Storytelling for impact — from nationalgeographic.org; a collaboration between National Geographic and Adobe
Visualize and communicate powerful stories that inspire change

Excerpt:

Stories can change the world.
Learn from world-class National Geographic photographers, videographers, and visual designers in a series of Storytelling for Impact online courses. Created in partnership with Adobe, this series will teach you how to use compelling photography, video, graphics, and audio to tell stories in the most impactful ways to inspire change.

 

Offered for both educators and youth ages 16–25, these short, free, self-paced online courses are designed to guide learners to visualize and communicate powerful stories that inspire action.

Ready to harness the power of storytelling?

 

ADHD and your homeschool: An overview — from raisinglifelonglearners.com by Colleen Kessler

Excerpt:

This series is all about homeschooling a child with ADHD. Today, we kick it off with an overview of ADHD, and how it impacts your child and your homeschool.

 

Is there a skills gap in learning design? — from neilmosley.com by Neil Mosley

Excerpt:

Another deficiency in higher education has also been the dearth of support there is for learning design. Roles such as Learning Designer or Instructional Designer have been relatively niche in UK higher education, they have tended to exist only in online or distance education settings.

This seems to be changing a little and there’s been more of these roles created over the past two years. Hopefully, as a result of growing recognition of the design and planning work that’s needed in higher education as the teaching and study experience grows in complexity.

Whilst broadly positive, this has thrown up another problem – the inconsistency and variability of skills amongst those that might refer to themselves as a Learning or Instructional Designer.

From DSC:
Though this is from the UK, these perspectives and the issues Neil raises are also very much present here in the United States. Neil raises some important questions, such as:

  • Aare the Learning Designers and/or Instructional Designers getting the training that they need?
  • What’s expected of them?
  • Are they utilized properly?
  • How do you scale their work?
  • How do you get professors and teachers to think of *designing* their learning experiences?

Addendum on 2/19/22:

And if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that this collective movement toward learning experience design will be essential to help striving students go on better, more productive, and personally meaningful educational journeys. Indeed, we must help spread the word that education is more than a collection of classes. It may include classes, but it is so much more. At its best, it is a carefully and thoughtfully crafted and curated family of experiences that can help striving students change their lives!  


 

A whole new world: Education meets the metaverse — from brookings.edu by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Jennifer M. Zosh, Helen Shwe Hadani, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Kevin Clark, Chip Donohue, and Ellen Wartella

Excerpt:

The metaverse is upon us. Soon it will be as omnipresent as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook (now Meta). As technology advances to bring us new immersive and imaginary worlds, how we educate children and prepare teachers must also advance to meet these new opportunities. When education lags the digital leaps, the technology rather than educators defines what counts as educational opportunity. This is largely what happened with the introduction of “educational” apps designed to be used on smartphones and tablets meant for adults. Today, as the metaverse infrastructure is still under construction, researchers, educators, policymakers, and digital designers have a chance to lead the way rather than get caught in the undertow. To leverage the potential of the metaverse as a 3D, global, interconnected, immersive, and real-time online space, we need new ways to connect the physical world with augmented and virtual reality (VR) experiences.

In the end, we challenge those creating educational products for the metaverse to partner with educators and scientists to ensure that children experience real human social interaction as they navigate virtual spaces, children’s agency is supported as they explore these spaces, and there is a real eye to diversity in the representation and access to what is created.  

Also relevant/see:

The metaverse can provide a whole new opportunity for education. Here’s what to consider — from fastcompany.com by Stephen Fromkin
The cofounder of Talespin looks at an existing immersive learning program that delivers results and says our next priority should be getting it into the hands of as many learners as possible through the metaverse.

 

How I use Minecraft to help kids with autism — from ted.com by Stuart Duncan; with thanks to Dr. Kate Christian for this resource

Description:

The internet can be an ugly place, but you won’t find bullies or trolls on Stuart Duncan’s Minecraft server, AutCraft. Designed for children with autism and their families, AutCraft creates a safe online environment for play and self-expression for kids who sometimes behave a bit differently than their peers (and who might be singled out elsewhere). Learn more about one of the best places on the internet with this heartwarming talk.

 

Below are two excerpted snapshots from Stuart’s presentation:

Stuart Duncan speaking at TEDX York U

These are the words autistic students used to describe their experience with Stuart's Minecraft server

 

5 Tips for Online Tutoring Based on New Research — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
Matthew Kraft, a professor at Brown University, shares some best practices for implementing online tutoring programs based on his recent research.

Excerpt:

While in-person high-dosage tutoring has been shown to improve student learning in multiple studies, the extent that this translates to online tutoring is not as well researched. However, a recent pilot study of online tutoring in which college students volunteered as tutors and were paired with middle school students in Illinois found consistently positive effects of online tutoring on student achievement, though these effects were smaller than had been seen for in-person tutoring.

 

Exploring Virtual Reality [VR] learning experiences in the classroom — from blog.neolms.com by Rachelle Dene Poth

Excerpt:

With the start of a new year, it is always a great time to explore new ideas or try some new methods that may be a bit different from what we have traditionally done. I always think it is a great opportunity to stretch ourselves professionally, especially after a break or during the spring months.

