David Moursund Books

From IAE-Pedia

Contents 1 Introduction 2 List and Links for Available Free Books 3 Some Thoughts About Book Writing 4 Author 5 References

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." (Benjamin Franklin; American scientist, inventor statesman, printer, philosopher; 1706–1790.)

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Introduction

David Moursund has written more than 50 books. Twenty-six of these, including all of the most recent ones, are available free on the Web. A number of these books were first published by the International Council for Computers in Education or it successor, the International Society for Technology in Education.

People who find this page useful may enjoy:

Moursund, D.G. (2008). Moursund's ISTE editorials.

There, you can assess more than 170 editorial messages that Moursund wrote for Leading and Learning with Technology and its predecessors.

In addition, many of the other document in the iae-pedia were written by Moursund.

List and Links for Available Free Books

Moursund, D.G. (2008, 2009). Becoming more responsible for your education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/39-becoming-more-responsbile-for-your-education.html. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education.

This 96-page book has an 8th grade reading level and is written specifically for young teenagers. Its goal is to help such students learn to take more responsibility for their own education. By age 13, many students are beginning to have the mental maturity to take a major role in their own education. Preservice teachers, inservice teachers, and parents will also find the book useful. For example, parents may want to read the book along with their young teen-age children, and use the reading to facilitate “serious” educational conversations with their children.

Moursund, David (2008). Introduction to using games in education: A guide for teachers and parents. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/19-introduction-to-using-games-in-education-a-guide-for-teachers-and-parents.html.

This book is written for people who are interested in helping children learn through games and learn about games. The intended audience includes teachers, parents and grandparents, and all others who want to learn more about how games can be effectively used in education. Special emphasis is given to roles of games in a formal school setting.

Education has many goals, and there is a huge amount of research and practitioner knowledge about teaching and learning. This book is well rooted in this research and practitioner knowledge. Five of the important ideas that are stressed include:

• Learning to learn.

• Learning about one’s strengths and weaknesses as a learner.

• Becoming better at solving challenging problems and accomplishing challenging tasks.

• Transfer of learning from game-playing environments to other environments.

• Intrinsic motivation—students being engaged because they want to be engaged.

Moursund, D.G. (2007). Introduction to problem solving in the Information Age. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/7-introduction-to-problem-solving-in-the-information-age.html.

This short (99 page) book is intended primarily for preservice and inservice teachers of K-12 students, and the teachers of these teachers. In this book, the term problem solving includes posing and solving problems, posing and accomplishing tasks, posing and answering questions, and posing and making decisions.

Problem solving is an integral component of every academic discipline. Humans solve problems using their physical and mental capabilities, and tools that they have developed. The Information Age has brought us a wide range of computer-based tools that are powerful aids to problem solving. Now, more than ever, it is important to stress problem solving and higher-order critical thinking throughout our educational system.

Moursund, David (2007). College student's guide to computers in education. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/1-college-students-guide-to-computers-in-education.html

This short book is for undergraduate and graduate college and university students, and for others thinking about enrolling in higher education courses. The information and ideas presented will help college students to obtain an education that will be useful throughout their lives in our rapidly changing Information Age world.

Change is one of the themes of this book. We are living at a time of a rapid technological change. The rate of change is increasing. Such change brings with it both threats and opportunities. Students can shape their informal and formal education to diminish the threats and increase the opportunities.

Gaining a competitive advantage is one of the underlying themes of the book. Computer technology empowers and enables its users. This means that in any academic area of study, a student can gain a competitive advantage by developing a higher level of “traditional” expertise in the area and by developing an increased level of expertise in using computers in the areas.

Moursund, David (2007). Faculty member’s guide to computers in higher education. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/15-faculty-members-guide-to-computers-in-higher-education.html.

The goal of this book is to help improve college and university education. The primary audience is people who teach college and university courses. This includes guest lecturers, graduate assistants, adjuncts, tenure-track faculty, tenured faculty, researchers who teach an occasional course, and others.

The primary focus is on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Note that this is often called Information Technology (IT), but that term fails to capture the importance of the communication aspect of the computer technology field.

