Language, Literacy, and Technology in Education

The Asynchronous Cookbook

Whether you’re teaching mostly in person but looking for some regular, asynchronous activities to add to your course, or teaching a fully online course, this resource is for you. The activities in this cookbook draw on research and good practice in online course design to provide recipes – concise and specific instructions and examples – for adding asynchronous activities to a course. Meaningful interaction between students and instructors is a key ingredient in all of these recipes.

Licence: CC BY-NC-SA

Democratizing Online Learning in Postsecondary Education: Instructional Design Plans

The instructional design plans in this volume were peer reviewed through a double-blind process.

Licence: CC BY-NC-SA

Digital Futures for Learning

During the Digital Futures for Learning course in 2017/18, participants created Open Educational Resources (OERs), taking the three course themes as a starting point. A selection of these OERs are available on this site.

Licence: Please refer to individual resources for licensing information

Education and the Blockchain

The blockchain is considered by some people to be The Next Big Thing in higher education. For example, it is claimed that it will “reinvent higher education” (Tapscott & Tapscott, 2017), that it might “hasten the dissolution of universities as institutions” (Matthews, 2017). In this OER, we’ll learn more about these claims, why they may or may not be justified, and how we might become better equipped to analyse potential blockchain projects in higher education from a critical perspective.

Licence: CC BY-SA

Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments: Graduate Student Perspectives

This book is the result of a co-design project in a class in the Masters of Education program at the University of Calgary. The course, and the resulting book, focus primarily on the safe and ethical use of technology in digital learning environments. The course was organized according to four topics based on Farrow’s (2016) Framework for the Ethics of Open Education.

Licence: CC BY 4.0

Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments: Graduate Student Perspectives, Volume 2

This book is the result of a co-design project in a class in the Masters of Education program at the University of Calgary. The course, and the resulting book, focus primarily on the safe and ethical use of technology in digital learning environments. The course was organized according to four topics based on Farrow’s (2016) Framework for the Ethics of Open Education. Students were asked to review, analyze, and synthesize each topic from three meta-ethical theoretical positions: deontological, consequentialist, and virtue ethical (Farrow, 2016). The chapters in this open educational resource (OER) were co-designed using a participatory pedagogy with the intention to share and mobilize knowledge with a broader audience. The first section, comprised of four chapters, focuses on topics relating to well-being in technology-enabled learning environments, including the use of web cameras, eproctoring software, video games, and access to broadband connectivity. The second section focuses on privacy and autonomy of learners and citizens in a variety of contexts from schools to clinical settings. In each of the seven chapters, the authors discuss the connection to the value of technology in education, and practical possibilities of learning technologies for inclusive, participatory, democratic, and pluralistic educational paradigms. The book concludes with reflections from the course instructor gained over two iterations of teaching the course.

Licence: CC BY 4.0

Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction

This book addresses the questions and decisions that administrators and instructors most need to consider when developing online writing programs and courses. The authors address issues of inclusive and accessible writing instruction (based upon physical and mental disability, linguistic ability, and socioeconomic challenges) in technology enhanced settings.

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology: Historical Roots and Current Trends

“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.

Licence: CC BY

The Future of Writing

This resource aims to encourage thought about the ways in which we take notes and how this is changing with technology. Aimed at educators, it’s goal is to try and answer the question: should we change how we teach and encourage students to write? The resource is provided as a WordPress blog which leads the learner through a series of discussions and though prompts. And a Padlet discussion board.

Licence: CC BY-SA

Guide to Blended Learning

This is an introduction using technology and distance education teaching strategies with traditional, face-to-face classroom activities. This Guide has been designed to assist teachers adopt blended learning strategies through a step-by-step approach taking constructivist and design-based approach and reflecting on decisions taken to provide authentic learning experience in their own contexts. This book is from the Commonwealth of Learning.

Licence: CC BY-SA

Liberated Learners

Following in the footsteps of the Ontario Extend: Empowered Educator program is its predecessor, Ontario Extend: Liberated Learners. The original program worked to prepare educators to be better able to teach in a digital realm. The Liberated Learner seeks to do the same for the learners themselves. As such, the project has four modules: The Learner, The Navigator, The Collaborator, and The Technologist. Taken together, the modules aim to enable a well-rounded and ready-for-almost-anything post-secondary learner.

Licence: CC BY-NC

Near Future Teaching

A collection of videos featuring students and staff talking about what changes they predict, or would like to see, in teaching over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, new methods and new media continue to shift.

Licence: CC BY

Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science

This open access book shares the stories, motives, insights, and practical tips from global leaders in the open movement.

Licence: CC BY 4.0

Open Teacher AB: Building Capacity in K-12 OER

This site was created by a team of educators and librarians in Alberta, Canada. It is intended as an entry point for the communities with whom we work: pre-service teachers, practicing teachers, and administrators. The focus is on how to create an openly licensed teaching resource and/or adapt existing Open Educational Resources (OER) [Description from resource]. 

Includes:  OER gallery

Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0

Radical Digital Literacy

This resource is based on the idea that current approaches to digital literacy in most Higher Education institutions are simplistic and fail to take into account that technology is not a neutral entity. This OER provides a number of resources to read and watch with the aim of providing a springboard to discuss and share ideas of how to integrate a more radical approach to digital literacy into an undergraduate curriculum.

Licence: CC BY

Serendipity in a Digital World

This resource explores the concept of Serendipity in a Digital World. Looking at the rise of algorithms, control online and how this can affect experiences of serendipity and exploration, open and closed spaces online, and how to balance, maintain, and encourage connections. The resource has been created primarily for education professionals and Masters-level students working in fields such as digital education, learning technology, digital futures, and e-learning.

Licence: CC BY

Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice

Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice introduces instructional strategies linked to the most current research-supported practices in the field of literacy. The book includes chapters related to scientifically-based literacy research, early literacy development, literacy assessment, digital age influences on children’s literature, literacy development in underserved student groups, secondary literacy instructional strategies, literacy and modern language, and critical discourse analysis. Chapters are written by authors with expertise in both college teaching and the delivery of research-supported literacy practices in schools. The book features detailed explanations of a wide variety of literacy strategies that can be implemented by both beginning and expert practitioners. Readers will gain knowledge about topics frequently covered in college literacy courses, along with guided practice for applying this knowledge in their future or current classrooms. The book’s success-oriented framework helps guide educators toward improving their own practices and is designed to foster the literacy development of students of all ages.

Includes: Questions and activities

Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reviews: Available through the Open Textbook Library

Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for Designing Teaching and Learning, 2nd Edition

This textbook focuses on post secondary teaching.

Includes: Activities, audio, appendices

Licence: CC BY-NC

Reviews: Available through the Open Textbook Library

Teaching with Rich Media: A Guide for Online Instructors

Online instructors need a framework for “teaching beyond text” using rich media as instructional resources. This book defines rich media, its affordances, and its value in conveying information. The book offers a model for pedagogical strategies, a set of instructor competencies, and two models for assessment for use in professional development.

Licence: CC BY-SA

23 Things for Digital Knowledge

An award-winning, open, and self-paced course for digital and online skills. 23 Things for Digital Knowledge provides a structured way for staff and students to set aside that time to build up skills and experiment with new digital tools.

Licence: CC BY

Virtual Reality in Education. A future toolkit for educators?

This resource is designed to promote thinking around virtual reality (VR) in education. After exploring each theme participants are encouraged to share their thoughts, ideas, and response to key questions in the comments section. The aim of this OER is to provoke thought and discussion around VR and the potential future it has in education.

Licence: CC BY-NC-SA

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