring Physical Phenomena
Emily van Zee; Elizabeth Gire · Oregon State University · 2019
This course is intended for prospective and practicing elementary and middle school teachers. By exploring physical phenomena in class, you will learn science in ways in which you are expected to teach science in schools or in informal settings such as afterschool programs, youth group meetings, and museum workshops. This course also is appropriate for general science students and others interested in exploring some of the physical phenomena underlying global climate change. The theme for the course is: What happens when light from the Sun shines on the Earth? The emphasis is on questioning, predicting, exploring, observing, discussing, reading, and writing about what one thinks and why. This first unit focuses on exploring the nature of light phenomena. Among the unit’s many goals are two primary ones: to learn about light phenomena and to learn about ways to foster science learning for yourself and others such as your family, friends, and students.
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Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments: Graduate Student Perspectives
Barbara Brown; Verena Roberts; Michele Jacobsen · University of Calgary · 2020
This book is the result of a co-design project in a class in the Masters of Education program at the University of Calgary. The course, and the resulting book, focus primarily on the safe and ethical use of technology in digital learning environments. The course was organized according to four topics based on Farrow’s (2016) Framework for the Ethics of Open Education.
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Writing Instruction Tips For Automated Essay Graders: How To Design an Essay for a Non-human Reader
Alise Lamoreaux · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2020
As schools, as well as the workplace, become more automated, and remote or distance learning/working becomes the “new normal,” understanding and leveraging artificial intelligence will become a critical skill.
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Elementary Earth and Space Science Methods
Ted Neal · University of Iowa · 2019
We created this book to help you as both a college student and a future teacher. Dr. Ted Neal asked us to help him create this resource from the perspective of students who have taken Science Methods II–what would we want in a textbook for this course? With this in mind, we have gathered and created resources to help you better understand science and feel confident in your abilities as a future teacher. This book is divided into five parts which align with the Science Methods II course: Physics Space Science Earth Science Climate Science Course Materials and Pedagogy Within each part, the material is broken down into smaller chapters. Here you will find written explanations, video links, glossary terms, key takeaways, and practice quizzes to help you understand the material. This book is designed to be a flexible resource; use it as much or as little as you need throughout the course.
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Trauma Informed Behaviour Support: A Practical Guide to Developing Resilient Learners
Kay Ayre; Govind Krishnamoorthy · University of Southern Queensland · 2020
If we want to impact the world of children who have experienced trauma then we must change not only ourselves and our classroom, but we must change our schools, our organisations, and our systems of care for children. We must all speak out for these children who have no voice to bring awareness of new educational and mental health approaches to children who will become tomorrow’s failed adults unless they receive our understanding and our help. For whatever reason you have been attracted to this book, you have come to the right place. You may at times put it down and wonder if the challenge is too great, but trust me it is not. If you stay engaged with this book and with a child who has experienced trauma then you will learn new understandings, new ideas and new ways to reach the mind, the heart and the soul of young people who need our support and our love.
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Parenting and Family Diversity Issues
Diana Lang · Iowa State University · 2020
This book has been created for students and all individuals who work with children and families (e.g., educators, parents, caregivers, direct support workers, etc.) in diverse contexts. It is imperative to understand how and what factors may influence child outcomes across the lifespan. Therefore, key concepts related to parenting, child-rearing, care-giving, and parenting education are outlined in this textbook to provide historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives across vast settings and developmental domains.
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Efficacious Technology Management: A Guide for School Leaders
Gary Ackerman · Gary Ackerman · 2018
Dr. Gary Ackerman, an educational technology specialist with decades of experience in K-12, community college, and faculty development has released Efficacious Technology Management: A Guide for School Leaders. This is his second book, and it is available under a Creative Commons license. This book describes efficacious school technology as that which is used for educationally appropriate purposes, is properly configured to be robust and reliable, and is aligned with local expectations, so it is reasonable. This type of school IT emerges from collaborative planning including educators, IT professionals, and school leaders. This book helps educators understand IT and IT professionals understand education, so their collaboration can be efficient and effective.
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How to Learn Like A Pro
Phyllis Nissila · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2016
How to Learn Like a Pro! features the “big six” effective learning/study skills topics: learning styles and preferences, time and materials management, critical thinking and reading, note-taking, memory principles, and test-taking techniques. Each of the six units featuring a total of twenty-three lessons and accompanying exercises (with a dash of humor here and there) were developed with the diverse student body of the community college in mind as well as learners in other educational venues.