The secondary focus is on Computer and Information Science (CIS). CIS is a relatively new academic discipline, with its own collected body of knowledge and achievement. It also provides an important way of thinking, called computational thinking. This refers to human intelligence working together with computer capabilities (including artificial intelligence) to solve problems and accomplish tasks.

Here is a related resource.

University of Manitoba (n.d.). Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wikis/etl/index.php/Handbook_of_Emerging_Technologies_for_Learning

Moursund, David (2007). Computational thinking and math maturity: Improving math education in K-8 schools. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/3-computational-thinking-and-math-maturity-improving-math-education-in-k-8-schools.html.

This book addresses the problem that our K-8 school math education system is not as successful as many people would like it to be, and it is not as successful as it could be. It is designed as supplementary material for use in a Math Methods course for preservice K-8 teachers. However, it can also be used by inservice K-8 teachers and for students enrolled in Math for Elementary and Middle School teachers’ courses.

The book draws upon and explores four Big Ideas that, taken together, have the potential to significantly improve out math education. The Big Ideas are:

1. Thinking of learning math as a process of both learning math content and a process of gaining in math maturity. Our current math education system is does a poor job of building math maturity.
2. Thinking of a student’s math cognitive development in terms of the roles of both nature and nurture. Research in cognitive acceleration in mathematics and other disciplines indicates we can do much better in fostering math cognitive development.
3. Understanding the power of computer systems and computational thinking as an aid to representing and solving math problems and as an aid to effectively using math in all other disciplines.
4. Placing increased emphasis on learning to learn math, making effective use of use computer-based aids to learning, and information retrieval.

Moursund, David (2007). Computers in education for talented and gifted students: A book for elementary and middle school teachers. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/13-computers-in-education-for-talented-and-gifted-students.html.

This book explores various roles of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in talented and gifted (TAG) education. The three goals of this book are:

• To help improve the educational opportunities and education of TAG students.
• To increase the general knowledge of teachers about the field of computers in education.
• To explore some possible changes designed to improve our educational system. Many of the ideas in this book are applicable to all students, not just TAG students.

Most of the content of this book has been written specifically for preservice or inservice “regular education” elementary and middle school teachers. Other possible readers include parents, TAG teachers, TAG students, school administrators, and so on. The book assumes some familiarity with education in general, but does not assume specific previous knowledge about TAG education.

Moursund, David (2006). Parents’ guide to computers in education. 2006. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/21-parents-guide-to-computers-in-education.html.

This short book is for parents who want their preschool and school age children to get a good, modern education. While the main focus is on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) aspects of education, many other educational topics are briefly covered.

Parents and other caregivers play a huge role in the informal and formal education of their children. Working alone and in cooperation with teachers, a parent, grandparent, or other caregiver can help children get a much better education than they will receive without such explicit help.

his is especially true in the area of computers and other ICT. The average child spends more hours per week playing and working with multimedia (games, television, music players, cell phones, and so on) than in school. This situation presents a major opportunity to improve children’s informal and formal education.

In addition, our school systems have been slow to integrate ICT into the everyday curriculum. The school-based education of many children is weak because it does not help students to take advantage of the capabilities of ICT as an aid to solving complex problems and accomplishing complex tasks. Parents and other caregivers, working with children and their schools, can help to change this situation.

Moursund, David (2005). Planning, forecasting, and inventing your computers-in-education future. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/23-planning-forecasting-and-inventing-your-computers-in-education-future.html.

I strongly believe that our education system can be a lot better than it currently is. Indeed, I predict that during the next two decades, we will substantially improve our educational system. In this book, I enlist the reader’s help in making this prediction come true.

The focus in this book is on two aspects of improving our educational system:

1. Improving the quality of education that K-12 students are receiving.
2. Improving the professional lives of teachers and other educators.

This book is mainly designed for preservice and inservice teachers and other educators. If you fall into this category, you will find that this book focuses on your possible futures of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. It will do this by:

• Helping you make and implement some ICT-related decisions that will likely prove very important to you during your professional career in education.
• Helping you to increase your productivity and effectiveness as you work to improve the quality of education being received by your students.

