Education; Training; Skills 

 Open Access* e-Books

(See also: Cooperation..; Human Resources) 


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*NOTE: Some titles in these lists are not formally Open Access, but all are free (no fee for e-access) 

Basic Education Rights Handbook

 

Publisher: SECTION27

Year of publication: 2017

SECTION27 has developed a Basic Education Rights Handbook in collaboration with partner organisations, Equal Education Law Centre, Equal Education, The Centre for Child Law, The Legal Resources Centre, The Southern African Litigation Centre and the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute.  The Handbook is a legal literacy tool that serves to empower communities, school governing bodies, principals, teachers and learners to understand education law and policy, to know when learners’ rights have been violated and what steps are required to protect learners’ rights.   It is a valuable resource in providing information on case developments and legal frameworks in key-areas of education law and policy. 

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Building Better Schools with Evidence-based Policy

: Adaptable Policy for Teachers and School Leaders

 

Publisher: Routledge

Year of publication: 2021

This book provides an extensive set of free-to-use policies for building better schools.

The policies included in this book cover a broad range of popular topics for schools that are not readily accessible, and each policy is built on theory, driven by research, and created by experts. Each policy is based on substantial evidence, and this is ensured through the inclusion of contributors who are active and highly reputable in their respective field. Most schools are obliged to write and maintain policy, and not all school leaders have the required skills, time, or expertise to do this effectively. Building Better Schools with Evidence-based Policy: Adaptable Policy for Teachers and School Leaders is a time-saving resource for schools. It aims to address the reported research-to-practice gap in education by delivering accessible evidence-based practice in a ready-to-use adaptable format. All policies within this book are designed to be adapted and tailored to the unique diversity and needs of each school as reflected by the context and the people that make up the school community.  

This book is relevant to every person who works in a school – worldwide. Users of this book can rest assured that each policy has been carefully formulated from the current understandings of best practice. This is a practical innovation and an example of how schools can use research evidence in their day-to-day practices. 

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Buildings for Education

: A Multidisciplinary Overview of The Design of School Buildings 

 

Publisher: Springer

Year of publication: 2020

This open access book presents theoretical and practical research relating to the vast, publicly financed program for the construction of new schools and the reorganization of existing educational buildings in Italy. This transformative process aims to give old buildings a fresh identity, to ensure that facilities are compliant with the new educational and teaching models, and to improve both energy efficiency and structural safety with respect to seismic activity. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which focuses on the social role of the school as a civic building that can serve the needs of the community. Innovations in both design and construction processes are then analyzed, paying special attention to the Building Information Modeling (BIM) strategy as a tool for the integration of different disciplines. The final section is devoted to the built heritage and tools, technologies, and approaches for the upgrading of existing buildings so that they meet the new regulations on building performance. The book will be of interest to all who wish to learn about the latest insights into the challenges posed by, and the opportunities afforded by, a comprehensive school building and renovation program.

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Design for Learning

: Principles, Processes, and Praxis

 

Publisher: EdTech Books

Year of publication: 2021

Our purpose in this book is twofold. First, we introduce the basic skill set and knowledge base used by practicing instructional designers. We do this through chapters contributed by experts in the field who have either academic, research-based backgrounds, or practical, on-the-job experience (or both). Our goal is that students in introductory instructional design courses will be able to use this book as a guide for completing a basic instructional design project. We also hope the book is useful as a ready resource for more advanced students or others seeking to develop their instructional design knowledge and skills.

CONTENTS PAGE:      

