Online classes coupled with classroom instruction may be more effective than traditional face-to-face teaching alone, according to an analysis of 46 studies of student performance recently released by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).
The results were most stark at the college level, but DOE officials are looking at how to apply the findings in K-12 classrooms, potentially emphasizing e-learning over teacher-led classes.
“A computer can do as well as a professor and [is] a heck of a lot cheaper and a heck of a lot more reliable,” says Marshall Smith, senior counselor to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “At the post-secondary level this is a pretty powerful thing.” more » » »
Zeke Vanderhoek believes you get what you pay for—even in education. That’s why this former middle school teacher is launching the Equity Project (TEP) Charter School, a middle school in upper Manhattan where teachers will make six-figure incomes, this fall. We caught up with him to ask why he thinks his vision will succeed.
How did you decide to pay teachers $125,000 a year?
This is not an original idea. Many people since the beginning of time have said we’ve got to pay teachers. When I wrote the charter I looked at our budget, and I wanted to see if we could value teachers without lip service. Teacher quality is essential to student achievement. What is the way to get great people? First, you have to pay people according to their talent. Two, you have to provide an environment where you give them freedom and autonomy. They have one-year contracts, and they operate like they’re in any other job. They don’t have tenure, and they’re evaluated based on performance. more » » »
Anthony Browne, the new children's laureate, who says we should teach children, and adults, to read pictures. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe >>>
U.S. Male-Female SAT Math Scores: What Accounts for the Gap?
-->
It’s well known that for the SAT mathematics test a) male high school students in the U.S. have higher scores on average than females, b) the gap is large and statistically significant (+30 points), and c) the male-female math test score gap has persisted over time, since at least 1971, and probably much longer (see chart above, data here from the Dept. of Education). >>>
Say it with words and you're lucky if they hear it or bother to read it. Tell your story with imagery, and it grabs attention, evokes emotion, and is more instantly processed. Sixty thousand times faster, say some researchers. At Hong Kong International School (HKIS), we have concerns quite similar to those of teachers in the U.S.: We want to engage student interest, we want to efficiently scaffold for students to construct meaning, and we want to motivate and empower them to communicate. Like all educators, we have students who deserve to learn 21st-century media skills and literacy to communicate in ways that are relevant in a new century. Article continues
The term blended learning is a term used to describe an educational course in which a mixture of face to face student/teacher instruction and online instruction are used together for any given class. The most exciting part of this process is to decide how to transform the teaching and learning experience into one, so that the student's creativity and thinking skills are enhanced to a higher degree.
Blended Learning Describes a Wide Variety of Teaching Approaches
The term Blended Learning has been used to describe a wide variety of approaches. The term blended learning is also be used to describe arrangements in which conventional, offline and non-electronic based instruction happens to include online tutoring and/or mentoring services. One such course that would be enhanced with blended learning would be a science experiment, where students access their instruction on a computer, and then walk over to a lab table to conduct and experiment.
E-Learning and Traditional School
In most cases blended learning, e-learning is used in a traditional brick and mortal school, to help enhance the student's educational experience and to make the teaching of courses more efficient.
Why Dabble In Blended Learning?
It's about getting students to learn. It's also about saving on cost of textbooks. After decades of teaching students using textbooks, current students are accustomed to reading off a computer screen. Ink on paper is boring to them. They need interaction, instant gratification, multiple actions and movement. Blending face-to-face instruction with a computer screen gets today's student to learn.
There are more significant reasons: At risk students and exceptional students tend to excel with computer instruction. Rather than being lost among a group of 24 students in a classroom, an at-risk student will often surprisingly excel when offered computer instruction. With a system that offers tracking, a teacher can track progress of each student and pinpoint students who need special assistance in certain areas.
Exceptional students enjoy computerized instruction because they can proceed at their own pace and are not "tied down" by students in a classroom who need extra help.
How to Get Started in Blended Learning
The smartest first step in blending classroom instruction with technology is to use a Learning Management System. There are several different learning management systems on the market. Capterra.com offers a list of Learning management systems along with a breakdown of each system's features and cost. Some cater to businesses that wish to train their employees. Others, such as Blackboard, are used in the college market.
Blended Learning Describes a Wide Variety of Teaching Approaches
The term Blended Learning has been used to describe a wide variety of approaches. The term blended learning is also be used to describe arrangements in which conventional, offline and non-electronic based instruction happens to include online tutoring and/or mentoring services. One such course that would be enhanced with blended learning would be a science experiment, where students access their instruction on a computer, and then walk over to a lab table to conduct and experiment.
E-Learning and Traditional School
In most cases blended learning, e-learning is used in a traditional brick and mortal school, to help enhance the student's educational experience and to make the teaching of courses more efficient.
Why Dabble In Blended Learning?
It's about getting students to learn. It's also about saving on cost of textbooks. After decades of teaching students using textbooks, current students are accustomed to reading off a computer screen. Ink on paper is boring to them. They need interaction, instant gratification, multiple actions and movement. Blending face-to-face instruction with a computer screen gets today's student to learn.
There are more significant reasons: At risk students and exceptional students tend to excel with computer instruction. Rather than being lost among a group of 24 students in a classroom, an at-risk student will often surprisingly excel when offered computer instruction. With a system that offers tracking, a teacher can track progress of each student and pinpoint students who need special assistance in certain areas.
Exceptional students enjoy computerized instruction because they can proceed at their own pace and are not "tied down" by students in a classroom who need extra help.
How to Get Started in Blended Learning
The smartest first step in blending classroom instruction with technology is to use a Learning Management System. There are several different learning management systems on the market. Capterra.com offers a list of Learning management systems along with a breakdown of each system's features and cost. Some cater to businesses that wish to train their employees. Others, such as Blackboard, are used in the college market.
Susan Bond is a part of IQity - a comprehensive, online educational system that includes IQity Reactor, a learning object repository that allows educators to create and share custom curriculum, organized by state educational standards. Reactor is integrated with a learning management system that allows traditional bricks-and-mortar schools to create an environment that enables students to learn whenever, wherever, and however is most effective for them.
Whitefriars College teacher librarian Tania Sheko has been busy! She has also created a wiki for the English class she has been working with.
Tania explains how the wiki came about:
The English wiki was created to support a particular English class but with a view to sharing resources with all English teachers. It’s in its very early stages, and will continue to evolve with time, according to the needs of the English class. >>>
Digital Wish, a nonprofit group dedicated to modernizing classrooms, hands out a constant stream of small grants to schools and helps teachers acquire funding for technology. Digital Wish not only offers school site licenses on Adobe and Microsoft products, but also automatically matches each purchase by giving 2 to 10 percent back to teachers every time an order is placed. more » » »
The process of reading is very like that of driving a car. As readers, it is our charge to "navigate" our way to meaning as we enter nonfiction texts and tasks. For students the, road to meaning in informational text is one paved with challenge and complexity. This presentation explores what great "drivers" need to do before, during, and after reading to successfully arrive at their final destination...UNDERSTANDING THE BIG IDEA!
Nowadays less and less children dream of becoming teachers for the simple reason that people want to do something "for a living", not to work all for nothing. I am afraid that qualified teachers will soon be an endangered species and even those who still exist, have no motivation to do their work properly ("no pay, no play"). >>>