Moursund, David (2005, 2006). Brief introduction to educational implications of artificial intelligence. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/6-introduction-to-educational-implications-of-artificial-intelligence.html.

This book is designed to help preservice and inservice teachers learn about some of the educational implications of current uses of Artificial Intelligence as an aid to solving problems and accomplishing tasks.

Humans and their predecessors have developed a wide range of tools to help solve the types of problems that they face. Such tools embody some of the knowledge and skills of those who discover, invent, design, and build the tools. Because of this, in some sense a tool user gains in knowledge and skill by learning to make use of tools.

Tools empower and enable their users. AI provides mind tools, and AI helps to automate tools that aid one’s physical body.

Moursund, David (2005). Introduction to information and communication technology in education. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/17-introduction-to-information-and-communication-technology-in-education.html.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a major challenge to our educational system. This book is designed for use by PreK-12 preservice and inservice teachers, and by teachers of these teachers. It provides a brief overview of some of the key topics in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education.

The book has three major goals:

1. To help you increase the reader’s expertise as a teacher. There is substantial research that supports the contention that students get a better education when they have “better” teachers.
2. To help increase the reader’s knowledge and understanding of various roles of ICT in curriculum content, instruction, and assessment. There is significant research to support the benefits of ICT in these three areas. In addition, ICT is now an important content area in each of the disciplines that you teach or are preparing to teach.
3. To help you increase the reader’s higher-order, critical thinking, problem-solving knowledge and skills. Special attention is paid to roles of ICT as an aid to solving complex problems and accomplishing complex tasks in all curriculum areas. Research suggests that US schools are not nearly as strong as they could be in helping students gain increased expertise in problem solving and critical thinking.

Moursund, D.G. (2005). Improving math education in elementary schools: A short book for teachers. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/42-improving-math-education-in-elementary-schools-a-short-book-for-teachers.html.

This short book addresses the problem that our elementary school math education system is not as successful as many people would like it to be, and it is not as successful as it could be. It is designed as supplementary material for use in a Math Methods course for preservice elementary school teachers. However, it can also be used by inservice elementary school teachers and for students enrolled in Math for Elementary Teachers courses. A revised and updated version of the book is available. See Moursund, David (2006). Computational thinking and math maturity: Improving math education in K-8 schools. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education.

Moursund, David (2004). Brief introduction to roles of computers in problem solving. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/13-computers-in-education-for-talented-and-gifted-students.html.

This short book provides an overview of a large and complex field—problem solving and roles of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in problem solving. The book has two main audiences and purposes:

1. It is intended for use in non-ICT courses for preservice and inservice teachers. There, it provides background needed as the courses focus on their main content areas. Within these non-ICT content areas, a course will emphasize both lower-order and higher-order skills. Instruction in both components of a discipline is intended to increase expertise in posing, representing, and solving the problems of the discipline. Thus, problem solving is part of every discipline.
2. it is intended for use in workshops for inservice teachers, school administrators, and teachers’ aides. Here the intent is to improve education by helping educators understanding the steadily increasing power of ICT to empower students in posing, representing, and solving complex problems.

Moursund, D.G. (1996, 2002, 2004, 2006). Obtaining resources for technology in education: A how-to guide for writing proposals, forming partnerships, and raising funds. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/194-obtaining-resources-for-technology-in-education.html.

A comprehensive book about grant writing and fund raising within the field of computes in education. Originally written in 1996 with a second edition produced in 2002, and modest updating in 2004 and 2006.

Moursund, D.G. (1997). The future of information technology in education. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/191-the-future-of-information-technology-in-education.html.

This 1997 book was originally published by the International Society for Technology in Education. Quoting from the Preface: "This book is about the future of information technology in K-12 education. It is intended for people who have an interest in how information technology will change and improve education. This includes parents, teachers, school administrators, school board members, legislators, corporate foundations, and educational policy makers."

Moursund, D.G. (1996, 2002). Increasing your expertise as a problem solver: Some roles of computers. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/192-increasing-your-expertise-as-a-problem-solver-some-roles-of-computer.html.

