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It is a currently presented a paper based on a dissertation completed by Gokce Kurt currently at Marmara University, Dept. of English Language Teaching, Istanbul, Turkey. Paper was presented at the meeting of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, New Orleans, LA. It examines the TPACK development of Turkish PTs of English as they participated into a study explicitly focusing on the framework of TPACK and designed following Learning Technology by Design approach.

I think that sharing our motivations of pursuing masters or PhD would be interesting. The attached video is a fun video of getting a Phd in humanities.

While I was working at a primary school, one of my students asked me:" Öğretmenim, neden hala okuyorsunuz? Tatile falan gitseniz daha iyi bence:)" I had two day off for graduate courses, that's why he thought I would go on a holiday:) (Or maybe I looked tired:) People who do not know me very well question my motivation for being a Phd student. But, those who know me well think that I should engage in academic studies. Interestingly, whenever I feel demotivated, they try to motivate me:) I love searching, learning new things and sharing them with people around me. Şermin is right: it is the hunger for knowledge and it is the most effective motive for graduate students:)

My motive for doing Master is to feel competent in my expertise field .But the main thing underlying is like everybody else is to learn and look for the best.I have always wondered `What is the best practice in teaching?` `How can I improve my skills both personally and professionally? Quest for the answers are keeping me motivated.

-Why are you doing this? -I just felt like running!

Kiewslovski movie! I especially like the scene when father and son calculate whether the son could skate safely or not. He has a great deal of curiosity and father leads his motivation via scientific methods;)

definitely Sinem :)) you summarized the kid's motivation and situation very well :))

The video is very funny and it shows the importance of interest, motivation, self-esteem as well as prior knowledge in learning to me, what do you think?

Thank you for sharing this. Sheldon typically may have aimed to transfer what is written in the books or most probably imitated his teachers as this was the way he was instructed. I say so as the physics teacher at the high school I studied was instructing in the same way and this is why I could not learn physics and developed a kind of prejudice towards that subject matter. As I could not comprehend the abstract terms he was talking about I quitted:(

I think we usually experience such a thing. Teachers want to teach whatever they want without stopping, but they sometimes forget that not every students is very interested in the stuff :( an important thing to keep in mind.

This Matrix is divided into 5 "independent characteristics of meaningful learning environments" namely: active, collaborative, constructive, authentic, and goal directed. Each of these categories is aligned with five levels of technology integration in education, the total sum of which is 25 cells. And according to Arizona K12 Centre, "Within each cell of the Matrix one will find two lessons plans with a short video of the lesson. Each lesson is designed to show the integration of technology in instruction and classrooms as well as the Arizona Educational Technology Standards."

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.

"...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.

This is the first chapter of the book "The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences" by R. Keith Sawyer. It integrates the foundations of the learning sciences, educational technology, learning processes and the emergence of the field of learning sciences along with the rationale behind this field. I think as an introduction, this chapter will be beneficial to look at before going towards the endpoints.

Sorry, I found this accidentally. Then now, I saw that this book is in our syllabus already. :)))

I would like to present and give information on Jack Mezirow who is known as the founder of the concept of transformative learning. According to his ideas, individuals transform their frames of reference through critical reflection on the assumptions upon which their interpretations, beliefs, and habits of mind or points of view are based. Personal frames of references in the learning process is underlined. He is now Emeritus Professor of Adult and Continuing Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

This is a how-to video, showing an effective way of supporting and promoting teamwork even out of class. It goes through the steps of the formation of random teams using Random.org and the allocation and naming of team shared documents using the blended synchronous/asynchronous facility of Typewith.me.

the page briefly and clearly defines what situated learning is, and shows how to create authentic learning contexts by using digital media. There are very short videos showing situated learning genres and some handouts which can be helpful in the class.

While I was reading about interactive case scenarios, I remembered some of my friends playing a game on the Internet called "fantasy role play". I am sure most of us have already heard about it because it is very popular among METU students. Actually the major aim of the game is to have some fun, but it can also be organized as a learning tool.

Thanks for sharing the examples. I already started thinking about how to integrate these into teacher training programs.

For those interested in the science of babies.

Hocam I cannot believe the results of the study. It is really amazing. The babies are smarter that adults and knows statistics. The saying of lean mean machine to adult brain is interesting. Now I am looking for the study is about babies and statistics, I really wonder this one. Thanks for your sharing. And I found another video of Dr. Alison Gopnik about baby thinking as a scientists..:) http://www.ted.com/talks/alison_gopnik_what_do_babies_think.html

This video made me question the role of education in children's life again.I think formal education is the biggest barrier for children who have natural abilities to learn. The education system is limiting children's potential and killing their imagination and curiostiy which make them excellent learners indeed. Do you think the school provides them proper opportunities to explore and to learn? I don't think students can learn in our "boring" classes where they are grouped on their ages rather than their abilities.

Naturally, there are some disadvantages of cognitive intelligent tutroring systems.

Thank you İbrahim, I think the con about distraction is very important (It requires more discipline, Your child would have to keep his focus on the screen without getting distracted by emails, IM's or Facebook.) Any ideas to prevent getting distracted?

For me it is important to be aware of that in foreign language instruction, the movement of your mouth can be really important in getting pronunciation right. That's harder to teach online. If the subject or homework assignment specifically requires the child to write on paper, it's much harder for an online tutor to read along with the student. So it works better for some subjects

When situated learning theory (SLT) is investigated, it can be seen that most of the articles or documents mention learning by doing within an actual context. The first thing that comes to mind is the real world environment while someone mentions the SLT. What if we want to form a "legitimate peripheral participation" environment to learn a concept by the boundaries of online platforms? How can we design online platforms by using situated learning theory?

