The abacus counting device dates back thousands of years but has, in the past century, been replaced by calculators and computers. But studies show that abacus use can have an effect on how well people learn math. In this excerpt adapted from his new book Learn Better, education researcher Ulrich Boser writes about the abacus and how people learn.
Teachers need feedback for growth just like our students. Yet, any administrator will tell you there’s simply not enough time to visit classrooms and provide teachers with meaningful and effective feedback in a timely manner. As a professional development liaison, I travel to K-12 schools in Hillsborough County and see what support systems are in…
If society learns to value motivation as much as intelligence or leadership skills, it could be an enormous boon for children. Source: Highly motivated kids have a greater advantage in life than kids with a high IQ Intrinsic motivation that is, it isn’t about external rewards such as stickers or money.
The ninth graders in Elise Delamatre’s classroom at the City Neighbors High School in northeast Baltimore are sitting in a circle of armchairs, presenting their opinions about the merits of the color blue and Nacho Cheese Doritos. “Blue is the best color. It’s calming. It’s awesome,” says one girl, standing to address the room. Other…
As cloud computing has become an integral part of the lives of students at public schools, it has increased the importance of a place generations of students have turned to for much more analog learning needs—the library. Both public and school libraries have always been a source of information for students. And while the Internet has undoubtedly…
Veolia Water Technologies, a transnational water treatment specialist firm, is partnering with a company called Fieldbit to bring Augmented Reality to the plant floor. Source: Augmented Reality is making industrial work more productive | Ars Technica Augment reality is the act of laying computer graphics onto the viewable world in realtime. If you’ve played Pokemon…
In most ways, teachers that use technology in the classroom aren’t much different than those that don’t. Any teacher worth their salt assesses, and then revises planned instruction based on data from those assessments.They manage their classroom in a way that works for them, create a positive learning environment, and (great teachers especially) collaborate with…