Techtactics: Instructional Models for Educational Computing

Aimed primarily at high school teachers or those teaching foundation college/university courses- this text avoids theory, focusing on specific tools (e.g. spreadsheet, web, word processor) and what can be done with them in a classroom setting. As an aside, despite widespread student familiarity with computers, experience suggests that there is a need for "hands-on" guidance on how to effectively use such tools to produce quality work. Avoiding overly technical jargon or software package vendor bias, demonstrating applicability across subjects, the attractively illustrated & practical chapters span:- computers in classrooms- the full context and setting- introduction to computers for teaching- instructional models- information retrieval- Internet, research, distance learning- email and discussions boards- asynchronous communication- presentation software, hypermedia- graphics and interface design principles- outlines, idea maps, storyboards- evaluating student presentations- educational applications of word processing- high level analysis, formatting- databases- problems, classroom use, teaching, sort and queries- building database-supported lesson- acquiring data, formats- using spreadsheets- math, statistics, charts and graphs, taxonomy- appendixes- network, file management, chat and Internet conferencing, concept maps, sample databaseOverall recommended, as thought provoking & useful, particularly for instructors at the start of their career. Could be coupled with (say) Office (9 in 1) for Dummies if teaching an introductory "computer software in business" course.