The book 'Educational technology - a primer for the 21st century', published in 2019 by Springer, and authored by Ronghuai Huang, J. Michael Spector, Junfeng Yang, is available for free download during the pandemic lockdown period.
It is a handy reference guide and textbook for learning instructional designers and academic developers. The main pedagogical theories and approaches are covered with brief overviews. As the book is structured as a textbook, each chapter begins with main topics, the learning objectives and suggested learning activities. Therefore, the book can be usefully applied for self-study as well as supporting courses in instructional design, teacher education and technology-enhanced learning. The subject matter is generalised to all sectors/levels of education.
The first three chapters provide a good background introduction to the subject and covers the main pedagogical theories - behavourism, cognitism and constructivism along with a chapter on the importance of connecting learning objectives to learning activities and assessments (i.e. constructive alignment).
Part 2 with 4 chapters on -perspectives of education - is recommended reading. The perspectives are the system, educational technology, user and learning experiences. Roughly tracing the trajectory of using technology to support education.
Then Part 3 with 5 chapters, cover the 'how to' aspects of implementing and integrating technology to support teaching and learning. A chapter on learning spaces is included.
The last chapter looks into emerging issues. A bit dated already by covers the technologies of learning analytics, wearable devices etc. ethics, security and privacy and emerging issues.
Overall, the book is useful as a text book. It is not a scholarly work on educational technologies as such but more of a guide and 'how to' which is useful for practitioners interested in understanding the underlying theories to support their teaching or learning design.
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