Keeping students engaged

Adaptive learning: Putting an idea into practice at the School of One — from EducationNext.org

On 05/03/2010, in engagement / engaging students, innovation, K-12 related, personalized/customized learning, virtual tutoring, by Daniel Christian

Adaptive learning: Putting an idea into practice at the School of One — from EducationNext.org by Paul E. Peterson

Time magazine touted “the School of One” as one of the 50 top innovations of 2009—the only educational innovation to be given that honor. As described in Time, “each day, students in the School of One are given a unique lesson plan — a ‘daily playlist’— tailored to their learning style and rate of progress that includes a mix of virtual tutoring, in-class instruction and educational video games (emphasis DSC).” I stopped by a New York City middle school using the School of One last week to see how new technologies that help teachers adapt to each student’s learning level actually work in practice.

Educators, like designers, can benefit from identifying the student price point, the material the student is now ready and prepared to learn. With adaptive testing technologies now available, schools can quickly and efficiently obtain weekly, perhaps daily, information on what a student knows. Teaching can zero in on the price point, so the student is not given something that is either too advanced or too repetitive of what he or she already knows.

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School of One takes this idea one step further by also trying to identify student interests and learning styles as well. If a boy is a Little Leaguer; then baseball statistics may be the best way to teach math. If a girl plays volleyball, the examples can be modified accordingly.

Tagged with: customized learning • engaging students • games • innovation • Keeping students engaged • personalized learning

The 21st Century Art Teacher — from NorthJersey.com

On 05/01/2010, in art, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, new media literacies, by Daniel Christian

The 21st-century art teacher — from NorthJersey.com by Stephanie Akin [via Ray’s Schroeder’s Educational Technology Blog)

From DSC:
Not saying that this is the only way to teach art — no way — but this teacher’s “…seventh- and eighth-grade art classes at Eisenhower Middle School use almost no traditional materials. Instead, he teaches students how to work with modern technology, including computers, digital cameras and camcorders. He also guides eighth-grade students through the process of producing their own daily television news program, which is broadcast to the rest of the school and on a local cable channel.”

My bet is that the energy level is high in his classes, as students are allowed to be creative in a variety of ways. If your institution doesn’t have a new media studies program, consider developing one. If you are teaching art, then you need to have at least a portion of your curriculum integrate/utilize such technologies.

Tagged with: art • digital photography • digital storytelling • digital video • engaging students • K-12 • Keeping students engaged • new media literacies • pedagogy

Peg Maddocks: Keys to Success Presentation

On 04/28/2010, in engagement / engaging students, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: engaging students • interdisciplinary • Keeping students engaged • pedagogy • personalized learning

snibbeinteractive.com

On 04/27/2010, in emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, interaction design, interactivity, presentations, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: emerging technologies • interaction design • interactivity • Keeping students engaged • presentations • smart classrooms

Campus Channel

On 04/12/2010, in convergence, creativity, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, engagement / engaging students, multimedia, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: convergence • creativity • engaging students • Keeping students engaged • multimedia

Innovative ways to engage learners with cell phones using research-based strategies — from the Innovative Educator

On 04/04/2010, in engagement / engaging students, mobile learning, mobile technologies, pedagogy, teaching & learning, telecommunications, by Daniel Christian

Innovative ways to engage learners with cell phones using research-based strategies — from the Innovative Educator

Tagged with: engaging students • K-12 • Keeping students engaged • Mobile learning • mobile technology

Generation Y children are ‘harder to teach’ — from educationnews.org

On 04/01/2010, in engagement / engaging students, generational differences, K-12 related, student-related, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

3.8.10 – A culture of “instant gratification” is making today’s schoolchildren harder to teach, a headteachers’ leader said yesterday.

Generation Y children are ‘harder to teach’

A culture of “instant gratification” is making today’s schoolchildren harder to teach, a headteachers’ leader said yesterday.

Youngsters live in a world dominated by reality television and celebrities “where success appears to come instantly and without any real effort”, John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondary school heads, told his annual conference in London. “It is difficult for teachers to compete,” he added. “Success in learning just doesn’t come fast enough.”

