Group items tagged

retrieval-based learning refers to the repeated recall of newly learned information in various situations or study sessions. It’s been shown to be much more effective than study without recall practice.

Spaced learning involves learning or studying the same information over intervals in time, rather than all at once, which is known as massed learning.

Gamification applies game design principles and mechanics to non-game experiences to increase engagement.

“It is about kids creating for themselves. It is no longer about teachers passing on knowledge and controlling classes. It is about facilitating a mindset and lifestyle that is the reality of the modern child entering education.”

“We have exhausted and moved on from taxonomies. The bottom-up folksonomy has been explored, and we are now entering the rhizonomy, the un-organization (of which MOOCs are an example), chaotic, non-rule-based learning that happens regardless of organization.”

Research by the U.S. Department of Education shows that students in online learning environments perform modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction, and that blending online and face-to-face instruction increases that advantage.

Visualize how you will use the information

Transfer the key learning points into a story and tell it to others

1. Teach a skill or concept to others in an engaging, interactive way:

Saylor.org is a free and open collection of college level courses. There are no registrations or fees required to take our courses, and you will earn a certificate upon completion of each course. Because we are not accredited, you will not earn a college degree or diploma; however, our team of experienced college professors has designed each course so you will be able to achieve the same learning objectives as students enrolled in traditional colleges.

i-Ready.com from Curriculum Associates, is a great K-8 adaptive assessment with engaging content.

Dreambox.com is a K-3 game-based adaptive math product.

ST Math from MIND Research Institute is a visual game-based approach used with great results in over 1,200 schools; ST Math is now available on iPad. They are launching their Seattle Math Initiative this Wednesday

Big data policy:  more measures for improvement and accountability.  Specific issues: school accountability, teacher evaluation, instructional improvement, and student matriculation.

Customized learning: emerging strategies for adaptive, personalized and social learning.  Specific issues: role of curriculum architects, mixing open and proprietary content.

Improving conditions & careers: how blended learning is improving the teaching profession. Specific issues:  evaluating in a team-based differentiated environment, managing a distributed staff with dynamic scheduling, and a really big issue–providing rich JIT PD during the shift.

Another aspect of flipped classrooms that the panelists had in common was a desire to personalize and individualize learning for their students.

By using videos, students can then watch the lectures and receive educational content at their own pace

instead of spending an entire class period lecturing, teachers can then spend that time working directly with students—answering questions and facilitating activities.

"Allowing students to pursue learning experiences that are relevant to them -- including traditional seat-based environments and digital learning opportunities -- is the best strategy," Haglund said. "The same thing with adults, frankly. I don't want every teacher to be teaching in a virtual environment because not every teacher has the interest or skills to support that type of an instructional environment."

“What we are seeing today is a certain amount of familiarity for the millennial generation around using technology. Whether it is a mobile phone, a tablet or computer, or also doing things with television, video recordings, gaming, there is a particular set of skills that they have developed,” says Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft Corp. “However, we also know that just because you’ve had familiarity with the use of a device, it may not necessarily lead to proficiency in the use of technology where youth are effectively using technology to better their lives through a job, start something, or undertake further studies.”

Among the key conclusions of that analysis is that students in virtual schools run by K12 are performing worse academically and dropping out of courses at much higher rates than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

Such recommendations have been supported by some virtual school advocates, including a structure where funding is based on course completions and not course enrollments, such as the Florida Virtual School's funding model.

Thoughtful commentators agree (as noted in June) that the innovation economy requires two things: Growth oriented policies – low tax rates, transparent and efficient government – and An opportunity platform that includes effective education and health services and efficient energy and transportation infrastructure.

You could probably add culture of confidence to round out the innovation formula: opportunity, incentive, and culture.

We need everyone starting something! Therefore, we should aspire to be the world’s best launching pad because our workforce is so productive; our markets the freest and most trusted; our infrastructure and Internet bandwidth the most advanced; our openness to foreign talent second to none; our funding for basic research the most generous; our rule of law, patent protection and investment-friendly tax code the envy of the world; our education system unrivaled; our currency and interest rates the most stable; our environment the most pristine; our health care system the most efficient; and our energy supplies the most secure, clean, and cost-effective.