2011 Virtual Circle of Learning Wrap-Up

• November 8, 2011 by Pam Combs

This year’s annual customer conference, Virtual Circle of Learning 2011, took place online last Friday with over 800 registrants.   The keynote speakers—Eric Jensen, Dr. Martha Burns, and Andrew Ostarello—addressed opportunities for customers to maximize the impact of their implementations of Scientific Learning products.

Much of the content from these keynotes can be seen in our Twitter stream with the hashtag #VCOL11, as we live-tweeted the keynote sessions and linked to articles relevant to each speaker’s presentation.

The articles provide further reading on increasing student motivation and engagement, maximizing the results of using Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant products, and more:

• AMPing up our teaching to increase intrinsic student motivation
• Dr. Martha Burns on Brain Plasticity
• Implementation Fidelity: Maximizing Your Fast ForWord or Reading Assistant Investment
• Nevada Department of Education: Fast ForWord is a “High-Gain Program”
• Dr. Donald Aguillard: Improving Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) Scores in St. Mary Parish Schools
• How to improve student motivation
• What are some ways elementary teachers might use Twitter in their classrooms?
• Finding a voice through Twitter
• Retweeting History Brings Those Stories to Life

Customers who missed a keynote or breakout session can watch it on Customer Connect (customer login required).  Feel free to share the link with others at your school who were not able to attend. 

Also, be sure to complete your survey to let us know what you enjoyed and what we can improve for next year.  And, if you have an iPad, be sure to include your iTunes email address so we can give you our new iPad app, Eddy’s Number Party!

And now, off to start planning for Virtual Circle of Learning 2012!

Related Reading:

Building Fluent Readers: How Oral Reading Practice Helps Reading Comprehension

How Learning to Read Improves Brain Function

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Categories: Education Trends, Fast ForWord, Reading & Learning, Reading Assistant

Tags: academic success, accelerate learning, digital natives, education conference, elementary school learning, high school learning, increased test scores, literacy, memory, middle school learning, reading intervention, Scientific Learning events, student growth, success stories, technology in education, webinar

Introducing the Eddy’s Number Party! Game – the First iPad App from Scientific Learning

• October 17, 2011 by Erin Ellinwood

Hi! My name is Erin Ellinwood and I’m a product manager at Scientific Learning.   I am super excited to write about our first ever iPad App, the Eddy’s Number Party!™game, for preschool and kindergarten aged children.  Our products have always been grounded in science and built with scientific advisors, and this game is no exception.  Equally pairing early math curriculum with two critical cognitive skills, working memory and attention, Eddy’s Number Party! helps prepare kids for success in kindergarten and beyond. In the game, kids help Eddy’s friends surprise him with the biggest dog birthday party ever and practice counting, remembering, and matching numbers.

Designed for Young Learners

Our roots here at Scientific Learning are in developing cutting edge adaptive learning games for delivery on desktop or laptop computers.  Because this game targets a younger audience, we talked to teachers and educational experts to see what technology they thought would be best for preschool and kindergarten age learners.  The resounding feedback we heard was that our game would be most developmentally appropriate on the iPad.  And so, our first iPad app was born.

Makes Learning Fun (We’re Getting Great Reviews from Our Kid Testers!)

Sometimes learning can feel monotonous, especially for 3 to 5 year olds, so we added some key components to help break things up: 

• Story:  Nothing engages kids like a good story.  Since most young children love birthday parties, the game is centered around a party for the adorable dog, Eddy.  “But,” the game asks, “where are all his friends?” As kids advance through the game levels, they round up more and more friends, culminating in a fun party scene and acknowledgement of the child’s accomplishment: “You did it, you got all of Eddy’s friends to his party!”
• Bonus levels: The bonus levels add variety and keep interest while reinforcing the learning objectives.  Our cognitive science advisors call the bonus activities “palate cleansers,” a nice but productive break from the “drill”. 
• Engagement: We’ve pumped up the engagement in a big way, because we know that when it comes to kids and iPads, it’s all about fun.
• In-app sticker play: As a child masters each learning level, the game awards a sticker, but not just a regular sticker—it’s a funny “talking” sticker.   It has been so much fun to see each of our kid testers collect the stickers and get excited about creating their party!   Plus, research shows that kids benefit from a reward structure.  Stickers are a reward that preschool and kindergarten age children really identify with, and the sticker play can add hours of creative interaction.

