Inquiry-based Learning: Explanation What is inquiry-based learning? An old adage states: "Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand." The last part of this statement is the essence of inquiry-based learning, says our workshop author Joe Exline 1. "Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by questioning." A Context for Inquiry Unfortunately, our traditional educational system has worked in a way that discourages the natural process of inquiry. Some of the discouragement of our natural inquiry process may come from a lack of understanding about the deeper nature of inquiry-based learning. Importance of Inquiry Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world. Educators must understand that schools need to go beyond data and information accumulation and move toward the generation of useful and applicable knowledge . . . a process supported by inquiry learning. The Application of Inquiry Outcomes of Inquiry
children’s discoveries and documentation | crayons, wands & building blocks Thank you to all of the educators who came out to PDSB’s annual Kindergarten Conference (Inspirations and Contexts, Kindergarten Play and Inquiry) last week. It was wonderful to have a chance to meet and chat with many of you. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share some of the documentation my students have been involved in. I thought I would post some of their documentation as well as a few discoveries they made about the worms and the composter. The children were provided with several pictures of different stages of the construction of the worm composter. The children found what they theorized to be eggs and they quickly referred to some books to see if their theories were correct. When I asked a couple of the students how they could share with others what they learned about worms, one student pointed to some documentation panels that were in our classroom and said, “We can make something like that.” The Worm Composter Do the worms like water? Do the worms like soil?
Adding Emotional Design to eLearning Emotional design is about the connection that a learner feels while interacting with an e-learning course. This connection can be generated through instructional strategies and creative treatments. Emotional design in an eLearning can be a very powerful tool in engaging the learner, as it gives us better results in retaining and recalling learning. “Emotional design turns casual users into fanatics, ready to tell others about their positive experience” says Aarron Walter, a lead User Experience Designer at MailChimp, in his book Designing For Emotion. The reason why emotional design is important in an online course, is that all learners are not self-driven, and so will need an external stimulation. Enhance the learning by incorporating the emotional component in the course Careless use of the emotions can distract the learner from learning a subject and remembering it. Some ways of adding an emotional design in an e-learning course are: Can you think of any other ways?
The Curious Kindergarten | Welcome to The Curious Kindergarten, a blog about the discoveries my students and I make in our full-day kindergarten! A bit about me: I have been teaching Kindergarten for several years and have recently started implementing so
Creating Assignments That Work for Digital Learning Environments Assignments | Viewpoint Creating Assignments That Work for Digital Learning Environments Teachers who spend time actually thinking through assignments that align with the learning outcomes of a course are the most effective at assessing the learning that has taken place. Now, however, even the most creative teachers are being stretched like never before in regards to creating assignments that work in technology-rich learning environments. When assignments are creative and applied and, most of all, relevant, so that all learning styles and aspects of course content can be integrated, students are usually more positive about their performance. To create assignments that work the focus must be on process, not task. The Importance of Developing Technology Skills ... and Assigning a Grade When technology is integrated into a learning environment and students are using it in their learning process, the assignments must also include technology use.
Fostering partnerships between home and school… | The Curious Kindergarten One of the things that most inspires me about schools in Reggio Emilia is the connectivity they have to the families and the communities they serve. Something I am striving for this year is a stronger link between home and school. Some of the questions I have been pondering are: How do I make my students and their parents feel welcome in our learning space? This is a picture of our classroom family wall – a dedicated spot in the room that holds photographs of the children and their families (and pictures of my family and our ECE’s family too!). Another way I am trying to connect with parents this year is by sending out a weekly email which highlights some of the ideas/concepts/discussions that occurred in our class during the week. What are some ways you celebrate your students’ families and involve parents in your program? Like this: Like Loading...
Seriously? A dish rack will hold file folders? Brilliant!!: ECRP. Learning to Document in Reggio-inspired Education ShareView in Chinese (PDF)HomeJournal ContentsIssue Contents Volume 13 Number 2©The Author(s) 2011 Learning to Document in Reggio-inspired EducationCarol Anne Wien York University with Victoria Guyevskey & Noula Berdoussis This article discusses how teachers in child care and elementary schools learn to work with Reggio-inspired pedagogical documentation. While teachers grasp the value of such documentation theoretically, it is most challenging but exciting to use in practical settings. Documentation illuminates teacher theories about children’s understanding: watching such theories change through study of documentation and further teacher research profoundly influences professional development. If you have benefited from free access to ECRP, please consider making a financial contribution to ECRP so that the journal can continue to be available free to everyone. Documentation as Teacher Research Pedagogical documentation is the teacher’s story of the movement of children’s understanding.
Austin School For the Future: The Reggio Emilia approach, a conerstone to our philosophy Before reading please note that I typed this in word and copied into blogger. Some words are underlined for no apparent reason and I can't figure out how to change them. Also some of the images I got are from Let the Children Play, which is an awesome blog that I suggest anyone to follow. Thanks here you go..... I believe in a curriculum that is child based and gives each child the opportunity to explore and discover in ways which are exciting and interesting to each individual child. The Reggio Emilia approach to education is based on the following fundamentals: The child as a protagonist, the child as a collaborator, the child as a communicator, the environment as the third teacher, the teacher as partner, nurturer and guide, the teacher as a researcher, documentation as communication and the parent as partner (Cadwell, 1997, pp.5-6) The child as a protagonist- the Reggio approach emphasizes the importance of having a strong image of the child.