Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning
A.W. (Tony) Bates · BCcampus · 2015
Teachers, instructors and faculty are facing unprecedented change, with often larger classes, more diverse students, demands from government and employers who want more accountability and the development of graduates who are workforce ready, and above all, we are all having to cope with ever changing technology. To handle change of this nature, teachers and instructors need a base of theory and knowledge that will provide a solid foundation for their teaching, no matter what changes or pressures they face. Although the book contains many practical examples, it is more than a cookbook on how to teach. It addresses the following questions: is the nature of knowledge changing, and how do different views on the nature of knowledge result in different approaches to teaching? what is the science and research that can best help me in my teaching? how do I decide whether my courses should be face-to-face, blended or fully online? what strategies work best when teaching in a technology-rich environment? what methods of teaching are most effective for blended and online classes? how do I make choices among all the available media, whether text, audio, video, computer, or social media, in order to benefit my students and my subject? how do I maintain high quality in my teaching in a rapidly changing learning environment while managing my workload? what are the real possibilities for teaching and learning using MOOCs, OERS, open textbooks? In summary, the book examines the underlying principles that guide effective teaching in an age when everyone, and in particular the students we are teaching, are using technology. A framework and a set of guidelines are suggested for making decisions about your teaching, while understanding that every subject is different, and every teacher and instructor has something unique and special to bring to their teaching. In the end, though, the book isn't really about teachers and instructors, although you are the target group. It's about you help
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A Tale of Two Systems
René Reitsma; Kevin Krueger · Oregon State University · 2017
This is the story of a web-based information system rebuild. The system in question is www.teachengineering.org, a digital library of K-12 engineering curriculum that was built from the ground up with established technology and which for 13 years enjoyed lasting support from its growing user community and its sponsors. These 13 years, however, cover the period during which smart phones and tablets became commonplace, during which the Internet of Things started replacing the Semantic Web, during which NoSQL databases made their way out of the research labs and into everyday development shops, during which we collectively started moving IT functions and services into ‘the cloud,’ and during which computing performance doubled a few times, yet again. During this same period, TeachEngineering’s user base grew from a few hundred to more than 3 million users annually, its collection size quadrupled, it went through several user interface renewals, and significant functionality was added while having an exemplary service record, and it enjoyed continued financial support from its sponsors. In this monograph we provide a side-by-side of this rebuild. We lay out the choices made in the old architecture —we refer to it as TE 1.0— and compare and contrast them with the choices made for TE 2.0. We explain why both the 1.0 and 2.0 choices were made and discuss the advantages and disadvantages associated with them.
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A Person-Centered Guide to Demystifying Technology: Working together to observe, question, design, prototype, and implement/reject technology in support of people's valued beings and doings
Martin Wolske · University of Illinois Library - Urbana · 2023
Digital technologies old and new are not objects that can be packed inside a box. They are a seamless, indivisible combination of people, organizations, policies, economies, histories, cultures, knowledge, and material things that are continuously shaped and reshaped. Every one of us innovates-in-use our everyday technologies; we just do not always know it. We are shaped by the networked information tools in our midst, and we shape them and thereby shape others. While many of the chapters in this book can be approached as standalone explorations, as many around the world have done, its full potential comes when collaboratively taken as a journey through twelve sessions. Each session in this second, revised edition includes two thematically linked chapters, one more socially oriented and one more technically oriented. Sessions are brought together into three larger generative themes that are built from three decades of participatory design in and with community, and from the teaching of these concepts and practices in courses and workshops. Approached within a community of practice, learning outcomes include discovering ways to advance power, both power within and power with others; advancing our technical skills, but also and even more, our progressive community engagement skills, our critical sociotechnical skills, and our cognitive, information, and social-emotional skills; and progressing our culturally competent collective leadership through social justice storytelling within a framing of reciprocity. In so doing, this textbook seeks to address the call placed by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – to rapidly shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.