Includes and Enables Parents

Grown-Up Central is a unique feature among apps for kids (and my favorite part of the app).  I believe that it is important to give parents the ability to review the game’s goals, tour all game levels, and learn about the underlying research and development behind the game. In addition to all of the information it provides about the app itself, Grown-Up Central also features a visual report card that shows a child’s progress and gives suggestions at each level for “what to look for” (such as a child beginning to count up from a known quantity) and how to further “bring learning to life” (such as cooking with the child from a recipe).

Being the product manager for the Eddy's Number Party! game has been a fantastic challenge, and I’m proud of the result.

I hope to see you at the party! Click here to download from Apple’s iTunes App Store or visit the App Store and search for "Eddy’s Number Party!”

And, if you like the app, please consider leaving a review in the App Store!

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Categories: Family Focus, Reading & Learning, Scientific Learning Research

Tags: accelerate learning, attention, brain training, cognitive skills, digital natives, early learning, how children learn, innovation, learning through play, math, memory, play, technology in education, video

Using Google in the Classroom: Two Simple Tips to Refine Your Search

• October 13, 2011 by Joseph DuLaney

Today is research day.

Your students are excited as they head to the computer lab to begin looking at ideas for their National History Day Projects.

They arrive.  Sit at their computer.  Open Google and begin typing their topic into the search bar.

Just then a bit of panic sets in as you realize Google Search can return all kinds of results, and your students are pouring over literally millions of target locations that possibly have no relevance to the research they are attempting to conduct.  Even worse in your mind is that you have possibly just wasted thirty minutes of valuable time—time that could have been much more productive if you just knew a couple of things about Google Search.

Google Basic Search is how most of us use Google.  It gives you the simple task of typing your search topic in the Google Search Bar and accepting the results it hands back. 

It is valuable to know that Google compiles those results in many different ways, and not always in the specific way in which we are looking. For example, when I search for the Great Divide (or Continental Divide), which was a major factor in United States Westward Expansion, I get these top three results:

1. Great Divide Brewing Co.  This may be a fine microbrewery but definitely wasn’t a hangout for the Westward Explorers.
2. Great Divide Snow Sports.  I do not recall the explorers using snowboards so I believe we can rule this site out as well 
3. The Great Divide Band, of which none of the members were even born during the time period, once again provides nothing in the way of help in research on the topic of the Great Divide. 

Now, take a look at some simple tools that will provide a powerful and impactful search for your students and maximize their time performing research.  These tools are called Google Search Operators, and two common Operators are Site: and Source:.

Site:, when typed after a search topic, allows a searcher to find information on Google from specific sites or domain extensions (.com, .net, .edu) thus narrowing the search only to websites that are considered relevant and appropriate, such as educational institutions, media, government sites, etc.  For educational institutions you would use their domain extension, site:edu, to generate only results that come from the educational community such as universities.  For media or other websites you use their site and extension—some examples include site:cnn.com which would generate searches specifically from CNN.com or site:apple.com which would generate searches only from the Apple website.  Give it a try.  Type in Google Search [Steve Jobs site:CNN.com] or [Steve Jobs site:apple.com]. 

Source: is a very focused search operator that, when placed after a search topic, allows a searcher to find information from a specific news source such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal or a local newspaper.  To perform a search with source: you would follow the same steps as you would with site:, instead just typing the source in which you are looking to gain information.  Try this search: [Election source:New York Times], which prioritizes results on the topic of elections that have been published in The New York Times.

There are many other advanced search operators for use with Google, but these two simple operators are a great start to help your students focus their time on performing credible research.  If you would like to learn about these and other options, you can visit Google’s web search support page for more information.

