Learning Sciences

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.

Here is an interesting research study looking at expert and novice performance with eye tracking technique. 

It`s a short introduction of how teacher education is treated in Finland.it talks about the classroom environment they create, the goal of teacher education and the inservice training they provide after teachers get their Masters degree.

The compulsory and voluntary intense in-service trainings for all grade teacher as in Japan and Korea, is very critical I think. These training are very well structured focusing on different topics such as educational philosophies, relationships with parents or different instructional methods.

I agree with Canan. Because I know that Shanghai-China is the first country according to latest PISA results. Also, Shanghai's population is over 14,5 million. With this population they can have high achievement level in an international exam. I think the success is not related to population. This is only related to educational policies. Especially teachers quality have huge impact on countries success in such exams. Educational policies on teacher candidates' selection and education should be revised as soon as possible. As turkish idiom said: "Az olsun ve öz olsun-less number- higher quality"(I'm not sure about the translation, can English teacher friends help me that point?.). Goverment should select teacher as many as the country need.

What is the place of 'talent' in the topic of expertise ? Even The making of an expert says that in addition to talent of Mozart he has a father,skilled composer, facilitating him which makes Mozart: Mozart. Then the question comes, innate talent does really need an 10000 hours to become an expert or can ordinary people be an expert with 20 hours!

The first robot teacher was tested in Tokyo in 2009 to sixth and seventh graders. The robot teacher can express six basic emotions - happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, sadness and anger. As I know a French company has developed a robot teacher, too.

To admit, yes it is an impressive way. However, I got stuck when it was said that robots could replace teachers in case of teacher shortage. It can be used as a tool for teaching-learning but it can not be treated as a teacher in real terms.

I think this is too much technological, where is the interaction? I totally agree with Yelda and Sinem in that a robot teacher cannot provide the effective class environment and fulfill teaching. The communication is really important in learning process, with a robot teacher this is impossible.

He directs the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His group develops new technologies to engage people (particularly children) in creative learning experiences. He received the McGraw Prize in Education for 2011.

It's an interesting article about Learning Management Systems from George Siemens originator of Connectivism Theory.

This is the website for The International Baccalaureate (IB) program that I mentioned in the class. It is a recognized leader in the field of international education, encouraging students to be active learners, well-rounded individuals and engaged world citizens. The organization offers to schools three programmes: the Diploma Programme, the Middle Years Programme and the Primary Years Programme. It is applied in some of the private colleges such as Eyuboğlu Schools that I have worked in, İstek Schools and Enka Schools from Istanbul.

What we learn from our siblings when we grow up has -- for better or for worse -- a considerable influence on our social and emotional development as adults, according to an expert in sibling, parent-child and peer relationships at the University of Illinois.

In the previous class, I mentioned the facilities of MODSIMMER, where our offices take place. In the link, you can check the electronic facilities that you can use in your research projects. Some of the facilities such as Kablosuz Algılayıcı Ağı, Optik İşlevsel Beyin Görüntüleme Cihazı, İnsan Uyarım Sistemi seem to be used in projects related to learning. Everyone running a research project can use any facility by getting permission.

Research finding on Flipped Classrooms. Connected to some of the reading reflections this week on technology.

This classes can have no effect on students learning, in a short term. For me, a study should measure the long term effect of the flipped classroom. This point can be missed. there is need for not only summative but also confirmative evaluation.

As a language teacher, I've felt really interested in such a change in the instructional process. I always need more time for activities and hands-on experiences; however, I fail to have. I think if the initial preparations are well-organized and students are provided with effective support, flipped classrooms idea may work better than the traditional classes. Therefore, I disagree with the researchers who have found no significant difference in learning. One research may not set a good example for a generalization.

Here is the Scribner and Cole (1973) article mentioned in Chapter 2 on informal learning. Worth to read.

"...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.