Nine Things Educators Need to Know About the Brain

The human brain wasn’t designed for industrial education. It was shaped over millions of years of sequential adaptation in response to ever-changing environmental demands. Over time, brains grew in size and complexity; old structures were conserved and new structures emerged. As we evolved into social beings, our brains became incredibly sensitive to our social worlds. This mixture of conservation, adaptation, and innovation has resulted in an amazingly complex brain, capable of everything from monitoring respiration to creating culture. This evolutionary history poses a challenge for educators. If we are going to move forward, we will have to admit that a one-size-fits-all model of education is doomed to fail the majority of students and teachers. And through understanding how students’ brains actually work and using that knowledge to benefit classroom learning, we may be able to positively influence classroom education and prepare students to better face unknowable futures. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Learning Theories Every Teacher should Know about Have you ever asked yourself what learning theories you know about and which ones you feel more connected to and apply in your teaching ? Generally speaking, theories inform and guide practice in any content area and a learning theory is a set of concepts on how people learn. It is more or less an investigation of the strategies and the underlying cognitive processes involved in learning. courtesy of edudemic

A Great iPad Manual for Every Teacher A few weeks ago I posted here a poster on iPad basics which many of you have downloaded to use with their students in the class. Today, I am sharing with you another great resource on iPad. This is not a graphic but a quick reference card on everything you and your students need to know about iPad. From the hardware to networking features , this little manual can serve as a leading guide to a better manipulation of your iPad. I am not sure how much iPading you are doing in your classroom but whether you use iPad just occasionally or you adopt it as a consistent learning and teaching tool, the reference card below will definitely give you a hand in improving your iPad use. I suggest that you share it with your students and go through it with them section by section and make sure they understand it before they start using their iPads again. Click HERE to download the reference card.

200 Free Kids Educational Resources: Lessons, Apps, Books, Websites... This collection provides a list of free educational resources for K‑12 students (kindergarten through high school students) and their parents and teachers. This page is being updated and cleaned up during the COVID-19 crisis. Please tell us if we’re missing something valuable. Below you will find free video lessons/tutorials; free mobile apps; free audiobooks, ebooks and textbooks; quality YouTube channels; free foreign language lessons; test prep materials; and free web resources in academic subjects like literature, history, science and computing. Home Schooling Resources During COVID-19 Amazing Educational Resources: A spreadsheet of 300+ education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings. Free Audio Books, eBooks and Textbooks Free Audio Books: Our collection of 450 free audio books includes many children’s classics. Foreign Languages Video Lessons/Tutorials Art & Visual Culture (Web Resources)

4 Education Technology Trends Coming To Your Classroom How Online Education Has Changed In 10 Years 8.37K Views 0 Likes We all know that education, specifically online education, has come a long way in the last few years. We've already taken a look back - way back - at online education as we rarely think of it (in the 1960's and 70's), but it is also interesting to see just how much online education has evolved in just the more recent past. 5 Reasons We Use Social Media 9.83K Views 0 Likes There are many reasons we use social media. How Fast Is Twitter Growing? 6.40K Views 0 Likes The results are in. Why TED Talks Have Become So Popular 6.87K Views 0 Likes TED talks are useful and free ways to bring high-level thinking and through-provoking ideas into the classroom and your home.

7 Ways Twitter Promotes 21st Century Learning by Dr. Justin Marquis, Ph.D. Twitter is one of those pieces of technology that people either love or hate. For the haters, it seems like a superfluous, narcissistic, even petty platform through which people who think they are more important than they really are share their most intimate details with the world. A recent report from The Education Forum, Twitteracy: Tweeting as a New Literacy Practice, sheds some light on the debate over whether Twitter is a major time waster or a valuable educational tool for developing technological literacy. Twitteracy Findings, No Surprise Literacy as a general concept has changed dramatically in the Information Age. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. These are some of the many ways that Twitter is being considered as a new form of literacy and which may prove beneficial to learning at all levels, not just in higher education. The best way to understand how any hi-tech tool could benefit your students is to begin using it yourself.

60 Ways To Use Twitter In The Classroom By Category Social media offers some great opportunities for learning in the classroom, bringing together the ability to collaborate, access worldwide resources, and find new and interesting ways to communicate in one easily accessible place. Teachers around the world have found innovative ways to use Twitter as a teaching tool (including TeachThought’s favorite), and we’ve shared many of these great ideas here with you. Read on, and we’ll explore 60 inspiring ways that teachers and students can put Twitter to work in the classroom. Communication Twitter makes staying in touch and sharing announcements super simple and even fun. Organization Twitter’s hashtags and other tools share a great way to organize information for your classroom. Resources Use these ideas to take advantage of the vast resources that Twitter has to offer. Writing Skills

The Elements Of A Digital Classroom What are the components of a digital classroom? From eBooks to smartboards, iTunesU implementation to online learning, the classroom as we know it is changing. It’s true that a digital classroom is a vague idea. And subjective–one educator’s cutting edge learning laboratory is the next educator’s been there, done that. The following inforgraphic looks at some of the more common elements of a digital classroom, including: eBooksBook rental via KindleiPadsOpen Source softwareiTunesUDigital cameras, projectors, and headphones Feel free to storm the comments section below to fill in what’s missing. This is a cross-post from content partners at OnlineUniversities.com; 2346 Related posts:

What 100 Experts Think About The Future Of Learning If you’re an educator, surely you know that technology has and will continue to have an incredible impact on learning. Whether it’s the Internet, innovative learning tools, or teaching technology itself, these two subjects are intertwined. In these talks, you will find essential information for educators concerned with technology. General Learn about making technology work in education and more in these talks. Rethinking the Student Experience in the 21st Century Public Research University: See how a diverse student body and technology can make a difference in the student experience today. Sharing Education These talks explore the idea of open, shared education. Hector Ruiz on Connecting the World: Hector Ruiz lectures on Internet access for everyone. Creativity & Innovation Watch these talks to see how you can foster innovation and the creative spirit. Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity: Ken Robinson’s lecture makes a case for a more creative education system. Internet & New Media

23 Ways To Use The iPad In The 21st Century PBL Classroom By Workflow 23 Ways To Use The iPad In The 21st Century PBL Classroom by TeachThought Staff The iPad is not magic, and as many educators have found integrating them meaningfully is by no means a just-add-water proposition. The same applies to Project-Based Learning. Project-Based Learning is a method of giving learners access to curriculum in authentic ways that promote collaboration, design, imagination, and innovation while also allowing for more natural integration of digital and social media. Note that the visual is also arranged in a kind of visual spectrum, as our past visuals have been.

50 Incredibly Useful Links For Learning & Teaching The English Language - Teaching a new language to non-native speakers may be one of the most challenging educational jobs out there, so ELL teachers can use all of the help they can get! Thankfully, many excellent resources for ELL and ESL exist online, from full-service websites to reference tools and communities, all designed to make the task of educating ELL students just a little bit easier and more effective. We’ve scoured the Internet to share 50 of the best of these resources, and we hope you’ll find lots of valuable content and tools through these incredibly useful links for ELL educators. Websites Resource tools, printables, and other great stuff for ELL educators are all available on these sites. Articles & Advice Check out resource lists, journal articles, and ideas for best practices in ELL on these links. Organizations Take advantage of the great opportunities and resources available from these organizations that benefit ELL teachers. Learning Resources Teaching Resources Reference Communities & Blogs

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