Related Reading:

Opening the Classroom Through Online Collaboration: 21st Century Learning Environments

Why Limit Screen Time? Scientific Research Explains

 

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: digital natives, how children learn, middle school learning, technology in education

10 Big Benefits of Using iPads in Schools

• September 27, 2011 by Corey Fitzgerald

Got an iPad yet?  School leaders say it’s not just a cool toy, but rather a powerful, versatile tool that is virtually changing the face of education.  With more than 15,000 “educational apps” available through Apple’s app store, teachers and students alike are having no trouble finding content and material for all areas of learning. 

From kindergarten through college, iPads offer educators more diverse methods for delivering instruction and engaging students for learning in the 21^st century.  Here are 10 big benefits of using iPads in schools:

1. Tablets fit students’ lifestyles – The appeal of using iPads in school is obvious and students find them easier to use than traditional computers.  This novelty leads to learning and when schools don’t implement what has now become “everyday technology”, we’re doing students a disservice. Besides, who wants to carry a backpack full of books?
2. Classrooms are ready for the iPad – Tablets are fully compatible with online teaching and learning platforms which can be easily integrated into the everyday classroom.  Some of the most innovative instructional software is being developed specifically for tablets, and teachers and students alike are more comfortable using them.
3. Students can run the helpdesk – Not only are kids eager to embrace new technology but many can troubleshoot and resolve computer issues faster than adults.  With many districts experiencing cutbacks in IT staffing, it’s a natural fit for students to handle many of the basic questions to assist in routine triage and problem solving.  And, there’s an app for that.  Check out the SchoolObject:helpdesk by Eduphoria in the App store!
4. Collaborative content creation – Never before has it been easier to create and share content with others.  The touch interface of iPad revolutionizes the way we interact with computers, making it easier to leverage database and social networking technology, like wikis, to promote collaboration and communication for enhanced learning.
5. Mobile data collection – From the science classroom to the gymnasium, students are now recording observations in the lab and on the court.  Today’s teachers can more easily integrate instruction in cross-curricular lessons, for example, when students studying physiology measure their heart and breathing rates during exercise and apply it to their cellular respiration lab.
6. Tablets integrate with IT trends – With tablets and cloud-based computing systems, students can work from anywhere on campus with greater portability and connectivity.  Schools also don’t have to pay for computing power that they no longer need.
7. iPads make mobile computing labs easier (and lighter) – Many schools utilize carts of laptops to bring technology into the classroom.  When you compare the cost, size and mobility factor, tablets win.
8. Paperless innovation - School districts have found creative ways to use iPads to save money.  From homework and tests to digital textbooks, the iPad offers numerous ways to eliminate paper, saving dollars and the environment.
9. No more missing the bus - Even if a child doesn’t ride a bus to school, chances are they’ll take one for a field trip.  When bus drivers are equipped with an iPad they can easily monitor when children enter and leave the bus, noting time and location, and ensuring everyone is safely accounted for.
10. Virtual tour guide – iPads offer students an exciting way to experience field trip destinations.  From the aquarium to the zoo, children receive enrichment through interactive maps and exhibit-specific content.  And don’t forget to order your souvenirs--they’ll be ready for pickup on your way out.

Related Reading: 

Teaching Creativity in the Classroom

Building Unstructured Play into the Structure of Each Day

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Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!

Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: blended learning, creativity, digital natives, elementary school learning, how children learn, learning environment, motivating students, technology in education

Still the Write Stuff: Why We Must Continue Teaching Handwriting

• August 23, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

When it comes to lost arts, we could argue that none is getting lost faster than handwriting. Since the personal computer and now the telephone have become the primary methods for recording our ideas, we simply do not write – I mean with an actual writing implement like a pen or pencil – as much as we used to.

So, we must ask ourselves, is this really a problem? Sure, one could argue that receiving a handwritten letter is more meaningful than getting one that is typed, but that’s an emotional opinion; it’s not a scientific argument. And aren’t professionals in all fields using more computers, tablets and handhelds to communicate, record and share ideas? So, what is the real value of learning handwriting skills versus being able to type 100 words per minute on a QWERTY keyboard?

