http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS2PqTTxFFc
Related: Maker Education • StudentsThe Importance of Thinking In- and Out-of-the-Box How to encourage creativity in a tech-based environment. GUEST COLUMN | by Wendy Marshall How do you teach a student to be creative? It used to be that educators encouraged innovation by telling children to “think outside the box” via a “sky’s the limit” approach. 9 Strategies to improve your students thinking skills It is a common complaint that our students lack the ability to think for themselves. Maybe we should look at whether they have had the opportunity to learn thinking. We learn most things by observing with our senses, imitating what we have seen/heard and then modifying what we have learned to fit into our values, beliefs or abilities. The problem with thinking is that it is largely invisible.
great Thomas Friedman article For many politicians, “outsourcing” is a four-letter word because it involves jobs leaving “here” and going “there.” But for many C.E.O.’s, outsourcing is over. In today’s seamlessly connected world, there is no “out” and no “in” anymore. About PISA PISA is unique because it develops tests which are not directly linked to the school curriculum. The tests are designed to assess to what extent students at the end of compulsory education, can apply their knowledge to real-life situations and be equipped for full participation in society. The information collected through background questionnaires also provides context which can help analysts interpret the results. In addition, given PISA is an ongoing triennial survey, countries and economies participating in successive surveys can compare their students' performance over time and assess the impact of education policy decisions.
What skills will you need to succeed in the future? Top 10 skills for the successful 21st-century worker Energy and Calm: Brain Breaks and Focused-Attention Practices When presented with new material, standards, and complicated topics, we need to be focused and calm as we approach our assignments. We can use brain breaks and focused-attention practices to positively impact our emotional states and learning. They refocus our neural circuitry with either stimulating or quieting practices that generate increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, where problem solving and emotional regulation occur. Brain Breaks
Tony Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills “The idea that a company’s senior leaders have all the answers and can solve problems by themselves has gone completely by the wayside…The person who’s close to the work has to have strong analytic skills. You have to be rigorous: test your assumptions, don’t take things at face value, don’t go in with preconceived ideas that you’re trying to prove.” —Ellen Kumata, consultant to Fortune 200 companies “The biggest problem we have in the company as a whole is finding people capable of exerting leadership across the board…Our mantra is that you lead by influence, rather than authority.” 5 TED Talks to Support Innovation “Laura Devaney from eSchool News has 5 innovative TED Talks she wants you to look at—see them all at the links below in this article.” Every educator needs some inspiration now and then, and these days, such inspiration can be found online in just a few seconds. The internet brings inspiring and motivational speakers and experts to anyone with a connection and an internet-ready device. TED Talks are some of today’s most popular examples of the internet’s power to expand learning opportunities to all.
Change Magazine - September/October 2011 by Thayer E. Reed, Jason Levin and Geri H. Malandra The idea for this article came from Change editor Peg Miller, who heard a short description of what Kaplan University is doing to assess teaching and learning, including the recent completion of our work to “close the loop.” She asked if we would write an article that explains how we are able to take results from a regular program of course-level assessment, use them to inform curricular changes, and then measure the learning in those revised courses to determine whether and which changes made a difference. Our story answers some basic questions: Why was it important for Kaplan University to implement course-level assessment?
The Other 21st Century Skills Many have attempted to identify the skills important for a learner today in this era of the 21st century (I know it is an overused phrase). I have an affinity towards the skills identified by Tony Wagner: Critical thinking and problem-solvingCollaboration across networks and leading by influenceAgility and adaptabilityInitiative and entrepreneurialismEffective oral and written communicationAccessing and analyzing informationCuriosity and imagination Today I viewed a slideshow created by Gallup entitled, The Economics of Human Development: The Path to Winning Again in Education. Here are some slides from this presentation.
Strategies for Helping Students Motivate Themselves Editor's Note: This piece was adapted from Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners: Strategies to Help Students Thrive in School and Beyond by Larry Ferlazzo, available March 21, 2015 from Routledge. My previous post reviewed research on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and described the four qualities that have been identified as critical to helping students motivate themselves: autonomy, competence, relatedness, and relevance. In this post, I'll discuss practical classroom strategies to reinforce each of these four qualities. Autonomy Providing students with freedom of choice is one strategy for promoting learner autonomy.
Tony Wagner on Innovation Teaching and Learning | Feature Creating a Culture of Innovation In a world where knowledge is available with a few clicks of the mouse, colleges and universities must find new ways to give students the skills to succeed. Tony Wagner, innovation education fellow at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University (MA), is a frequent speaker on transforming education for the 21st century and consults widely to schools, districts, and foundations internationally.
4 Steps to Real Learning Infographic Teacher Infographics 4 Steps to Real Learning Infographic 4 Steps to Real Learning Infographic The 4 Steps to Real Learning Infographic presents 4 steps a teacher can do today to help make learning more real, along with practical strategies/suggestions for each: