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After I read this I become more worried about our students especially in secondary schools. There were SBS (exam for entering high schools) and they were taking 3 different exams at each grade, 6,7,8 but now with the new regulations they will have 36 exams. Apart from that in 10 years the system has changed for 5 times. what can be more devastating their chilhood than that?

I agree with you about the testing system in Turkey but it is only the top of the iceberg. For me, childhood ends for children who start the formal education in Turkey. Our system is so demanding and competitive that children cannot endure the difficulties they encounter. First of all, we have very overloaded curricula and students always need to be alert and hardworking to keep up with the required activities. While trying to make use of constructivist understanding curriculum developers missed some points: the opportunities and facilities the schools and students have, the difficulty level of activities, background of the learner and student and parent profile in Turkey, teacher characteristics in our schools and so on. The curricula cannot be implemeted in most of the schools so teachers invented their own methods and techniques which do not match to any of the instructional theories properly. Parents started to find out ways to protect their children and they made lots of mistakes. For example, some parents do projects of their children and smarter children started to sell ready-made projects at schools. Although teachers know the truth, he grade these projects because the system makes it nearly impossible to fail. In short, our system is working but not in the way writen in the curricula. The changes, negativities and difficulties in the system is damaging the childhood and future of the students. Somebody should change it, not the curricula:)

World is getting more populated, and each individual wants to have a better life. And a better life is significantly related to education. So, exams still appear to be a "must" in this racing system. Actually, I am a supporter of the exams if we want to have a more "fair race". I remember the terrible old days when successful people couldn't get what they deserved because of the bribery system in Turkey. On the other hand, I agree about the side effects of the overtesting. And as an individual who has been exposed to overtesting, the question I ask to myself is "How has the overtesting affected my mental health?" The truth is I have been stressed, depressed and sad because of the tests :(

A short trailer for the future of sport with augmented reality. We can imagine how it will change the performance and also popularity of sports. Furthermore, it seems that augmented reality will change the way of playing, more challenged games in every sport field.

I watched it before and when I watched Nintendo Wii come to my mind. That changes to habit of game console and I think it is revolutionary. With those applications, maybe our sports habits can change in time.

Actually when i watched it I thought Xbox which recognise you and put you in diffirent games. But Wii also not a bad example. I had a Wii platform but the limitation on that is the equipments which gives you a chance to move without doing the real move because of their calibration, i guess.

There are many theories in this page that we should be interested in in this page as learning sciences students. An example of two groundbreaking research results in learning sciences is (1) Entwistle's Phenomenography theory This conceptual framework focuses on the experience of learning from the student's perspective and is based upon a phenomenological approach to research. Entwistle explains: "Our task is thus to describe more clearly how learning takes place in higher education and to point out how teaching and assessment affect the quality of learning. From these descriptions teachers should be able to draw their own lessons about how to facilitate their students' learning" (Marton, Hounsell & Entwistle, 1984, p.1). (2) Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory According to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance. In the case of a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior, it is most likely that the attitude will change to accommodate the behavior.

Turkey has been undergoing education reforms because of the same reason" ..the current system was designed and conceived for a different age..." Do you think the reformed curricula meet the requirements of 21st century? I think wee need to reform the minds of people who are designing the curricula in this country...

It is like imitating other countries and take their education systems for granted rathr than reforming. Whatever it is, the education systems not only in East but also in some parts of west are based on social efficiency theory and students are conceived as to-be-workers. Self-actualization and intellectual development are not even in the secondary place.

as it is mentioned in the video, our educattion system also kill the creativity of the students and cause them to behave like robots.I think we loose huge amont of potential to produce artistic, scientific and tecnological productions.

this includes both infographic and definitions for each ways how high schools changed by neurescience. I think it is very clear to understand the effect of neurescience.

Neuroscience integrated learning is certainly a way for staying off memorization based learning.

Bu okulda öğrencileri okuldan soğutacak hiç bir uygulama yok. Özel okul statüsünde ancak kar amacı güdülmüyor. Bütçesi velilerin katılımıyla bir kooperatif tarafından karşılanıyor. İlk şubesi Bodrum'da açılan okulun ikinci şubesi için İzmir'de çalışmalar başlatıldı.

most probably you have heard that Summerhill School in England. It is a boarding school founded by A.S. Neill in 1921 and its basic principle is the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the child should be made to fit the school. I think the one in Turkey might be founded based on the Summerhill School. here is is website for more information; www.summerhillschool.co.uk

There is this point that I totally agree with Burcu about disadvantaged groups. Also whenever I think about examples like Sudbury Valley, I get impressed by the idea of getting rid of exam threat. But for our country, we have to change like everything, the belief systems, the culture, the attitudes. We have a lot do to in that respect, even if our main intention to make just a small change.

Augmented Reality Goggles for Snow Sports! Its amazing :)

Selcuk you are right but it is still very expensive to use it. on the other hand, such as in Football, Soccer, Ice hokey money is not a big problem for federations and they can find a lot of sponsors about it. That is why i believe in a short time they will start to use these kind of augmented reality features to make sports much better.