"Participation Learning becomes a social process dependent upon transactions with others. Learning is not separated from the world of action but exists in robust, complex, social environments made up of actors, actions, and situations. How to incorporate participation in online learning? *Create discussion boards to enable students to reflect socially *Encourage engagement in discussions and issues presented *Require students to present/defend their arguments in forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards *Encourage students to engage in critical reflection with other *Instructors should continually assess the growth of the student, and let the student know " These are the principles applied in our 542 course. We are experiencing situated cognition in progress.

The first problem is defined by Dan Lortie in The Apprenticeship of Observations (1975) as being acquainted with the task of teaching.The professor on the video emphasizes that in the countries where immagrants are most successful, teachers spend 50% of their work planning lessons, observing other classes and negotiating about the lessons. She also touches the problem of 'Toxic Environment' of schools for teachers where they gossip about their students and colleagues. She gives a successful school example in which professional development is a part of school culture. Can you list additional problems for teacher expertise faced in schools?

Although sharing ideas and instances about the classroom hours and students can be accepted as components of adult learning for teachers, gossiping about them can be a real barrier to develop on those areas. In my teaching experience, we prohibited the conversations about the negative issues happened in the school.

When decisions with important consequences involved, people ask for expert opinion let it be a hotel booking (trip advisor, booking...) or purchasing a book (amazon recommends, kitapyurdu...). If the stakes are high, then it becomes obligatory to go and ask for expert opinion. However this becomes a problem if people rely on experts as if they are getting parental advice. People become addicted to experts because of its certainity, assuredness and definitiveness. In a study, a group of adults' brains' MRI scans when they are listening to experts showed that the independent part of their decision making part of their brains switches off while they are listening. This listening becomes unquestionnable and they use these opinions without distinguishing as right or wrong. Considering the doctors who misdiagnose 4 out of 10, not questionning is an important issue. As a result the role of the expert should change because they are affected by social norms, cultural norms and everything. So their judgements may differ. Think about companies who try to sell their products and include experts in the process. Toothpaste, washing detergents etc. are exagerated. Although they are experts, they have assumptions which may have flaws. People should question and become skeptical about experts. People should not blindly accept or listen, rather they should open their eyes wide open, face the world, use experts for certain things but be aware of their limitations and also their own.

Suppose you are part of a thriving business and need to branch out and find that next big thing. Or say you want to change a behavior, like getting people...a lot of people...to use less energy in their homes. How would you go about it? Design thinking is a powerful tool to tackle the unknown. It's a means of going on an expedition, without a map, without even knowing the destination, but with the confidence that you'll end up somewhere great. Let's make it tangible with an example that captures the five key elements of design thinking. Daylight was given the challenge of getting kids in America to move more to help fight childhood obesity. The project started with an idea--provide kids with a digital music player that has a motion sensor, then give them rewards based on their activity. But the big question was, would kids really use it? What could make the experience so compelling that they would use it long enough to see the health benefits.

Very nice video on design thinking. We can clearly see how they continuously modify the end product after collecting data of its users. First they talk to target group to have an idea about how an activity meter can be. Based on their ideas, they try to find patterns which will later evolve to design principles. Based on those principles, they develop a real product-an activity meter. Then they use it iteratively with children and make modifications in order to make it better and better. It is a clear video of how to do a design study.

You can find examples for the adoption of CSCL and its benefits like enhanced course content knowledge, increased confidence in applying course knowledge and skills, stronger collaboration skills (arguing ideas, making decisions, providing solutions), greater ability to create instead of simply consume knowledge and added benefits of leadership and presentation skills

The outcomes: enhanced course content knowledge, increased confidence in applying course knowledge and skills, stronger collaboration skills (arguing ideas, making decisions, providing solutions), greater ability to create instead of simply consume knowledge, and added benefits of leadership and presentation skills, can also be applicable to our case. I think our course equips us with similar skills and outcomes.

Good example of DBR and CSCL.

I have seen this post when I was searching for how can interaction with peers contribute to learning maths. It is written by ROBERT SUN who is the CEO of Suntex International and inventor of First In Math, an online program designed for deep practice in mathematics. The things that are mentioned felt very similar with our country's situation actually, as learners how do we use concepts of maths (or any other courses) except from school? May be the first reason for our students cannot learn and hate maths is behind this question.

"Teachers can encourage their students to express themselves verbally using mathematical terms; even in the early grades, children can be asked to explain what they want or mean using numbers, or relationships between numbers. Anything that encourages them to talk about math and mathematical concepts is beneficial." Social math!. It looks like article emphasizes the importance of language in information exchange. It reminds me Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory in which he also believed that language is important for learning. He also purported that language is culture-dependent so each cultures' learning may be different from each other. In addition, providing opportunity to students to express themselves verbally can give us clues about current mental maps of students as to a specific topic (what is correct, what needs improvement, etc.). In addition, students can transfer their transformed ideas (ideas transformed from scholarly language to level-appropriate language) to their friends which can facilitate their learning.

Yasin, I am curious to hear about some of the contemporary approaches towards teaching Math, a subject generally taught with more traditional methods. Regarding mathphobia, we also need to think about the culture that stimulates that.