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It's a really informative video which explains project based learning. I liked its clear guiding questions to make students reach the solution just like experts.

Today's guest post is written by Zachary Walker, a faculty member at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in Singapore. Who works hardest in your classroom? ......... waiting for you to really think about it........ still waiting patiently.............. If a visitor walked into your class unannounced and watched what was happening for 30 minutes, who would they say worked hardest? Do you agree the idea emerging from this article that when teachers let student be more active in their learning process, teachers work less?

A simple 5-step guide for integrating AR into higher education

OER, a part of the global open content movement, are shared teaching, learning, and research resources available under legally recognized open licenses -- free for people to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Why are OER important? High-quality OER can save teachers significant time and effort on resource development and advance student learning inside and outside the classroom.

a TPACK-in-Action model to guide the design of the CALL (Computer Aided Language Learning) Workshop in helping in-service English teachers develop their TPACK proficiency and integrate CALL in their classrooms.

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.

Contemporary Theories of Learning - Learning Theorists...in Their Own Words - Knud Illeris >>> http://tr.scribd.com/doc/152409290/Contemporary-Theories-of-Learning-Learning-Theorists-in-Their-Own-Words-Knud-Illeris#download

Thank you for the source, I found it last week too and I believe it is a very comprehensive source that can guide us in this course.

Thanks for sharing the link. I found it in the METU library too. I can bring it to our class on Thursday. We can benefit from it for the discussion sessions or refer to it in our personal learning theories.

The professor made a distinction between learning and deeper learning and he says deeper learning differs as it does not suggest superficial comprehension. Actually, deeper learning is not something specific to science learning; it is learning with understanding (as far as I understood). Deeper learning is what we mean by learning, is not it?

Deeper learning is what we are supposed to teach our students. Not superficial but deep and comprehensive knowledge. I don't think that the professor limits it to science learning since he doesn't focus on one subject area "science". What he says is that no matter what students learn, they should be guided and provided help in order to let them get comprehensive and permanent knowledge. Superficial knowledge which is gathered through memorization is more likely to be forgotton soon.

I liked Table1 - Design-based research variants and methods and Table-2 Characteristics of design-based research. Thanks.

"Design-based research and TELE (Technology-enhanced learning environments) designs are reciprocal and, thus, need to be interdependent. In order to stimulate contextually-sensitive practices of learning and instruction in the design and implementation of TELEs, practical, detailed, and contextual advice is necessary. Design-based research, as a pragmatic methodology, can guide TELE designers while generating practical knowledge to be shared among a broad design community. Conversely, TELE design theories, models, and procedures need to ensure that design-based research methodologies can be made operational, formalized, and systematized."

I like this website as it is full of cases. I strongly recommend it as you can learn how TPACK is in practice.

Here are some ideas for integrating CSCL to language teaching. You can also find practical activities.

This is a useful source for language teachers including benefits, elements and sample activities of CSCL.

İbrahim thanks for sharing this source, I believe we should make use of CSCL while both teaching and learning a language. Especially the role of interaction is really important, as teachers our mission is to make this interaction possible I think and there are some good sources for activities.

A center for cognitive tutor program. The definition from the website: "Our research focuses on the development of Cognitive Tutors -- instructional systems that support guided learning-by-doing. Drawing from the disciplines of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology and human computer interaction, we develop systems that provide individualized assistance to students as they work on challenging real-world problems in complex domains such as computer programming, algebra and geometry. Individualized guidance is made possible using detailed computational models of skills and misconceptions underlying a learning domain."

Technology integration is the use of technology resources -- computers, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, digital cameras, social media platforms and networks, software applications, the Internet, etc. -- in daily classroom practices, and in the management of a school.

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.

In the video, students are learning and getting expertise concepts by engaging different activities. Through activities students make some research about the topic and teachers help them to get deeper knowledge about topic by asking questions. In the activities, the source of knowledge not only teachers but also students themselves. I mean, students also learn from each other. Moreover, teachers' role is guiding and helping students when they stuck on something.

My conclusions from this video are: for students to develop expertise, teachers should scaffold them. Teachers should question the students and make them articulate their ideas. Moreover teachers should teach students as teams formed from expert teachers.