Finding ways to boost student engagement is important, and what I have found is that by using tools like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), we can immerse students in unique and personalized learning experiences. The use of augmented and virtual reality has increased in K-12 and Higher Ed, especially during the past two years, as educators have sought new ways to facilitate learning and give students the chance to connect more with the content. The use of these technologies is increasing in the workplace, as well.

With all of these technologies, we now have endless opportunities to take learning beyond what has been a confined classroom “space” and access the entire world with the right devices.

 

L&D Go Beyond Podcast: Writing Better Multiple-Choice Questions to Assess Learning — from upsidelearning.com by Amit Garg and Patti Shank

Excerpt:

In this episode of the L&D Go Beyond podcast, Amit Garg interacts with Patti Shank, President Learning Peaks LLC. They talk about a very interesting topic – Writing Better Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) to Assess Learning.

 

Jenna Mancini Rufo on Reimagining Special Education — from gettingsmart.com

Excerpts:

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Rebecca Midles is joined by Jenna Mancini Rufo, co-author of Reimagining Special Education: Using Inclusion as a Framework to Build Equity and Support All Students alongside Julie Causton.

Jenna is the CEO of empowerED, an education consulting firm specializing in inclusion, special education, and equity.

What if, instead of focusing on the challenges our students face, we focus on their strengths? We call this re-storying our students.

Jenna Mancini Rufo

Also from gettingsmart.com, see:

 

What It Takes to Recruit Future Teachers During the Pandemic — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

Excerpts:

“Efforts that seem to be working have had a common ingredient: close ties between colleges and local K-12 school districts.”

“Taking out loans to earn a college degree, then entering a profession where they can’t pay those loans off—that’s a challenge,” she explains.

So for the first time, this academic year education students are eligible to receive a stipend during their student-teaching internships. Based on a recommendation made in 2019 by a “teacher shortage task force” commissioned by the Oklahoma department of education, the state allocated some of its COVID-relief money to pay student-teachers a total of $3,250—half up front, and half after they’re hired into a teaching job by a school district.

#highereducation #K12 #education #studentteaching
#learningecosystems #teachingandlearning

 

10 things you didn’t know you could do with Google Arts and Culture — from ditchthattextbook.com

Excerpt:

Google Arts and Culture is a massive collection of videos and images of cultural artifacts from over 2,000 museums around the world. But virtually visiting art exhibits is just one of the many things you can do with Google Arts and Culture. From virtually displaying life-sized art inside your house to playing in a blob opera, Google Arts and Culture runs an impressive gamut of ways to explore culture from your own home or classroom.

 

How Schools and Families Can Work Together to Strengthen Students’ Social-Emotional Health — from blog.edmentum.com by Nicole Plegge

Excerpts:

While it took a worldwide health crisis for the general public to embrace the importance of devoting resources to nurturing the mental health of our youth, educators were already integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) into their classrooms to support whole child development. By continuing to proactively promote positive mental health—even in the best of times—schools help students better comprehend their emotions, build necessary skills to cope with adversity, and form positive relationships with others.

To strengthen students’ resiliency and confidence, schools, teachers, and parents must work together as an unwavering support system. Here are six ways that districts can get all stakeholders on board to provide a solid foundation moving forward.

 

 

How to manage slow-working students in your classroom — from blog.neolms.com by Diana Z

Excerpt:

If you have slow-working students in your classroom and want to help them catch up and reach milestones, you should first make sure to rule out any possible psychological barriers that could affect their processing speed or other cognitive issues.

Next, you should devise an intervention scheme that is structured on the three A’s principle:

  • Accepting means that the students need to feel accepted in the learning environment and teachers can provide them a safe place for growth;
  • Accommodating refers to the due diligence a teacher has to exercise to provide a suitable learning environment for all students;
  • Advocating implies the support teachers offer slow-working students throughout their learning journey. It also involves other stakeholders, such as parents and the community, who can also support students.

From DSC:
This is an important topic, because not everyone can work with the (often) fast pace of the current train. One of our daughters has experienced this first hand, and I continue to learn from/through her experience.

K-12 education in America is a like a quickly moving train that stops for no one.

 

Teachers sprint into new careers, amid a 66% rise in school-job departures — from linkedin.com by George Anders

Excerpt:

Across the United States, thousands of other long-time teachers are walking away from the field they loved for a long time, in favor of fresh starts in areas ranging from healthcare to software engineering.

Thousands of K-12 teachers are leaving education for new jobs, sending their attrition rate shooting up.

Also related/see:

  • NEA Survey Shows Big Jump in Educators Planning to Leave Teaching Sooner Than Planned — from thejournal.com by Kristal Kuykendall
    Excerpt:
    The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union representing nearly 3 million educators, on Tuesday released its latest survey conducted last month showing 90% of educators responded that burnout is a “serious problem” for them.Also notable: more than half, 55%, of the 3,621 educators surveyed said the pandemic has made them “more likely to retire or leave education earlier than planned” — representing a significant increase from the 37% with this response to the same question in an August 2021 NEA survey.
  • When Toxic Positivity Seeps Into Schools, Here’s What Educators Can Do — from edweek.org by Arianna Prothero
    Excerpt:
    “Look on the bright side” and “it could be worse” are statements we hear all the time, and likely even more so during the pandemic.On the surface, these remarks might seem to inject much-needed optimism into a tough situation. But rather than motivating students or teachers to push through stressful times, experts say statements like these have the opposite effect.

 

 

 
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