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Professional Web Accessibility Auditing Made Easy
Digital Education Strategies · Ryerson University · 2018
Digital accessibility skills are in high demand, as the world becomes more aware of barriers in digital content that prevent some people from participating in a digital society. These are essential skills for web developers, and essential knowledge for organizations that want to ensure their web content is reaching the broadest audience possible.
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Think DSP: Digital Signal Processing in Python
Allen Downey · Green Tea Press · 2012
Think DSP is an introduction to Digital Signal Processing in Python. The premise of this book (and the other books in the Think X series) is that if you know how to program, you can use that skill to learn other things. The author is writing this book because he thinks the conventional approach to digital signal processing is backward: most books (and the classes that use them) present the material bottom-up, starting with mathematical abstractions like phasors.
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Fast Fourier Transforms
C. Sidney Burrus · OpenStax CNX · 2012
This book focuses on the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), discrete convolution, and, particularly, the fast algorithms to calculate them. These topics have been at the center of digital signal processing since its beginning, and new results in hardware, theory and applications continue to keep them important and exciting. This book uses an index map, a polynomial decomposition, an operator factorization, and a conversion to a filter to develop a very general and efficient description of fast algorithms to calculate the discrete Fourier transform (DFT). The work of Winograd is outlined, chapters by Selesnick, Pueschel, and Johnson are included, and computer programs are provided.
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Essentials of Geographic Information Systems
Jonathan Campbell; MIchael Shin · Saylor Foundation · 2011
Essentials of Geographic Information Systems integrates key concepts behind the technology with practical concerns and real-world applications. Recognizing that many potential GIS users are nonspecialists or may only need a few maps, this book is designed to be accessible, pragmatic, and concise. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems also illustrates how GIS is used to ask questions, inform choices, and guide policy. From the melting of the polar ice caps to privacy issues associated with mapping, this book provides a gentle, yet substantive, introduction to the use and application of digital maps, mapping, and GIS. In today's world, learning involves knowing how and where to search for information. In some respects, knowing where to look for answers and information is arguably just as important as the knowledge itself. Because Essentials of Geographic Information Systems is concise, focused, and directed, readers are encouraged to search for supplementary information and to follow up on specific topics of interest on their own when necessary. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems provides the foundations for learning GIS, but readers are encouraged to construct their own individual frameworks of GIS knowledge. The benefits of this approach are two-fold. First, it promotes active learning through research. Second, it facilitates flexible and selective learning—that is, what is learned is a function of individual needs and interest. Since GIS and related geospatial and navigation technology change so rapidly, a flexible and dynamic text is necessary in order to stay current and relevant. Though essential concepts in GIS tend to remain constant, the situations, applications, and examples of GIS are fluid and dynamic. Though this book is intended for use in introductory GIS courses, Essentials of Geographic Information Systems will also appeal to the large number of certificate, professional, extension, and online programs in GIS that are available today.
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Digital Entrepreneurship: Impact on Business and Society
Mariusz Soltanifar; Mathew Hughes; Lutz Göcke · Springer · 2021
This open access book explores the global challenges and experiences related to digital entrepreneurial activities, using carefully selected examples from leading companies and economies that shape world business today and tomorrow. Digital entrepreneurship and the companies steering it have an enormous global impact; they promise to transform the business world and change the way we communicate with each other. These companies use digitalization and artificial intelligence to enhance the quality of decisions and augment their business and customer operations. This book demonstrates how cloud services are continuing to evolve; how cryptocurrencies are traded in the banking industry; how platforms are created to commercialize business, and how, taken together, these developments provide new opportunities in the digitalized era. Further, it discusses a wide range of digital factors changing the way businesses operate, including artificial intelligence, chatbots, voice search, augmented and virtual reality, as well as cyber threats and data privacy management.
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Digital Accessibility as a Business Practice
Digital Education Strategies · Ryerson University · 2018
Most business leaders would agree that reaching the broadest audience is good for a business’s bottom line. A good portion of that audience will be people with disabilities. How, though, would an organization go about ensuring it is as accessible as it can be to all its potential clients or customers, including people with disabilities? This book has been created to answer this question, and to demystify “digital accessibility” as a business practice. It brings together all the pieces of the digital accessibility picture, and provides strategies and resources that will help make digital accessibility a part of an organization’s business culture.
