"Flow is when tasks seem effortless, challenging, and rewarding - all at the same time."

I think it was a supportive program because in the report it was stated that the Cognitive Tutor Algebra I curriculum consisted of classroom instruction, software sessions, and text. However, the information provided in the report is not sufficient to make an evaluation of the program, other variables might have influenced the results.

"The purpose of the Discovery Retreat is to promote environmentalism through the practice of contextual teaching and learning among teachers and their sutdents. It is our practical and philosophic belief that teachers can play an important role in the preservatin of our environment." "The Discovery Retreat is a program within the Department of Workforce Education, Leadership, and Social Foundations, which ranked 4th in the nation by the U.S. News and World Report. The Department of Workforce Education, Leadership, and Social Foundations is also recognized nationally and internationally for its work in the development of contextual teaching and learning theories and practices in teacher education."

This video presents a review of James Paul Gee's book: Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. James Paul Gee. "James Gee is a researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy. Gee is currently the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University, appointed there in the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education. Gee is a faculty affiliate of the Games, Learning, and Society group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a member of the National Academy of Education."

David Gerhard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and an associate member in the Department of Music at the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan. He introduces his musical creation called the Rainboard. With it, he asks if we can shortcut the path to musical mastery.

"...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..."

"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

I want to introduce Sir Ken Rabinson who is a British author, speaker, and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education, and arts bodies. He was Director of The Arts in Schools Project (1985-89), Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick (1989-2001), and was knighted in 2003 for services to education. Here are interesting TED talks from Prof. Rabinson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

The video presents the reason why students cannot be engaged in the activities at school while they are very active in their daily life. The educators should be aware of that new generation has different interests and learning habits.If our aim is motivating the students to ensure their active participation we need to address their interests and learning styles.

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...

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:)

I agree with you Sermin, use of technology is considered as a must for effective instruction by most of the teachers nowadays. However, in some cases using traditional methods and techniques can be more feasible, cost-effective and practical.