The culture that learners experience contributes to their views and perspectives that determine what is important to them and the people around them. These become the learned behaviors that determine what learners value, how they define learning, and other decisions about how learning occurs. Differences between the expectations of educators and students is an example Read More
Blumenfield, Kempler, and Krajcik (2006) suggest engagement in grounded in four factors: Value- Learners tend to be engaged with material and lessons they believe are important to them. Value is also closely related to motivation, interest, and goals, all of which are addressed in the next section. Competence- Learners tend to engage in activities they Read More
“School improvement” has been the mantra of school leaders for generations. The story for educators who have been in the profession for more than about 10 years is familiar: An innovative new approach to education is presented as the panacea for finally realizing the schools that we want and that the described in our vision Read More
Education is a technology that is built upon the natural phenomena of the human brain. It is only though changing the structure and function of this organ that we learn. Some experiences change the brain quickly and permanently; some experiences change the brain slowly and reversibly. Regardless of the outcomes a teacher plans, the results Read More
Scaffolding is an approach that can be used to teaching for deeper learning. This is especially useful when an instructor wants to approach a problem from the whole task, but it is too complicate for the students to complete independently. In this case, the teacher introduces scaffolds so to problem enters the students’ zone of proximal development. With scaffolds, Read More
The culture that learners experience contributes to their views and perspectives that determine what is important to them and the people around them. These become the learned behaviors that determine what learners value, how they define learning, and other decisions about how learning occurs. Educators observe how deviation from cultural expectations affect learners’ actions in Read More
Teaching and learning are endeavors that have changed significantly in the decades since the cognitive science and the learning sciences emerged. More accurately, the nature of human learning has not changed, but our understanding of it has changed and this has led scholars and educators to redefine what they expect of students. Yes, teachers are Read More
“Effective schools” is a nebulous term. We could define schools in which students earn top scores on standardized tests as effective; likewise, we could define schools in which students write cogent essays (or create paintings, music, and dance) expounding the evils of standardized tests as effective. In fact, these schools may not be exclusive; perhaps Read More
A good online course will be complete (the syllabus will include everthing that it should), clear (well-organized and accessible to students), and allow for connections (between students and content and teacher and the world beyond the course). Such courses are designed through three iterative processes: First, the outcomes and products are designed to ensure it is clear what students will learn Read More
Forgive the deviation… this is not a post about technology or teaching. Forgive, as well, the seeming “fuddyduddiness” of this post. Can we please start using “myself” in the right way? I have pretty much given up hope of hearing the correct use of “me” and “I.” I accept the fact that people will say, Read More