Vita-Learn Bookstore

The Vita-Learn Bookstore has a limited number of books written by our conference Keynote speakers, often signed by the author as well as small selection of other books! Book pricing includes free USPS Media Rate shipping.

DIGITAL for GOOD: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World item
DIGITAL for GOOD: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World
$13.45
Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World by Richard Culatta • Hardcover • Kids deserve a better digital future. Help them create it. When it comes to raising children in a digital world, every parent feels underprepared and overwhelmed. We worry that our children will become addicted to online games, be victims of cyberbullying, or get lost down the rabbit hole of social media. We warn them about all the things they shouldn't do online, but we don't do nearly enough to teach them the skills of digital well-being. It's time to start a new conversation. In Digital for Good, EdTech expert Richard Culatta argues that technology can be a powerful tool for learning, solving humanity's toughest problems, and bringing us closer together. He offers a refreshingly positive framework for preparing kids to be successful in a digital world—one that encourages them to use technology proactively and productively—by outlining five qualities every young person should develop in order to become a thriving, contributing digital citizen: • Be balanced: understand when and how much tech use is healthy • Stay informed: discern between true and false information • Be inclusive: treat others with respect and kindness online • Be engaged: use tech to strengthen family relationships and community connections • Stay alert: exercise caution and create safe digital spaces for others This practical guide will help parents and children discover the path to becoming effective digital citizens, all while making our online world a better place. Hardcover

More

Leading from the Library item
Leading from the Library
$15
Leading from the Library: Help Your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age by Shannon McClintock Miller and Bill Bass • Paperback • Written by a seasoned librarian and an education leader, this book guides librarians in becoming leaders in their school communities, with strategies on developing partnerships, empowering students and more. The modern school library supports education in a variety of ways. One essential role librarians play is that of a leader who works collaboratively to build relationships, mold culture and climate, and advocate for the needs of students and the community. In this book, a librarian and an education leader team up to reflect on the librarian’s ability to build connections in two ways. First, they discuss the benefits of bringing the outside world into the library through the use of social media, videoconferencing and other tools that allow librarians to partner with others. Then they expand upon these connections by addressing how librarians can lead in the greater educational community by sharing resources and strategies, and partnering with school leaders to tell the story of the school community. Paperback

More

Leading from the Library item
Leading from the Library
$16

5 left!

** SIGNED COPY!! ** Leading from the Library: Help Your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age by Shannon McClintock Miller and Bill Bass • Paperback • Written by a seasoned librarian and an education leader, this book guides librarians in becoming leaders in their school communities, with strategies on developing partnerships, empowering students and more. The modern school library supports education in a variety of ways. One essential role librarians play is that of a leader who works collaboratively to build relationships, mold culture and climate, and advocate for the needs of students and the community. In this book, a librarian and an education leader team up to reflect on the librarian’s ability to build connections in two ways. First, they discuss the benefits of bringing the outside world into the library through the use of social media, videoconferencing and other tools that allow librarians to partner with others. Then they expand upon these connections by addressing how librarians can lead in the greater educational community by sharing resources and strategies, and partnering with school leaders to tell the story of the school community. Paperback

More

Developing Digital Detectives item
Developing Digital Detectives
$21

9 left!

