learning

Showing 120 posts tagged learning

From Passive Viewing to Active Learning There’s a big difference between watching a video and learning something from it. Videos are great for presenting visual information and emotional appeals, but not particularly effective at diving below the surface of non-visual theoretical or abstract topics or for driving critical thinking. What’s more, any video presented in class must compete for attention and memory with the five-plus hours the typical student spends outside of class watching television programs, movies, and other onscreen entertainment. (Nielsen, 2013) To help increase the educational effectiveness of an online course video, consider applying one or more of the following active learning strategies… image via flickr:CC | Poetprince High-res

From Passive Viewing to Active Learning

There’s a big difference between watching a video and learning something from it. Videos are great for presenting visual information and emotional appeals, but not particularly effective at diving below the surface of non-visual theoretical or abstract topics or for driving critical thinking. What’s more, any video presented in class must compete for attention and memory with the five-plus hours the typical student spends outside of class watching television programs, movies, and other onscreen entertainment. (Nielsen, 2013)

To help increase the educational effectiveness of an online course video, consider applying one or more of the following active learning strategies…

image via flickr:CC | Poetprince

Deeper Leading

Deeper Learning represents the evolution of a conversation that has gone on for some time now.  The primary thrust of that conversation is that the pre-eminent challenge facing our schools is not one of student achievement on standardized assessments but rather a fundamental misalignment between school and the realities of our modern economic and civic life.  Deeper Learning represents an attempt to better align the experiences that students have in school with the demands that will be made of them by the world.

Clenching Right Fist May Give Better Grip On Memory Clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an event or action, and clenching your left may help you recollect the memory later, according to research published April 24 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University. The group that clenched their right fist when memorizing the list and then clenched the left when recollecting the words performed better than all the other hand clenching groups. This group also did better than the group that did not clench their fists at all, though this difference was not statistically ‘significant’. “The findings suggest that some simple body movements — by temporarily changing the way the brain functions- can improve memory. Future research will examine whether hand clenching can also improve other forms of cognition, for example verbal or spatial abilities,” says Ruth Propper, lead scientist on the study. image via flickr:CC | DenisGiles High-res

Clenching Right Fist May Give Better Grip On Memory

Clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an event or action, and clenching your left may help you recollect the memory later, according to research published April 24 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University.

The group that clenched their right fist when memorizing the list and then clenched the left when recollecting the words performed better than all the other hand clenching groups. This group also did better than the group that did not clench their fists at all, though this difference was not statistically ‘significant’.

“The findings suggest that some simple body movements — by temporarily changing the way the brain functions- can improve memory. Future research will examine whether hand clenching can also improve other forms of cognition, for example verbal or spatial abilities,” says Ruth Propper, lead scientist on the study.

image via flickr:CC | DenisGiles

Finding our centers: Becoming learning communities “Communities are defined by their centers,” explains Thomas Sergiovanni, “repositories of values, sentiments, and beliefs that provide the needed cement for bonding people together in a common cause. Centers govern what is valuable to a community…They answer questions: What is this school about? What is our image of learners? What makes us unique? How do we work together as colleagues? How does this school, as a community, fit into the larger school community?” image via flickr:CC | lululemon athletica What is your school’s “center”? High-res

Finding our centers: Becoming learning communities

“Communities are defined by their centers,” explains Thomas Sergiovanni, “repositories of values, sentiments, and beliefs that provide the needed cement for bonding people together in a common cause. Centers govern what is valuable to a community…They answer questions: What is this school about? What is our image of learners? What makes us unique? How do we work together as colleagues? How does this school, as a community, fit into the larger school community?”

image via flickr:CC | lululemon athletica

What is your school’s “center”?

Exploring the Impact of Institutional Policies on Teaching

  1. Is the strength of an institution’s “culture of teaching” or policy support for teaching and learning reflected in faculty members’ pedagogical practices?
  2. Are “cultures of teaching” more prevalent at institutions with “learner centered” policies?
  3. Do the relationships between institutional policies, faculty cultures, and teaching practices differ across institutional types?

“Technology in the classroom is here to stay. Consequently, it is time for educators to begin to have more sophisticated conversations about best practices and to explore the inherent challenges. The learning potential of educational technology is infinite, but as with every learning tool, platform, or approach, educators need to sift through the tensions and talk about the challenges and trade-offs. It’s time to give educators encouragement to apply critical thinking to technology without the fear of being labeled a Luddite.”

Getting Real About Educational Technology (via world-shaker)

(via world-shaker)

Testing helps maintain attention, reduce stress in online learning Now researchers (Szpunar, Khan, & Schacter, 2013) have reported testing as a potentially powerful ally in online learning. College students frequently report difficulty in maintaining attention during lectures, and that problem seems to be exacerbated when the lecture occurs on video. Data shows students’ minds wandered less with just the thought that they might be tested. Interesting… photo via flickr:CC | konch High-res

Testing helps maintain attention, reduce stress in online learning

Now researchers (Szpunar, Khan, & Schacter, 2013) have reported testing as a potentially powerful ally in online learning. College students frequently report difficulty in maintaining attention during lectures, and that problem seems to be exacerbated when the lecture occurs on video.

Data shows students’ minds wandered less with just the thought that they might be tested. Interesting…

photo via flickr:CC | konch

BYOT: The hidden messages

Many of those who say BYOT doesn’t work argue that schools have to provide all students with equal technology. We can’t wait around for that. Students need to be able to use technology to problem solve and think critically.

Many also argue that it will harm students who cannot afford expensive technology. Kids aren’t blind. They already realize through clothing, tennis shoes, etc. they come from various economic backgrounds. We need to educate and have open discussions about these real world issues and not decide to block access.

I have worked in various economic situations worldwide with mobile devices and the students learn they can be creative, learning can be engaging, and their devices even if just a cellphone, digital camera or cheap tablet gives them limitless possibilities to learn daily.

@ShellTerrell is an amazing person to follow on Twitter if you aren’t already.

Asking questions is essential to learning. And yet, children are not asking questions nearly enough. In fact, data from the U.S. school systems tells us that the average high school student asks one question of substance per month in a classroom. Hal Gregersen, the co-author along with Clayton Christensen of the recent book The Innovator’s DNA, tells Big Think,”We need to build this capacity in ourselves and the people around us to ask the right question.”

Asking questions is essential to learning. And yet, children are not asking questions nearly enough. In fact, data from the U.S. school systems tells us that the average high school student asks one question of substance per month in a classroom.

Hal Gregersen, the co-author along with Clayton Christensen of the recent book The Innovator’s DNA, tells Big Think,”We need to build this capacity in ourselves and the people around us to ask the right question.”

“Fundamentally, the Core Knowledge reform movement is an effort to give all students the broad knowledge that will set them up for a good income and a lifetime of reading and learning. I won’t be around to see how it ends. With luck it could end with higher achievement and much smaller achievement gaps — but only if far more schools, parents, and concerned citizens become persuaded, as I did, that knowledge trumps skills.”

E.D. Hirsch Jr.