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Integrando IA en los Nuevos Paradigmas de las Ciencias Económicas y Gestión Empresarial
José Rafael Díaz-Avelino; César Iván Casanova-Villalba; César Estuardo Carrillo-Barragán; María Gabriela Cueva-Jiménez · Editorial Grupo AEA · 2024
El libro aborda la integración de la inteligencia artificial (IA) en diferentes áreas de las ciencias económicas y la gestión empresarial, explorando sus impactos y beneficios. En la introducción, se destaca cómo la transformación digital redefine las estrategias organizacionales y fomenta la innovación continua, mejorando la capacidad de respuesta a las demandas del mercado. Metodológicamente, se utilizan estudios de caso y análisis de datos para ilustrar la aplicación de la IA. Los resultados muestran que, en la contabilidad, la IA automatiza tareas repetitivas, reduce errores y mejora la precisión, permitiendo a los profesionales centrarse en actividades estratégicas. En el ámbito financiero, los algoritmos de trading inteligente aumentan la velocidad y precisión de las transacciones, mejorando la competitividad y la liquidez del mercado. La gestión de riesgos se beneficia de modelos predictivos que anticipan posibles amenazas, mientras que el cumplimiento normativo se fortalece mediante el monitoreo automatizado. En términos de desarrollo sostenible, la IA optimiza la distribución de recursos y mejora la eficiencia energética, contribuyendo a políticas más verdes y equitativas. La conclusión resalta la necesidad de un enfoque ético y transparente en la implementación de IA, para asegurar decisiones justas y responsables.
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Sinergia Científica: Integrando las Ciencias desde una Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria
Santiago Alexander Guamán Rivera; Robinson J. Herrera-Feijoo; Armando Vinicio Paredes-Peralta; Clara Isabel Ruiz-Sánchez · Editorial Grupo AEA · 2023
"Sinergia Científica: Integrando las Ciencias desde una Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria" es un compendio de estudios que abarcan diversas disciplinas, uniendo la ciencia en un esfuerzo colectivo para resolver problemas complejos. El primer capítulo presenta una innovación en la cuyicultura sostenible, explorando la suplementación alimenticia con harina de amaranto y cúrcuma en cuyes. El segundo capítulo se adentra en el ámbito social, analizando los Derechos Humanos desde la perspectiva de las poblaciones vulnerables. En el tercer capítulo, se introduce un enfoque innovador en ingeniería civil, utilizando polímeros reciclados para el diseño de revestimientos de cunetas. El cuarto capítulo examina el impacto económico de la facturación electrónica en el sector de imprentas, un avance tecnológico crucial en la era digital. Finalmente, el quinto capítulo explora la influencia del neuromarketing en la rentabilidad de las PYMES, uniendo la neurociencia y el marketing para optimizar las estrategias comerciales. Este libro es un testimonio de cómo la integración multidisciplinaria puede conducir a soluciones innovadoras y sostenibles.
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Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning
Pamela Sachant; Peggy Blood · University of North Georgia Press · 2016
Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of Art. Authored by four USG faculty members with advance degrees in the arts, this textbooks offers up-to-date original scholarship. It includes over 400 high-quality images illustrating the history of art, its technical applications, and its many uses.Combining the best elements of both a traditional textbook and a reader, it introduces such issues in art as its meaning and purpose; its meaning and purpose; its structure, material, and form; and its diverse effects on our lives. Its digital nature allows students to follow links to applicable sources and videos, expanding the students' educational experiences beyond the textbook. Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning provides a new and free alternative to traditional textbooks, making it an invaluable resource in our modern age of technology and advancement.