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Evaluación del Aprendizaje en Inglés
Jannett Fonseca; Francisca Henríquez, Henríquez · Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso · 2017
This course material has been created for the course “Evaluation of comprehension and oral and written production in English” (LCL 462) from the English Language Teaching (ELT) program at the Institute of Literature and Language Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV). This course is located in the 8th semester of the curriculum of the bachelor degree of “Pedagogy in English” (English Language Initial Teacher Training) at PUCV. This course corresponds to the area of specific disciplinary training, complements the professional training course “Evaluation of Learning” of the School of Pedagogy and precedes the professional practice, academic-professional activity culminating in the curriculum of this career.
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Informed Arguments: A Guide to Writing and Research
Terri Pantuso; Sarah LeMire; Kathy Anders · Texas A&M University · 2023
Informed Arguments: A Guide to Writing and Research(4th Edition) is a premier Open Educational Resource (OER) designed to bridge the gap between critical thinking and rhetorical mastery. This edition refines the art of academic inquiry, offering students a transparent and accessible framework for deconstructing complex claims and constructing evidence-based positions. By prioritizing digital literacy and diverse perspectives, it empowers learners to navigate today’s information-saturated landscape with analytical precision. Comprehensive yet concise, this textbook remains an essential, cost-free solution for fostering scholarly voice and civic engagement in the modern composition classroom.
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Bad Ideas About Writing
Cheryl Ball; Drew Loewe · West Virginia University · 2017
We intend this work to be less a bestiary of bad ideas about writing than an effort to name bad ideas and suggest better ones. Some of those bad ideas are quite old, such as the archetype of the inspired genius author, the five-paragraph essay, or the abuse of adjunct writing teachers. Others are much newer, such as computerized essay scoring or gamification. Some ideas, such as the supposed demise of literacy brought on by texting, are newer bad ideas but are really instances of older bad ideas about literacy always being in a cycle of decline. Yet the same core questions such as what is good writing, what makes a good writer, how should writing be assessed, and the like persist across contexts, technologies, and eras. The project has its genesis in frustration, but what emerges is hope: hope for leaving aside bad ideas and thinking about writing in more productive, inclusive, and useful ways.
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Trauma-Informed School Practices: Building Expertise To Transform Schools
Anna A. Berardi; Brenda M. Morton · George Fox University Library · 2019
This textbook represents the combined insight and experience of Morton, a k12 educator, and Berardi, a psychotherapist, both of whom are also university educators with extensive work experience serving districts and their teachers seeking to incorporate trauma-informed principles into their school culture and classroom. The authors identify that the field of education is now ready to deepen its level of response to the paradigm shift created by advances in neuroscience and traumatology. Hence, the primary focus is on identifying and applying trauma-informed educator competencies needed to transform districts, schools, educators, classrooms, and the field of education itself, while also including community members such as parents and board members in these processes - a total system makeover. At the conclusion of this text, the student, educator, or mental health professional will have a deeper understanding of what trauma-informed practice requires of them. This includes practical strategies on how to transform our learning communities in response to the devastating effect of unmitigated stress and trauma on our student's ability to learn and thrive throughout the lifespan.
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Sharing Our Knowledge: Best Practices for Supporting English Language Learners in Schools
Nadia Prokopchuk · OPENPRESS.USASK.CA · 2019
To complete the course ECUR 415.3: Current Issues in EAL, students are required to submit a final paper that reflects their growing knowledge about English as an Additional Language (EAL). EAL is the term used in Saskatchewan to describe students who speak languages other than English and require adequate levels of English to be successful with the school curriculum. Most students enrolled in the online course ECUR 415 are practicing teachers who are working toward a Post-Degree Certificate in EAL Education (PDCEAL), while continuing to live and work in various locations both within and outside of the province. The certificate program, offered through the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan, is recognized by provincial education authorities as being equivalent to one full year of post-degree study. As such, the certificate equips teachers with the knowledge and expertise to be considered teacher-specialists of EAL Education. The course ECUR 415 also attracts some pre-service teachers who are pursuing a Bachelor of Education degree and have an interest in EAL Education.
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Creating Online Learning Experiences
Matt Crosslin; Brett Benham; Justin Dellinger; Amber Patterson · Mavs Open Press · 2018
This book provides an updated look at issues that comprise the online learning experience creation process. As online learning evolves, the lines and distinctions between various classifications of courses has blurred and often vanished. Classic elements of instructional design remain relevant at the same time that newer concepts of learning experience are growing in importance. However, problematic issues new and old still have to be addressed. This handbook explores many of these topics for new and experienced designers alike, whether creating traditional online courses, open learning experiences, or anything in between.