Teachers are bombarded with trends and competing ideas. This book provides a framework to help you find the right balance between new and old instructional practices, so you can design learning environments that truly enhance learning. The author shares key research-based principles to engage and extend learning, and he debunks common myths. He then shows how to use a classical method and how to engage with new ideas and evidence to create a highly effective learning environment. Each chapter offers reflection and application questions you can use independently or in book studies to get the most out of your reading. Written for teachers of any grade level, the book contains applications and examples across content areas so you can see how to implement the ideas in your own classroom or school.

Higher education in post-apartheid South Africa was always likely to attract academic interest, and yet there remains a dearth of research on creating teaching and learning spaces suitable for students from diverse backgrounds. Using examples from higher education institutions across the Southern African Developing Community (SADC) region, this volume explores the ways teaching and learning spaces are being used to advance the transformation agenda of higher education in these regions, and provides concrete recommendations for the future. The book is sure to appeal to academics from a variety of disciplines - from African, African American and ethnic studies to education and sociology. It will be of particular interest to teacher trainers, administrators and policy-makers working in higher education, and anyone else with a stake in managing cultural diversity in education.

This report presents a wealth of international material and features a new framework for understanding innovative learning environments.

Effective online teaching is a well-documented topic, however, this book is different because it specifically addresses the effective and affective pedagogy and learning. It provides methods for building a strong and meaningful online environment that builds community, relationships, and establishes the social presence of each individual learner. This book provides a different perspective as it is written by experienced faculty members in higher education, all of whom have been teaching online for a decade or more. It also addresses the how and why establishing social presence as a necessity for effective online learning. This book addresses the “Why?” in the need for understanding contemporary approaches for exemplar online teaching with the establishment of social presence. With an increase in online learning, there is a shift in how current teaching practices are impacted and what is important to student learning in this change. This book describes the importance of strong andragogical practices in online teaching: rigor, teacher and learner mindset, and the importance of constructing social presence. Effective Learning Environments in Higher Education Online Settings: Establishing Social Presence provides pedagogical tools for enhancing the online learning experience. A relevant guide for constructing and teaching virtual / distance / elearning / online / hybrid / blended courses, faculty, instructional designers, professional development leaders, and administrators will find this book a practical and valuable resource for building community and establishing social presence in authentic ways.

Imagine replacing your current online Learning Management System (LMS) with social media and Web 2.0 tools! This book provides a comprehensive and easy-to-understand guide for making the most of the online learning environment. The integration of Web 2.0 tools into an online learning environment requires more than just connecting technology: it involves a paradigm shift from "online learning" to "open network learning." Strategies for Building a Web 2.0 Learning Environment provides a comprehensive and effective guide for teachers and trainers interested in integrating the concept of Personal Learning Environment (PLE) and Open (or Social) Network Learning Environment (ONLE) into any learning environment that utilizes online instruction. Rather than focusing on esoteric theory, the book offers a design model, practical guidelines, and sample activities that are based on current, well-grounded frameworks as well as the author's extensive online teaching experiences and personal research. Classroom teachers, school administrators, online learning researchers, corporate trainers, and corporate administrators will find that the innovative ideas set forth in this book are accompanied by practical guidelines for implementation.

An organized introduction to the conceptual foundations, design elements, and various media support technologies to consider when designing, remodeling, or simply choosing work and learning facilities. Case studies, including b&w photographs, present successful facilities and explain why they work.

This is the standard design guide on schools architecture, providing vital information on school architecture. Mark Dudek views school building design as a particularly specialised field encompassing ever changing educational theories, the subtle spatial and psychological requirements of growing children and practical issues that are unique to these types of building. He explores the functional requirements of individual spaces, such as classrooms, and shows how their incorporation within a single institution area are a defining characteristic of the effective educational environment. Acoustics, impact damage, the functional differentiation of spaces such as classrooms, music rooms, craft activities and gymnasium, within a single institution are all dealt with. More esoteric factors such as the effects on behaviour of colour, light, surface texture and imagery are considered in addition to the more practical aspects of designing for comfort and health. Chapter 4 comprises 20 case studies which address those issues important in the creation of modern school settings. They are state of the art examples from all parts of the world. These examples include: Pokstown Down Primary, Bournemouth; Haute Vallee School, Jersey; Heinz-Galinski School, Berlin; Anne Frank School, Papendract, Netherlands; Seabird Island School, British Columbia and The Little Village Academy, Chicago.

Innovation in building design and construction depends on innovative strategies being developed by teachers and practitioners, made available to students and then professionally adopted. Successful transfer of this knowledge relies on appropriate support for both students and academics to ensure the new knowledge is translated into a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding, often using a constructivist, student-centred learning approach. This special issue of the journal Architectural Engineering and Design Management examines new strategies to manage effectively a growing number of students and a changing student profile in the built environment sector. Written by international experts in the field, core themes covered include student-centred learning, practice-based learning, good practice and evaluation, and instructional systems design. Several papers are devoted to virtual learning, focusing on e-pedagogy, standardisation, bridging the gap between academia and industry, and virtual learning environments. This peer-reviewed publication will be invaluable reading for lecturers and students on architecture and civil engineering courses, professional architects and engineers, and all interested in T&L, continuing professional development and distance learning in the built environment sector.

This book traces how a new school, physically designed as a modern learning environment, has come into being in New Zealand. A key feature is how it designs its curriculum for future citizens. The book explores how flexible curriculum and assessment options support the provision of a well-balanced, coherent and future-oriented learning programme. It also illustrates how the school is implementing its vision and copes with being different from other schools which understand and embody the New Zealand Curriculum as well as the NCEA qualifications system in more traditional terms. School leaders’, teachers’ and foundation students’ thinking and perspectives about what it’s like to become a new school are highlighted and shed light on what is possible within an evolving education system.

Canada has introduced a set of programmes to test novel approaches to skills development. This report analyses the potential of these programmes to improve the future-readiness of Canada’s adult learning system.