The book consists of novel and empirical research in broad areas of technology and curriculum in selected African countries. The central theme of the book is technology and the higher education curriculum. The book consists of case studies from selected African countries, namely, Lesotho; Namibia; Kenya; South Africa; Zimbabwe; Tanzania and Nigeria. These studies confirm that in this contemporary digital era, educational technology is playing an increasingly important role. It has become so ubiquitous and fundamental in the teaching and learning. Higher education sectors across the continent are increasingly compelled to use educational technology to keep up with needs of 21st century students who want to be afforded opportunities to be able to learn in real time, anytime, and on their own terms using opportunities for creative innovation made possible by new information and communication technologies.

Global awareness and competency has become an essential part of higher education and professional development. Expanding beyond the traditional ideas of learning and education, it is important to provide research that will help students prepare for the global future. The Handbook of Research on Promoting Higher-Order Skills and Global Competencies in Life and Work is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the intersection of life and work skills in higher education and professional development. While highlighting topics such as research engagement, learning assessment, and multicultural competence, this publication explores the preparation of twenty-first century learners, as well as the methods of promoting critical and creative thinking. This book is ideally designed for educators, academicians, education administrators, researchers, and upper-level students seeking current research on global knowledge and skills in contemporary education and organizations.

Rethinking Teacher Education: Improvement, Innovation and Change is the result of the conference organised by The Aga Khan University - Institute for Educational Development, East Africa (AKU-IED, EA) on education, in Uganda in 2017. The Conference, gathered participants from nine countries, to deliberate on a cross section of factors regarding teacher education in the region and landscaping the same on global perspectives. The choice of the conference theme was inspired by a need to consider new systems, policies, structures and reforms to help drive sustainable education for the development of nations in the East African region. A variety contributors participated from across the education landscape, and included researchers working in higher education, practitioners such as teachers in schools, tutors, instructors in colleges, and lecturers and professors at universities. Also contributing were non-governmental organisations with interests in education and student learning outcomes, civil society organisations whose interests navigate the role education plays in social and national development, policy makers and curriculum developers, librarians, publishers, booksellers and teacher trainees, all of who shared their rich experiences and perspectives on teacher education in the 21st century in East Africa and globally.

This book is devoted to scholarship in the field of self-directed learning in the 21st century, with specific reference to higher education. The target audience of the book includes scholars in the field of self-directed learning and higher education. The book contributes to the discourse on the quality of education in the 21st century and adds to the body of scholarship in terms of self-directed learning, and specifically its role in higher education. Although all the chapters in the book directly address self-directed learning, the different foci and viewpoints raised make the book a rich knowledge bank of work on self-directed learning.

The book is a must read for policy makers, academics, university administrators and post graduate research students in the broad field of education and in higher education studies in particular. The book brings together a wealth of information regarding the imperatives of transformation in Africa’s higher education systems. Not only do some of the chapters provide critical discussion about the conceptualisation of transformation, the majority of the chapters reflect on empirical evidence for transformation in diverse fields of mathematics, science, gender, the training of doctoral students and the governance and management of universities. This central theme of sustainable change and reform runs across the chapters of the book. For students, the book provides exemplars of practical research in higher education. For scholars in higher education and policy makers, specific issues for reform are identified and discussed.

Changing student profiles and the increasing availability of mainstream and specialized learning technologies are stretching the traditional face-to-face models of teaching and learning in higher education. Institutions, too, are facing far-reaching systemic changes which are placing strains on existing resources and physical infrastructure and calling into question traditional ways of teaching through lectures and tutorials. And, with an ever-increasing scrutiny on teaching and teachers’ accountability for positive educational outcomes, the call for closer attention to learning, teaching and, most especially, to the design and delivery of the curriculum is given increasing relevance and importance. Research provides strong evidence of the potential for technologies to facilitate not only cognition and learning but also to become integral components in the redesign of current curriculum models. Some Universities and individual academics have moved along this pathway, developing new and innovative curriculum, blending pedagogies and technologies to suit their circumstances. Yet, there are others, unsure of the possibilities, the opportunities and constraints in these changing times. Curriculum Models for the 21st Century gives insights into how teaching and learning can be done differently. The focus is on a whole of curriculum approach, looking at theoretical models and examples of practice which capitalize on the potential of technologies to deliver variations and alternatives to the more traditional lecture-based model of University teaching.​

This book chronicles the revolution in STEM teaching and learning that has arisen from a convergence of educational research, emerging technologies, and innovative ways of structuring both the physical space and classroom activities in STEM higher education. Beginning with a historical overview of US higher education and an overview of diversity in STEM in the US, the book sets a context in which our present-day innovation in science and technology urgently needs to provide more diversity and inclusion within STEM fields. Research-validated pedagogies using active learning and new types of research-based curriculum is transforming how physics, biology and other fields are taught in leading universities, and the book gives profiles of leading innovators in science education and examples of exciting new research-based courses taking root in US institutions. The book includes interviews with leading scientists and educators, case studies of new courses and new institutions, and descriptions of site visits where new trends in 21st STEM education are being developed. The book also takes the reader into innovative learning environments in engineering where students are empowered by emerging technologies to develop new creative capacity in their STEM education, through new centers for design thinking and liberal arts-based engineering. Equally innovative are new conceptual frameworks for course design and learning, and the book explores the concepts of Scientific Teaching, Backward Course Design, Threshold Concepts and Learning Taxonomies in a systematic way with examples from diverse scientific fields. Finally, the book takes the reader inside the leading centers for online education, including Udacity, Coursera and EdX, interviews the leaders and founders of MOOC technology, and gives a sense of how online education is evolving and what this means for STEM education. This book provides a broad and deep exploration into the historical context of science education and into some of the cutting-edge innovations that are reshaping how leading universities teach science and engineering. The emergence of exponentially advancing technologies such as synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and materials sciences has been described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the book explores how these technologies will shape our future will bring a transformation of STEM curriculum that can help students solve many the most urgent problems facing our world and society.

This book addresses the current issues of inclusive education during the time of the global pandemic of COVID-19. It offers inclusive pedagogical strategies and approaches for teachers and instructors to cater for the diverse learning needs of children in the midst of the pandemic. The work explores different ways in which students in different contexts across the globe are being accommodated and shows how inclusion is being implemented. It draws on a range of theoretical frameworks and research projects to provide multiple perspectives on inclusive pedagogical practices.

Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: Embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution explores responsive and innovative pedagogies arising from findings of research and practitioner experiences, globally. This book clarifies concepts and issues that surround teaching and learning for the 21st century.