Introduction

Part I. Instructional Design Practice

Understanding

1. Becoming a Learning Designer

2. Designing for Diverse Learners

3. Conducting Research for Design

4. Determining Environmental and Contextual Needs

5. Conducting a Learner Analysis

Exploring

6. Problem Framing

7. Task and Content Analysis

8. Documenting Instructional Design Decisions

Creating

9. Generating Ideas

10. Instructional Strategies

11. Instructional Design Prototyping Strategies

Evaluating

12. Design Critique

13. The Role of Design Judgment and Reflection in Instructional Design

14. Instructional Design Evaluation

15. Continuous Improvement of Instructional Materials


Part II. Instructional Design Knowledge

Sources of Design Knowledge

16. Learning Theories

17. The Role of Theory in Instructional Design

18. Making Good Design Judgments via the Instructional Theory Framework

19. The Nature and Use of Precedent in Designing

20. Standards and Competencies for Instructional Design and Technology Professionals

Instructional Design Processes

21. Design Thinking

22. Robert Gagné and the Systematic Design of Instruction

23. Designing Instruction for Complex Learning

24. Curriculum Design Processes

25. Agile Design Processes and Project Management

Designing Instructional Activities

26. Designing Technology-Enhanced Learning Experiences

27. Designing Instructional Text

28. Audio and Video Production for Instructional Design Professionals

29. Using Visual and Graphic Elements While Designing Instructional Activities

30. Simulations and Games

31. Designing Informal Learning Environments

32. The Design of Holistic Learning Environments

33. Measuring Student Learning

Design Relationships

34. Working With Stakeholders and Clients

35. Leading Project Teams

36. Implementation and Instructional Design

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Education leadership

: Scoping, perspectives and future trajectory 


Publisher: AOSIS

Year of publication: 2022

Leadership in education has been demonstrated to make a measurable and significant impact on the success of schools and the achievement levels of learners. This book displays the scope and range of the emerging field of the scholarship of education leadership by means of chapters zooming in on various areas of research in the field. 


The ensuing chapters focus on various areas in the field of Education Leadership scholarship [see below]. All the chapters employ a variety of research methods. The research reported on in each of the chapters does not only give clear indications as to how and where to improve practice but also opens vistas for new and future research, suggesting to scholars in the field promising ways to take the field forward with research critical to the continual advance and relevance of the field.

Table of Contents:


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Educational Resource Management 

: An international perspective  

 

Publisher: UCL Press

Year of publication: 2020 [2nd edition]

                                  Or https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787358386 

The management of resources is a central duty for school and college leaders, but one for which they are often under-prepared. Good, contextual information and guidance are vital, especially as increased marketisation, international comparison and decentralised governance put additional pressure on leaders to manage their resources astutely. This second edition of Educational Resource Management: An International Perspective is an updated guide to all aspects of this key responsibility and how they are applied in today’s real-world situations across the globe.


Following a detailed overview of funding and resource management in public and private provision, the book looks at the criteria by which the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of the management of educational resources may be judged. It goes on to explore cost structures, budgets and the principles of asset management, all illustrated through case studies that draw on practitioner experiences and the authors’ observations in a range of national contexts. Concluding with a review of current tensions in educational resource management and pointers towards further study, the book is a succinct yet comprehensive guide for school and college leaders. It will be essential reading for those studying the subject as part of Masters and Professional Doctorate qualifications.

This textbook will be of interest especially to instructors and students who wish to go beyond the traditional approach to the fundamentals of microeconomic theory, and explore the wider spectrum of economic thought. 


Table of contents:

Preface

1. Educational organisations and their environment

2.  Funding education – public and private systems

3.  The allocation of public finance to education

4. Cost structures in education

5.  The allocation of resources within an educational organisation

6. Budget preparation

7. Financial control and monitoring

8. Evaluating the use of the budget

9. Asset management and capital expenditure

10. Conclusions

References

Index


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Effective Teaching Around the World

: Theoretical, Empirical, Methodological and Practical Insights 


Publisher: Springer Cham

Year of publication: 2023

This open access book brings together theoretical, empirical, methodological, and practical insights from various countries on effective teaching. It particularly focuses on discussing issues pertaining to effective teaching behaviour including definitions and conceptualizations, measurement, differences, and importance to student outcomes from international perspectives. The book will draw upon the rich cultures with diverse contexts involving Asia, Australia, Africa, America, and Europe which serve as the background setting to better understand teaching quality from a wide spectrum of educational systems and performances. It shows that effective teaching behaviour can be conceptualized and operationalized uniformly using specific frameworks and measures, but also addresses some limitations that should be tackled.


The book discusses promising ways to measure and compare effective teaching behaviour from classical test theory (CTT) as well as item response theory (IRT) perspectives. It indicates that effective teaching behaviour in diverse countries follows a systematic level of complexity, which provides an avenue for ongoing teacher education and teacher professional development. It discusses the interrelated domains of effective teaching behaviour including contemporary trends of differentiation. The book continues with examining similarities and differences in effective teaching behaviour across countries. It builds on the understanding of cultural traditions across countries as profoundly reflected in the classroom processes.

Table of Contents:

Front Matter

Prologue


Part I : Conceptualization and Measurement of Effective Teaching

Front Matter


Part II : Effective Teaching: Insights from Specific Countries

Front Matter


Part III :  Effective Teaching: Comparison Across Countries 

Front Matter


Part IV : Effective Teaching and Its Correlates

Front Matter


Part V : Effective Teaching in Complex Environments: Differentiation and Adaptive Teaching

Front Matter


Back Matter


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Efficacious Technology Management 

: A Guide for School Leaders 

 

Publisher: Hackscience.net

Year of publication: 2018

Dr. Gary Ackerman, an educational technology specialist with decades of experience in K-12, community college, and faculty development has released Efficacious Technology Management: A Guide for School Leaders. This is his second book, and it is available under a Creative Commons license.

