The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Technology

Spector (learning technology, Univ. of North Texas; Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology) and over 330 contributors present here more than 300 short (two- to three-page) scholarly and succinct entries such as "Animated Agents in Learning Systems," "Cloud Computing," "Cybersecurity," "Design-Based Research," "Learning with Simulations," "Radio Frequency Identification," "Skill Decomposition," and "Wearable Learning Environments." Two longer articles cover the history of educational technology and the implications of the Internet for instruction. Each entry has cross-references and a list of further readings, which sometimes runs to nearly a page in length. Both volumes begin with a complete roster of entries and a second list arranged in 23 general categories. Volume 2 includes a chronology of educational technology covering 3,000 BCE to 2014 and suggestions for related websites, a 100-word glossary, a list of relevant journals and professional magazines, and the general index. The set is comprehensive without being overly broad, and entries give sufficient depth to include discussion of research as well as providing definitions, applications, and implications for the direction of education in the future. This updated content is long overdue but well worth the wait.