Language learning: what motivates us? "Where's your name from?" I wasn't expecting to be the subject of my interview with John Schumann, but the linguistics professor had picked up on my Persian surname. Talking to me from California, where he is one of the world's leading academic voices on language learning, he effortlessly puts my own Farsi to shame. Schumann learned Farsi in Iran, where he was director of the country's Peace Corps Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) programme. He then went into academia, becoming a professor at the Univesity of California (UCLA), where he specialises in how we learn languages and its neurobiology. Shumann's work and that of his colleagues in UCLA's Neurobiology of Language Research Group, is concerned with the processes that happen within the brain when we learn a language. In 2009, Schumann published The Interactional Instinct: The Evolution and Acquisition of Language. "We've developed a theory called 'the interactional instinct'," Schumann says.
Time to Develop One Hour of Training Designing training is as much of an art as it is a science. However, that doesn’t mean we should abandon the act of trying to figure out how long it takes to develop an hour of training. Scientific measures and standards can be applied at least as rough guidelines. With some type of standard, it becomes possible to gain a general idea of how much time a training project might take. While many may argue about using “one hour of training” as a measuring stick because of the difficulty of determining exactly what one hour means, it is a common term and has some traction with managers trying to plan resources. Too often when asked about developing training, internal and external clients hear “it depends.” Here are the results from a survey we developed in a rough attempt to align credible numbers for use in estimating work based on delivery method and complexity of interactivity. Demographics Results Factors that effect development time Reducing the factors
Doing what comes naturally SmartBlogs Many people in my generation see the rise of social media as a negative force that replaces human-to-human connection with a virtual one. Educators sometimes are prone to see social media as a competing force, distracting students from the work they are expected to do in school. Many who hear the daily stories of how people have used social media to hurt and ridicule others are frightened by how “impossible” it can be to control what young people do to each other online. These feelings and perceptions are so strong because social media and technology threaten the very foundations of how we have traditionally viewed education. Why is it automatically assumed that students have to be controlled? What do schools tend to do regarding these types of problems? There is an alternative. Here are some reflection points for educators: Ask yourself if you have ever enjoyed the experience of being controlled and manipulated by someone with power and authority over you.
The two brain systems that control our attention: The science of gaining focus 3.8K Flares Filament.io 3.8K Flares × I’ve noticed lately that my mind has been wandering a lot so I wanted to see how attention works and how to manage it better. It turns out a lot of us have wandering minds and struggle to stay focused. In fact, when we’re reading, our minds typically wander anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of the time. Luckily, there are ways to keep our attention spans from burning out, once we understanding how they work. The two brain systems that control your attention Our brain is split into two systems, according to Daniel Kahneman. System 1 is the involuntary, always-on network in our brains that takes in stimuli and process it. System 2 runs the voluntary parts of our brains. System 2 is in charge of anything that takes willpower and self-control, and anything that’s too difficult for System 1. How we get distracted every day If you’ve ever had something emotional weighing on your mind, you’ll know how hard it is to block out that kind of distraction. 1. 2. 3.
Student engagement in online content-based lear Maintaining a Strong Player Mindset - compLexity Gaming by Jordan “TheJordude” Hong Tai Hey everyone, TheJordude from compLexity Gaming here. In this article, I wanted to touch the topic of a player’s mind set when queuing into games, and how significant this is to their performance and overall deciding the outcome of the game. As I specialize in Hearthstone, I will be referring most of my points to this game, however you may see this topic applicable to anything in life so I will try to broaden my words accordingly. This also does not only refer to new or amateur players, even pro players relate, or even relate more to this topic than the average person. Hitting legend is a goal many Hearthstone players aim to achieve. Here is a link to an article written by “Nocturne”. Psychological Balance So why is all of this even relevant to the main topic of the player’s mind set? You only get 1 star per winIf you lose, you have to win a game just to get back to where you startedEvery game takes time away from your day Tilt What is Tilt? Symptoms
Draft Copyright and Rights in Performances (Research, Education, Libraries and Archives) Regulations 2014 These draft regulations, part of the suite of legislation to implement the Hargreaves review, will come into force on 1 June 2014 if approved by Parliament. The regulations, which amend the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, affect the exceptions relating to research and private study, instruction, recording broadcasts and copying extracts of works and introduce a new exception for text and data analysis for non-commercial research. They also make changes to what can be done by libraries and archives. The exception in the Act for instruction becomes an exception for the sole purpose of illustration for instruction and extends to all types of copyright work. The regulations will make it possible to provide off campus access to staff and students to recordings of broadcasts via a secure network such as the VLE provided that a licence scheme is not available for the particular broadcast. In addition, there are amendments to Part 1 of the Act for ‘libraries and archives’.
Creative Thinking: 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently | Cool Buzz Businessman thinking about a new creative idea Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may alsochange based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process. Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they’re complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. “It’s actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self,” Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. They daydream. According to Kaufman and psychologist Rebecca L.
Why online teaching requires rigorous training (Mary Burns Mary Burns, Education Development Center (All references appear in above link) December 18, 2013 I am presently working in South America—a continent of gente amable, stunning vistas, and an exploding online learning environment. One impression continues to nag at me from these conversations — there seems to be a lack of concern for preparing instructors to teach online. But if a great teacher is to the classroom what Fred Astaire was to dancing, then an online teacher must be even better because teaching online is far more challenging than teaching face-to-face. Like Ginger Rogers, the online teacher has to do everything Astaire does—but backwards and in high heels (By the way, if you are not up on Fred and Ginger, click here). Online learning goes global This is no longer just a wealthy or middle-income country concern. Good Teachers Matter Backwards and in High Heels Notes Like this:
untitled Teachers as designers: a new book on teaching with technology [Interview] How are teachers actually using technology to enhance their craft? What can we learn from current practices about the effective design of learning experiences? In this interview, Yishay Mor, one of the editors of a new book on these themes, speaks about some highlights from the volume. The new book, Practical Design Patterns for Teaching and Learning with Technology, is mainly for teachers and education practitioners, but researchers will also be interested in the rich data it provides. The core content of the book originated in a series of participatory workshops (conducted by Mor and his colleagues) on the theme of technology in education, including a diverse range of participants. The workshops invited practitioners to share stories about their experiences using technology in education. Mor emphasizes the importance of design theory as it relates to education: “Teaching is a design practice, when you think about design as an attempt to change the world.”