At Indiana University, Dr. Karin Harman James, assistant professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences, focuses her research on how motor stimuli can influence our visual recognition, and how the brain changes as we have different experiences. This research provides a basis for a scientific argument for the continued instruction of handwriting.

In a 2008 study published in the Journal of Cognitive Science, adults were shown new characters as well as a mirror image of these characters after reproducing them through writing and keyboarding. When quizzed afterward, subjects were shown to have a “stronger, longer lasting recognition” of the characters’ correct orientation when they had written them by hand versus produced them by matching them to a keyboard button. This suggests that engaging the motor nerves to create the shapes by hand helped solidify the ability to identify such shapes.

In another study, James’ team took this idea to the next level to see what was actually going on inside the brain during these activities. They used a functional MRI to map brain activity in children as they looked at letters before and after letter-learning instruction. Their results showed that those who practiced writing the letters showed more brain activity than those who only looked at the letters. In addition, according to a 2010 report on the research in the Wall Street Journal Online, James said that after four weeks of training, the children who practiced writing skills showed brain activation similar to an adult’s.

Between these two studies, we see excellent examples of brain plasticity at work. James’ work demonstrates a clear connection between how engaging more of the brain in the activity of writing improves how letters are committed to memory. Given that letter recognition is an essential step for early readers, it’s easy to see why practicing writing letters is an essential component of the groundwork for later success.

Certainly, with limited time, schools try to maximize student achievement, and give them a baseline of skills that will allow them to continue to develop to optimize their success throughout life in an increasingly technology-based society. That said, based on James’ research, it’s quite clear that penmanship has an important place in the classroom, and not just as an important traditional skill.  In actually applying pen to paper, we allow our students to engage their brains in ways that typing on a keyboard cannot. And whether such an activity is done with pen and paper, a stylus and a tablet PC or chalk on a blackboard, it is in every student’s best interest to practice the “write” stuff.

For further reading:

The many health perks of good handwriting. Deardorff, Julie. Chicago Tribune, June 15, 2011. Referenced on August 14, 2011.

How handwriting trains the brain. Bounds, Gwendolyn. The Wall Street Journal Online, October 5, 2010. Referenced on August 14, 2011.

Writing strengthens orthography and alphabetic-coding strengthens phonology in learning to read Chinese. Guan, Connie Qun; Liu, Ying; Chan, Derek Ho Leung; Ye, Feifei; Perfetti, Charles A. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 103(3), Aug 2011, 509-522.

 

Related Reading:

Why Limit Screen Time? Scientific Research Explains

Ok, so you made a mistake. But look what you learned!

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Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!

Categories: Brain Fitness, Brain Research, Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: brain development, brain plasticity, brain training, cognitive skills, creativity, digital natives, early learning, elementary learning, memory, processing, writing

Tapping the Source: Finding and Using the Innate Student Passion for Learning

• June 16, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

In a previous post, I began an exploration of methods for increasing student motivation. We delved into Daniel Pink’s model of motivation that he describes in his book, Drive, and how motivation arises most effectively when a project or task addresses three internal emotional variables at the same time: autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Along with Pink, another great contemporary thinker, writer and speaker in the world of education is Mark Prensky, who coined the idea of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” (now well-known across the education technology community) to characterize how technology advances have completely changed the way students learn in a single generation. Like Pink, Prensky is a student of the mind who has dedicated his career to exploring and developing ideas to help educators help their students learn as effectively and purposefully as possible.

In a recent piece, Blame Our Young? Or Use Their Passion!, Prensky briefly references how we try to motivate the next generation to succeed through hitting them hard with the message that the future is in their hands. Prensky cites President Obama, Colin Powell and Newt Gingrich for all using this technique of heaping responsibility upon our youth. An excellent example of this style can be seen in President Obama’s 2009 speech given at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. It was a wonderful talk, to be sure, and it was historic in that it was one of those rare moments when a president has directed an entire speech to our nation’s young people. In that address, Obama talked about how our youth had the opportunity to make choices to help build their own futures, as well as to contribute to helping make our nation become great.

