Teaching and Learning with Technology Beyond Constructivism [Hardcover]

Today, new media is both augmenting and extending the traditional classroom with a variety of technology-based tools available to both students and faculty, and has created new virtual classrooms for anywhere, anytime availability to education. Despite the enormous potential for technology to support the educational enterprise in this emerging creative economy, technologies are still not yet fully integrated in the classroom and their association with educational outcomes is as-yet unclear. This book profiles scholarly work from around the world to examine closely the effectiveness of the newest media in education at bridging the gaps among and between teachers, students and subject matter at all levels, from K-12 through adult education. These pieces are theory-based investigations with implications for future research, theory and application. Contributors examine how the fields of education and new media have evolved and are continuing to evolve pedagogically and practically, from predominantly instructivist, with a passive, one-way teaching format; to constructivist, including teacher- and learner-controlled, sensorially immersive and socially interactive exchanges. This book will be of interest to students and faculty in the areas of new media in education, including distance learning, online learning and virtual learning.

Foreword  Chris Dede 
Part I: Introduction and State of the Field  1. Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age after Century of Growth  Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart 
Part II: Achieving Social Closeness through Authentic Learning Exchanges  2. Effects of Web-Enhanced Course Materials on College Students Engagement and Learning Outcomes  Xigen Li  3. From Homer to High Tech: The Impact of Social Presence and Media Richness on Onl3‹