iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

"Research on effective learning reveals that an awful lot of what goes on in the classroom simply doesn’t matter. There are many pointless activities that take up valuable time in the name of engagement, merely demonstrating progress as opposed to actually making progress. Often, these approaches not only have limited impact on student learning but can have a hugely detrimental impact on teacher workload and wellbeing.

There is significant evidence to suggest that teachers should prune back what they do and focus on a more streamlined approach in the classroom. So it’s less about spending hours cutting things up and putting them in envelopes, and more about creating conditions in which students can gain long-lasting knowledge that can be applied in a range of situations. The following six principles are a distillation of key research on what really matters in the classroom."