Student Engagement and Being in the Flow When I think about engaging students, I think about Flow. Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. In 1997, Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi published this graph that depicts the relationship between the challenges of a task and skills. Graph of Flow from Wikipedia: The center of this graph (where the sectors meet) represents one’s average levels of challenge and skill. Kindergarteners spend more time learning how to take a test than learning how to socialize. “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Conditions of FLOW Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi identified ten factors one may experience with FLOW: How are you experiencing FLOW? Think about an activity that gets you excited and are passionate about. I am a coach.
Bridge to Learning - Educational Research Graham Attwell is Director of Pontydysgu. He is an Associate Fellow, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick and a Gastwissenschaftler at the Insititut Technik und Bildung, University of Bremen. Born in 1953 he has a BA (Hons) degree in History from the University of Wales: Swansea College. He was previously Director of the Centre for Research and Educational Development at Gwent Tertiary College (1993-1996) and a Senior Researcher at the University of Bremen (1996-9) His experience includes: Technology-enhanced teaching and learning and web-based learning environment development: Specialised in research and development into pedagogies for Technology Enhanced Learning, Pontydysgu has organised a series of face to face and on-line workshops for teachers in producing Open Education resources. Graham Attwell is also Maria’s favourite philospher.
The IELTS Exam in Hong Kong English and ESL Resources The following is a combination of excellent websites compiled by ITS staff to help students, teachers and the community with their English and English as a second language (ESL) training and courses. BBC Learning English Voice of America: Special English NPR online hourly news and daily shows (Morning edition, All Things Considered, etc. from US National Public Radio; many of their programs keep an archive of past shows CNN Video US and international news services Family Health two-minute audio files on a variety of health questions, from Ohio University's Dr. Great speeches historical speeches and transcripts Vincent Voice Library historic speeches and other recordings, from US presidents and others (audio) English Club : ESL Webguide : Listening Yahoo! Improving Your Listening suggestions and activities for listening to the news; lectures; movies; British and American English, and conversations. Improving Your Listening Northumbria University About ESL: listening tips
2009 Horizon Report » Two to Three Years: The Personal Web Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years Fifteen years after the first commercial web pages began to appear, the amount of content available on the web is staggering. Sifting through the sheer volume of material — good or bad, useful or otherwise — is a daunting task. It is even difficult to keep track of the media posted by a single person, or by oneself. On the other hand, adding to the mix is easier than ever before, thanks to easy-to-use publishing tools for every type and size of media. To cope with the problem, computer users are assembling collections of tools, widgets, and services that make it easy to develop and organize dynamic online content. Overview Part of a trend that began with simple innovations like personalized start pages, RSS aggregation, and customizable widgets, the personal web is a term coined to represent a collection of technologies that confer the ability to reorganize, configure and manage online content rather than just viewing it. Library Research.
Why Long Lectures Are Ineffective Each school day, millions of students move in unison from classroom to classroom where they listen to 50- to 90-minute lectures. Despite there being anywhere from 20 to 300 humans in the room, there is little actual interaction. This model of education is so commonplace that we have accepted it as a given. For centuries, it has been the most economical way to “educate” a large number of students. Today, however, we know about the limitations of the class lecture, so why does it remain the most common format? (MORE: Should Teachers Be Allowed to Share Their Lesson Plans?) In 1996, in a journal called the National Teaching & Learning Forum, two professors from Indiana University — Joan Middendorf and Alan Kalish — described how research on human attention and retention speaks against the value of long lectures. Middendorf and Kalish also cited a study from 1985 which tested students on their recall of facts contained in a 20-minute presentation.
Personal learning network A personal learning network is an informal learning network that consists of the people a learner interacts with and derives knowledge from in a personal learning environment. In a PLN, a person makes a connection with another person with the specific intent that some type of learning will occur because of that connection.[1][2] The following is an excerpt from Dryden's and Vos' book on learning networks:[4] "For the first time in history, we know now how to store virtually all humanity's most important information and make it available, almost instantly, in almost any form, to almost anyone on earth. We also know how to do that in great new ways so that people can interact with it , and learn from it." Personal learning networks share a close association with the concept of personal learning environments. Aspects[edit] PLNs are becoming an important part of professional development in several fields with some businesses creating their own e-learning content and PLEs for their employees.
