Group items tagged

Tynker is the English online platform where the students (children) are taught programming. The aim of the platform is to provide a solid infrastructure for STEM to prepare for the 21st century. Its slogan is "the easiest way to learn programming at school" and more than 20,000 schools use this program. It also include design base learning. I think learning programming at early ages is very important for children to develop their critical and algorithmic thinking skills. This platform facilitates both teachers' work and makes it fun for children.

I really like the program. Even I can use it to learn the basic things from this program. Thanks for the share!

"Codecademy - Learn to code interactively, for free"

What makes a tutor intelligent? Its design to simulate a human tutor's behavior and guidance. Evrim Hocam I see your point:) but I think it's a basic intelligent system, isn't it?

Mustafa, I was just wondering how the literature on ITSs define "intelligence" in their context. What makes a system intelligent? Let's elaborate more on this in class.

When I was 1 st year undergraduate student in METU, We were using this online platform at my physic's course. Generally there were 10 problems assigned with sub-layers. It was offering rapid feedback, simulations and we were also graded.

Mustafa, It was really helpful from some aspects but I remember that I was frequently complaining about the software. It gave a chance to practice a lot what I had learnt previous class. It was good to have problems in a large scale of complexity ( from easiest to hardest). And sometimes questions were picturized and there were graphs etc. Mostly, they were for real life situations. We were trying to solve problems which we come face to face everyday.However, there were also drawbacks, for example the answers arranged in a way that they do not accept any other solution computer offers.Our answers had to be exactly same from decimals to points. This could sometimes let a disoppointment and robbed my motivation down.And there were fear of getting bad marks because in the and of the homework we were graded by our performance. All in all, despite its drawbacks, 7 years ago it was nice to have this different kind of method in our classess.

Thank you Ceren for sharing your experiences, you underlined very important points especially the one about answers.

Computer games are the most common tools to keep us "flowed". So, What makes a good computer game?

As I was reading about call of duty and flow, I again recognised that there is a distinct difference among genders ;)

My father has been playing bridge online. He is one of the late adopters to technology, yet, he plays bridge for hours and hours without realising what is happening around himself. He has played bridge online for 6000 hours since 2007. I just asked him "why are you playing", he said, "because I have fun" and "because it is challenging" and "I get points". Well, he just covered the flow theory and games :)

Questions To Be Raised: What do you think of Motivation and Cognitive Engagement for Students with ADHD? Could Montesorri design be sustainable with ADHD Students?

I really like the the part of implications for teachers. It make flow theory more clearer for me.

it seems that we will try to go to some Chinese Universities in ten years time, instead of Europe or States.

In my opinion education policy of the countries do not be planned based on the students' academic achievement. Real achievement of an education system could be observed as individuals' adaptation to life. For example the main vision of the elementary science curriculum defined by Ministry of National Education of Turkey [MONE] (2005) is that regardless of the individual differences of students, they are educated to become scientifically literate, the uniqueness nature of the learner; background and culture of the learners and motivation of the learners were taken into consideration in the development of the curriculum (MONE, 2005), but putting those in the practice is very difficult.

Also, as mentioned in the text "… those results come at the cost of one of the highest levels of student anxiety in the world." Anxiety is very important and big research area in educational psychology also the news in the link http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-04/10/content_9710997.htm exemplifies its importance in Chinese case.

"If a decision were to be made by the minister of education or the government to move in a new direction, then the orientations, the value system and the commitment of design-based researchers would be a natural way because it is an engineering field approach applied in education,"

Hocam, it would be nice to build a DBR team, we desperately need such an innovation in our field. Maybe, there can be DBR schools where researchers can work with voluntary teachers. If some incentives are provided for the teachers by MONE, they will work eagerly in the projects. Just an example: nowadays, lots of English teachers are doing really good Comenius projects and the motive behind their hard work is going abroad:)

+1 for DBR team & DBR Schools. I can try to find some support from MONE side.

We should completely be aware of the informal learning through gaming. they can be more motivating than any type of instruction as they have lots of insteresting aspects.

It is an interesting video related to learning which occurs around the world.

I agree with the idea that we are all really fortunate and We should never stop learning regardless of our status, gender, and etc. also, the video advises us to make a distinction between right and wrong . once people believed that the earth was flat but at those times there were people that they knew that the earth is round. so, in order to be like the ones who are always at the right side we should be very careful and should nor accept every information as it is and question it.

If the education would be completely trading thing, that would be an affective commercial! It gives an overview to several kinds of education and its oppurtinities as well as motivation!

I hope that you'll like the video because I really liked it. It can set a good example for the modifications of the instructional techniques and learning environment since it approaches performance from a different perspective.

First of all, I really enjoyed the way the video is presented, it was fun to watch. It provides inspiring ideas on autonomy, letting people have genuine, meaningful purposes and finally letting them feel valuable and creative. Thanks for sharing this.

'What is the biological link between emotions, motivation and learning?' That link may help a lot to seek for possible answers: http://www.learner.org/courses/neuroscience/

"...being the best requires a lot of time and effort, and few people are willing to dedicate so much of their lives to a single pursuit. So while practice may get some of us close to perfection, for many of us it is an unattainable goal..."

I guite agree with Christian. When I first read the ten thousand hour rule, I felt that this is a hypothetical number that was just used for to emphasize that we need endless effort, hard practice to become good at any field.

As mentioned, the role of talent are still questionable. Also guaranteeing the same amount of hours as a general rule gives me the message of ignoring unique personal factors such as motivation or other internal personal sources.

I had chance to visit some Montessori early education centers and got impressed by the way children learn. I am really looking forward to hearing your comments on this method.

Whatever they are named, there are many nice ideas-theories of edcation. Montessori method is one of the contemporary ones which seems to present many potentials for the teachers. One point which looks problematic about Montessori in our education sysytem is motivating students to be actively engaged in activities. The question is "Is there a way to connect activities and heavy academic knowledge?". In other words, Can we help our students to get ready for the exams by engaging them in daily activities? My answer is "not really" :(

I liked the school environment too much. As far as I can see from the video, Montessori method engages ownership in learning, self-management and authenticity which I most appreciate in a learning process. The students have the chance to relate what they learn with life with willingness and curiosity. But as İbrahim said, my question is "Can we apply this to our education system?". Our children are in a race from the beginning for a endless examination world. Unfortunately, this is a bit utopia for us. However, I think in kindergarten or pre-school period we can apply this. But for high-school or even primary school I am not sure.

This is an example of learning on an Island of Expertise. For example: A child is interested in dinosaur. The parents maybe make some activities which build an island of expertise. Activities could be a visit in a museum or a movie about the topic.

Similar projects can be done at schools about the animals or things around us (like visiting a dog barn or visiting a factory). Such visits may help students get motivated about the world around them.

some more ideas on Situated Learning Theory for us:)

The goal is to improve learning by motivating students and by providing a rich context for learning. It emphasizes the context and application of knowledge rather than memorizing facts (Heeter, 2005). This quotation is crucial for me because in Turkey, the education is based on memorization simply. The knowledge is "high on the clouds". We need to make it more usable and applicable.