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Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology

: historical roots and current trends

 

Publisher: EdTech Books

Year of publication: 2018

This book received the 2018 AECT Outstanding Book Award!

"What is this field?" "Where have we come from as a discipline, and where are we going?" "What do I want to study?" These and other questions are typical for new students in the field of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. This textbook is designed to help answer these questions and provide the quickest route to understanding the history and current trends in the field. After surveying classic theories and writings, as well as more recent applications of theory and practice, students will be better prepared to chart their own course and careers within the discipline. This book is designed to support foundations courses common in departments, as well as seminars on current trends and issues.

For a detailed Contents Page, go to https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations 

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How to Succeed at University (and Get a Great Job!) 

: Mastering the Critical Skills you need for School, Work, and Life 

 

Publisher: UBC Press

Year of publication: 2015  [3rd edition]

FREE DOWNLOAD: https://www.ubcpress.ca/succeed    

[From the Preface by authors Thomas R. Klassen and John A. Dwyer:]


We wrote this book to answer many of the questions that university students, and recent graduates, have about succeeding in their courses and in their post-school careers. All of our advice is a response to questions from the thousands of students we have taught at Ryerson University, Trent University, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, North Island College on Vancouver Island, and York University in Canada. [...]


The book garnered positive reviews, including coverage in the Globe and Mail and other newspapers. That so many people benefitted from our advice and tips persuaded us to write a further revised and improved third edition. [...]


This edition includes new material on active listening, note taking, and managing social media, as well as updates of all the

previous chapters. In writing this edition, we have been blessed to have the support of UBC Press. [...]


In this edition, we continue to break down the barriers between the university experience and post-graduation careers. We

steadfastly believe that the skills for academic and employment success are similar and that they can be learned. We know that

people who combine sound advice with motivation invariably flourish in school and beyond.


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Learning in the Digital Age

 

Publisher: Oklahoma State University Libraries

Year of publication: 2020

This book is designed to serve as a textbook for classes exploring the nature of learning in the digital age. The genesis of this book is a desire to use OERs in all my teachings, coupled with the realization that the resources that I was looking for were not available and as such I needed to contribute in creating them. It is thus a small attempt to contribute to the vast repository of Open Educational Resources.

When discussing learning in the digital age, most focus on the technology first. However, the emphasis made in this book is that it’s about the learner not just the technology. One of the things that is easy to lose track of when talking about learning in the digital age is the learner. Technology is important and it has significant impact but it is still about the person who is using the technology. Many people conflate learning in the digital age with technology in today’s age. This important misconception is common and results from our failure to examine our understanding of what “learning” really is. Of course, Most of this depends on a person’s epistemology. There are numerous definitions of what learning is and often they come to how a person sees the world. Some argue that learning is about a change in behavior due to experiences, others state simply that learning is being able to do something new that you were not able to do before. Regardless of what side you choose, to understand what learning in the digital age is, one has to understand what learning itself is.

I am immensely thankful to the authors for sharing their ideas freely and for the reviewers who volunteered their time to give feedback.

    (By Tutaleni I. Asino)

Summary of Contents Page:

Introduction

1. Board games and learning: Why care in the digital age?

2. Effective Instruction in Blended Learning Environments

3. Podcasting as a Mode of Motivation in Online and Blended Learning

4. Virtual Proctoring and Academic Integrity

5. Personal Learning Networks: Defining and Building a PLN

6. Digital Learners in the Workplace

7. Digital literacies and the skills of the digital age

8. Playful Approaches to Learning

9. The Digital Divide

10. Ignored Conversations: Higher education funding in the digital age

11. Literacy in the Digital Age: From traditional to Digital to Mobile Digital Literacies

12. The Digital Divide and the lack Financial Literacy among First Generation

13. Resources

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The Little Orange Book

: Short Lessons in Excellent Teaching 

 

Publisher: Mavs Open Press

Year of publication: 2020 

Teaching is a powerful profession. Whether you teach workshop-style classes of twenty-five students or convene your class in lecture halls with five hundred or more students, whether you teach first-year students or doctoral ones, your influence is profound. You are the representative of and the gateway into your discipline, and it is up to you to ensure students learn what they need to know to move on to the next level. But more than that, you have the potential to change students’ lives – to encourage them to think openly and strategically about the world around them, to help them communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences, and to help them contribute to the disciplinary, public and personal communities to which they currently belong and the ones to which they aspire to belong someday. But that potential, that power, that responsibility can be overshadowed by day-to-day uncertainties about how to be an effective teacher. Where can you turn to get advice or practical suggestions from experts? The Little Orange Book: Short Lessons in Excellent Teaching is modeled after Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf


The vignettes and commentaries included here were written by the members of the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. This honorific group represents the most accomplished and renowned teachers from the entire University of Texas System. The UT System has eight academic campuses and over 200,000 students. Each campus has some shade of orange as its chosen school color, inspiring the title of this volume, but the pieces are intended to be relevant well beyond the Lone Star State. 