Still, let’s face it: as wonderful as those sentiments might sound to adults, to a young person, that is a daunting amount of responsibility. According to Prensky’s thinking, this kind of discipline-based, “the weight of the future is in your hands” approach to motivation does not come from within, and for this reason, is bound to generally fail. If you think about it, middle schoolers have a hard enough time worrying about next week, much less what might be coming in five or ten years.

“What if,” he ponders, “instead, we asked the kids what their passion is, and invited them to follow and use that passion as a gateway to all kinds of learning—learning that will help our country and the world.” (Prensky, p. 2)

What if we were to really take the time to ask what our students were passionate about and then used that as jumping off points for greater learning? If a student loves music, fantastic! We can use that to talk about history, mathematics and acoustics. If a student is interested in boats, excellent! Now we have a great place to launch into conversations about history, technology, geography and ecology. What? Janie loves dogs? Wonderful, let’s talk about all those wonderful breeds and the genetics (and by extension, mathematics) behind all their beautiful differences.

Considering that due to our different neurological wirings each of us perceives the world differently, the conclusion that a true, long-lasting passion for learning must come from within seems obvious. How can we expect every student—each with his or her own completely unique perspective on the universe—to learn in the same way?

This is why it is so essential for educators to help students find and pursue their passions. We can teach math or science or geography in the classroom until we’re blue in the face. Some students may absorb the lessons, some may not. If, on the other hand, we can help our students find the links between their passions and these same lessons, then we create a direct connection between the essential content and something they truly and deeply care about, helping motivate the student to not only continue learning, but strive for individual excellence.

According to Prensky, “Wherever this (passion-based learning) has been tried—in scattered public, private and charter schools, and even MIT—it has been a resounding success. Kids flock to be part of something that allows them to follow their own interests.” (Prensky, p. 2) In case you hadn’t noticed, we have come full circle back to Pink’s elements of motivation—autonomy, mastery and purpose—and using that innate passion to help encourage students to take ownership of and responsibility for their learning.

In today’s age of technology-based classrooms, with our ability to have self-directed discovery and learning so integrated into the learning experience, we have the opportunity for educators to assume more of the role of coach and less of the role of lecturer. In so doing, we can help our students identify and tap into the very core of the topics that genuinely interest them and give them the learning tools to pursue those topics. At that point, once we uncover those passions, we then have an immediate in-road into the mind of each student and a pathway we can travel with each individual as they explore the world around them and begin to figure out how to make it better.

Further reading:

Prensky, Marc. Blame Our Young! Or Use Their Passion? We can do better than just laying the responsibility for solving our nation’s problems on the backs of our kids. 2010.

Prensky, Marc.  What I Learned Recently In New York City Classrooms: How to keep all kids busily engaged at all times. 2010.

Related Reading:

Individualizing Instruction Through Understanding Different Types of Learners

Teaching Creativity in the Classroom

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Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!

Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: adaptivity, digital natives, emotions in learning, how children learn, Innate abilities, motivating students, school leader effectiveness, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact

Opening the Classroom Through Online Collaboration: 21st Century Learning Environments

• March 29, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Fifteen short years ago, our classrooms were relatively closed places. When we spoke of teaching students to collaborate with one another or exposing them to the world beyond our school walls, we were usually talking about a very limited number of options: either going out into the world to experience it first hand on a field trip, or bringing the outside world in via hosting a guest speaker. In rare and wonderful cases, students had the opportunity to go on exchange programs. In this way, “collaboration” meant working in small teams with fellow classmates.

Today, such collaboration is no longer dependent upon proximity or time of day. Online tools have brought down the many barriers to communication, allowing students, teachers and professionals to interact with and learn from one another regardless of location.

The potential for learning is mind-blowing to say the least. With a savvy educator as a coach and guide, the entire world can become the classroom, and peoples who populate it can be our co-educators. Even our students have the opportunity to become the teachers.

What do our students have to gain if we take steps to embrace online collaboration in our classrooms? We need only look to a few real-life examples to see:

• Students in New Jersey are building understanding by learning about others. Through video conferencing, they have interviewed others their age in Iowa to talk about how they perceive one another and how the economic crisis is affecting their lives and families.[i] Read about the efforts that are transforming the Van Meter Community School District in Iowa, written by Superintendent John Carver.
• Teachers in the US are using free video conferencing such as Skype to facilitate international conversations. For example, educator Silvia Tolisano put together conversations in German and English by connecting her class with one in Argentina. See this and lots more examples in this article, 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom.
• If you haven’t heard of it, the ePals Global Learning Community is facilitating collaborative learning across the planet. Through their network, students and teachers come together to do everything from using digital storytelling to learn about world cultures to discussing and developing solutions to global warming. Visit the Projects section of ePals for ideas and ways to plug into great work already underway.

Of course, these kinds of tools and techniques expose our students to all that the world—literally—has to offer. But just as importantly, in using these strategies we are helping our students establish the neural connections that will make these kinds of experiences second nature to them. We are strengthening their abilities to focus more on the meaningful content and creative ideas that come from these experiences as opposed to focusing on just the superficial “wow” factor. Not only that, but we are helping them develop the habits of mind for using these tools and techniques that will serve them so well as they endeavor to solve problems in the future.

For more ideas and articles about online collaboration, check out eSchool News’ collection of articles on the subject at http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/11/21/engaging-students-through-online-collaboration/

[i] Prabhu, Maya T. Will Skype eclipse fee-based videoconferencing? eSchool News. May 17, 2010. http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/17/will-skype-eclipse-fee-based-videoconferencing/?ast=55

Related Reading:

Creating the Optimal "Internal" Learning Environment

Ok, So You Made a Mistake. But Look What You Learned!

Subscribe to this blog to get new blog posts right in your inbox and stay up to date on the science of learning!

Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!

Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: digital natives, elementary school learning, high school learning, how children learn, innovation, learning environment, middle school learning, motivating students, novelty, social studies, technology in education

The Trend to Blend: The Debate Over Online and Blended Learning

• March 22, 2011 by Terri Zezula

This month, eSchool News will come out with its annual Technology Counts report, and this year, one of the topics discussed will be blended learning. While the discussion continues as to how blended learning will affect education policy and vice versa, it is important that we all have a clear understanding of the concept so we might develop our own opinions and contribute effectively to the conversation.

According to the iNACOL National Primer on K-12 Online Learning by Matthew Wicks, blended learning is defined as “any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, path, and/or pace.”[i]

While we all understand the benefits of traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms, the benefits of the online learning piece tend to be more debatable. Given its organic development over time, myths abound about what it is and how it works. Just a few cited in the paper above are that online learning is “teacher-less,” that courses are easy, that students spend all their time in front of computers, and that they work in isolation and thus don’t get the benefits of collaboration and socialization. In reality, quality online learning programs as well as blended programs are able address these issues, and Matthew Wicks does an excellent job of clearing the air.

Online and blended learning offers flexibility, opportunity and convenience, and because of these positives, as well as the simple fact that the public is demanding it, use is on the rise. While the Sloan Consortium estimated that in 2007-8 there were just over 1 million students in the US enrolled in online or blended programs, up 47% from 2005-6. Based on this growth, estimates are that over 1.5 million students were learning through such programs in 2009-10.[ii]

Clearly, the benefits are affordability, accessibility and convenience for students and educators alike.  Not only do online and blended learning models allow learning to take place outside of classroom walls and schedules, they make the opportunity of school a more realistic endeavor for those students whose family lifestyles and needs tend to impede the ability to adhere to a more rigid school day.