Quoting from this 1996 book:

This book will help you to learn more about your mind and computers, and how they can work together to solve problems. The emphasis is on the types of problems where a computer is a useful aid to solving the problems.

The study of the human mind and human intelligence has a long history. In recent years, the field of cognitive science has developed and blossomed. A cognitive scientist may be: a computer scientist who is developing computer models of how the human mind works; a neural biologist who is working to understand how a collection of neurons can learn and can solve problems; a psychologist who is developing new learning theories; or a linguist working to understand how the human mind processes language.

Austin Tackett; Francisco Caracheo; Robin Davis; Octavio Henao A.; Beth Morgan; Dave Moursund; John Owens; Mark Standley (1993, 2004). The Technology Advisory Council: A vehicle for improving education. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/190-the-technology-advisory-council-a-vehicle-for-improving-our-schools-.html.

Advisory councils are a key part of site-based management. An advisory council should be broadly representative of the stakeholders—the people who are affected by the decisions that need to be made and the people who are involved in implementing the decisions. Thus, an advisory council for computer technology in schools might well include students, parents, teachers, school administrators, school board members, taxpayers, business people, union representatives, and elected officials.

This book is designed to help a Technology Advisory Council get started. It provides a sense of direction for some things that a TAC might do once it is started.

Moursund, David (1990, 1993, 2004). The mind and the computer: Problem solving in the Information Age. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. This book also is titled, Getting smarter at solving problems. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/28-the-mind-and-the-computer-problem-solving-in-the-information-age.html.

In 2010, Sigurd Alnæs from Norway (Sigurd Alnæs <salnaes@online.no>) produced and published a Norwegian version of the book. Most of the original content was preserved and he added quite a bit of new content. The book is available free on the Website http://ndla.no/nb/node/26090/menu751.

This book specifically designed to be used as a supplemental text in a secondary school Computer Literacy course. When used in that format, the book contains sufficient materials to be used two days a week or part of each day in a semester-length course.

The book can also be used in a wide variety of other settings. It can be used in a "Modern Problems" class in the social studies; it can be used in a course on problem solving; it can be used in a math course. In all cases the emphasis is on problem solving in general, and roles of computers as an aid to problem solving.

This book is based on the following two premises. The premises are strongly supported by the research literature.

1. Through the appropriate study of the discipline of problem solving, a student can get better at solving both school problems and non-school problems
2. Computers are a powerful aid to problem solving. A student can get better at solving certain types of problems by learning to make appropriate use of computers as an aid to solving the problems.

Moursund, David (1990, 1993, 2004). Teacher’s manual for the mind and the computer: Problem solving in the Information Age. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. This book is also titled: Teachers Manual: Getting smarter at solving problems. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/32-teachers-manual-for-the-mind-and-the-computer-problem-solving-in-the-information-age.html.

There is one chapter of the Teacher's Manual for each chapter of the Getting Smarter at Solving Problems. Each chapter of the Teacher's Manual contains:

1. A rationale and overview of the chapter in the text. This is a brief summary of the ideas and why they are included in the text.
2. Ways to coordinate the Getting Smarter at Solving Problems materials with a variety of computer literacy courses.
3. One or more lesson plans. These include black line masters (for overhead transparencies) and additional activities that can be used in class, as assignments, or in assessment activities.

Moursund, David (1989). Effective inservice for integrating computer-as-tool into the curriculum. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/25-effective-inservice-for-integrating-computer-as-tool-into-the-curriculum.html.

This book is designed to help three types of educational leaders:

1. Educators who are currently learning to design and present inservice for integration of the computer as a tool into the curriculum. These will mainly be well established and quite experienced teachers; they will frequently be school building level computer coordinators or computer representatives.
2. Educators who are already inservice providers, but who might benefit from an overview of some of the underlying theory and ideas of effective inservice practices, as well as from access to inservice evaluation materials.
3. Educators who are hiring, supervising, or evaluating inservice providers for computer integrated instruction. In addition to specifically targeting the needs of the three types of practitioners mentioned above, the book is firmly rooted in the research literature of effective inservice. The literature surveys and references it contains are useful to graduate students and researchers in the field of effective inservice.