Maybe after federations start to use and these application become widespread, the personal model of those can be produced at cheaper price. However, I agree with you, price is one the biggest problem at that sector.

This could be addition to Elanur's "All in the mind?" post. There is often a big divide between what happens in the laboratory and the way laboratory findings are practically applied. The relationship between neuroscience research and education is no exception. While there are numerous educational products that claim to be based on neuroscience research (often quite dubiously so), the real impact of brain-based research on education has been much more subtle.

Famous article by Nicolas Carr. What do you think?

I like these sentences from the text: "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.". Because the way we read has changed with new strategies(scanning and scimming quickly) and a great deal of information. That's why we rather google it then reading hundreds of pages.(Or ctrl-f works pretty good in some cases:)) However, I do not think that we are getting more stupid. Our brain has been evolving with new technologies and habits and probably will keep doing that. So we are not so much eager to keep some information in our minds since we are sure that we can reach them anywhere anytime. For instance, children no longer memorize multiplying tables but it does not tell us that they can not solve multiplication problems.They have another instruments to save time and energy :)

I agree with the ideas of Afra and Sinem. Sometimes I experience this while reading articles for my thesis and I have to write the key points for myself. However, I believe that we are not getting stupid, because we are now in technology era. We cannot abstain from appyling google for any information. It is really cost-effective in terms of time and money. I think that we will have to face with more new technologies in future, but this cannot mean that we will get more stupid. It is the requirement of our era we live in and we have to adapt ourselves.

"John D. Bransford holds the Shauna C. Larson Endowed Chair in Learning Sciences at the University of Washington College of Education in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Bransford is also Founding Director of The Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center, an National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Learning Center" Here is a chapter from a book published by National Academy of Education: " Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do" (Edited by John Bransford and Linda Darling Hammond.) The chapter focuses on how to design teachers' learning experiences in a trainig program: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cehd/teri/Chapter%2011.pdf

The website describes how Professor Paul Harris advises the interactive learning company Mindshapes on incorporating educational principles into the development of websites and apps for young children.

I think games always work and the company seems really successful at locating the points children may find interesting and enjoyable. After reading your post, I watched a video at youtube, Hickory-Dickory Dock and it was very enjoyable. It teaches not only vocabulary but also how to tell time. It seems a really effective tool. Like the company, I also think that students should be exposed to the changes in the technology. There is always a world outside the classroom and they should keep themselves up-to-date. And our job is to provide them with such opportunities.

Actually your point is really important, changes in the technology should be followed and used as a tool in the classroom, the tools that are significant in terms educational value for sure. Or the other end would include only games on stealing or killing as mentioned. I have checked out Hickory-Dickory Dock now and it seems effective to me as well. The website "mindshapes.com", provides us with detailed information on the games.

Upon coming across this cartoon, I've felt an urge to share it with you because it touches on some relevant issues we've been discussing since the very beginning of the course. Please first click on the picture to enlarge it, and sorry for this inconvenience :)

Thanks for your share Yasin :) This cartoon reminds me of the education in Turkey. While areas like science, math, biology are thought to be important, unfortunately art, literature, music, dance etc. are underestimated. They are thought to be just hobbies and not enough attention is given to them. People interested in these areas are thought to be wasting their time or unsuccessful. Again unfortunatelly we cannot change this perception. I wish there were more people around me who were given the chance to show their talents and whose talents do not fade away.

You're welcome Seda :) It is even more depressing to know that this perception won't change as long as we live under today's economical perceptions. It is simply "be a part of the system or get ready to be called as marginal" :)

The real world problem: Burning of waste tyres pollutes the environment Solution: Encouraging people to recyle tyres tu use them for production of furniture. It is a real example of project based on design thinking for change that children drive in their communities.

It is very meaningful to see how children engage in problems and be creative to solve them. Educators should not limit students' minds into some patterns. They can create their own learning environments if they are encouraged and guided.

Thank you for sharing an application of design thinking with us Elanur Hoca.

Many UK children have become less confident about succeeding in life by the time they leave school, a report says. The study by think-tank Demos says some pupils feel school is just preparing them for exam success. It urges the government to help schools and colleges explore how self-belief, perseverance and resilience can be instilled in pupils.

I think that not only UK chidren but also our children less confident and unhappy in real life. If same research is done in Turkey, I think that similar results can be obtained. Students spend 12 years in school (primary school, secondary and high school). And they learn socialising, success, failure in school. In traditional classrooms, success is gaining high score in exam, ranked in first three in competition and failure is gaining lower scores on exam. When students leave the school, they face with new environment that is not similar to school. I think, therefore, they can not adopt to this new environment they feel unhappy and less confident. For this reason, schools should bring the skills and qualities that are needed for out of the school. Community service course, role playing, field works should be done in the schools to introduce real life experinces to students. In addition, changing the laerning activites, assesment procedures in school also can be helpful for real life experinces.