Dr Dunford cited research showing children spent a daily average of 1.7 hours online, 1.5 hours on computer gaming and 2.7 hours on watching television. “Against this background, the job of the teacher is immensely harder than it was even ten years ago,” he said. “To engage the impatient young people of Generation Y, something more is needed.”

He said children needed to be encouraged to use the skills they had developed to do more independent learning. Young people did not need to learn more but learn better, he said. “We have to move from dependent learning to independent learning.” He cited a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which said “teachers need to be capable of preparing students for a society and an economy in which they will be expected to be self-directed learners, able and motivated to keep learning over a lifetime.”

Original resource from the Committed Sardine blog

Tagged with: generational differences • K-12 • Keeping students engaged • student-related • teaching & learning

Tagged with: accessibility • engagement • engaging students • Keeping students engaged

The benefits of blended learning — from Faculty Focus

On 03/24/2010, in blended learning, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, hybrid learning, pedagogy, by Daniel Christian

The benefits of blended learning — from Faculty Focus

Blended learning, which combines face-to-face learning with a mixture of online activities, has been hailed as both a cost-effective way to relieve overcrowded classroom and a convenient alternative to the traditional classroom experience. But it has quickly become much more than that.

“There’s a growing body of evidence that suggests blended courses really are an effective way for students to learn,” says Ike Shibley, PhD, associate professor of chemistry at Penn State-Berks. “Blended courses can actually lead to increased student engagement, not less (emphasis DSC).”

But for blended learning to work well for you and, more importantly, your students, it requires a fair amount of upfront prep time in advance of the course and the discipline to stick to your course plan. More so than in traditional face-to-face courses, Shibley says.

Tagged with: blended learning • engagement • hybrid learning • Keeping students engaged

Digital access, collaboration a must for students — from eSchoolNews.com by Laura Devaney

On 03/16/2010, in digital learning, education technology, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, K-12 related, personalized/customized learning, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, by Daniel Christian

Digital access, collaboration a must for students — from eSchoolNews.com by Laura Devaney
Students increasingly are taking education into their own hands with personal technology experiences, a trend with important implications for schools

In a national survey that reveals K-12 students’ use of technology at home and at school, students overwhelmingly agreed that access to digital media tools and the ability to collaborate with peers both inside and outside of school can greatly enhance education.

“Speak Up 2009: Creating Our Future: Students Speak Up about their Vision for 21st Century Schools,” the latest education technology survey from the nonprofit group Project Tomorrow, identifies the emergence of “free agent learners”—students who increasingly take learning into their own hands and use technology to create personalized learning experiences.

“For these students, the schoolhouse, the teacher, and the textbook no longer have an exclusive monopoly on knowledge, content, or even the education process, and therefore it should not be surprising that students are leveraging a wide range of learning resources, tools, applications, outside experts, and each other to create a personalized learning experience that may or may not include what is happening in the classroom,” the report says.

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The three elements identified in the report are:

Social-based learning: Students want to leverage emerging communications and collaboration tools to create and personalize networks of experts to inform their education experience.

Untethered learning: Students envision technology-enabled learning experiences that transcend the classroom walls and are not limited by resource constraints, traditional funding streams, geography, community assets, or even teacher knowledge or skills.

Digitally-rich learning: Students see the use of relevancy-based digital tools, content, and resources as a key to driving learning productivity, and not just about engaging students in learning.

Tagged with: digital learning • educational technology • game-changing environment • K-12 • Keeping students engaged • personalized learning • social learning

A vision of the future Smart Classroom — Daniel S. Christian

On 03/12/2010, in 21st century, 3D, Apple, Augmented Reality (AR), blended learning, change, colleges, computer science, convergence, creativity, dangers of the status quo, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, disruption, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, geography / geology, global / globalization, higher education, hybrid learning, innovation, internet, learning, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, liberal arts, online learning, online media, pace of change, participation, passions, pedagogy, smart classrooms, strategy, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian