Friday, November 28, 2014

The Don't-Leave-Home-Without-It Machine


Whatever it is you keep forgetting, this project can help. It combines a selection of parts from littleBits’ Premium Kit with a few common pieces of off-the-shelf hardware to create an automatic pick-me-up-and-take-me-with-you machine. Put it on a table by the door, put the stuff you want to remember inside, and turn it on. If you start to go out without pickings up your things, it sounds an alarm to remind you to grab them, and keeps ringing until you do.

 


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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Why Is American Teaching So Bad? by Jonathan Zimmerman | The New York Review of Books


In this article, Jonathan Zimmerman, Professor of Education and History at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at NYU, reviewes three books on American teaching: The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession by Dana Goldstein; Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone) by Elizabeth Green; and, Getting Schooled: The Reeducation of an American Teacher by Garret Keizer.



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Are Teachers of Tomorrow Prepared to Use Innovative Tech?


Only half of current working teachers believe they can use technology to motivate students to learn, compared to 75 percent of incoming teachers. Only 17 percent of current teachers believe technology can help students deeply explore their own ideas, compared to 59 percent of incoming teachers. And 26 percent of current teachers believe students can use technology to apply knowledge to problem-solving, compared to 64 percent of aspiring teachers.



Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Two foster joeys meet for the first time [Video]


Daintree Wonder Tours’ orphaned agile wallabies (Gough and Salvador) meet for the first time. Very cute!


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Monday, November 24, 2014

Raspberry Pi Model A+ on sale now at $20


When Raspberry Pi announced the Model B+ back in July, they said that they’d also be producing a lower-cost variant, analogous to the original Model A. On November 10, they announced the release of the Raspberry Pi Model A+ at a new low price of $20.

Like the Model A, the Model A+ uses the BCM2835 application processor and has 256MB RAM, but it is significantly smaller (65mm in length, versus 86mm for the Model A), consumes less power, and inherits the many improvements that we made to the Model B+, including:



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Sunday, November 23, 2014

How Fingerprint is taking its kids' 'mobile edutainment' platform worldwide (interview) - Masters and PhDs


Nancy MacIntyre has been flying around the globe sealing partnerships for Fingerprint Digital, which has created a platform on smartphones and tablets for educational games. That’s her thanks for addressing a tough problem: How to raise the spotlight for educational mobile games.

Discovery is the hardest problem for educational game creators to figure out (and that applies to anyone making games). With so many out there, it’s hard to stand out. But Fingerprint’s platform on mobile devices is akin to an app store for educational games. It stands out for parents as a way to sort through a bunch of educational titles.


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Friday, November 21, 2014

Open Educational Resources (OER) - Advantages, Implications and Lists


Open educational resources (OER) are digitized materials that are available for use and re-use in teaching, learning, and research, very often under a Creative Commons license.  In this page you can find out more about the many benefits – and some challenges – in using these valuable resources …

 



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Education Administration PhD - Masters and PhDs


In the US, educational administration is often taken to include both management and leadership, whereas in the UK it is taken to be a separate activity – usually supportive of management and leadership. An education administration PhD will help you to progress your career in school or college management and administration. This page provides information on what is studied in these education degrees and where you can study them online.

 



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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Online Early Childhood Degrees


What is early childhood education?  It is usually taken to be the education of children from birth to age 8.  Early childhood degrees prepare you for jobs in teaching and administration related to this age group.  To do this, the early childhood education curriculum track includes courses in child psychology, parenting, and early childhood instruction and learning strategies.
This page provides information on what is studied and where you can study these programs, as well as details on jobs, potential earnings, prospects and more…


Saturday, November 15, 2014

Computer Health and Safety Issues - Online And Distance Learning


There are several well-known health issues associated with working at a computer and hence with studying online. In particular, it is known that working at a computer can result in the following health issues:

Eye strain: Working at a screen causes you to stare more intently at a small area than you would under other circumstances.Upper limb disorders: These are sometimes referred to as RSI (repetitive strain injury).Headaches: Some people report headaches after working at a screen for a long period.
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
This page deals with computer health and safety issues of online learning. In particular it demonstrates the need for a well designed computer workstation (with an ergonomic chair and ergonomic computer desk) and the need for a healthy work schedule.

Unidentified Glowing Object: Nature's Weirdest Events - BBC Series 3 Episode 2


More about this programme: http://ift.tt/14qYtcL divers discover a mysterious, giant glowing tube in Tasmanian waters – what is it?

 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Rethinking Teacher Time to Optimize Professional Learning - Online And Distance Learning


Recently, a team of 15 CTQ-KY teacher leaders and 1 administrator took on the challenge of rethinking teacher time to optimize professional learning. This team analyzed current teacher schedules and conducted an intensive three-day chat discussing teacher needs and opportunities for reallocating time. The group created the following shareable infographic with 3 recommendations for reallocating teacher time.



Friday, November 7, 2014

Education study finds in favour of traditional teaching styles - Online And Distance Learning


Schools need to put more effort into evaluating what makes effective teaching, and ensure that discredited practices are rooted out from classrooms, according to a new study published by the Sutton Trust and Durham University.

The study suggests that some schools and teachers continue using methods that cause little or no improvement in student progress, and instead rely on anecdotal evidence to back fashionable techniques such as “discovery learning,” where pupils are meant to uncover key ideas for themselves, or “learning styles,” which claims children can be divided into those who learn best through sight, sound or movement.

 

Thursday, November 6, 2014

How Teachers Can Motivate Students of Any Age - Masters and PhDs


“Every teacher wishes their entire class was intrinsically motivated,” says Kathy Branchflower, a veteran fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at Lincoln-Hubbard School in Summit, New Jersey. Branchflower says that our cultural inclination to praise and reward kids, often for minimal achievement, has contributed to the decline in kids’ intrinsic motivation. Another culprit in reducing inner drive is kids’ overly structured lives, Branchflower adds, because children lose confidence and motivation when adults make the decisions for them. To build it back, she reminds her students that they are responsible for their own learning, adding that she is a mere facilitator to their education.

 

Brittany Maynard Has Died - About Health Degrees


Brittany Maynard ended her own life on Saturday November 1, 2014. She was diagnosed with brain cancer (a stage 4 glioblastoma) in spring and had decided to take her own life rather then she and her family having to endure the physical, mental and emotional anguish that would result from a lingering and painful death.



Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Secondary Education Masters - Masters and PhDs


Getting a secondary education masters degree can open doors that lead to more challenging educational or administrative positions in the subject area for which you are most passionate.

If your goal is to enter the administrative side of education, a secondary education graduate program that focuses on supervisory and administrative tasks in a school will be more beneficial and it will be to your advantage to pursue this specialization in your program. On the other hand, if you want to teach in secondary schools, then you will need to pursue a teaching specialization in your masters program.  

 



Monday, November 3, 2014

ClassBadges


ClassBadges is a free online tool where teachers can award badges to students for accomplishments or academic mastery. Through your teacher account, you can award badges customized for your classroom or school. Badges can easily be aligned to academic goals or associated with existing school awards.



Sunday, November 2, 2014

How Standing Desks Can Help Students Focus in the Classroom - Masters and PhDs


Mark Benden, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at Texas A&M Health Science Center, says too much sitting is bad for our health, and students are now facing a host of challenges that may stem in part from too much time in a chair, including obesity and attention disorders. So five years ago, Benden and his team began studying what happened to students when they got out of their traditional seats and moved to standing desks.



Online Masters and PhDs

Online and Distance Learning