K-12 related

Optimal Video Length for Student Engagement — from blog.edx.org by Candace Hazlett and Philip Guo

Excerpt:

In this first post, I’ll share some preliminary results about video usage, obtained from initial analyses of a few edX math and science courses. Unsurprisingly, students engaged more with shorter videos. Traditional in-person lectures usually last an hour, but students have much shorter attention spans when watching educational videos online. The graph below shows median engagement times versus video length, aggregated over several million video watching sessions:

From DSC:
If you have access to a tool like Canvas Studio, then you can probably extend the length of your videos if you are interspersing your videos with a healthy dose of interactivity — i.e., inserting quiz questions every few minutes.

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy — from Iowa State University; with a shout out to Matt Miller for his blog posting entitled, “10 tips for lesson planning writer’s block” — where I saw this reference

Making (low-stakes) practice tests more effective [edutopia.org]

On 02/07/2020, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, assessment, faculty/staff, higher education, K-12 related, memory, pedagogy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, universities, youth, by Daniel Christian

Making (low-stakes) practice tests more effective — from edutopia.org
Practice tests not only help surface gaps in knowledge—they also strengthen memory.

If your organization’s culture is all about maintaining the status quo:
* Your pursuit of lifelong learning needs to be in full gear
* Enhancing your personal learning ecosystem is critically important
…because given the rate of change, your organization may not be around for long.

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) January 31, 2020

Flipped Learning 3.0 [Flipped Learning Review]

On 02/01/2020, in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, faculty/staff, higher education, instructional design, K-12 related, pedagogy, teachers, teaching & learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

The January issue of FLR features an exciting new career path for frustrated Flipped Learning teachers. Yes, the first edition for 2020 is all about new trends and new directions Flipped Learning educators are pursuing as we move into the new decade.

Featured articles include:

Micro-Schools: An Exciting New Career Path for Frustrated Flipped Learning Teachers
It’s a New Decade: Time for a Flipped Learning Reality Check
2020: Taking Your Flipped Learning Effectiveness to the Next Level
It’s 2020: I’m Never Going Back
The Missing Link: Getting Flipped Learning Assessment Right
Frustrated With the Status Quo?
Flipped Learning To-Do List for 2020
Top 10 Must-Read Research Papers in January
Why I Want My Students to Struggle in Class This Year

Also see:

Live from Bett: What’s new in EDU–Free resources to boost engagement and collaboration — from the Microsoft Education Team on January 22, 2020

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

In addition, on the day of a presentation, educators and students now can help every person in the classroom or audience understand what they’re saying by clicking on “Present Live.” Live Presentations enables every audience member to view the presentation on their own device, such as a laptop, tablet or phone. Each audience member can turn on live captioning and choose subtitles from more than 60 languages. They can even navigate between slides, so they don’t miss a single, important detail. The audience is engaged throughout the presentation and sends reactions in real-time. After the presentation, the audience can provide feedback on the content and delivery of the presentation, which educators and students can use to improve skills over time.

Live Presentations will be coming soon to PowerPoint for the web as part of Office Education, which educators and students can access for free. If you haven’t already done so, get started with Office 365 Education now.

From DSC:
Might this type of functionality be a solid component of a global, next generation learning platform? Hmmmm…

Does education really want student voice? Spoiler alert: The answer is no [Vest]

On 01/27/2020, in education, education reform, ideas, K-12 related, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Does education really want student voice? Spoiler alert: The answer is no — from gettingsmart.com by Jason Vest

Excerpts:

If you’re as lucky as I am to be in a state like Virginia positioning itself to transform schools, you probably hear these phrases a lot: “innovation,” “learner-centered,” and “student voice.” We use these to convey the importance of transforming pedagogy and letting students have more autonomy in their education. You won’t find a teacher on the planet that doesn’t genuinely want their students to be self-advocates, know how to manage their time and themselves better, or have richer learning opportunities. But at times there is a huge discrepancy in what we say we want our kids to do and be and what our system actually supports. My most successful teaching experience, one that earned national recognition by The Aurora Institute, happened during our school’s study hall period. There’s no way I could have just decided to scrap my main Civics class and buck the existing curriculum and state standards to teach a class on design thinking and entrepreneurship – even if the students and their families wanted me to.

Another phrase we always say is “we want students to be college and career ready.” In reality though, only if that means they do so in a way that is non-threatening to our existing power structures.
…
Let me be clear: As it currently stands, we have more policies, systems, and structures currently in place that hinder students than those that help them. Anyone that believes otherwise should talk to any of my students.

Soros urges world leaders to back his $1-billion Global Education Network — from chronicle.com by Dan Parks

Excerpt:

George Soros urged world leaders on Thursday to back his Open Society University Network, a $1-billion effort to integrate teaching and research across higher-education institutions worldwide to solve big problems.
…
The Central European University, which Soros founded, and Bard College will team up with Arizona State University and other institutions around the globe, according to a news release.

From DSC:
This is not an endorsement of the GEN nor do I have any perspectives to relay one way or another re: George Soros. I just find the idea of a global learning network/platform very interesting…and likely a piece of our future learning ecosystems.

