Matthew Peterson on The Neural Basis of Learning
Matthew Peterson, MIND Research Institute, suggests that educators should create learning environments with more hypothesis-driven learning. This strategy is built into a special temporal game-based approach called ST Math. In school districts with district-wide adoption and high levels of participation, ST Math has helped double math proficiency.
Staff Picks: Higher Ed, Digital Learning, Math Education, SmartTech
Karen Picks “Changing the Economics of Higher Education” Karen says, “I’m a big believer in higher education, having served on a community college board, and we have quite a few college degrees in our family, but both of my children obtained their degrees with alternative/combination high school-college…
Innovation & Execution: A Colorado Springs Case Study
We need schools that work differently and better. By differently I mean schools that embrace the shift to personal digital learning: collaborative data-driven teams of educators, high access environments, engaging and adaptive content, and student progress based on demonstrated competency. By better I mean consistently high levels of execution—what…
Education Leaders Talk Blended Learning & STEM at Edtech Symposium
Tom Vander Ark kicked off the MIND Research Institute's annual symposium, Learning Without Boundaries, with in-depth discussion around blended learning and the ways that we can invent the future of learning. Education leaders shared their hopes and concerns this morning. Many expressed hopes to improve student learning responsibility, increase quality learning time, and extend the school the day with blended learning and education technology.
Education Leaders Meet for MIND Research Institute’s Annual Symposium
More than 350 administrators, teachers and philanthropists will join MIND Research Institute, a neuroscience and research-based education non-profit, for its 8th Annual Symposium, Learning Without Boundaries, at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach, Calif. today.
Extreme “Make” Over Computer Lab Edition!
Lately, with all this focus on mobile learning, the computer lab has been getting a bad rap - labeled as a place where students sit disconnected from each other, learning how to type or create PowerPoint presentations. That method of using technology is already outdated and, frankly, boring. But, the reality is, most schools have a computer lab and I’m not sure we want to throw them out just yet! They’re not (all) bad places. They are just not always being used effectively.
From LMS to Learning Ecosystems
EdWeek’s Ian Quillen reviewed a Don McIntosh report on the learning management systems (LMS) market. Adaptive content, social learning, smart engines, lots of open content, and an explosion of mobile apps are expanding aspirations. The RttT states have proposals out for instructional improvement systems that ask for ecosystem like capabilities; that and the shift to online assessments that will take place in most states in 25 months will accelerate ecosystem development.
4 Ways Flipping Forces Fundamental Change
I generally like the idea of turning things upside-down if only to see what happens as a result. I suppose I learned the merits of flipping first-hand, having once taken the wacky (and effective) advice to stand on my head when I couldn’t sleep – yes, by a yoga teacher, and yes, it worked. I mean, whoever had the idea of flipping tomato plants to get those crazy hanging vines was a genius in my book.
North Carolina Blocks Online Public Charter
Parents in the State of North Carolina want a new, online public charter school, North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA), that would expand school choice options and individualized instruction for students. The school received preliminary approval to operate under the Cabarrus County Board of Education. Yet, the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA), State Board of Education (SBE) and 60 school districts are trying to block it. What went wrong?
No Enclosures: Creating the Environment for Summer Learning
As I sat staring at my son's chicken coop plans that morning and wondering how to make his dream a reality in a covenanted subdivision, I was reminded of a recurring educational topic of discussion this month: "How do we continue students' learning through the summer break?" I was quickly reminded of a tweet quoting Lao Tzu that said, "To lead the people, walk behind them."