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Katrina A. Meyer
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership
University of North Dakota
katrina_meyer@und.nodak.edu
Abstract
This article presents information drawn from research on brain processes that impact perception, memory, learning, and understandings about the world. This information is related to the use of interactive video and the Web in distance education through a discussion of how best to enhance learning - or mitigate problems caused - through the use of these technologies.
"Imagine renting a car in the United Kingdom. Though you may be an experienced driver on American soil, making the switch to the “wrong” side of the road can be a bit of a challenge. You have to remain vigilant and pay close attention to the new rules, as well as inhibit your automatic tendency to want to drive on the right. Chances are, you will also make a few mistakes at first or as you grow tired.Common wisdom holds that we learn best from our mistakes. But researchers at Michigan State University have published a new study that suggests something more is needed: We must be conscious of our mistakes to reap the benefits of improved performance."
Via Maggie Rouman
This article explains how Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) science combines perspectives from neuroscience, psychology and pedagogy that contribute to a better understanding of how humans learn, and consequently, how we should teach.
Similar to other evolutionary processes, MBE science drew from the dominant “genes” of its parents to produce a better-adapted being. That is, rather than including anything and everything that falls under the labels of education, neuroscience, and psychology as a whole, MBE science is a careful selection of only the best information that can inform the new science of teaching and learning.
Our brains are superlatively evolved to adapt to our environment: a process known as neuroplasticity. The connections between our brain cells will be shaped, strengthened and refined by our individual experiences
TED Talk Tag brain...
TED does it again. Here's link to a dozen videos tagged: brain
Happy viewing!
We still have a long way to go in understanding the science of learning, but neuroscience is already changing the classroom of today for the better.
Having several tabs open at once on your computer may make you feel like you're getting more done, but multi-tasking can actually hinder more than it helps.
Via Gust MEES
The Charlie Rose Brain Series (videos) explores one of sciences final frontiers, the study of the human brain. Charlie interviews the most knowledgeable scientists and researchers in hopes of illuminating a new topic of study. Each monthly episode examine different subjects of the brain, including perception, social interaction, aging and creativity. Dr. Eric Kandel joins Charlie. He is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist and professor at Columbia University. He’s also affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Episodes: Episode 1 - The Great Mysteries of the Human Brain Episode 2 - The Perceiving Brain Episode 3 - The Acting Brain Episode 4 - The Social Brain Episode 5 - The Developing Brain Episode 6 - The Aging Brain Episode 7 - The Emotional and Vulnerable Brain Episode 8 - The Anxious Brain Episode 9 - The Mentally Ill Brain Episode 10 - The Disordered Brain Episode 11 - The Deciding Brain Episode 12 - The Creative Brain Episode 13 - Highlights from the Series sponsored by Simons Foundation
Via Maggie Rouman
You don't need a psychiatrist to tell you that the world has gone crazy over Facebook. The incredible hype over this month’s public offering showed us that as did the over 900 million people using Facebook at least monthly. Here’s a quick look at some brain chemistry to help explain why.
Some say that inside information is the fuel that drives Wall Street. Well, the inside dope on Facebook is dopamine, an organic chemical released in the brain and associated with pleasurable feelings.
Via Maggie Rouman
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) researchers have discovered rules that relate the genes that a neuron switches on and off to the shape of...
Ray Kurzweil wants to remind us of the major pros and cons of ubiquitous online access and how it's shaping our brains. This article is featured on the website Kurzweil AI. posted by Ian Jukes
Apr 2, 2012
Our brains are filled with billions of neurons, entangled like a dense canopy of tropical forest branches. When we think of a concept or a memory — or have a perception or feeling — our brain's neurons quickly fire and talk to each other across connections called synapses.
A learning trump card is one that reigns over more established education practices. When one strategy trumps another, it means that it is a better way of learning.
