Learning & Technology News

ESSIE aims to benchmark progress in ICT availability and use in 31 countries (the 27 countries of the European Union, plus Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Turkey). Some 1 200 primary and secondary schools have been selected in each country and head teachers of these schools should expect emails about the survey in their in-box this month.

 

Topics were chosen for interest to children, by relevance to the National Curriculum and including much of the very best of Wikipedia. The selection is vast, and covers core subjects but does not try to be uniformly detailed: for example it has more depth on Llandudno, which is featured in the curriculum, than other similar places.

Articles were chosen from a list ranked by importance and quality generated by project members. This list of articles was then manually sorted for relevance to children, and adult topics were removed.

People remember things better, longer, if they are given very challenging tests on the material, tests at which they are bound to fail. In a series of experiments, they showed that if students make an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve information before receiving an answer, they remember the information better than in a control condition in which they simply study the information. Trying and failing to retrieve the answer is actually helpful to learning. It’s an idea that has obvious applications for education, but could be useful for anyone who is trying to learn new material of any kind.

In the VELscience project, a series of six modules that immerse middle school students in virtual environments for learning (VELs), are being developed. Students take on the role of a scientist engaged in a complex task. The virtual settings presented in the VELs support students in designing and carrying out their own investigations. Students use virtual scientific instruments that resemble those used by scientists in the real world, but scaled to suit their age level.

The theme of 24th edition of the efl/esl/ell blog carnival is Warmers, Fillers and 1st Week Activities. As in some parts of the world we are excited to meet our new students, I’m hoping that we will have some different activities to start the year other than the ones we love to use and This will be great because some people will also use our favourites.

This paper defines and examines three generations of distance education pedagogy. Unlike earlier classifications of distance education based on the technology used, this analysis focuses on the pedagogy that defines the learning experiences encapsulated in the learning design. The three generations of cognitive-behaviourist, social constructivist, and connectivist pedagogy are examined, using the familiar community of inquiry model

Use this kit to stop cyberbullies in their tracks. It has the materials you need to show students how to stand up when they see digital harassment happening and to help you create a positive school culture where kids can thrive – both online and off.

I hope you have found something interesting here and this article makes you think a little more about how you deliver teacher training in general as the use of these tools isn't just restricted to tech training. They could be integrated into the delivery of any language or teacher training course and to some extent I feel that until tech tools are integrated into mainstream teacher training we aren't going to get the quality and quantity of digitally literate teachers that we need to really provide a 21st century learning environment for our students.

if devices are an extension of one’s self, and these devices are increasingly integrated with the physical world, it follows that technology is a gateway to expanding our own experiences with and confidence in the world at large. Technology is no longer an end in itself – instead, it becomes a path to more meaningful experiences with our surroundings. Kids are naturally intuiting this, and we as adults are following closely behind.

We’ve become so dependent on the test to tell us about our students that we know less and less about who they really are. And without really knowing them, how can we help them reach their individual potentials?

Supplying mobile learning devices to every student can lead to better engagement and true anytime, anywhere learning—but schools should plan carefully to address the need for maintenance and other related costs, as the experience of one New Mexico...

Many teachers, trainers, and presenters have been resisting the use of mobile devices during their sessions. To quote a famous Star Trek line, "Resistance is futile." The influx of smart phones is only going to continue, so resistance only delays the inevitable. It is also shortsighted, as the usage of mobile devices during sessions is not a risk at all; it is an opportunity.

Projects and activities are the keys to a better understanding of PBL. They are no longer tasks that students need to finish after a traditionally-taught unit but rather a set of learning experiences and tasks that guide students in inquiry toward answering a central question, solving a problem, or meeting a challenge. Research has clearly proved that projects that are well-designed and based on students experiences  improves students motivation to learn, help them see how school connects to the outside world by making learning relevant and meaningful, and promotes greater civic participation and global awareness.