Educational research is one most important means of empowering people with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. It is the cornerstone of empowerment and social development because it enables people to respond to opportunities, to challenge their traditional roles and to change their lives. The present book has been designed to facilitate both the students as researchers at the university level and teachers as practitioners at the school level. It attempts to document the research outputs on school education and to examine how could these be best used as an instrument for empowering people. It further documents and reviews the trend of research studies with a view to examine where we stand now, what are the gaps and weaknesses in the researches and on what areas could these be best carried out in future.

Over the past thirty years, there has been much dialogue, and debate, about the conduct of educational technology research and development. In this brief volume, the author helps clarify that dialogue by theoretically and empirically charting the research methods used in the field and provides much practical information on how to conduct educational technology research. Within this text, readers can expect to find answers to the following questions: (a) What are the methodological factors that need to be taken into consideration when designing and conducting educational technology research? (b) What types of research questions do educational technology researchers tend to ask? (c) How do educational technology researchers tend to conduct research? (d) What approaches do they use? What variables do they examine? What types of measures do they use? How do they report their research? (d) How can the state of educational technology research be improved? In addition to answering the questions above, the author, a research methodologist, provides practical information on how to conduct educational technology research--from formulating research questions, to collecting and analyzing data, to writing up the research reports--in each of the major quantitative and qualitative traditions. Unlike other books of this kind, the author addresses some of research approaches used less commonly in educational technology research, but which, nonetheless, have much potential for creating new insights about educational phenomena--approaches such as single-participant research, quantitative content analysis, ethnography, narrative research, phenomenology, and others. "Multidisciplinary Methods in Educational Technology Research and Development" is an excellent text for educational technology research methods courses, a useful guide for those conducting (or supervising) research, and a rich source of empirical information on the art and science of educational technology research. Key Questions in Educational Technology Methods Choice are appended. (Contains 13 figures and 13 tables.) [This publication was produced by the HAMK University of Applied Sciences.].

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

This book will identify current and emerging trends in the principles and practice of international education and relate them to innovative developments within the IB. Aimed at educators who want to be up to date in their field, the book will inform readers about the latest developments in international education.