Via Maggie Rouman
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Abreena Tompkins, instruction specialist at Surry Community College, has developed a brain-based online course design model based on a meta-analysis of more than 300 articles. In this study, she distilled the following elements of brain-based course design: - Low-risk, nonthreatening learning environment
- Challenging, real-life, authentic assessments
- Rhythms, patterns, and cycles
- Appropriate chunking or grouping
- Learning as orchestration rather than lecture or facilitation
- Appropriate level of novelty
- Appropriately timed breaks and learning periods
- Purposeful assessments
- Learning that addresses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners
- Active processing with mental models
- The use of universal examples, analogies, and parallel processing
When children learn to play a musical instrument, they strengthen a range of auditory skills. Recent studies suggest that these benefits extend all through life.
But a study published last month is the first to show that music lessons in childhood may lead to changes in the brain that persist years after the lessons stop.
An unprecedented research project in one Virginia community, the Roanoke Brain Study, uses a variety of games to explore how interactions and other factors shape our brains and decisions.
Check out this interactive to see what insights researchers can learn from these four behavioral games.
Via Maggie Rouman
"Do you recall some of your college professors who knew their subject matter but had zero teaching skills? Staying awake in their one-way-directed lecture classes required Herculean strength (or lots of coffee). They were never trained to develop the skillset of engagement strategies.
Even though I was a physician with a strong science background, when I decided to become a classroom teacher (and thought I'd teach science), I did not want to make that career change without the benefit of instruction and guided student teaching. The year I spent in my graduate school of education program was invaluable in my transition to becoming a professional educator."
Via Maggie Rouman
Now available in paperback, "Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform The Way We Live, Work, and Learn," is essential reading for anyone interested in the way human attention and human-created media are co-evolving. -- Howard
Via Howard Rheingold
Imagine it's the year 2032. You are a high school student. You are at a center where a visual scanner confirms your identity so you can enter a room where you are about to receive a brain scan. A...
Now researchers from around the world are organising the first international conference dedicated to “Harnessing collective intelligence with games“, to be held in September this year in Germany. The conference is aimed at ...
Via Spaceweaver, Frederic Emam-Zade Gerardino
Insights drawn from neuroscience not only provide educators with a scientific basis for understanding some of the best practices in teaching, but also offer a new lens through which to look at the problems teachers grapple with every day.
Via Susan Bainbridge, Dr. Richard NeSmith
"Design is powerful because of the way our brain processes visuals. We might think of vision working by our eyes pulling in images and projecting them in the back of our mind. If this were the case then there would no be design or art. There are in fact 30 areas in the back of your brain that process different aspects of the image. The various vision processing areas of the brain are individually recreating the design. So, in a way, the viewer is also an artist. In reality, design and art stimulate the mind more than a realistic image would do. Which is why it affects us differently." "In this article we look at some principles that make the aesthetics of design attractive to people, and explanations on why they do. The more you become conscious of how design works the better you are able to communicate and judge design decisions." Full article: http://designinformer.smashingmagazine.com/2010/08/10/designing-mind/ (Curated by Robin Good)
Via Robin Good
Welcome to your Wondermind
Wondermind is about a few things. It’s about the brilliant, amazing and truly mind-boggling stuff that’s going on inside your brain as you grow. It’s about the art of Alice in Wonderland, the exhibition at Tate Liverpool. And it’s about putting together both of those things: mixing art with science. Being good at one doesn’t mean you can’t be good at the other (in fact, it’s often the opposite).
Via Donna Browne
Cognitive scientists define emotions as powerful, usually short-lived experiences that are a reaction to a specific stimulus. As part of the human evolutionary legacy, emotions arise from a rapid appraisal of an object or event’s significance in order to prepare us for action—similar to an alert system.
Emotions not only increase our general awareness and help us adapt to changes in an unpredictable environment, but they also
===> facilitate social communication and interaction. <=== That’s because we read the emotions of others through their facial expressions, bodily postures, gestures and tone of voice.
Via juandoming, Gust MEES
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An interesting overall look at the state of data journalism on varying scales, as explored through the examination of case studies, resources and applications.
Of particular interest is the role of open data in generating content, and how that may affect the future of data visualization.
Still, the numerous online links provided within the article offer a substantial number of references on a broad range of topics that pertain to data journalism and visualization.