EU Kids Online - EU Kids Online - Research - Department of Media and Communications. EU Kids Online is a multinational research network. It seeks to enhance knowledge of European children's online opportunities, risks and safety. It uses multiple methods to map children's and parents' experience of the internet, in dialogue with national and European policy stakeholders. It has been funded by the EC’s Better Internet for Kids programme.
New: O'Neil, B (2017) Toddlers and tech: Policy implications for families and parenting in the information age, Digitising Early Childhood International Conference, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 11-15 September. For our main findings, click the interactive report below For recent updates, click news and reports links on the right. What Kids Should Know About Their Own Brains. Getty Neuroscience may seem like an advanced subject of study, perhaps best reserved for college or even graduate school. Two researchers from Temple University in Philadelphia propose that it be taught earlier, however—much earlier. As in first grade. In a study published in this month’s issue of the journal Early Education and Development, psychologists Peter Marshall and Christina Comalli began by surveying children aged four to 13 to discover what they already knew about the brain.
Marshall and Comalli’s questionnaire turned up the same uncertain grasp of the topic, which the researchers attributed to several factors. A 20-minute lesson about the brain was enough to improve knowledge of brain functioning. To that end, they designed a 20-minute lesson about the brain and delivered it to a group of first-grade students. But the success of their effort opens another possibility. Models for thinking: Possible Lines Of Development (PLODS) What makes great teachers great? How can we tap into this and make it scalable? In my current role as a teacher educator such questions are key. I am convinced that standardising planning and practice is not the way forward with this. What makes great teachers is great thinking.
In this series of posts I am sharing some models for thinking; models which codify the thinking that great teachers use, so that we might scale great practice from the ground up. Possible Lines Of Development (PLODS) When I was taught how to teach, everything was based around a basic mode; the three part lesson. The basic model for such policy as the ‘Literacy and Numeracy hours’ and later the ‘Primary National Strategy’ in the UK, the three part lesson is a standard that has come to dominate thinking around planning lessons in many UK schools.
The problem with this model is that it can lead to regularly following a transmission model of teaching. Related posts: Is Zero-Tolerance a Form of Discrimination? | Not Just CuteNot Just Cute. I attended a staff meeting recently where we discussed the prevalent zero-tolerance policies in schools today, and the trickle down effect it has on preschools. We had read some interesting articles in advance (which you can find here, here, and here) and used those as a springboard to talk about the variety of policies schools implement to address difficult behaviors. These articles compared the popular zero-tolerance policies which lead to suspensions and expulsions on first offenses, to other (highly effective) programs that work to teach, incentivize, and expect positive behaviors. One seemed to be a reactive approach, the other more proactive.
While the articles primarily addressed the older grades, their application to preschool was easy. The most recent statistic I’m aware of lists preschool expulsions at a rate THREE times higher than that for grades K-12. Zero-Tolerance I think I get the idea behind zero-tolerance policies. Labeling and Discrimination What are your thoughts? Teaching Toddlers Who Are Learning Language | Don Winn's Cardboard Box Adventures. We have become a nation of “parkers.” What’s a parker? We park in front of the television or we park in front of the computer screen and as a consequence, we have greatly reduced our interactions with each other.
Even young children can become parkers early in life because parents are tired, busy, distracted, maybe working more than one job, and also dealing with their own issues. Often the path of least resistance for many families is to park the kids in front of the television or in front of the computer screen as a way of keeping them busy, entertained, and safe. The good news is that there is more educational programming available than ever before. But do educational venues on TV have the same language teaching value for a young child as personal interaction with parents? A study released September 24, 2013, from the University of Washington, Temple University, and the University of Delaware, shows that the answer is a definitive no. What made the difference? Like this: Like Loading...