The Little Orange Book contains short essays focused on the practical fundamentals of great teaching, revealing best strategies in and out of the classroom, no matter what the discipline or level of instruction. The topics range from simple but important tips such as remembering students’ names and creating a safe zone within the classroom to more advanced considerations such as determining when to use groups and drawing concepts for better understanding. There are also motivational pieces that focus on inspiring curiosity and introducing students to the tantalizing secrets of your discipline. Intermixed with the passages are one-liners and questions intended to provoke thought, reflection, discussion, and ultimately inspiration to try new things in your own class. 


We hope that readers – new and experienced teachers alike – will find many useful suggestions while reading The Little Orange Book. Teaching at all levels is currently undergoing tremendous change, and it will continue to do so. But the fundamentals of great teaching, like the fundamentals of a great golf game, are timeless.


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The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Education

 

Publisher: Springer

Year of publication: 2021

This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the growing field of positive education, featuring a broad range of theoretical, applied, and practice-focused chapters from leading international experts. It demonstrates how positive education offers an approach to understanding learning that blends academic study with life skills such as self-awareness, emotion regulation, healthy mindsets, mindfulness, and positive habits, grounded in the science of wellbeing, to promote character development, optimal functioning, engagement in learning, and resilience.

The handbook offers an in-depth understanding and critical consideration of the relevance of positive psychology to education, which encompasses its theoretical foundations, the empirical findings, and the existing educational applications and interventions. The contributors situate wellbeing science within the broader framework of education, considering its implications for teacher training, education and developmental psychology, school administration, policy making, pedagogy, and curriculum studies.

This landmark collection will appeal to researchers and practitioners working in positive psychology, educational and school psychology, developmental psychology, education, counselling, social work, and public policy.


REVIEWS:

“The approaches outlined in this volume will help expand the narrow focus on academic success to include psychological well-being for students and educators alike. It is a must-read for anyone interested in how positive outcomes such as life satisfaction, positive emotion, and meaning and purpose can be optimized in the educational settings.”

Judith Moskowitz, PhD MPH, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, USA, IPPA President 2019-2021

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Quality Education

: The nexus of Human Capital Development, Economic Growth and Social Justice in a South African context 


Publisher: AOSIS

Year of publication: 2021

This book investigates the intersections between education, social justice, gendered violence and human rights in South African schools and universities. The rich and multifarious tapestry of scholarship and literature emanating from South African classrooms provides a fascinating lens through which we can understand the complex consequences of the economies of education, social justice imperatives, gendered violence in the lives of women and children, and marginalised communities. The scholarship in the book challenges readers to imagine alternative futures predicated on the transformational capacity of a democratic South Africa.  

Contributors to this volume examine the many ways in which social justice and gendered violence mirror, express, project, and articulate the larger phenomenon of human rights violations in Africa and how, in turn, the discourse of human rights informs the ways in which we articulate, interrogate, conceptualise, enact and interpret quality education. 

The book also wrestles with the linguistic contradictions and ambiguities in the articulation of quality education in public and private spaces. 

This book is essential reading for scholars seeking a solid grounding in exploring quality education, the instances of epistemic disobedience, the political implications of place and power, and human rights in theory and practice.

Table of Contents:


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Sustainability, Human Well-Being, and the Future of Education

 

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

Year of publication: 2018

 

FREE DOWNLOAD: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78580-6 

This open access book explores the key dimensions of a future education system designed to enable individuals, schools, and communities to achieve the twin twenty-first century challenges of sustainability and human well-being. For much of the twentieth century, Western education systems prepared students to enter the workforce, contribute to society and succeed in relatively predictable contexts. Today, people are at the controls of the planet—making decisions that are dramatically reshaping social, economic, and environmental systems at a global scale. What is education’s purpose in this new reality? What and how must we learn now?  The volatility and uncertainty caused by digitalization, globalization, and climate change weave a common backdrop through each chapter.