**SIGNED by the Authors!! ** Developing Digital Detectives: Essential Lessons for Discerning Fact from Fiction in the ‘Fake News’ Era by Jennifer LaGarde and Darren Hudgins • Paperback • From the authors of the bestselling Fact vs. Fiction, this book offers easy-to-implement lessons to engage students in becoming media literacy “digital detectives,” looking for clues, questioning motives, uncovering patterns, developing theories and, ultimately, delivering a verdict. The current news landscape is driven by clicks, with every social media influencer, trained and citizen journalists chasing the same goal: a viral story. In this environment, where the race to be first on the scene with the most sensational story often overshadows the need for accuracy, traditional strategies for determining information credibility are no longer enough. Rather than simply helping students become savvy information consumers, today’s educators must provide learners with the skills to be digital detectives – information interrogators who are armed with a variety of tools for dissecting news stories and determining what’s real and what isn’t in our “post-truth world.” This book: Shares meaningful lessons that move beyond traditional “fake news” protocols to help learners navigate a world in which information can be both a force for good and a tool used to influence and manipulate. Includes resources and examples to support educators in the work of facilitating engaging, relevant (and fun!) instructional opportunities for K-12 learners, in both face-to-face and digital learning environments. Unpacks the connection between social-emotional learning and information literacy. Includes access to the Digital Detective’s Evidence Locker, an online collection of over 100 downloadable and remixable resources to support the lessons in the book. As the authors state: “Remember, the detective’s job is NOT to prove themselves correct. Their job is to detect the truth!” This statement reflects the way they approach the lessons in this book, providing clear and practical guidance to help educators address and overcome this ever-expanding issue. Audience: K-12 educators and library media specialists Paperback

More

Fighting Fake News item
Fighting Fake News
$8
Fighting Fake News: Tools and Strategies for Teaching Media Literacy • This 6-page guide offers educators resources and strategies to define, detect and combat “fake news,” including links to fact-checking sites and lesson plans. Based on the bestselling book Fact vs. Fiction by Jennifer LaGarde and Darren Hudgins, Fighting Fake News offers: Models for evaluating news stories. Links to resources on how to include lessons on fake news in curricula. Links to fake news self-assessments, including a digital component to help readers evaluate their skills in detecting and managing fake news. An infographic with mobile media literacy tips. (ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", 3 laminated panels, 6 pages)

More

Deepening Digital Citizenship item
Deepening Digital Citizenship
$20
Deepening Digital Citizenship: A Guide to Systemwide Policy and Practice by Carrie Rogers-Whitehead and Vanessa Monterosa • Paperback • Get strategies for building the capacity to develop and deliver professional learning to support a systemwide digital citizenship program implementation. How can education leaders provide comprehensive support to implement key digital citizenship practices? Are we creating one-size-fits-all digital citizenship curriculum? How can we bring together partners from diverse backgrounds and abilities to expand the meaning of digital citizenship? This book addresses all these questions and more, showing educators of all levels how to implement digital citizenship in an inclusive and equitable manner. The book includes: An overview of organizational approaches to examining digital citizenship on a system level. Ideas for developing policy that is inclusive of all stakeholders. Case studies that demonstrate ways of working with various populations, including youth in care, refugees and individuals with autism and ADHD. Strategies for practicing digital citizenship across a range of ages, abilities and backgrounds. The book also discusses accessibility in technology and teaching, and offers information about assistive and adaptive technology and how it relates to digital citizenship. Audience: Education leaders; classroom teachers Paperback

More

Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child item
Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child
$10

10 left!

Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child: Political Philosophy in "Frankenstein" by Eileen Hunt • Paperback •  From her youth, Mary Shelley immersed herself in the social contract tradition, particularly the educational and political theories of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the radical philosophies of her parents, the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the anarchist William Godwin. Against this background, Shelley wrote Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, first published in 1818. In the two centuries since, her masterpiece has been celebrated as a Gothic classic and its symbolic resonance has driven the global success of its publication, translation, and adaptation in theater, film, art, and literature. However, in Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child, Eileen Hunt Botting argues that Frankenstein is more than an original and paradigmatic work of science fiction—it is a profound reflection on a radical moral and political question: do children have rights? Botting contends that Frankenstein invites its readers to reason through the ethical consequences of a counterfactual premise: what if a man had used science to create a human life without a woman? Immediately after the Creature's "birth," his scientist-father abandons him and the unjust and tragic consequences that follow form the basis of Frankenstein's plot. Botting finds in the novel's narrative structure a series of interconnected thought experiments that reveal how Shelley viewed Frankenstein's Creature for what he really was—a stateless orphan abandoned by family, abused by society, and ignored by law. The novel, therefore, compels readers to consider whether children have the right to the fundamental means for their development as humans—namely, rights to food, clothing, shelter, care, love, education, and community. In Botting's analysis, Frankenstein emerges as a conceptual resource for exploring the rights of children today, especially those who are disabled, stateless, or genetically modified by medical technologies such as three-parent in vitro fertilization and, perhaps in the near future, gene editing. Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child concludes that the right to share love and community, especially with parents or fitting substitutes, belongs to all children, regardless of their genesis, membership, or social status. Paperback

