The Key To Learning: Knowing How Learning Works

What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing body of research suggests a rather riddle-like answer: It’s not just what you know. It’s what you know about what you know. To put it in more straightforward terms, anytime a student learns, he or she has to bring in two kinds of prior knowledge: knowledge about the subject at hand (say, mathematics or history) and knowledge about how learning works. In our schools, “little emphasis—if any—is placed on training students how they should go about learning the content and what skills will promote efficient studying to support robust learning,” writes John Dunlosky, professor of psychology at Kent State University in Ohio, in an article just published in American Educator. Research has found that students vary widely in what they know about how to learn, according to a team of educational researchers from Australia writing last year in the journal Instructional Science. • I draw pictures or diagrams to help me understand this subject.

Effective Online Teaching As I venture through my online teaching and course development I have been drawn to the question, what does an effective online teacher look like? If I am to develop a good online course then I will need to know what aspect I need to include in the course that would facilitate good online teaching practices. 1. Provide helpful resources on the course site: their summary indicated that “guiding questions helped students focus and develop their projects” (pg. 21) 2. Let students have control over the pace that they work through the course: they did indicate that their findings were mixed and that the more successful students finished the work sooner than the less successful students. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 1. 2. 3. 4. Cole and Kritzer (2006) expressed the need to create each unit as a module where all of their objectives, readings, presentations, questions, and activity were presented in one complete block.

Blended Learning Toolkit | How to Pack an Emergency Kit Like a Spy Plane Pilot 7 Must-Have Tools For The Flipped Classroom 7 Must-Have Tools For The Flipped Classroom by first appeared on gettingsmart.com The flipped classroom uses technology to allow students more time to apply knowledge and teachers more time for hands-on education. It’s a continually changing strategy that evolves with technology. Innovative educators are usually on the lookout for the latest technology breakthroughs that will help them better organize and conduct flipped classrooms. The following tools are listed from most basic to most sophisticated and can be used alone or in tandem to make flipped classrooms more engaging. Google Drive Google Drive (Docs) has many advantages over traditional word processing programs, including real-time automatic updates visible to all users, a feature that enables robust discussion and sharing. YouTube Ideal for first-time flippers, YouTube offers a user-friendly, universally understood platform for taped lectures and other educational videos. Teachem The Flipped Learning Network Camtasia Studio

Digital Differentiation ~ Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners Technology is a tool that can be used to help teachers facilitate learning experiences that address the diverse learning needs of all students and help them develop 21st Century Skills. At it's most basic level, digital tools can be used to help students find, understand and use information. When combined with student-driven learning experiences fueled by Essential Questions offering flexible learning paths, it can be the ticket to success. Here is a closer look at three components of effectively using technology as a tool for digital differentiation. Note: The interactive graphics you see below have been updated. They can be found in a newer post on this blog. The goal is to design student-driven learning experiences that are fueled by standards-based Essential Questions and facilitated by digital tools to provide students with flexible learning paths. Essential Questions: Student-driven learning experiences should be driven by standards-based Essential Questions.

How to Learn (Almost) Anything This is a guest post by Glen Allsopp of PluginID. Have you ever read an informative book, only to later remember just a few main points — if anything at all? The problem might be that you’re using one of the least efficient ways of learning available. The Cone of Learning I remember back about 7 years ago when I was taking music lessons at school, there was a poster on the wall that really grabbed my attention. Image Credit After doing some research, I found that the contents of that poster were based upon the work of Edgar Dale back in 1969. Today, many of you may know this as the Cone of Learning, but beware: although the cone is in fact based upon the results of Dale’s research, the percentage figures were never actually cited by Dale, and added by others after the initial investigation. Based on the research we can see that: The Cone of Learning suggests why you are more likely to remember parts of a movie than you are from a book on the same topic. Learning Almost Anything

Free Visual Dictionary & Thesaurus | Online Dictionary | Associated Words | Synonyms Dictionary at SnappyWords.com Hot Potatoes Home Page 10 Simple Ways to Raise Your Level of Conscious Awareness January 31, 2013 by @dieselpokers What does it mean to become more conscious? It is the progressive realization of conscious mastery over your mind. The challenge is that it takes consciousness to grow consciousness. But you needn’t worry about this because you already have the seed. Awareness begins with acceptance. 1. Truth raises your consciousness. First, accept the truth. Secondly, speak the truth. The more you’re able to accept and speak the truth, the more conscious you become. Yes, there may be consequences when you switch from lies and half-truths to the full truth, but highly conscious people know that crossing that bridge is well worth the effect. 2. Courage raises your consciousness. Courage is the gatekeeper between unconscious growth and conscious growth. A powerful guiding principle to adopt is, “Whatever I fear, I must face.” 3. Compassion raises your consciousness. Compassion is the root of unconditional love, a feeling of connectedness with everything that exists. 4. 5.