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Constructivism

Constructivism
Jean Piaget: founder of Constructivism In past centuries, constructivist ideas were not widely valued due to the perception that children's play was seen as aimless and of little importance. Jean Piaget did not agree with these traditional views, however. He saw play as an important and necessary part of the student's cognitive development and provided scientific evidence for his views. Today, constructivist theories are influential throughout much of the non-formal learning sector. One good example of constructivist learning in a non-formal setting is the Investigate Centre at The Natural History Museum, London. For more detailed information on the philosophy of the construction of human knowledge, see constructivist epistemology. Formalization of the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to Jean Piaget, who articulated mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by learners. It is important to note that constructivism is not a particular pedagogy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(philosophy_of_education)

Constructionism Seymour Papert Seymour Papert defined constructionism in a proposal to the National Science Foundation entitled Constructionism: A New Opportunity for Elementary Science Education as follows: "The word constructionism is a mnemonic for two aspects of the theory of science education underlying this project. From constructivist theories of psychology we take a view of learning as a reconstruction rather than as a transmission of knowledge. Then we extend the idea of manipulative materials to the idea that learning is most effective when part of an activity the learner experiences as constructing is a meaningful product.".[2] As Papert and Idit Harel say at the start of Situating Constructionism, "It is easy enough to formulate simple catchy versions of the idea of constructionism; for example, thinking of it as 'learning-by-making'.

Teachers Moments of Service Lesson Plans Themed teaching resources to support calendar events. Includes lesson plans, toolkits, project ideas, and more. Toolkits Guides designed for service coaches to support teachers and volunteers with resources, ideas, tips, and stories. 10 Sources for Free Online Music Courses See our list of the top free online music courses. Learn about what courses are available and what topics they cover to find the course that is right for you. Online Music Courses for Credit While free online music classes are available that don't require registration or tuition, these classes also don't provide a path to college credit. Students who would rather find courses that can lead to college credit might consider options that charge a nominal fee to access online lessons. These types of courses (fee-based) help students prepare to earn alternative forms of college credit.

What Does "Technology Integration" Mean? One reason why I love blogging is the chance to get a variety of responses to my ideas and thoughts. A reader of my last post commented: "This article describes how to help children learn to use an unfamiliar computer program. Is that what 'integrating technology' means?" This got me thinking: what do we really mean when we talk about "technology integration?" Project-based learning Project-based learning (PBL) is considered an alternative to paper-based, rote memorization, teacher-led classrooms. Proponents of project-based learning cite numerous benefits to the implementation of these strategies in the classroom including a greater depth of understanding of concepts, broader knowledge base, improved communication and interpersonal/social skills, enhanced leadership skills, increased creativity, and improved writing skills. John Dewey initially promoted the idea of "learning by doing." John Dewey, 1902 Markham (2011) describes project-based learning (PBL) as: " PBL integrates knowing and doing. Students learn knowledge and elements of the core curriculum, but also apply what they know to solve authentic problems and produce results that matter.

Definitions of Bloom's Taxonomy Activities at Various Cognitive Levels of Learning (LoL) Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives is used to define how well a skill or competency is learned or mastered. A fuller description of Bloom’s taxonomy is given in the following pages but a brief summary of the activities associated with each level is given below. At Knowledge Level of Learning a student can define terms At Comprehension Level of Learning a student can work assigned problems and can example what they did At Application Level of Learning a student recognizes what methods to used and then used the methods to solve problems At Analysis Level of Learning a student can explain why the solution process works At Synthesis Level of Learning a student can combine the part of a process in new and useful ways At Evaluation Level of Learning a student can create a variety of ways to solve the problem and then, based on established criteria, select the solution method best suited for the problem. What do I do at this level?

Gaby Rodriguez, Toppenish High School, Fakes 6-Month Pregnancy For Senior Project TOPPENISH, Wash. — When Gaby Rodriguez took off her fake baby belly and revealed to her classmates that for months they had been part of an elaborate social experiment, she did more than force members of her community to examine how they treat pregnant teens – she got the attention of the nation. The Yakima Herald-Republic detailed the experience of the 17-year-old Rodriguez in a story Wednesday that caught the attention of shows like "Good Morning America" and resonated with viewers of popular teen mom reality shows. School officials said they and Rodriguez would have no more comment until she returns from a class trip next week.

Hybrid Course Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path or pace.[1] While still attending a “brick-and-mortar” school structure, face-to-face classroom methods are combined with computer-mediated activities.[2] Proponents of blending learning cite the opportunity for data collection and customization of instruction and assessment as two major benefits of this approach.[3] Schools with blended learning models may also choose to reallocate resources to boost student achievement outcomes.[4] Terminology[edit] History of the term[edit]

Top 20 Websites No Teacher Should Start the 2010-2011 Year Without I have to tell you that it was a tough call to make these decisions, especially when we’re talking every teacher no matter what grade level or subject, but I hope that you find a couple of gems to put away in your virtual treasure box. You may have others you’d like to add to the list. Please post them in the comments for all of us to explore. A great photo editing tool is a must for teachers and I recommend Aviary, LunaPic, Picnik, or BeFunky with some being simpler than others, but all having unique features. Explore all the tools and choose the best option for your skill level.

Teacher Magazine: Community Forums I think the question here is less about whether or not master's degrees have a strict causal effect on teaching and learning and more about whether or not public schools should have lock-step pay increases (for seniority or degrees earned). Or, lockstep teaching assignments (5 or 6 classes with a prep, a study hall, and a 25 minute lunch). If I, as a teacher, can make a strong case that my degree in nursing will help students - for example, by creating an interdisciplinary courses that combine my practical medical knowledge with fields of biology and mathematic, or ethics and literature - why should I not be compensated for that? Especially if it really does impact kids? The flip side is that you could get a degree and invest time and money into it and not be able to show a clear line between your experience and better results for kids.

One to one computing In the context of education, one-to-one computing (sometimes abbreviated as "1:1") refers to academic institutions, such as schools or colleges, issuing each enrolled student an electronic device in order to access the Internet, digital course materials and digital textbooks. The concept has been actively explored and sporadically implemented since the late 1990s.[1] One-to-one computing is frequently contrasted with a policy of "bring your own device" (BYOD), which encourages or requires students to use their own laptops, smartphones or other electronic devices in class. One-to-one computing offers the benefits of equal access, standardization, easy upgrades, simple networking and the ability to monitor student progress and online behavior.

Results on ReadWriteThink Home › Results from ReadWriteThink 1-10 of 152 Results from ReadWriteThink Sort by: Classroom Resources | Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson A Bear of a Poem: Composing and Performing Found Poetry Children find favorite words, phrases, and sentences from familiar stories. Working together, they combine their words and phrases to create a poem. The Travelling Teachers: Fakebook - let's have fun with biographies This is a very interesting tool to study biographies in a different way. With Fakebook you can invent a profile of any historical or fictional character. Your result will be a Facebook-like page!You can add images, links, videos, "friends", comments and "likes"! I think it could be very useful to study history or literature. Below you can see some Fakebook pages:

Self-paced instruction Self-paced instruction is any kind of instruction that proceeds based on learner response. The content itself can be curriculum, corporate training, technical tutorials, or any other subject that does not require the immediate response of an instructor. Self-paced instruction is constructed in such a way that the learner proceeds from one topic or segment to the next at his/her own speed.

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