More

Artificial Life After Frankenstein item
Artificial Life After Frankenstein
$30
Artificial Life After Frankenstein by Eileen Hunt • Hardcover • Artificial Life After Frankenstein brings the insights born of Mary Shelley's legacy to bear upon the ethics and politics of making artificial life and intelligence in the twenty-first century. What are the obligations of humanity to the artificial creatures we make? And what are the corresponding rights of those creatures, whether they are learning machines or genetically modified organisms? In seeking ways to respond to these questions, so vital for our age of genetic engineering and artificial intelligence, we would do well to turn to the capacious mind and imaginative genius of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851). Shelley's novels Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) and The Last Man (1826) precipitated a modern political strain of science fiction concerned with the ethical dilemmas that arise when we make artificial life—and make life artificial—through science, technology, and other forms of cultural change. In Artificial Life After Frankenstein, Eileen Hunt Botting puts Shelley and several classics of modern political science fiction into dialogue with contemporary political science and philosophy, in order to challenge some of the apocalyptic fears at the fore of twenty-first-century political thought on AI and genetic engineering. Focusing on the prevailing myths that artificial forms of life will end the world, destroy nature, and extinguish love, Botting shows how Shelley modeled ways to break down and transform the meanings of apocalypse, nature, and love in the face of widespread and deep-seated fear about the power of technology and artifice to undermine the possibility of humanity, community, and life itself. Through their explorations of these themes, Mary Shelley and authors of modern political science fiction from H. G. Wells to Nnedi Okorafor have paved the way for a techno-political philosophy of living with the artifice of humanity in all of its complexity. In Artificial Life After Frankenstein, Botting brings the insights born of Shelley's legacy to bear upon the ethics and politics of making artificial life and intelligence in the twenty-first century. Hardcover

More

Flip Your Classroom item
Flip Your Classroom
$10

1 left!

Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day by Jonathan Bergmann, Aaron Sam • Paperback • It started with a simple observation: Students need their teachers present to answer questions or to provide help if they get stuck on an assignment; they don’t need their teachers present to listen to a lecture or review content. From there, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams began the flipped classroom: Students watched recorded lectures for homework and completed their assignments, labs, and tests in class with their teacher available. What Bergmann and Sams found was that their students demonstrated a deeper understanding of the material than ever before. This is the authors’ story, and they’re confident it can be yours too. Learn what a flipped classroom is and why it works, and get the information you need to flip a classroom. You’ll also learn the flipped mastery model, where students learn at their own pace, furthering opportunities for personalized education. This simple concept is easily replicable in any classroom, doesn’t cost much to implement, and helps foster self-directed learning. Once you flip, you won’t want to go back! Paperback

More

The Perfect Blend item
The Perfect Blend
$10
The Perfect Blend: A Practical Guide to Designing Student-Centered Learning Experiences by Michele Eaton • Paperback • *Note: 3/4" tear on front cover near binding • Many blended learning initiatives start from the top down and are designed for specific populations or make drastic changes to a school’s learning structure. But any K-12 classroom teacher can find ways to leverage blended learning, regardless of the constructs of their learning environment. All they need is a willingness to rethink their role — moving from content deliverer to architect of learning. In The Perfect Blend, you’ll learn how to create a “homemade recipe” for effective blended learning for your students. Rather than focusing on finding and implementing a specific established model, author Michele Eaton shows teachers how to embrace the flexibility of blended learning to take an active role as a designer of learning and, in the process, help students become advocates for their education. This book: Provides an accessible resource for teachers beginning to use technology, as well as master blended teachers who are looking for new ideas or strategies. Includes templates and planning tools that can be used as is or modified to fit the needs of your students. Focuses on understanding and reflecting on your role as a designer of learning experiences, and creating and using digital content in the classroom. You’ll gain practical skills, strategies and lesson ideas for various types of blended learning thanks to examples from real classrooms and educators. Along the way, you’ll discover how to build on the skills you already have to support blended learning. Audience: K-12 teachers and instructional coaches Paperback