This important book:

Contents page:

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Transforming Education Outcomes in Africa 

: Learning from Togo  

 

Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham

Year of publication: 2019  

Good education changes lives. It is therefore unsurprising that improved schooling plays a central part in most development strategies. At the same time, the expansion of school attainment alone is not sufficient to guarantee improved welfare. This open access book focuses on one country in West Africa, Togo, to explore what a country that has successfully increased enrollment rates can do to enhance learning outcomes. The authors explore different avenues for improvement, including enhancing the efficiency with which resources are used; increasing the qualifications of teachers; and through greater community involvement in school management. There is scope for improvement along all these dimensions, yet changes at the margin are insufficient to bring about the transformation needed to bring about acceptable levels of learning.

Important reading for anyone interested in understanding the pathways to improving the education system in Togo and other developing countries.


Table of contents:


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Understanding and Supporting Learners with Disabilities 

 

Publisher: Granite State College

Year of publication: 2019 

[From the Introduction by Paula Lombardi:]

This book was developed to support the Granite State College introductory courses EDU 617 and 717, Students with Disabilities. Chapters 1-11 are developed to align with the disability summary assignments. Each of these concise chapters explains the corresponding section of the disability summary template. This eBook is a work in progress and will evolve as high quality open resources become available.


Chapters 12-23 provide an introduction to each of the 13 IDEA disabilities. Some chapters are more comprehensive than others, depending on the availability of open resources.


Table of contents:

Introduction

Resources and Copyright Notice

I. Foundational Competency and Teacher Education Standards

1. IDEA Definitions

2. Identification/Diagnosis

3. Prevalence

4. Etiology

5. Characteristics and Impact on Learning

6. Intellectual Functioning

7. Adaptive Behavior

8. Universal Design for Learning

9. Interventions, learning strategies, teaching methods and accommodations

10. Assistive Technology

11. Systems of Support

12. Specific Learning Disability

13. Intellectual Disability and Developmental Disability

14. Autism Spectrum Disorders

15. Emotional Disturbance

16. Traumatic Brain Injury

17. Orthopedic Impairments

18. Other Health Impairments

19. Visual Impairments/Blindness

20. Deaf/ Hearing Impairments

21. Deaf Blindness

22. Multiple Disabilities

23. Speech and Language Impairment

Appendix

Updates

Assistive Technologies to Support Students with ADHD


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University 101

: Study, Strategize and Succeed

 

Publisher: Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Year of publication: 2018

More about this e-Book:

University 101: Study Strategize Succeed helps you to create a foundation for post-secondary studies by learning how to learn.  By taking the time to read this book and work through the exercises included, you are investing in the skills that will support you in all of your classes and future learning.  Successful students share a set of skills and habits in common.  The good news is that these skills are not a secret; anyone can learn the skills that support successful learning. By taking some time to learn proven study strategies, you will be able to reach your learning goals, and avoid the pitfalls that can take you off-track. 

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What Should Schools Teach?

: Disciplines, subjects and the pursuit of truth

 

Publisher: UCL Press

Year of publication: 2021 [2nd edition]

The design of school curriculums involves deep thought about the nature of knowledge and its value to learners and society. It is a serious responsibility that raises a number of questions. What is knowledge for? What knowledge is important for children to learn? How do we decide what knowledge matters in each school subject? And how far should the knowledge we teach in school be related to academic disciplinary knowledge? These and many other questions are taken up in What Should Schools Teach?

 

The blurring of distinctions between pedagogy and curriculum, and between experience and knowledge, has served up a confusing message for teachers about the part that each plays in the education of children. Schools teach through subjects, but there is little consensus about what constitutes a subject and what they are for. This book aims to dispel confusion through a robust rationale for what schools should teach that offers key understanding to teachers of the relationship between knowledge (what to teach) and their own pedagogy (how to teach), and how both need to be informed by values of intellectual freedom and autonomy.

 

This second edition includes new chapters on Chemistry, Drama, Music and Religious Education, and an updated chapter on Biology. A revised introduction reflects on emerging discourse around decolonizing the curriculum, and on the relationship between the knowledge that children encounter at school and in their homes.

 

Reviews:

'This book brings profound questions about what children need to know back to the centre of educational enquiry where they belong. The additional chapters in this second edition are excellent. We all need to read it.'

--Professor Elizabeth Rata, University of Auckland

 

'I am afraid that what we actually teach is so often forgotten in debates about schools. Subjects - the way that most people choose to divide up human knowledge - are too rarely the focus of our interest. Yet the subjects we offer and the syllabus content of each is arguably the most important single element of the school system. This book bucks the trend and should be of great importance to all teachers.'

--Barnaby Lenon, University of Buckingham


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