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Dr. Robert Marzano's Evaluation Study on Promethean's ActivClassroom Effect on Student Achievement shows that "Effective teaching practices combined with interactive classroom technologies significantly boosts student academic performance." It was commissioned by Promethean, so take it with a grain of salt, but the actual report looks fairly convincing. I would need somebody with more expertise in statistics to verify the research methods, though.

You have to assume two things when looking at this research....1. People have had adequate training using the Promethean boards using effective teaching practices, and 2. that the teacher has good teaching practices in place. The other thing to consider, could we get the same or better results using a Document camera, laptop, & LCD projector? I bet we could and it's a lot cheaper solution.

We call those 'extraneous' variables. Another point to consider is, was it the actual Promethean board? or can we extend these results to include other interactive whiteboards, such as SMART? Just wondering.

"Research in the past several years has shown that children can outgrow a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), once considered a lifelong condition. In a new study, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health Systemhave found that the vast majority of such children still have difficulties that require therapeutic and educational support. The study was published online today in the Journal of Child Neurology."

"A recent study revealed students at an international school in Finland significantly outperformed U.S. students on tasks which measure digital literacy in social media and online news. The researchers suggest this may be due to the Finnish and International Baccalaureate curricula's different way of facilitating students' critical thinking skills compared to the US system and curriculum. The results of this study were published in the Journal of Research in International Education in April. Critical thinking is a 21st century skill considered essential for today's students to navigate the Information Age and for their future work life."

"A multi-national European study, looking at over 5,500 students, has found that a novel school intervention programme can not only improve the mathematics scores of primary school children from disadvantaged areas, but can also lessen the achievement gap caused by socioeconomic status. Known as the Dynamic Approach to School Improvement (DASI), the programme is based on the latest findings in educational research. Rather than a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach, DASI works by first assessing a school to identify the specific teaching areas that could be improved and then implementing targeted measures to improve them. This process involves all members of the school community, including teachers, pupils and parents, with support from a specialized Advisory and Research Team."

"Homework may have a positive influence on students' conscientiousness. Results of a study conducted by University of Tübingen researchers suggests that students who do more homework than their peers show positive changes in conscientiousness. Thus, in addition to education, schools may be effecting changes of student personalities. The study results were published in the Journal of Research in Personality."

"New research from King's College London finds that teacher assessments are equally as reliable as standardised exams at predicting educational success. The researchers say their findings, published today in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, question whether the benefits of standardised exams outweigh the costs."

"The NMC Horizon Project, as the centerpiece of the NMC Emerging Technologies Initiative, charts the landscape of emerging technologies for teaching, learning, research, creative inquiry, and information management. Launched in 2002, it epitomizes the mission of the NMC to help educators and thought leaders across the world build upon the innovation happening at their institutions by providing them with expert research and analysis."

An interesting report with the most interesting data being that "100% of students are online in 2011". While the survey data is apparently representative of the Australian population, I would argue that this figure is not the case and that deeper research needs to be undertaken before these figures can be used as a foundation for embedding technology and internet into education. However, it does show the increasing rate of uptake of online activities within Australia and the trends for access information.

From the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Contains education modules related to stem cell research.

Strategies for promoting change, research reports and practical tools for improving education programs

"Welcome to the Digital Education Research Network (DERN) for 2014. At the start of each school and academic year teaching subjects and courses for the coming year are often reviewed and resources allocated. Questions invariably arise about the benefits of learning with digital technologies and the best ways to deploy digital technologies; that is, what are the current technology trends?"

"Learning over Education is a new MIT Media Lab initiative that promotes creative learning. It ties together learning related research that takes place across different research groups, develops new technologies for creative learning, and uses the Media Lab as platform for new conversations about learning."

8 education research articles

Education Week's new report "Blended Learning: Breaking Down the Barriers" features a story highlighting research on the effectiveness of such techniques.

Open access online educational magazine. This issue has a 'Educational Research' theme.

"A University of Alberta education researcher who achieved dramatic results with early assessment and intervention to help Grade 1 and 2 students with reading difficulties says there's still a chance to help these students in Grade 3. George Georgiou, a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, along with his collaborators Rauno Parrila at Macquarie University and Robert Savage from the University College of London, started working with 290 Grade 1 students from 11 Edmonton public schools in 2015-16."

""Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -William Butler Yeats"

""Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -William Butler Yeats"

Research and writing on iPad in education.

"My EdTechTeacher colleagues Beth, Greg, and Tom have been pouring over educational apps. Lots and lots of apps. As practitioners, their instinct is that the vast majority of educational apps are terrible. Shovel-ware. Flashcards. Garbage. Tens of thousands of them."