The National Science Education Standards set broad content goals for teaching grades K-12. For science teaching programs to achieve these goalsâ€"indeed, for science teaching to be most effectiveâ€"teachers and students need textbooks, lab kits, videos, and other materials that are clear, accurate, and help students achieve the goals set by the standards. Selecting Instructional Materials provides a rigorously field-tested procedure to help education decisionmakers evaluate and choose materials for the science classroom. The recommended procedure is unique, adaptable to local needs, and realistic given the time and money limitations typical to school districts. This volume includes a guide outlining the entire process for school district facilitators, and provides review instruments for each step. It critically reviews the current selection process for science teaching materialsâ€"in the 20 states where the state board of education sets forth a recommended list and in the 30 states where materials are selected entirely by local decisionmakers. Selecting Instructional Materials explores how purchasing decisions are influenced by parent attitudes, political considerations, and the marketing skills of those who produce and sell science teaching materials. It will be indispensable to state and local education decisionmakers, science program administrators and teachers, and science education advocates.

Richard Clark’s observation that “…media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition” is as misunderstood today as it was when first published in the Review of Educational Research in 1983. The convincing if little read scientific evidence presented by Clark has divided the field and caused considerable concern, especially among the providers of newer media for learning. A collection of writings about the “media effects debate,” as it has come to be called, was published in 2001. Edited by Clark, Learning From Media was the first volume in the series “Perspectives in Instructional Technology and Distance Education.” The series editors are convinced that the writings of Clark and those who take issue with his position are of critical importance to the field of instructional technology, Thus, a revised, second edition of Learning From Media is now being offered. The debate about the impact of media on learning remains a fundamental issue as new mediated approaches to teaching and learning are developed, and Clark’s work should be at the center of the discussion. The critical articles on both sides of this debate are contained in Learning From Media, 2nd Edition.

This book is Volume 43 of the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook. For the past 40 years, our Yearbook has contributed to the field of Educational Technology by presenting contemporary topics, ideas, and developments regarding diverse technology tools for education. The Yearbook has inspired researchers, practitioners, and teachers to consider how to develop technological designs, curricula, and instruction. The audience for the Yearbook typically consists of media and technology professionals in K-12 schools, higher education, and business contexts. The Yearbook editors have dedicated themselves to providing a record of contemporary trends related to educational communications and technology and strive to highlight special movements that have clearly influenced the educational technology field. This volume continues the tradition of offering topics of interest to professionals practicing in other areas of educational media and technology. Includes research on emerging and contemporary topics in the field of educational technology; Provides an ongoing report on the current issues in the field of educational technology; Contains a section presenting organizations dedicated to educational technology; Includes a section presenting graduate programs in the field of educational technology; Includes a section presenting mediagraphy in the field of educational technology.