In several videos it was said that we start to prepare our pupils for jobs that are not invented yet. It is because there are lots of information production and exchange throughout world now, which makes lots of jobs become obsolete in short period of times. Our students need to have skills to locate, synthesis, and evaluate information and adapt theirselves to new contexts instead of having static knowledge about specific jobs.

Dr. Darren Kruisselbrink teaches collage students motor development and perceptual motor development by observing and interacting with babies and pre-elementary children. He changes the way he teaches after seeing slides and lectures bore his class and lead no learning. He then looks for ways to link theory with practice and comes up with in-class baby observation and a community service which enables kids to play, parents to relax, university to bond with community, students to learn and observe motor development of pre-elementary children. This is one of the best authentic activity I've ever seen and similarly with Lave's thoughts his class contains community service, group work, and learning by doing. Kruisselbrink says this kind of teaching makes students thirsty for knowledge, creates lots of questions and curiosity, higher participation, and deeper learning.

Microsoft HoloLens is the first self-contained, holographic computer, enabling you to engage with your digital content and interact with holograms in the world around you. It is a miraculous device, I think. When watched the video, it is einevitable not to be excited. Its sale is only for app developer and it is also expensive, 3000 $. However, as it become widespread and develop, it may be a routine device. Also there is another video video, shot at Case Western Reserve University, shows doctors examining bodies as they float in midair, creating a new way to teach anatomy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKpKlh1-en0 Think about the time when that device become reachable easily, think about using it at the classes commonly. Maybe changing curriculum according to these or another augmented reality ones. I think, there could be revolution at education with these steps in the future. That pictures are taken from the presentation of that device; http://s01.shiftdelete.net/img/general_b/15-10/06/hololens.jpg http://s01.shiftdelete.net/img/content/15-10/06/hololens-2-1444146365.JPG Also, there is a funny(or sad) photoshop work related to possible usage of device at our country; http://s11.postimg.org/cukj78a4z/holoturk.png

I love it!

The Pursuit Of Happyness is beyond a film for me, because the impact of film changed my point of view and ideas a lot. Maybe you watched it but if you do not know its topic, the film is based on true life story of Chris Gardner who established Gardner Rich company at Wall Street starting with selling medical devices at his penniless situation. The scene is taken from that movie and although it is simple scene, I think the idea behind that scene is really important for intrinsic motivation. Because like at the scene, people say you cannot and we believe them or we want to believe them because we think it is really hard. However, all we have to do is just wanting and struggling.

En büyük sorun itibar kaybı :(

Teachers are the ones we always put blame on!!! They don't prepare students very well for the university entrance exam, they don't implement the curriculum effectively, they resist innovation, changes etc. In Turkey, teaching is mostly a profession of last choice. Losing reputation is not a problem, it is a result. Restoring it can not be done by increase in wages, providing facilities for them etc. When education becomes a prior area for all of us, teacher's reputation will be restored then, I think.

I've watched the video twice and in the end I've felt some concerns about the results of the studies. In the "how people learn" part, researchers were testing the storage and connection system of the brain through some high-tech tools. However, does neuropsychology provide enough evidence on the functioning of the brains? Can we generalize the results to all people from all cultures? I am not the one who is against neuropsychology, but for me one discipline may not give an appropriate answer to such a deep question. My second concern is about the integration of computer programs into the curriculum as a major learning tool. We see a program where "Betty" is speaking and giving feedback on the video. The program seems user friendly, but what about the negative aspects and limitations of the integration of technology into learning? Ok, I agree that we have to adapt to the rapid technological changes in the society. However, is technology the key to all learning processes? Plus, the program is designed on the mapping of the concepts. Does concept mapping make a curriculum compelling all the time? I am not sure about all characteristics of the program, but if it hasn't been designed in a challenging style and if all students come up with the same products, then how will they develop their knowledge and reasoning abilities? I couldn't find an answer to that. As for the part "effective teaching", I am in the same opinion with the researchers that there should be a connection between the real world and the subject taught. Moreover, I think the integration of the disciplines is difficult but a very good way of giving meaning to life. Besides, in the video we see teachers as a guide, as a facilitator and there is no doubt that providing individual support to the students helps students feel more involved.

Firstly, even if it is designed by utilizing modern technology and different understanding, which makes it a more developed and complicated one, the program used in the video reminded me the teaching machines of old times. It gives the priority to the cognitive aspect of learning. This seems to be a one-dimensional approach which underestimates the social aspect of learning. I think the value of classroom interaction for effective learning cannot be replaced by any kind of computer programs. Research on brain is really important and it provides very useful insights for learning and instructional activities. However, it should be supported by the findings of research by social psychologists as well. The very same individual may perform at varying levels when he is taught with the same methods in different environments. I personally experienced many times that even the absence of one individual in my classes affected the teaching an learning processes in a negative or positive way depending upon the classroom dinamics.

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.