I was recently at a conference about the social and emotional needs of children today. While much of what I heard reinforced what we were already seeing as a campus, it was fascinating – the idea many children today are unaware of how to communicate effectively, show and understand empathy, understand their feelings regarding shame, or even the ability to read the emotions of others.
Over the day the needs/challenges of children today continued to grow….social/emotional needs, emotional disturbances, medical needs, hunger, clothing, communication needs, lack of parental support, counseling needs, and on and on the list grew…
Turing Tumble is a new type of game where players (ages 8+) build mechanical computers powered by marbles to solve logic puzzles. It’s fun, addicting, easy-to-learn, and while you’re playing, you discover how computers work. I’m all about teaching kids to code. When I was a professor at the University of Minnesota, I saw how valuable…
An Indian teenager has built what is thought could be the world’s lightest satellite, which will be launched at a Nasa facility in the US in June. Rifath Shaarook’s 64-gram (0.14 lb) device was selected as the winner in a youth design competition. The 18-year-old says its main purpose was to demonstrate the performance of…
It began as a post-war dream for a more collaborative and egalitarian workplace. It has evolved into a nightmare of noise and discomfort. Can the open office be saved, or should we all just be working from home? Source: Yes, the Open Office Is Terrible — But It Doesn’t Have to Be (Ep. 358) – Freakonomics…
The onslaught of robots and automation on all sorts of careers is a topic I’ve talked about previously. I believe as educators we need to be aware of the world our students will be inheriting. But one journalist doesn’t believe automation is happening fast enough. Baffling because it’s starkly at odds with the evidence, and…
And that’s the true danger of anti-intellectualism. While it’s foolish to choose to be stupid, it’s cultural suicide to decide that insights, theories and truth don’t actually matter. If we don’t care to learn more, we won’t spend time or resources on knowledge. We can survive if we eat candy for an entire day, but…
In search of inspiration or hard-won strategies for improving student learning? A 10-minute video may hold some answers for educators. TED Talks are short, informative, and often eye-opening talks given by leaders in their fields addressing all kinds of challenges. Many TED Talks are given by leading educators, or at least have important messages related…
