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"What Makes a Great Teacher? Image credit: Veronika Lukasova Also in our Special Report: National: "How America Can Rise Again" Is the nation in terminal decline? Not necessarily. But securing the future will require fixing a system that has become a joke. Video: "One Nation, On Edge" James Fallows talks to Atlantic editor James Bennet about a uniquely American tradition-cycles of despair followed by triumphant rebirths. Interactive Graphic: "The State of the Union Is ..." ... thrifty, overextended, admired, twitchy, filthy, and clean: the nation in numbers. By Rachael Brown Chart: "The Happiness Index" Times were tough in 2009. But according to a cool Facebook app, people were happier. By Justin Miller On August 25, 2008, two little boys walked into public elementary schools in Southeast Washington, D.C. Both boys were African American fifth-graders. The previous spring, both had tested below grade level in math. One walked into Kimball Elementary School and climbed the stairs to Mr. William Taylor's math classroom, a tidy, powder-blue space in which neither the clocks nor most of the electrical outlets worked. The other walked into a very similar classroom a mile away at Plummer Elementary School. In both schools, more than 80 percent of the children received free or reduced-price lunches. At night, all the children went home to the same urban ecosystem, a zip code in which almost a quarter of the families lived below the poverty line and a police district in which somebody was murdered every week or so. Video: Four teachers in Four different classrooms demonstrate methods that work (Courtesy of Teach for America's video archive, available in February at teachingasleadership.org) At the end of the school year, both little boys took the same standardized test given at all D.C. public schools-not a perfect test of their learning, to be sure, but a relatively objective one (and, it's worth noting, not a very hard one). After a year in Mr. Taylo

"Blended Learning" is often used to define learning solutions that include parts of the content, or experiences, being delivered in different ways. Each may use different instructional methods more appropriate to each lesson or module of content. Whilst everyone seems to have their own view of what a blended solution looks like, most will agree that 21st century "courses" will contain lessons/modules that vary in their media selection, and mode of delivery." "Blended learning is not new. Long before the internet, and computer-based training, innovative teachers and designers of instruction have blended a variety of media, and methods, to present learners with a blended learning experience. However, today's use of the term speaks more to our history of migrating completely from the classroom to CBT, and learning from that experience. And finding a place where we all realize there will always be a place for ILT, and CBT, and all micro forms of learning in-between."

Infographic summarising learning trends. Research is indicating that complementing or replacing teacher-centred with student-centred learning offers improved learning. Lessons that are technology-enabled and offer learning strategies and learning guidance rather that memorization and repetition improves learning, supports knowledge retention, and raises achievement. These methods seem to encourage engagement and are a way to connect with all students whatever level they are at.

"Blended learning is the foremost trend in education. While millions of elementary through high school students are participating in blended learning, it is a method, not a goal. The How to Choose Digital Curricula for Blended Learning Infographic provides answers to ten crucial questions educators should ask themselves when selecting digital curricula for Blended Learning:"

Educators looking together at student work using structures and guidelines ("protocols") for reflecting on important questions about teaching and learning.">
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"Jon Bergmann talks with Vicki Davis (CoolCatTeacher) about flipped learning by which he means moving direct instruction to the individual space so the classroom space can be freed up for collaborative projects. Listen now to find out more about this pedagogical method."

This resource aims to help those making decisions about their use of freely available 'Web 2.0' interactive and collaborate e-learning tools. Each product, site or service described in these pages can be searched or browsed by a specific Activity or the usability/accessibility checks that it passed. The applications have short descriptions and comments regarding their ease of use and functionality. If you are involved in teaching and learning and are wanting to make more use of Web 2.0 services in your e-learning activities, or if you are interested in how Web 2.0 can supplement your existing methods, this section may be useful to you.

There is little interest in understanding the pedagogical foundation of higher education as a deeply civic and political project that provides the conditions for individual autonomy and takes liberation and the practice of freedom as a collective goal

The debate over the most effective method of instruction continues as ever and where one stands on the topic is largely influenced by the purposes one attaches to education. Analysing a series of research articles reveals the nature of the debate between advocates of direct instruction compared to those who support a problem based learning methodology.

Constructivism is one of those ideas we throw around in educational circles without stopping to think about what we mean by it. They are the terms that have multiple meanings, are at once highly technical and common usage and are likely to cause debate and disagreements. Constructivism in particular carries a quantity of baggage with it. It is a term that is appropriated by supporters of educational approaches that are in stark contrast to the opposing view; constructivism vs didactic methods or direct instruction. The question is what are the origins of constructivism and does a belief in this as an approach to understanding learning necessitate an abandonment of direct instruction or is this a false dichotomy?

An extended interview with James Gee. The video is from the PBS Documentary Digital Media - New Learners Of The 21st Century.

Technology in education shouldn't only be about changing methods of communicating knowledge - whether via an interactive whiteboard, a wireless netbook or a smartphone being illicitly used at the back of a class. It should also be about changing knowledge itself. ... This lecture will draw on nearly three decades of research that has focused on technology and knowledge, and draw some conclusions for learning and teaching in the 21st century.

"Get your hashtags ready: Twitter is a far more effective source of CPD than more traditional approaches, research has found. Indeed, teachers believe they derive more from the 140 characters of a tweet than they do from several hours of seminars or lectures. Academics from two US universities surveyed 755 members of school staff about Twitter. They found that the most popular use of the social media website was for CPD, with many praising Twitter's advantages over more traditional methods. Twitter, many teachers told researchers, allowed them to create a virtual staffroom, filled entirely with their own choice of colleagues. Indeed, a middle school English teacher explained: "I have learned so much from other teachers. It has transformed my teaching. And this is my 18th year [in the profession].""

A post from Alma Harris, Yong Zhao and Michelle Jones on the importance of developing contextual solutions. A reminder why things like IOI Process and the Modern Learning Canvas are so important as they offer a method for developing unique solutions.

"ur Best Practices in Virtual Worlds Teaching Guide produced by University of Derby and Aston University in collaboration and funding from the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network and JISC is now available in soft and hard copy. The guide features tips and advice on setting up teaching in virtual worlds using problem-based learning methods. It's designed primarily for those teaching Psychology, humanities and the social sciences but will be useful to anyone starting out teaching using virtual worlds. "

Traditional methods of teaching maths have more in common with how we programme a computer that what we might do if we wanted to engage our students in mathematical thinking. We shouldn't be overly surprised then when our students consider mathematics to be all about learning a set of rules that they need to apply in the right order so as to output the correct response. But is there a better way?

Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works better than a number of other studying techniques.

Ask any teacher what they wish they had more of and the most common answer is likely to be time. Schools are inherently busy places and there is always much to be done. We all want to meet the needs of every student, add value to their education with breadth and depth, ensure adequate coverage of the curriculum and include aspects of play and discovery. Add up all that is done in a day over and above face-to-face teaching and you can only wonder at how we manage to fit it all into the time we have. So is there an answer to this dilemma, is there a secret method to finding more time in our schedules to achieve all that we want to?

"A summery about the report that offers a guide that provides references to research supporting the teaching methods used in flipped classrooms and includes three case studies focusing on flipped classrooms in action at the high school and college level." Links to the full report