Listen: The story of Izzy Dix in five podcasts - BBC Newsbeat Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: 10 Educational Web Tools That Support Inquiry-based Learning September , 2015 As a learning strategy, inquiry-based learning is all about learners constructing their own understanding and knowledge through asking questions. Unlike traditional learning methods that focus primarily on drills, memorization and rote learning, inquiry-based learning is essentially student-centered. It starts with posing questions and directly involves students in challenging hands-on activities that drive students to ask more questions and explore different learning paths. In today’s post, we have assembled a collection of some useful web tools and apps that support the ethos of inquiry-based learning. 1- VideoNotes VideoNotes is a free web tool that allows students to take notes on a video they are watching. Edpuzzle allows you to use only what you need from any video, insert audio notes or record over a video with your voice, and add questions at any point in the video .3- PixiClip This is by far the most popular of them all. 7- YouTube Video Editor 9- Prezi
How Gaming Impacts Childrens' Academic Achievements A new report published by the National Children's Bureau (NCB), a UK educational charity, has received extensive coverage in the media as clear evidence that video games are "bad" for children. The findings are less apocalyptic than what you might have read so far. The study's aim was to examine how young people’s use of computers and access to the Internet might impact final grades achieved in their GCSEs, a qualification that British students obtain at 16. The study was conducted in Northern Ireland on 611 students, as well as 41 parents and 18 teachers of the pupils. Students benefit from having a computer and being familiar with the software, the study confirms. The report goes on to analyze different aspects of information and communication technology. What the study did find, however, was that among those gamers who used a portable gaming console more than twice a day, only a small proportion (41%) achieved the highest grades.
Getting an Audience to Remember Your Presentation Lots of articles about giving good presentations focus on structure and style. Tips focus on the role of stories to get people interested in the material, the value of summaries at the end of talk, and the many facets of presentation performance – things like how you should stand and ways to use your hands and arms as you speak. At the foundation of any presentation, though, is a fundamental goal that is often overlooked in helping speakers to design their presentation: that the presentation change the audience in some way. To do this, you will almost always be trying to influence their memories, and so you need to be aware of how information gets into memory in order to create presentations that will have high impact. In most talks, you are trying to affect the explicit memory of your audience. Sometimes, you also want to encourage people to develop a skill. More commonly, though, you aim to change the explicit memory of your audience. 1. 2. 3.
10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12 | Cris Rowan The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology, 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010). Children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences (Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012). Handheld devices (cell phones, tablets, electronic games) have dramatically increased the accessibility and usage of technology, especially by very young children (Common Sense Media, 2013). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Problems - Suffer the Children - 4 minutesSolutions - Balanced Technology Management - 7 minutes The following Technology Use Guidelines for children and youth were developed by Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist and author of Virtual Child; Dr. Technology Use Guidelines for Children and Youth
What We Learn from Making What are the real benefits of a maker-centered approach to learning? It’s often described as a way to incubate STEM skills or drive technical innovation — and it is probably both of these. But as a new report from Project Zero’s Agency by Design concludes, the real value of maker education has more to do with building character than with building the next industrial revolution. In a white paper [PDF] marking the end of its second year, Agency by Design (AbD) finds that among the benefits that may accrue along the maker ed path, the most striking is the sense of inspiration that students take away — a budding understanding of themselves as actors in their community, empowered “to engage with and shape the designed dimensions of their worlds.” The report offers a glimpse of the emerging findings of AbD’s multiyear research initiative, exploring the promises, practices, and pedagogies of maker-centered learning. New Tools Students choose a system and ask: What are the parts of the system?
10 Points Where the Research Behind Banning Handheld Devices for Children Is Flawed | Lisa Nielsen You may have come across Cris Rowan's popular HuffPost piece explaining 10 reasons handheld devices should be banned for children under 12. You may also have read the rebuttal from a librarian mom who explains why she will continue to give her children handheld devices. While the pro-device author explains the benefits of handhelds, what she doesn't uncover is that the research cited by the original author doesn't support her claims. In fact, the research cited in the Rowan piece is so unsupportive of her claims, it seems possible that the real motive behind the article was to test the reader's gullibility. The research focuses mainly on passive television consumption and video games that are either simple or for mature audiences. Video games themselves come in many flavors, varieties and levels of complexity, a fact the article ignores. Tech savvy parents and educators know that all these things are good for young people. 1) American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 4) Boston College Study
24 Google Docs Templates that Will Make Your Life Easier Too much time can easily be wasted trying to format documents that have already been put together by someone else. If you use Google Docs, here are 24 time-saving templates that’ll let you get on with using the documents, rather than struggling with putting them together in the first place. The templates below have been split into four sections; work, health, home, and travel, so feel free to scroll to the section that’s most relevant to you. If you have any other Google Docs templates that you regularly use, please share these in the comments. Work Resumé Formatting resumes can be a real test of patience. Cover Letter This clean, minimalist template allows you to get straight to convincing your prospective employer to hire you, rather than wasting your time playing around with font sizes and formatting. Presentation This template does what it says on the tin, and can even be edited offline. Meeting Agenda Project Timeline Project Tracking Business Plan Invoicing Newspaper Health Weight Training Home
Making digital butterflies from old phones Is This Good? is a collective of digital creative artists, who devote their time to building weird and wonderful electronic contraptions. They have an abundance of technical and coding skills between them and work with circuit boards, Raspberry Pi computers, capacitors and soldering kits. But they also like to use the digital litter that people leave behind, like smart phones, Bluetooth sets and SIM cards. They first made birds from mobile phone scrap on a whim, which were later exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Their flock of digital birds is currently being expanded, ready for this summer's Digital Revolution exhibition at The Barbican in London. Creative Director Chris Cairns introduced BBC News to their digital animals. Video Journalist: Dougal Shaw Real Time is a series for the BBC News website in which ordinary people tell their own extraordinary stories.
Recruitment, Resumes, Interviews: How the Hiring Process Favors Elites As income inequality in the U.S. strikes historic highs, many people are starting to feel that the American dream is either dead or out of reach. Only 64 percent of Americans still believe that it’s possible to go from rags to riches, and, in another poll, 63 percent said they did not believe their children would be better off than they were. These days, the idea that anyone who works hard can become wealthy is at best a tough sell. This growth in inequality has also sparked a national fascination in the so-called 1 percent. Namely, who are they? And how much money does one need to be part of this elite group? So who gets those jobs and how do they do it? “Hiring is one of the most consequential status sorts that people face—not only are people's salaries on the line, but people's livelihoods are on the line,” says Rivera. I recently spoke with Rivera about her research. Bourree Lam: You spent a lot time with the gatekeepers of elite jobs. Rivera: It's an interesting situation.