Gary S. Stager is the coauthor of "Invent To Learn--Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom," founder of "Constructing Modern Knowledge," special assistant to the head of school for innovation at the Willows Community School (California), and a teacher educator. In this article he begins by describing and debunking…

There are many important issues in informatics and many agree that algorithms and programming are most important issues that need to be included in informatics education (Dagiene and Jevsikova, 2012). In this paper, we propose how some of these issues can be easily taught using the notion of a formal system which consists of axioms and inference…

Children's librarians were active radio broadcasters as early as 1922, when American commercial radio was just beginning. As they utilized the new technology of radio to promote reading, literature and outreach, they transferred techniques and materials already familiar from their work in neighborhood libraries. This article documents children's…

Since the earliest times, humans have made objects--oil lamps carved out of stone to light their way, baskets and pots to hold grain and water, blankets and clothing to protect them from the elements. At some point, their need for the functional was enhanced by their desire for the beautiful. They began to decorate their lamps, pots, baskets,…

Increasingly, technology plays an important role in the daily lives of children, both at home and at school. Making informed decisions about the wise application and frequency of technology and media use can be both challenging and overwhelming for parents, caregivers and educators. Many issues surround the unwise use of technology and media by…

In this article, the author recounts that, as an early adapter of technology when she was a teacher for a language academy in Rome in the 1980s, she was asked by an English language teaching competitor to design an introductory program for visitors to use the new computers in the library. This opportunity led her on the path towards elearning. Now…

This paper demonstrates the use of programing software that provides the student programmer visual cues to construct the code to a student programming assignment. This method does not disregard or minimize the syntax or required logical constructs. The student can concentrate more on the logic and less on the language itself.

The CNRS-financed authoring system SWANS (Synchronised Web Authoring Notation System), now used in several CercleS centres, was developed by teams from four laboratories as a personalised learning tool for the purpose of making available knowledge about lexical stress patterns and mother-tongue interference in L2 speech production--helping…

This paper presents Diagram, a learning environment for object-oriented modelling (OOM) with UML class diagrams. Diagram an open environment, in which the teacher can add new exercises without constraints on the vocabulary or the size of the diagram. The interface includes methodological help, encourages self-correcting and self-monitoring, and…

In this article, John Derby examines "The Colbert Report" as a complex visual culture phenomenon that is highly relevant to young art learners, and offers curricular strategies that build on the show's Web content (www.colbertnation.com). As media studies scholar Baym (2010) has argued, "The Colbert Report" represents a…

Computer programming is not commonly taught to geographers as a part of geographic information system (GIS) courses, but the advent of NeoGeography, big data and open GIS means that programming skills are becoming more important. To encourage the teaching of programming to geographers, this paper outlines a course based around a series of…

Spatial reasoning--the ability to visualise and play with shapes in one's mind--is essential in many fields, and crucial in any Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics [STEM] discipline. It is, for example, the ability that the engineer needs to build bridges; the chemist to see the three-dimensional structure of a molecule; the architect to…

Testing is an important stage of teaching as it can assist teachers in auditing students' learning results. A good test is able to accurately reflect the capability of a learner. Nowadays, Computer-Assisted Testing (CAT) is greatly improving traditional testing, since computers can automatically and quickly compose a proper test sheet to meet user…

This article describes a unit in which students were able to create projects that went far beyond the initial scope of what the authors imagined due to the scaffolded and sociocultural learning environment (Vygotsky, 1978). The article begins with an explanation of constructivism, design thinking, and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and…

Under the auspices of a DAAD funded educational project, a subproject devoted to different aspects of teaching the Java programming language started several years ago. The initial intention of the subproject was to attract members of the subproject to prepare some teaching materials for teaching essentials of the Java programming language. During…