The classroom has become a place where technology has become unavoidable. This week’s new titles offer theories and practical ideas on how to integrate technologies into the classroom.
The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens by Stephen Apkon discusses the contemporary importance of visual language and literacy in education. Apkon argues that the visual image is changing the way that we learn and teach. He highlights the importance of adapting and learning visual literacy because it is increasingly becoming an significant part of education. With chapters like “What is Literacy?” and “Teaching a New Generation”, this text discusses theories and ideas regarding visual education. Stephen Apkon is the Founder and Executive Director of the Jacob Burns Film Center, a non-profit film and education organization in New York.
Envisioning New Technologies in Teacher Practice: Moving Forward, Circling Back using a Teacher Action Research Approach by Teresa Strong-Wilson et al is a collection of essays for teachers to integrate technology in their classroom. This text looks at how teachers both embrace, and sometimes reject technological change in the classroom. This is a Canadian text that discusses how teachers change, and should change through chapters like: “Teachers, Change and New Technologies,” and “A Room of One’s Own: Exploring the Relationship of Teacher Research to Integration of New Technologies.” Teresa Strong Wilson is an Associate Professor at McGill in the Faculty of Education.
Professional Learning in the Digital Age: The Educator’s Guide to User-Generated Learning by Kristen Swanson helps educators with beginner-friendly instruction and examples from real schools. This text is supposed to help teachers and educators become life-long learners and to improve one’s professional practice. The book includes digital tools and learner-centered strategies. Kristen Swanson has taught at the elementary school level, and has worked as an educational technology director in Pennsylvania for a public school district.
Be sure to check out these books, and others on the New Titles Shelf!