More

Distance Learning for Elementary STEM item
Distance Learning for Elementary STEM
$17

1 left!

Distance Learning for Elementary STEM: Creative Projects for Teachers and Families by Amanda Thomas • Paperback • This practical guide outlines a vision for online and distance STEM learning at the elementary level, with creative activities based on eight STEM themes. Online and distance learning may sound fairly straightforward. Instead of learning in a classroom setting, students learn at home with the assistance of online resources. But classroom learning does not always translate easily to online settings, particularly at the elementary level where children should be actively engaging in activities, exploration and discussion. From designing a zoo, to learning to garden, to exploring the night sky, you’ll find eight STEM lessons that are creative, hands-on and engaging for elementary learners. Written for teachers and parents, the book unpacks STEM integration across multiple subjects, with connections to the ISTE Standards. The book also includes play-based lessons for young learners, and ideas for innovative design challenges. Each of the eight lessons includes: An overview of materials, resources, time and supervision needed. Suggested resources to explore, such as simulations and virtual field trips. Supplementary learning materials such as questions and quizzes. Ideas for games and reinforcement. Hands-on activities and engineering design challenges. Connections to various content areas as well as children’s books, movies and art to keep the learning going after the lesson is completed. Concluding with a model for designing online and distance STEM learning for elementary-aged children, this book will support teachers and parents in designing the types of resources and learning experiences they need for elementary students’ distance learning. Audience: K-5 teachers and parents Paperback

More

Transform Your 6-12 Math Class item
Transform Your 6-12 Math Class
$18
Transform Your 6-12 Math Class: Digital Age Tools to Spark Learning by Amanda Thomas • Paperback • Through detailed lessons and examples, discover how to integrate technology in 6-12 math to amplify and enhance your mathematics teaching and drive student learning. Instead of drill-and-practice apps and worksheets, what if technology enabled exploration of math concepts? Instead of screens for disconnected individual learning, what if technology fostered mathematical discourse and collaboration? Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching mathematics, what if we used technology to differentiate to meet students’ diverse needs? Technology has the power and potential to support the teaching and learning of math content at all grade levels, but the presence of technology is insufficient unless it’s paired with effective teaching practices and meaningful content. This book poses and unpacks the above questions and many more, with examples that illustrate how to integrate technology in the 6-12 math classroom, highlighting opportunities to transform mathematics teaching through strategic technology use. The book: Illustrates two contrasting examples in each chapter, including transcripts of sample class conversations, mathematical tasks, illustrations of student work and reflection and discussion prompts. Features discussion of research-based ideas relating to the contrasts presented in the chapters, encouraging readers to connect what they learn from the specific cases with the research on these topics. Covers a variety of mathematics content areas such as functions and algebraic thinking, geometry and measurement, and data and statistics. Provides strategies for implementing the concepts in class, with ideas and examples of tools based not on how they look but what they can do in your mathematics teaching. Today’s technology offers more possibilities than ever for supporting students in mathematics. This book draws upon the latest research in technology and math education, while providing tools to incorporate effective strategies into curriculum right away. Audience: 6-12 educators Paperback

More

Add a donation for Vermont Information Technology Association for the Advancement of Learning (Vita-Learn)
$
Did you know? We fundraise with Zeffy to ensure 100% of your purchase goes to our mission!