Looks at a variety of education reforms and innovations over the past one hundred years to find the best approach to teaching.

Over the last 25 years, cognitive load theory has become one of the world’s leading theories of instructional design. It is heavily researched by many educational and psychological researchers and is familiar to most practicing instructional designers, especially designers using computer and related technologies. The theory can be divided into two aspects that closely inter-relate and influence each other: human cognitive architecture and the instructional designs and prescriptions that flow from that architecture. The cognitive architecture is based on biological evolution. The resulting description of human cognitive architecture is novel and accordingly, the instructional designs that flow from the architecture also are novel. All instructional procedures are routinely tested using randomized, controlled experiments. Roughly 1/3 of the book will be devoted to cognitive architecture and its evolutionary base with 2/3 devoted to the instructional implications that follow, including technology-based instruction. Researchers, teachers and instructional designers need the book because of the explosion of interest in cognitive load theory over the last few years. The theory is represented in countless journal articles but a detailed, modern overview presenting the theory and its implications in one location is not available.

The book explores a cognitive load perspective on instructional guidance. Cognitive load theory is focused on instructional design implications and prescriptions that flow from human cognitive architecture, and it has become one of the leading theories of instructional design. According to this theoretical perspective, the purpose of instructional guidance is to reduce learner potential cognitive overload by providing appropriate information in the right time and in a suitable format. As the learner’s level of prior knowledge is considered as the main factor influencing this decision, the effect of learner prior knowledge on effectiveness of instructional methods (the expertise reversal effect in cognitive load theory) provides the basic framework for the book. The fully-guided direct instruction and minimally-guided inquiry (discovery or exploratory) learning are often discussed in instructional psychology literature as examples of approaches with opposed degrees of guidance provided to the learners. This book considers the whole range of the levels of guidance (including intermediate levels) and approaches the problem of balancing learner guidance from a cognitive load perspective. The significance of this approach is in applying our current knowledge of human cognitive architecture to develop an integrated instructional approach bringing together the best features and advantages of direct instruction and inquiry learning. Both direct instruction and inquiry learning approaches have been around for long time, and their proponents can produce evidence of their effectiveness. This evidence needs to be treated within the context of appropriate learning goals in specific instructional settings for specific types of learners. This book provides an unbiased theoretical framework for managing learner instructional guidance and working principles for selecting appropriate levels and methods of instructional guidance (e.g., sequences of exploratory problems and explicit instruction; forms and levels of embedded guidance; and adapting methodologies) optimal for learners at different levels of prior knowledge.

Provides a comprehensive and unique examination of global language learning outside of the formal school setting Authored by a prominent team of international experts in their respective fields, The Handbook of Informal Language Learning is a one-of-a-kind reference work and it is a timely and valuable resource for anyone looking to explore informal language learning outside of a formal education environment. It features a comprehensive collection of cutting edge research areas exploring the cultural and historical cases of informal language learning, along with the growing area of digital language learning, and the future of this relevant field in national development and language education. The Handbook of Informal Language Learning examines informal language learning from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Structured across six sections, chapters cover areas of motivation, linguistics, cognition, and multimodality; digital learning, including virtual contexts, gaming, fanfiction, vlogging, mobile devices, and nonformal programs; and media and live contact, including learning through environmental print, tourism/study abroad. The book also provides studies of informal learning in four national contexts, examines the integration of informal and formal classroom learning, and discusses the future of language learning from different perspectives. Edited by respected researchers of computer-mediated communication and second language learning and teacher education Features contributions by leading international scholars reaching out to a global audience Presents an exciting and progressive selection of chapters in a rapidly expanding field of research and teaching Provides a state-of-the-art collection of the theories, as well as the historical, cultural and international cases relating to informal language learning and its future in a digital age Covers 30 key topics that represent pioneering findings and new research The Handbook of Informal Language Learning is an essential resource for researchers, students, and professionals in the fields of language acquisition, English as a second language, and foreign language education.

The latest edition of the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, from the Association for Education, Communication and Technology (AECT), notes the most current trends in the field of learning design and technology, taking into account the implications for both formal and informal learning. Pivotal research and discussion surrounding educational trends, leadership, organizations and programs have all been updated from volume 37. Chapters train their focus on graduate and professional goals, including an analysis of doctoral programs in educational technology and new collaborative learning platforms. Library science is a featured component of this analysis and Library Science programs are featured prominently in this analysis. This edition also features new content on mediagraphy.

This volume examines selected aspects of the foreign language learning process from an ecological perspective, adopting a holistic view on complex interrelations among and within organisms (L2 language learners) and their milieus (family, school and society). First of all, the personal ecosystem of the learner is taken into consideration, whereby two powerful influences are intertwined: cognitive and affective aspects. The learning space formed by the individual is largely shaped by their affective states coexisting in conjunction with their cognitive processes. Moreover, this specific space is also modified by a wider array of other personal ecosystems or those of cultures. Hence, the ecosystem of the foreign language learner is also subject to influences coming from sociocultural leverage that can be represented by people they know, like parents and language teachers, who can both directly and indirectly manipulate their ecosystem. At the same time other important forces, such as culture as a ubiquitous element in the foreign language learning process, also have the power to shape that ecosystem. Accordingly, the book is divided into three parts covering a range of topics related to these basic dimensions of foreign language acquisition (the cognitive, affective and socio-cultural). Part I, Affective Interconnections, focuses on the body of original empirical research into the affective domain of not only L2 language learners but also non-native language teachers. Part II, Cognitive Interconnections, reports on contributions on language learners’ linguistic processing and cognitive representations of concepts. The closing part, Socio-cultural Interconnections, provides new insights into language learning processes as they are affected by social and cultural factors.