Group items tagged

At a glance: what makes Finland stand out “What visiting educators from over 50 countries have found in Finland is simple: well trained teachers and responsible children– Seppo Tella, professor of language education (and teaching matters),University of HelsinkiThe Finns have a high regard for and confidence in their schooling system and a high opinion of schooling.All teachers must hold a masters degree; most train for at least five and a half years.Status of teachers is high and teaching is one of the most coveted and popular professions.400 local councils or municipalities administer schools. Schools are free to tailor education to local needs. Government only sets overall objectives.Principal has key role in driving education, responsible for the school’s entire operation and pupil assessment and budget.Principals evaluate teacher performance focusing on mastery of the profession, pupil performance and ability to co-operate.No national evaluation system for teacher work, no external inspection system and no focus on league tables.Compulsory nine year basic schooling is free for all aged 7-16 years.Schools have a statutory obligation to maintain contact with homes.“Our objective is not to be the best in the OECD. Our objective is to provide the best possible education for our children

In the hours and days after Ning’s announcement, the company’s message boards were filled, and it was deluged with hundreds of e-mail messages from teachers and nonprofit groups. It was also presented with an online petition signed by over 1,100 people asking it to waive its fees for educational and nonprofit groups.

Ning says it is taking a step in that direction with its effort to provide free service for teachers and their students.

keep its service free for educators

First, great teachers tended to set big goals for their students. They were also perpetually looking for ways to improve their effectiveness.

“You want to work smart, not hard,” he tells me later. “If you just show them the traditional method, not everyone understands.” He actually learned the method last year—from one of his students.

You can create student accounts for an entire class with just a few clicks (and student email addresses are optional for account creation)

Students of the same class are automatically set up as a Diigo group so they can start using all the benefits that a Diigo group provides, such as group bookmarks and annotations, and group forums.

Privacy settings of student accounts are pre-set so that only teachers and classmates can communicate with them.