By the time a child is in second grade, they often become self-conscious if they fall behind and may begin to display behavioral issues. While not all children will learn to read on the same schedule, there are things we can do as parents and educators to encourage the process. One of the simplest and most profoundly effective methods for encouraging literacy is music.
What makes Makerspaces so attractive is that they are accompanied by images of students getting “their hands dirty”, experimenting and tinkering in the real-world, and getting out from behind the screen. Many Makerspace projects exist and are conducted in blended learning environments using digital tools. I thought we could explore some of the Makerspaces and tools that are blending online and physical environments.
The professional development programs offered by most districts can be a somewhat bland, formulaic and often times an irrelevant experience. Teachers have begun to rely on useful online tools to connect with common sense advice, camaraderie and support from other teachers. What follows is a short list of innovative ways for teachers to connect with other like-minded individuals online.
TED Talks are awesome. Maybe it’s the variety of topics they cover, the perfectly timed length, the simple setting, or maybe all of these; but either way, I think we can all agree that TED Talks are awesome. And if we add education to the mix, they are even more awesome. So check out these TED Talks of teachers or educational experts that every teacher should see!
If you have spent any time in the ed-tech world you will no doubt have realized that there is a swirling cloud of acronyms that attend the subject, from ISTE, CoSN to NMC and P21. A veritable “alphabet soup”, as my Mom would say. I therefore thought that a definitive quick reference guide to the major players, with a brief description would be a handy resource for our readers. So here are eight of them.
Data has been used as a tool to evaluate metrics that demonstrate why students should choose one learning center over another: enrollment rates, higher graduation rates, and better test scores. But these do not directly correlate to better student outcomes. To ensure that, you should leverage the power of Big Data. We recommend 4 considerations for doing so.
In an age of heavy STEM influence, the liberal arts, art appreciation and cultural studies are seen as somewhat of a rarefied and career-unwise privilege. However, it is also true that students who study the arts tend to have higher SAT scores than those who don’t. That’s why STEM has turned into STEAM. We therefore gathered a short list of ed-tech tools that focus on teaching art and culture.
The three human needs that must be fulfilled by the task, in order for it to be internally motivating are: autonomy, mastery and connectedness. So let’s see how gamification (overlaying game-like elements to a task that is not a game) in lessons and education can enhance, and fulfill these needs, leading to improved motivation.
Keeping kids active on a rainy day is a real trick these days, considering the temptation to plop down in front of the TV, switch on the gaming console, or spend hours on Facebook. There are however many unique ways to get children up and moving on a rainy day with ideas that encourage group coordination, strategy, dexterity, and sportsmanship. Best of all, your kids will burn off all that pent-up energy in healthy and positive ways.
I’ve started a bit of series on the “why” of good digital learning; we’ve explored why VBL (Video Based Learning) works, and last week I pulled out a few examples of good and bad infographics, to understand why the good work, and the bad fail. Building on my curiosity about the way games like Candy Crush affect our minds, I thought we’d take a closer look at how gamification impacts student motivation and why it works.
