College Beyond Grades Getting good grades in college is not as important as developing a creative, integrated and lifelong learning style, writes Ken Bain, a university administrator and professor, in What the Best College Students Do, which will be published next month by Harvard University Press. Bain, who is provost, vice president for academic affairs, and a professor of history and urban education at the University of the District of Columbia, says the book looks at about 30 college graduates from all kinds of institutions -- community colleges, liberal arts colleges and big research universities -- who exhibited a lot of creativity and productivity in their post-college lives. In the book, which is geared toward students, he tries to figure out how their approaches to college explain their behavior. He identifies several factors: “One was that they followed their passions,” he says. What instructors can do These deep learners use intrinsic motivators rather than extrinsic motivators, such as grades.
How To Focus In The Age of Distraction 10 Ways To Become A Better Online Learner 7.77K Views 0 Likes There are some quick and easy ways to become a better online learner. Adaptive Learning: Why Your Kids Will Be Smarter Than You "Education is a big problem," says Knewton CEO Jose Ferreira. He's spent his whole life in the education space, starting at Kaplan in 1991. He tried to bring adaptive learning to Kaplan in 1993, but it was hard to do so in a brick-and-mortar situation, an environment in which few people even had computers. Education might not be the sexiest of industries, but it's a $7 trillion global industry that's ripe for innovation. Knewton has had students in 190 countries, and this fall over 600,000 students will use the platform. You founded Knewton in 2008 — how did it come about? I spent most of my career in education and technology, I worked at Kaplan, and I was one of the first people trying to bring innovation into for-profit education. “We use data to make your education better, that’s it." So at Knewton, we convince publishers to wire their content properly, and then we can unlock these vast data sets. Learning pathways vary for each student What is the end goal for Knewton?
Sheppard Software: Fun free online learning games and activities for kids. The 100 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By You The Wordle of this list! (Click image to enlarge) One of the most popular posts on Edudemic in 2010 was The 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By You and I felt it might be time for an update to that list for 2011. In order to put together a list of the best Web 2.0 classroom tools, I polled my Twitter followers, Facebook fans (are they still called fans? Likes?) and ran a contest to try and get as many submissions as possible. There were more than 900 submissions but many were duplicates.
Raising Successful Children What kinds of risks should we tolerate? If there’s a predator loose in the neighborhood, your daughter doesn’t get to go to the mall. But under normal circumstances an 11-year-old girl is quite capable of taking care of herself for a few hours in the company of her friends. So if children are able to live with mistakes and even failing, why does it drive us crazy? While doing things for your child unnecessarily or prematurely can reduce motivation and increase dependency, it is the inability to maintain parental boundaries that most damages child development. There is an important distinction between good and bad parental involvement. In both situations parents are using control, in the first case behavioral (sit down, do your math) and in the second psychological (“we’re applying.”) So how do parents find the courage to discard the malpractice of overparenting? Parents also have to be clear about their own values. U.S. Opinion Published: August 4, 2012 FacebookTwitterGoogle+EmailShare
List of Free Online Interior Design Courses, Classes and Learning Materials Learn interior design with these free online courses and learning materials. See the full list of free interior design courses and find the course that is right for you. Free Online Course and Learning Materials Info Although most free online interior design courses aren't affiliated with schools, a select few university classes related to design concepts are available. Most courses don't confer credits and can't be applied toward degree programs. Interior design classes and learning materials are often offered by commercial concerns in the industry. Autodesk Autodesk Homestyler Autodesk Homestyler software allows users to place doors and windows in floor plans, experiment with actual product brands and see their designs in 3D. Decorating Studio Decorating Your Home Home and Garden Television Design 101 A collection of free online articles and videos, Design 101 is available through Home and Garden Television's website. Martha Stewart Decorating 101 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)