What knowledge and skills do designers of learning technologies need? What is the best way to train them to create high-quality educational technologies? Distilling the wisdom of expert instructors and designers, this cutting-edge guide offers a clear, accessible balance of theory and practical examples. This cutting-edge guide: synthesizes learning, instructional design, and educational technology perspectives on learning-centered technology — highlighting how interdisciplinary work is driving the fields of the learning sciences and technology design and development offers helpful resources for both faculty and students — including descriptions of a variety of successful courses in learning technology design, examples of student work with commentary by instructors and students, and discussions of "lessons learned" in course development includes a "To the Student" chapter that speaks in plain language about what is exciting and challenging about creating technology for kids Directed to university instructors working with students on developing educational software projects and to managers leading learning technologies development teams, this book is a valuable resource for guiding and inspiring the next generation of designers of learning technologies.

Teaching is changing. It is no longer simply about passing on knowledge to the next generation. Teachers in the twenty-first century, in all educational sectors, have to cope with an ever-changing cultural and technological environment. Teaching is now a design science. Like other design professionals – architects, engineers, programmers – teachers have to work out creative and evidence-based ways of improving what they do. Yet teaching is not treated as a design profession. Every day, teachers design and test new ways of teaching, using learning technology to help their students. Sadly, their discoveries often remain local. By representing and communicating their best ideas as structured pedagogical patterns, teachers could develop this vital professional knowledge collectively. Teacher professional development has not embedded in the teacher’s everyday role the idea that they could discover something worth communicating to other teachers, or build on each others’ ideas. Could the culture change? From this unique perspective on the nature of teaching, Diana Laurillard argues that a twenty-first century education system needs teachers who work collaboratively to design effective and innovative teaching.

Design-Based Concept Learning in Science and Technology Education brings together contributions from researchers that have investigated what conditions need to be fulfilled to make design-based education work.

"Addressing the gap between technology skills and the application of those skills in educational settings, this text offers strategies for using technology to facilitate the teaching and learning experience. Recommendations and practical advice on how to integrate teaching strategies with supporting media technology are provided. Methods such as online teaching, hypermedia instruction, and blended technology learning are explained from theory to practice."

This book explains how educational research can inform the design of technology-enhanced learning environments. After laying pedagogical, technological and content foundations, it analyses learning in Web 2.0, Social Networking, Mobile Learning and Virtual Worlds to derive nuanced principles for technology-enhanced learning design.