Group items tagged

This article focuses on the many aspects of educational change. From history, to meaning, to processes, this seems to have it all and is really easy to read.

This is an awesome visual representation (that I fully intend on showing my boss) that shows the difference between collaborating through Wikis vs. collaborating through email. I feel as though this visual representation shows my entire point I am trying to make with my project, and will be a simple and concise way to show my idea to my boss, who seems to prefer visuals to discussion.

This article peeked my curiosity because I was unsure of how the Wiki worked in the beginning of this course. Now I really like using it. It is also a nice way to communicate important information.

We have used wiki collaboration for some projects at work, and the people that understand how to use it love it, whereas the people less familiar with it find it more confusing and prefer traditional ways like email collaboration. I think people just need to develop a comfort level with it, and then they can see that it is a very useful way of communicating ideas.

Presented as a case study of the importance of Individualized Intervention for children with the diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder and achieving success. Additional support structure recognized as individually needed for Michael, he received focused instruction in the reading and writing program training nonverbal children to communicate via written word cards and later through typing on a keyboard or writing on paper.

This is an interesting initiative of a local business executive-turned-sculptor. I love that he not only found the courage to explore a creative avenue that he had never practiced in the past, but that he also seeks to help others do the same. I would be interested to read his book in which 100 people are interviewed regarding their significant life changes, and found it inspiring that there is actually a group in Needham that explores these ideas, called Discovering What's Next. What a great idea!

Thanks for posting this- I agree, it's impressive! Many adults are really afraid of art and afraid of exploring creativity. Not this guy, obviously!

This study looked at how accurately staff implemented a token economy before and after a treatment package A treatment package of prompting and self-monitoring with accuracy feedback was then introduced. Results showed all participants improved with prompting, self-monitoring, and feedback from staff.

Although my project is not necessarily geared toward evaluating an actual exhibit, I stumbled upon this site that is relevant and pretty interesting. This museum dedicates an entire section of its website to sharing evaluation reports of its exhibits. Most of their evaluations are conducted through observations and interviews, which gave me some ideas about how to design my own evaluation process. The Natural History Museum's evaluations are easy to read and might give others ideas about how to design effective evaluation procedures.

This action research project's purpose was to decrease off-task behavior in elementary and high school students using Cooperative Learning Strategies. This method of keeping students focused was interesting to me because I typically think of students' off-task behavior as being distracted or chatting with peers, but this method actually promotes working with peers in groups. It teaches collaboration along with social skills in the process.

I post this one as a counter to Mr Friedman, and as a guide toward where action research is needed: away from the built-in goals and failures of unchallenged schooling. It is a bit dated, but so is our approach. There's a chapter in one of his books entitled "Research by People" that I'll try to track down and see if it pertains.

This article is the start to ongoing research in Lexington Public Schools. It was brought to the superintendents attention that there is an over representation of METCO students in the special-ed program, meaning there is a high number of METCO students requiring special help in one or more subjects. The study uses data from standardized testing, surveys, and past research. The article proposes quite a few different recommendations of where the research should go from here.

Great Post, Nicole: I recently petitioned to be able to take a different course for my multi-cultural component, that actually addresses legal and procedural considerations for such misrepresentations. This article was very timely for me personally, as I would like to be able to foster positive changes so that minority students are not misplaced in special educational programs, which both does not serve their individual needs appropriately and it also detracts from the resources available to true "special needs" learning disabled students. More programs need to be implemented such as those recommended in this article that provide extensive tutoring, mentoring, summer academic support opportunities that are separate from "special education" programs. Mary Ann Fogarty Pessa

This YouTube clip shows a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson on how we need to revolutionize our educational systems. It resonates with what Myles Horton said in his interview about "molding" vs. "liberating." Schools have been about preparing students to become productive members in an industrial based society. Like Horton, Robinson argues that we need to break free of that model. Robinson also has a couple of good talks on Ted.com related to education. Some of us watched his talk on how schools kill creativity when we took Creative Thinking.

Questions a paper that claimed that retrieval practice produced meaningful learning of concepts and did so better than concepts mapping

In recent years, Action Learning has gained currency as an approach to developing people by using work-based or problem-based learning. This book introduces theory, research, and practice of the two authors and colleagues (O'Neil & Marsick) who have both researched and applied Action Learning.

This article is about the positive impact of academic coaching.

Are you Type "A" personality and you are having trouble unwinding, and need some type of tool to focus on relaxing? This video is effective very effective when having a day where through self dialogue and listening Here is a YouTube video on how to relax in a short period of time. It was effective for me.

Great article related to Attention Restoration Theory (ART) which was part of my study in 692. Easy to read, and relevant for cognitive psychology students. Check out the Children & Nature Network for more research and info on the importance of connecting with and learning through nature: http://www.childrenandnature.org

I LOVE this video! Whenever I am feeling as though nothing I am doing is worthwhile, I watch this video and it gives me inspiration.

While this article is a bit dated, the concept of virtual volunteering intrigued me. I am interested in exploring this notion a bit more to determine if some of the same benefits can be achieved. It is a nice link between my work in this class and what I focused on in the 692 course.

This article discusses technology improving communication within the education realm, among all levels. Examples are drawn from multiple schools but specifically Lewis Elementary School in Portland, Oregon where they are using technology to increase the improve staff communication and professional development. The main focus is around blogs as a means to improve staff communication and collaboration. The blogs are used with the school system as well as connecting parents and the larger community. The use of wikis and blackboard are also discussed.

This is another look at some stages of action research that overlap with PT, Calhoun and Shmuck. He further describes some current types of action research including traditional, contextual, radical and educational. He also includes some project examples that might be helpful when constructing our own plans and organization.

By: Rory O'Brien