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Leyendas y arquetipos del Romanticismo español
Robert Sanders · Portland State University Library · 2017
Leyendas y arquetipos del Romanticismo español is an introduction to nineteenth-century Spanish literature with a thematic focus on legends and archetypes. It presents Romanticism in the context of nineteenth-century literary and social movements. It is designed as a first anthology for intermediate Spanish students at American universities. Although brief, it includes poetry, drama in verse and short story. The works have been selected for their literary interest and the social importance of their themes. They are all by canonical authors. New for the Second Edition: over 4000 vocabulary, historical and cultural annotations to facilitate reading and comprehension. The Prologue and chapter introductions use circumlocution to facilitate comprehension, and include concrete examples of the concepts presented. The author biographies are brief and should not be used as study materials, but rather as starting points for students' own exploration. Many students prefer following their own interests when researching author biographies, and the internet makes accessible a plethora of bibliographic resources, such as the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, the Centro Virtual Cervantes of the Cervantes Institute, or the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica of the Spanish National Library. Student participation in the selection of topics and sources emphasizes the investigative process and leads to richer class discussions.
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Del ágora a la nube: El destino de las humanidades en la era de la IA
Karles Hoffmann-Jaramillo; Carlos Flores-Murillo; Eduardo Baidal-Bustamante · Editorial Grupo AEA · 2025
Explora la evolución del pensamiento crítico desde la Antigua Grecia hasta la era digital, analizando el impacto de la inteligencia artificial (IA) en la educación y la sociedad. Se inicia con una comparación entre el Ágora ateniense, donde se gestó el debate filosófico y la democracia, y los entornos digitales actuales, donde el acceso a la información ha cambiado la forma en que aprendemos. Se resalta cómo la enseñanza de Sócrates, Platón y Aristóteles, basada en el diálogo y la argumentación, sigue siendo relevante para desarrollar el pensamiento crítico en un mundo saturado de datos. En la era digital, la IA ha transformado la educación mediante herramientas que personalizan el aprendizaje y facilitan el acceso a información. Sin embargo, también plantea riesgos como la dependencia tecnológica, los sesgos algorítmicos y la pérdida de autonomía intelectual. El libro enfatiza la necesidad de equilibrar el uso de la tecnología con metodologías pedagógicas que fomenten la reflexión y el análisis crítico. Otro desafío clave es la desinformación, impulsada por la sobreabundancia de datos y la rapidez con la que circula la información en redes sociales. Ante esto, se propone fortalecer la capacidad de los estudiantes para evaluar fuentes, cuestionar datos y construir conocimientos con base en el análisis riguroso. Finalmente, la obra concluye que el futuro de la educación no debe estar centrado solo en la tecnología, sino en la formación de ciudadanos críticos y reflexivos. La IA puede ser una aliada en este proceso, pero es fundamental preservar la esencia humanista del aprendizaje, asegurando que la educación siga siendo un espacio de cuestionamiento, creatividad y pensamiento autónomo.
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Gestión Inteligente Sinergias en las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación
Miguel Fabricio Boné-Andrade; Luis Alfonso Núñez-Freire; Ramiro Enrique Guamán-Chávez · Editorial Grupo AEA · 2024
El libro aborda los desafíos y oportunidades de la inclusión digital, especialmente en el contexto rural de América Latina. Los capítulos iniciales analizan la transformación digital y sus efectos en áreas rurales, destacando la importancia de las TIC para mejorar la calidad de vida y reducir la brecha digital. Posteriormente, se examina el analfabetismo digital como barrera para la inclusión social, con propuestas para políticas de alfabetización que respondan a las necesidades de comunidades vulnerables. Los capítulos centrales exploran la alfabetización digital en Ecuador, enfatizando la infraestructura y las competencias digitales como ejes esenciales. La obra también cubre el rol de la educación superior en la inclusión digital, mostrando ejemplos de vinculación comunitaria por parte de universidades. Los capítulos finales presentan casos de uso de tecnologías en pequeñas empresas para optimizar procesos y mejorar la competitividad, y se discute la relevancia de la ciberseguridad en la era digital. En conjunto, el libro ofrece una perspectiva práctica y teórica, orientada a fomentar la participación equitativa en el ámbito digital, proponiendo soluciones adaptadas a contextos locales.