by Clint Lalonde | EdTech, My Masters in , ,

Building an EdTech library – what would you recommend?

Library

I just received the textbooks for my next class and among them is Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education by Tony Bates and Gary Poole. I was expecting to run into this one at some point during my Masters and I am happy that it is sooner than later. It’s a book I have heard many references to in the past few years and one I am anxious to dig into.

I’ve been going over a recent post by Alec Couros where he asked his network for 5 article/book recommendations for an Associate Dean in his office to help “inform his understanding of current changes regarding social networks, knowledge, and technology in education”. So, I am going to toss something similar out here. My network is considerable smaller than Alec’s but hopefully I’ll get a few responses to bolster my fledgling EdTech bookshelf (like my Masters program won’t pile enough on over the next 2 years).

Here is the question to you, my considerably more experienced EdTech brethren; What would you consider some of the seminal or defining works in our field that examine the intersection of technology and education? If you had to recommend one or two books that seem to inform our industry/sector as a whole, what would those be?

Photo: Iqra: Read by swamimbu. Used under Creative Commons license.

 

Clint Lalonde

Just a guy writing some stuff, mostly for me these days on this particular blog. For my EdTech/OpenEd stuff, check out https://edtechfactotum.com/.

 

13 thoughts on “Building an EdTech library – what would you recommend?”

  1. Not directly related but more of the back story or the context that we need to be able to swim in the whitewater of new learning practices and paradigms:
    Peter Senge's "The Fifth Discipline" – talks about generative learning, systems thinking and barriers to growth anf learning. I think it's a must read for anyone who works in a learning environment (aka everyone)
    Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler's "Connected" – al about social networks, how emotions are contagious and the impact this has had on human evolution. This is the backstory. Critical to understanding the impact of social media now.
    Chris Anderson's "Free" – He authored "The Long Tail". Again, tis provided context for the way the world is going. You can get free abrdged audiobook of "Free" from http://www.hyperionbooks.com/free

    1. Nice Jamie thanks for these. Other than Andersons these are all new
      titles to me. Last night I also came across another one along the
      similar lines that had been recommended to me a long time ago ” The
      Social Life of Information” by John Seely Brown.

  2. A couple of different ones – Technopoly and Amusing Ourselves To Death by Neil Postman are good philisophical looks technology and media. Not necessarily about educational technology, but definitely important to consider how technology changes our relationships.

    Also, I'm sure you've got it but George Siemens and Peter Tittenberger's Handbook of Emerging Learning Technologies (http://www.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies/cet…

  4. Hey Clint. One you'll come across but is not required is "The Theory and Practice of Online Learning" edited by Terry Anderson at Athabasca, but the chapters are contributed by many authors. What I find really good about the tome (and it is a BIG PDF download at 472 pages) is that it is broad, with a good level of detail. The chapter by Anderson on social media is good without the 'fan-boy' dom that some have for social media as OE technology.

    1. Thanks Joyce. Rethinking Pedagogy looks like a winner. I've added that to my Amazon Wishlist. And agree about Shirky. I think that book should be required reading for anyone working in our field.

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