WebQuest Repository About us Courses & workshops Consultancy services Clients & publications Tools & webquests Resources / WebQuests / Repository WebQuests Repository About this repository This is a growing selection of WebQuests created by participants on our courses. Note: The following Creative Commons license applies to all these WebQuests: ELT materials by As per author is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Share this See also © The Consultants-E Ltd., 2003 - 2014 Sitefinity ASP.NET CMS How to Create a Robust and Meaningful Personal Learning Network [PLN] This post describes how educators can develop a personal learning network that supports meaningful and relevant learning. The MOOC, Education Technology & Media, etmooc, is used here as a working example of how to develop a PLN. “My Personal Learning Network is the key to keeping me up-to-date with all the changes that are happening in education and how technology can best support and engage today’s students.” Brian Metcalfe: teacher, blogger at lifelonglearners.com A visual image of participants in an open, online course- etmooc, which shows the potential to find and create personal connections as part of one’s PLN. (image credit: Alec Couros) I wrote a post recently about how to develop a personal learning environment [PLE], the need and benefits of doing so, for educators in particular. What is a PLN? Twitter 6×6 (Photo credit: Steve Woolf) Logo for etmooc from etmooc.org In the etmooc we are primarily using Google+ Community , Blackboard Collaborate and Twitter to interact. Resources
ged578 / Learning Style Theories Learning Styles Theories Presented To You By John Whitley, Jr. Ellen Park Gustavo Madrigal Maximize Your Ability To Learn "An important part of that understanding is knowing who we are and what we can do... Behaviorism- An assumption that a learner is passive, responding to environmental stimuli. Positive indicates the application of a stimulus; Negative indicates the withholding of a stimulus. Cognitivism- Cognitivism focuses on mental processes which includes how people perceive, think, remember, learn, solve problems. Constructivism- It is a theory based on how people learn. When individuals encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. Multiple Intelligences-Howard Gardner. 8 Multiple Intelligences 1. The ability to understand people's moods, motivations, desires, and intentions. 2. Assessing your own moods,motivations,desires and intentions. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 1. 2.
How To Create a ‘Personal Learning Environment’ to Stay Relevant in 2013 “Our understanding of learning has expanded at a rate that has far outpaced our conceptions of teaching. A growing appreciation for the porous boundaries between the classroom and life experience…has created not only promising changes but also disruptive moments in teaching.” EDUCAUSE Review, 2012 This quote from Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education (Bass, 2012), gives a good a reason as any for educators to develop a Personal learning Environment [PLE]; a space where we can keep up with the experimental modes of learning, instruction, changing pedagogy and instructional methods that surfaced in 2012. In a previous post I introduced the concept of PLEs and touched on why educators may want to consider developing a PLE for 2013. In this post I’ll outline how educators can develop their own PLE, where to start, and I’ll provide specific action steps, and what tools to use. We need to disrupt ourselves: The model of higher education is at a turning point.
100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner For those unfamiliar with the term, a learning style is a way in which an individual approaches learning. Many people understand material much better when it is presented in one format, for example a lab experiment, than when it is presented in another, like an audio presentation. Determining how you best learn and using materials that cater to this style can be a great way to make school and the entire process of acquiring new information easier and much more intuitive. Here are some great tools that you can use to <a href=">cater to your individual learning style, no matter what that is. Visual Learners Visual learners learn through seeing and retain more information when it's presented in the form of pictures, diagrams, visual presentations, textbooks, handouts and videos. Auditory Learners Auditory learners do best in classes where listening is a main concern. Kinesthetic Learners Kinesthetic learners do best when they interact and touch things.
35 Ways To Build Your Personal Learning Network Online Personal learning networks are a great way for educators to get connected with learning opportunities, access professional development resources, and to build camaraderie with other education professionals. Although PLNs have been around for years, in recent years social media has made it possible for these networks to grow exponentially. Now, it’s possible to expand and connect your network around the world anytime, anywhere. But how exactly do you go about doing that? Check out our guide to growing your personal learning network with social media, full of more than 30 different tips, ideas, useful resources, and social media tools that can make it all possible. Tips & Ideas Get started developing your social media PLN with these tips and ideas for great ways to make use of social tools. Actively make ties : It’s not enough to just follow and read, you need to connect. Guides Tools & Resources Want to really make the most of your PLN?
Persuasion Map Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson Demonstrating Understanding of Richard Wright's Rite of Passage Students use the elements of persuasion for a specific audience to demonstrate their understanding of Richard Wright's accessible and engaging coming-of-age novel, Rite of Passage. Grades 6 – 12 | Lesson Plan Persuade Me in Five Slides! After students write persuasive essays, use this lesson to challenge them to summarize their essays concisely by creating five-slide presentations. Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson Developing Citizenship Through Rhetorical Analysis Students analyze rhetorical strategies in online editorials, building knowledge of strategies and awareness of local and national issues. Grades 3 – 12 | Student Interactive | Organizing & Summarizing Compare & Contrast Map The Compare & Contrast Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to organize and outline their ideas for different kinds of comparison essays. Essay Map Persuasion Rubric
Why (And How) You Should Create A Personal Learning Network What Is A PLN? Through the use of my own Personal Learning Network (PLN) , I came across several great examples that both define what a PLN is, and explain the value of creating one for yourself. According to a wikispace about creating PLNs, “Personal Learning Networks are systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. 1) set their own learning goals 2) manage their learning; managing both content and process 3) communicate with others in the process of learning and thereby achieve learning goals Simply put: A PLN is a system for lifelong learning. ” Why Start Your PLN Now? Teachers in our district, especially freshmen teachers, have a ton on their plates this year. Here are some ways that educators are using their PLNs: 10 Easy Ways to Kick Start Your Personal Learning Network Thanks to a fellow blogger/teacher named Kate Klingensmith, here’s a directory of some resources you can use to start developing your own community of connections and resources: Resources