Big Thinkers: Judy Willis on the Science of Learning Judy Willis: Hi, I'm Judy Willis and I am a neurologist. I've been a neurologist for 15 years and after the 15 years my patient practice really changed. I started getting so many referrals for kids whose teachers thought they had ADD, obsessive compulsive disorder, staring spells, seizures petit mal epilepsy, and the increase was huge and yet the kids had no greater incidence of it. And I saw the notes were coming from the school so I visited the schools. The problem was that the way they were being taught was lectured. There's a part of the brain that is an emotional filter. So if a person is in a state of stress, the amygdala gets highly active. So we need to keep that switching station in a state of low stress. So if there is something new in the classroom, a new picture, a great bulletin board, something that's interesting, something that captures their curiosity. So how do you get students to focus their attention? The other one I'll use is color. What else does a videogame do?
Situating Connectivism This page originally authored by Tim Ireland (2007) Questions about connectivism abound. “What is it?” Proponents’ Placement The title of the 2004 propositional paper by George Siemens,Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, clearly indicates where Siemens wants connectivism situated; that is, he wants it to keep company with other prominent learning theories. Conversely, by recognizing the importance of connections between knowledge entities (nodes) instead of the entities themselves, connectivism provides a flexible model that can expand and contract as the nodes expand and contract. Support for Siemens’ propositions comes from fellow Canadian Stephen Downes (2005), who cites Siemens' notions of connections and pattern recognition as vital aids that learners need in order to make sense out of the chaos that tends to hide knowledge and meaning. Critics’ Placement In his article—Connectivism: a new learning theory? What is a Learning Theory? Ongoing Dialogue Application
7 Speed Reading Tricks by a Former Book-Hater I was never a big fan of reading… I blame it on the education system, of course. (Well, it can’t be my fault, can it?) You see, it’s difficult to enjoy reading when every book your teacher throws at you is of no interest to you whatsoever. Then I finished school and went my own path. It is obvious that there are only so many hours in a day, so if I want to be able to read more I have to learn to read faster. 1. This is the thing that really slows us down. 2. The idea is simple. 3. This may sound obvious but it’s worth mentioning here. 4. Here’s what you do: start reading each line on the third word, and end each line on the third word from the end. As an example consider such a line of text: “Marry had a little lamb but she ate it for supper.” The words in bold indicate the focus points. 5. The easiest way of doing this is to read from a bigger distance (like 2ft). 6. This is a very common problem. 7. Start reading too fast to be able to comprehend everything comfortably.
Education 3.0: Students as Connectors, Creators, & Constructivists The way that users have utilized the Internet has changed since its inception. References to Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 allude to an evolved relationship with online information and interactivity. Web 1.0 refers to a primitive Internet that did nothing more than connect the world with information assembled and published by a select group of experts. Web 2.0 is an iteration of this which provides us with the opportunity to interact with the Internet and even create our own content to share with others. Like the Internet, our education system has experienced its own paradigm shifts throughout history as the needs of society have changed. Education 1.0 embodies an approach to learning where meaning is dictated and pre-determined curriculum is taught by the teacher to his or her students with a focus on rote memorization. Education 2.0 adapted the previous model to become one where meaning is socially constructed and the teacher is no longer viewed as the sole dispenser of valuable knowledge.
Pourquoi le Mindmapping est-il si efficace pour étudier ? Pourquoi dit-on que le Mindmapping peut aider les étudiants ? Est-ce vraiment si efficace ? Et si oui, pourquoi ? La vue : le sens dominant d’une majorité de personnes Une étude de Linda Kreger Silverman, Docteur en psychologie de l’Université du Colorado, menée sur 750 élèves, a démontré qu’environ 30% d’entre eux utilisaient fortement le canal visuel-spatial, 25 % d’entre eux utilisaient principalement le canal auditif-séquentiel, et 45% utilisent les deux ensemble. Ce qui veut dire que l’enseignement actuel, basé principalement sur les mots, répond vraiment aux besoins de 25% de la population scolaire! Répartition des canaux sensoriels dominants Une méthode qui sollicite tous nos sens ! Le Mindmapping est une des rares méthodes qui réconcilient nos deux hémisphères cérébraux et qui sollicitent autant de sens en même temps : avec sa structure en arbre, ses couleurs, ses images, sa disposition spatiale encourage l’utilisation du canal visuel-spatial. Réconciliez la synthèse et l’analyse
What schools need: Vigor instead of rigor - The Answer Sheet This was written by Joanne Yatvin, a veteran public school educator, author and past president of the National Council of Teachers of English. She is now teaching part-time at Portland State University. A version of this was originally published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. By Joanne Yatvin Though my years in the classroom are long past, at heart I am still a cranky old English teacher who bristles at some of the neologisms that have crept into public language. Even so, I remain politely quiet when others commit such grammatical transgressions. Part of my reaction is emotional, having so often heard “rigor” paired with “mortis.” Now, more than ever, “rigor” is being used to promote the idea that American students need advanced course work, complex texts, stricter grading, and longer school days and years in order to be ready for college or the workplace. Since I believe it is time for a better word and a better concept to drive American education, I recommend “vigor.”
7 Ways to Combat Your Own Cognitive Dissonance “Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against the core belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. In a world where disconnection is rampant dissociation, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to navigate the unhealthy waters, and even more difficult to discover healthier waters. As it stands, cognitive dissonance is a formidable adversary. 1. “If you understand everything, you must be misinformed.” Answers are for laymen. The first step toward gaining wisdom: question everything; the second step: question the answers. Paulo Coelho said it succinctly, “A wise person is full of questions. 2. “Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” Here’s the thing: human beings are absurdly insecure animals. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. “Ever tried. About the Author
Strategies Quick Learners Use To Pick Up Anything Note: "Types of Creative Thinking" This article doesn’t focus on ePortfolios but rather this woman’s approach to creativity and how/why creative thinking is important for students to practice: Convergence and divergence – two necessary types of thinking for being creative: Partly because it is tied to the profitability in business, a great deal of effort has been put forth in defining creative problem-solving and in training folks in how to do it. In this genre one of the more common definitions of creativity has to do with dissecting creative thought into a process of dual exchanges through the melding of two types of thinking — convergence and divergence. Definitions of divergent thinking usually include the ability to elaborate, and think of diverse and original ideas with fluency and speed. Unfortunately, too often the processes involved in schooling concentrate on convergent thought, and ignore or undervalue divergent thinking.
Finding Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Summary Being in a state of flow is when you’re fully immersed in a specific task with a seemingly inexhaustible amount of focus. Five hours may zip by and you hardly even notice. I’ve experienced flow on many occasions, such as when I get “in the zone” and program for 8 hours straight, or when I get consumed reading about a topic I find particularly interesting for a solid day. In an effort to read up more about flow—primarily the pros and cons, and how to achieve states of flow more often—I read Finding Flow by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (apparently it’s pronounced “chicks-send-me-high”), who first proposed the whole idea. What follows in this post are my rough book notes. Chapter 1 – The Structures of Everyday Life Psychic energy: mental awareness/attention/focus; a limited resource. Work, maintenance, and leisure take up most of our psychic energy. Chapter 2 – The Content of Experience All emotions are essentially either positive/attractive or negative/repulsive. Work vs leisure vs maintenance tasks.