Moursund, D.G. (1986, 1988). Computers and problem solving: A workshop for educators. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/188-computers-and-problem-solving-a-workshop-for-educators.html.

This 58-page book includes many classroom activities both for use in staff development and for use in K-12 classroom teaching. Quoting from the Preface to November 2004 reprint:

In my opinion, Computers and Problem Solving: A Workshop for Educators is still a very useful book. The original text has been modified by the addition of a few commas and a change of the word “which” to “that” in a couple of places. The original illustrations (designed to lighten up the text) have not been included. Appendix B, which was written for use in a revision of the book that did not occur, has been added for historical purposes. I am pleased that this book can be made available (at no charge) to those who wish to access it through the Web.

Moursund, D.G. (1986, 1988, 1989, 2004). High Tech/High Touch: A Computer Education Leadership Development Workshop. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access athttp://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/189-high-techhigh-touch-a-computer-education-leadership-development-workshop.html.

Quoting from the Preface to the 2004 reprint:

I find it interesting to look at current aspects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education from the point of view of high tech/high touch. The capabilities of ICT systems have grown by a factor of perhaps 10,000 or more since the Tofflers wrote The Third Wave. ICT has been a major change factor in our society and in the world. A gradual pattern of “tech” versus “touch” has emerged. ICT (the “tech”) has speeded up and/or facilitated increased automation of many tasks and problem-solving activities. People often draw an analogy with how the machines of the industrial revolution changed the nature of physical work. The machines of the ICT revolution are changing the nature of mental work. In combination, the industrial revolution and the ICT revolution are significantly changing the nature of the work that people do. And, of course, they are changing the standard of living, formal and informal education, and many other aspects of our lives.

Moursund, D.G. (1985, 2005). Collected Editorials. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/182-editorials-1974-1985.html.

Contains an autobiography (up to 1985) and Moursund’s first 53 editorials published in the periodical now named Learning and Leading with Technology.

Moursund, D.G. (1985, 1992). The Technology Coordinator. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. This is the Second Edition of a book first published in 1985. Access athttp://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/187-the-technology-coordinator.html.

The first edition of this book was published in February 1985 with the title, The Computer Coordinator. Since that time, the number of computers in schools has grown immensely; the quality and capability of computer hardware and software has grown substantially; and the complexity of the computer coordinator job at the school and at the school district has continued to increase.

Moreover, the nature of the "computer coordinator" job has changed. The past seven years have seen a massive switch in computer use in schools from computer programming to computer applications (computer-as-tool) and to computer-assisted learning (CAL). The idea of a hypermedia classroom has emerged. (A hypermedia classroom provides students and teachers access to a wide range of electronic and non-electronic information technology facilities. The facilities may be used to create interactive, non-linear materials that are called hypermedia documents.) Computer networks have become common. Telecommunications—electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, electronic conferencing, and use of online databases—has grown very rapidly.

Moursund, David (1983). Precollege computer literacy: A personal computing approach. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. (This 27-page booklet is a “golden oldie.) Access at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/30-precollege-computer-literacy-a-personal-computing-approach.html.

It is generally agreed that all students should become computer literate, but no definition of computer literacy has gained widespread acceptance. This (golden oldie) short booklet defines computer literacy in a manner that can guide educators as they work to implement universal computer literacy through precollege education.

This booklet is intended for curriculum specialists, elementary and secondary school teachers, media specialists, teachers of teachers and others concerned with curriculum in precollege education. It defines and discusses computer literacy for elementary and secondary school students. The approach is via an analysis of personal computing and the aspects of computers that can have a direct impact on students. Students can be personally involved with computers through computer assisted learning, computer assisted problem solving, the study of computer and information science and through the use of computers for entertainment. Students can learn how computers are affecting the world of business, government and industry-and thus, how computers will be part of their future. Each of these aspects of personal computing contributes to the definition of a set of goals for computer literacy in elementary and secondary schools. The resulting overall goal is for a working knowledge of computers-that is, knowledge that facilitates the everyday use of computers by students. This knowledge lays a firm foundation for future learning about computers and for coping with the inevitable changes that will occur in this technology.

Moursund, D.G. (1980, 2005). Teacher's Guide to Computers in the Elementary School. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Access athttp://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/186-teachers-guide-to-computers-in-the-elementary-school.html.

This was the second book published by ICCE. Quoting from the Preface to this 1980 book:

Most elementary school teachers are people-oriented, and are not particularly machine-oriented. They are vitally concerned with children, in helping children to develop their potentials and to learn. It is not surprising, then, that many elementary school teachers view computers and calculators with suspicion. Will computers help students to learn more, better, faster? Will use of calculators lead to a better understanding of mathematics and increased problem solving skills? Will calculators and computers dehumanize education? The answers to these questions are both yes and no. Much depends upon the teacher, the student, the equipment, the instructional materials, and so on. The knowledge, attitude, and skills of the teacher are apt to be the dominant factors.

Ten years ago questions about instructional use of calculators and computers were of academic interest, but did not concern the ordinary elementary school teacher. Calculators and computers were too expensive, and were not even readily available in high schools. Their impact upon most elementary schools was zero. But the price of both calculators and computers has declined rapidly, so that now good quality calculators cost under $10, and computers are beginning to become a common household item. Calculator and computer usage is commonplace in many junior high schools and high schools. It is no longer appropriate for elementary school teachers and elementary schools to ignore their potential uses in instruction.

Moursund, D.G. (1980, 1983, 2005). School administrator’s introduction to instructional use of computers. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. This is a reprint of the April 1983 edition of the first book published by ICCE. Access athttp://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/185-school-administrators-introduction-to-instructional-use-of-computers.html.

The School Administrator’s book was the first book published by the International Council for Computers in Education The original book was published in 1980 and was 48 pages in length. The version reprinted here is the “Fourth Printing with Revisions, April 1983.” This revision was 64 pages in length. During those early years, ICCE made use of a press at the University of Oregon that printed 16 page “signatures.” That is, for the 5 1/2 inch by 8 1/2 inch page size we used for booklets, one could most easily have 16, 32, 48, or 64 pages of length. The April 1983 revision included the expansion from 48 pages to 64 pages. Part of the expansion was done by including seven editorials from The Computing Teacher. The seventh of these editorials appeared in the April 1983 issue of The Computing Teacher.

Some Thoughts About Book Writing

I started writing my first book in 1965. It is a math book, co-authored with a fellow faculty member when we were teaching at Michigan State University. The book was based on a Numerical Analysis course for Engineers that we taught frequently.

Over the years, as I taught a course I often had a strong inclination to write a book that fit the content that I believed should be in the course. This was at a time that computers were first becoming readily available in education. The textbooks written before that time did not reflect the changes in course content that computers were bringing.

Eventually I fell into a pattern of writing a book about any aspect of education that I became interested in. I would learn about the topic from a non-computer point of view, add my computer-oriented insights, and product a "modern" book.

The first eight of my early books were published by "traditional" commercial publishers. In 1979 I founded the International Council for Computers in Education and began writing books to support its activities. Thus, a large number of my books were published through ICCE. In 1989 ICCE changed its name to the International Society for Technology in Education. My wife Sharon Yoder and I, individually and jointly, published a number of books through ISTE.

I retired from ISTE and from the University of Oregon in the early 2000s. I continued my interest in book writing, and I self-published my new books on the Web. Meanwhile, ISTE returned to me the copyright on all but one of the books I had published through ICCE and ISTE. (One, a book on Project-based Learning, was still selling relatively well, so ISTE retained the copyright.)

A number of the books are software specific and not of much interest to current educators. However, many others have lasting value. The net result is that 26 of the books I have authored or co-authored (and some chapters from a 27th book) are now available free on the Web. Enjoy!

Author

This page was written by David Moursund.

References

Moursund, David (n.d.). About David Moursund. http://iae-pedia.org/David_Moursund