The Future of Education Technology (FETC) Conference…What did we learn this year?[Bradbury]

On 01/27/2020, in CMS/LMS, education, education technology, K-12 related, Microsoft, platforms, podcasting, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, United States, vendors, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Future of Education Technology (FETC) Conference…What did we learn this year? — from teachercast.net by Jeffrey Bradbury

“I couldn’t believe how many sessions this year revolved around audio or video creation. I even counted more than 15 sessions that had the word Podcast in them (including mine).”

Things I Learned at Project Voice — from thejournal.com by Bradley Metrock, who produces the Project Voice conference, hosts This Week in Voice
Could 2020 be the year of the voice? These voice experts think so.

Excerpt:

Voice experience of the year for education, with these finalists:

Sermo Labs’ 1-2-3 Math;
Bamboo Math;
Voicelets, to help students learn by listening;
Highlights Storybooks from Bamboo; and
Novel Effect, a voice-driven storytelling app for families.

Highlights took this category.

And voice developer of the year, with these finalists:

Pretzel Labs, a voice design studio
Sermo Labs
Voicelets
Bamboo Learning
Novel Effect

Bamboo Learning won this award.

Also see:

12 Education Predictions for 2020 — by Dian Schaffhauser
The learning and innovation in education never stops. Here’s what 12 education technology experts and observers expect for the new year in K-12.

Using Cisco Webex’ Meeting Room, any classroom can become an active learning classroom [Grant & Miller]

On 01/16/2020, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, attention, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty/staff, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, liberal arts, multimedia, participation, platforms, second screen apps, smart classrooms, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, training / L&D, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
If you are using a tool like Cisco Webex in your school, consider implementing the idea below. I’d like to thank Mr. Steve Grant and Mr. Nelson Miller from the WMU-Cooley Law School for their work in implementing/recommending this approach.

If you are using a tool like Cisco Webex, you can use it to share content to displays, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. If the professor starts a Cisco Webex Meeting Center session using their own personal room, the students can then join that meeting via their devices. (To eliminate noise and confusion — as well as to reduce bandwidth — the students should mute their microphones and choose not to send the video from their webcams.)

If you were doing a think-pair-share, for example, and you really liked what a certain pair of students had going on, one of the students could share their work with the rest of the class. By doing so, whatever was going on on that student’s device could be displayed by any projectors in the room, as well as on any other devices that were connected to the Cisco Webex Meeting Room.

“So you could project any student’s work as students proceed with in-class exercises. Projecting student work adds another level of accountability, excitement, and concentration to in-class exercises.”

*********

Also, using the Cisco Webex Meeting Center in your face-to-face classroom not only opens up that sort of collaboration channel, but, via the chat feature, it can also open up a running backchannel to draw out your more introverted students, or those students who have questions but don’t want to have the spotlight thrown on them.

*********

How to lead students to engage in higher order thinking [Harris]

On 01/11/2020, in education, ideas, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, online learning, pedagogy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, by Daniel Christian

How to lead students to engage in higher order thinking — from edutopia.org by Karen Harris
Asking students a series of essential questions at the start of a course signals that deep engagement is a requirement.

Excerpt:

Essential questions—a staple of project-based learning—call on students’ higher order thinking and connect their lived experience with important texts and ideas. A thinking inventory is a carefully curated set of about 10 essential questions of various types, and completing one the first thing I ask students to do in every course I teach.

Although a thinking inventory is made up of questions, it’s more than a questionnaire. When we say we’re “taking inventory”—whether we’re in a warehouse or a relationship—we mean we’re taking stock of where things stand at a given moment in time, with the understanding that those things are fluid and provisional. With a thinking inventory, we’re taking stock of students’ thinking, experiences, and sense-making at the beginning of the course.

Generation Z and online tutoring: natural bedfellows? [Ingram]

On 01/07/2020, in career development, Daniel S. Christian, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global, K-12 related, online learning, online tutoring, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, trends, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

Generation Z and online tutoring: natural bedfellows? — from innovatemyschool.com by John Ingram

Excerpt:

The K-12 online tutoring market is booming around the world, with recent research estimating it to grow by 12% per year over the next five years, a USD $60bn increase. By breaking down geographic barriers and moving beyond the limits of local teaching expertise, online tutoring is an especially valuable tool for those looking to supplement their studies in the developing world, and students globally are increasingly signing up to online tuition early on in their secondary education schooling.

Several reasons lie behind this growth.

The Secret to Student Success? Teach Them How to Learn. [Bain]

On 12/27/2019, in education, education reform, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning theories, metacognition / metacognitive skills, pedagogy, research, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

The Secret to Student Success? Teach Them How to Learn. — from edsurge.com by Patrice Bain

Excerpt:

Abby’s story is hardly unique. I often teach students who react with surprise when they do well in my class. “But I’ve never done well in history,” they say. This is almost always followed by a common, heartbreaking confession. “I’m not smart.” Every time I hear this, I am faced with the gut-wrenching realization that the student has internalized failure by age eleven. Yet every year I see these same students soar and complete the class with high grades.

This raises two questions for me: How can we turn eleven-year-olds who have internalized failure into students like Abby who retain information for years? And how can we teach that poor grades don’t indicate failure, but rather that we haven’t found the correct learning strategy?

Enter research.

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