Group items tagged

Take the notion that children have specific learning styles, that some are “visual learners” and others are auditory; some are “left-brain” students, others “right-brain.” In a recent review of the relevant research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists found almost zero support for such ideas.

The shift into the distributed ICT [Information and Communications Technology] revolution, however, and the proliferation of social networks and collaborative forms of engagement on the Internet are creating deep fissures in the orthodox approach to education. The result is that a growing number of educators are beginning to revise curricula by introducing distributed and collaborative learning models into the classroom.

that media use among kids is so pervasive that it is time to stop arguing over whether it is good or bad and accept it as part of children's environment

Many observers such as Rifkin believe there are positives in the desire of kids to be electronically connected all the time. Concealed in this behavior, they say, is a need for acceptance and to be liked and loved, which is a healthy desire that has always been a part of the maturational process.

Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.

f they are unaware of their beliefs, values, and metaphors about learning, teaching, and the nature of knowledge itself

The belief at the time was that schools should require strong discipline and that "children should not talk to one another; all communication should be between the teacher and the class (Tyler, 1975)."

War I, as it soon would be called, would have a dramatic effect on education

Following the introduction of the Army's intelligence test, a "Testing Movement" in education, became established and spread throughout the United States

she'd rather "move on" and focus class time on other topics.

choosing to teach cursive is not about aesthetics or preference, but about giving children the mental tools needed read English.

hreaded letter strokes help guide students' eyes left-to-right and definitively correlates reading with writing:

The trend has not been limited to wealthy suburban districts. New York City, Chicago and many other urban districts also are buying large numbers of iPads.The iPads generally cost districts between $500 and $600, depending on what accessories and service plans are purchased.By comparison, Brookfield High in Connecticut estimates it spends at least that much yearly on every student's textbooks, not including graphing calculators, dictionaries and other accessories they can get on the iPads.

They include interactive programs to demonstrate problem-solving in math, scratchpad features for note-taking and bookmarking, the ability to immediately send quizzes and homework to teachers, and the chance to view videos or tutorials on everything from important historical events to learning foreign languages.They're especially popular in special education services, for children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, and for those who learn best when something is explained with visual images, not just through talking.Some advocates also say the interactive nature of learning on an iPad comes naturally to many of today's students, who've grown up with electronic devices as part of their everyday world.

These characteristics are often found in classroom environments that lean toward student-centered and inquiry-based learning.

I have seen that as children spend more time in school they lose some or all of their natural comfort with learning through spontaneous, playful exploration.

A game-based classroom response system For schools, universities, & businesses

Ask thought provoking questions

Students, take control of your own learning

In asurvey of 2,212 classical musicians, 40% re-ported that anxiety interfered with their perfor-mances (Kirchner, Bloom, & Skutnick–Henley,

, see Kenny (2005) andMcGinnis and Milling (2005

Few studies have investigated whether a cog-nitive intervention can reduce anxiety and en-hance performance in musicians (Lehrer, 1987;Steptoe & Fidler, 1987)

Some background Four years ago I created Google Earth resources for the classroom and posted them to the GE Community Forum. Two of them were called Maths in Madrid and Maths in Las Vegas. These were based on the fact that there is maths all around us, every day, everywhere we look. Google Earth (and Maps) gives us a great perspective on it all. It also provides easy access for our students to see rich visual content that depicts everyday maths. I have always loved the idea of children seeing the maths they are working on. The only issue with Google Earth is that it is restrictive in two ways. It is not browser based and it is impossible for me to create a resource for others to collaborate on.