What are the costs to students as well as to the educational system? Financially speaking, the costs of operating online programs vs. brick-and-mortar programs are, interestingly, about the same. Efficiencies and online strategy gains by not having classrooms and learning facilities are balanced out by the cost of the technology required to run the programs.[iii]

Most importantly, we must take the responsibility to educate ourselves and develop as comprehensive a picture of online learning as possible if we are to contribute effectively to the conversation and ensure that we are advocating (whether for or against) and implementing these strategies as effectively as possible. Nothing less than our students’ futures are at stake.

[i] Wicks, Matthew. (2010). A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning, International Association for K-12 Online Learning.http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/iNCL_NationalPrimerv22010-web.pdf.

[ii] Ibid, p. 14.

[iii] Anderson, A., Augenblick, J., DeCesare, D., & Conrad, J. (2006). Costs and Funding of Virtual Schools, Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates. http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/Costs&Funding.pdf.

Related Reading:

Creating the Optimal “Internal” Learning Environment

Video Games: A New Perspective on Learning Content and Skills

Ok, So You Made a Mistake. But Look What You learned!

Subscribe to this blog to get new blog posts right in your inbox and stay up to date on the science of learning!

Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!

Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: blended learning, curriculum, digital natives, elementary school learning, innovation, middle school learning, technology in education

5 Insights from our Recent Brain Fitness Webinars

• January 6, 2011 by Carrie Gajowski

As we look ahead to the 2011 webinars and get ready to hear more experts in the field of brain fitness and education, I wanted to take a moment to review the 2010 webinars and share the top 5 points of the webinars that I am still thinking about today.

1. We have learned more about the brain in the last 10 years than in the previous 100 years (Eric Jensen, 7 Discoveries From Brain Research That Could Revolutionize Education).
2. The frequency of autism is increasing. It used to be 2 to 5 for every 10,000.  Now research suggests 1 in 110 live births with more cases of autism happening in boys (CDC Report in 2009) (Ann Osterling, Autism: What is the Latest Research?).
3. The repeated practice of texts helps build fluency.  Have students read poetry out loud, sing songs, and do cheers and chants.  (Dr. Timothy Rasinski, Teaching Fluency:  The Neglected Goal of the Reading Program).
4. Students today are part of a global community and need to prepare to be global researchers and global communicators (Alan November, Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning).
5. We used to be able to teach education as a top-down model. Education is not something to do to students but rather with students.  It is critical that we learn how to engage with students, listen to them and help them find their passion in life (Marc Prensky, Engage Me or Enrage Me: Educating Today's ‘Digital Native' Learners).

Check out our webinars page for recorded webinars and to learn how you can subscribe to a podcast.  Subscribe to this blog to receive the 2011 webinar schedule in your inbox, coming soon!

Subscribe to this blog to get new blog posts right in your inbox and stay up to date on the science of learning!

Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!

Categories: Brain Fitness, Brain Research, Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: autism, brain plasticity, child reading development, digital natives, early learning, fluency, innovation, learning to read, motivating students, technology in education, webinar

Why Limit Screen Time? Scientific Research Explains

• November 18, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

This past September in a blog posting about the importance of physical exercise, I opened with a comment about the powerful pull that the video screen exerts on young brains. To be sure, this useful evolutionary adaptation has served us very well. Our instinctive ability to focus and concentrate on fast-moving, bright stimuli is a survival mechanism that allowed our ancestors to escape from many a tight spot. Even so, with the advent of modern technologies such as computers and television, we are now experiencing the down side of an endless flood of engaging electronic input. Research has shown that extensive screen time has the power to negatively affect our very chemistry and biology.

As we know from brain plasticity research, the stimuli we receive over time directly affect the development and wiring of the brain. Still, these effects are only the beginning of a long list of problems that screen time engenders. This past September, British psychologist and biologist Aric Sigman published an article in the British MailOnline that pulls together the conclusions of recent research from around the globe, painting a clear picture of the deleterious effects of screen time, and that picture is far from pretty. In fact, it is one that we, as parents, as teachers and as members of a national community, must not ignore.

While screen time has been shown to have negative psychological effects, I found Sigman's run-down of the chemical and biological effects to be of particular concern:

1. Suppression of melatonin release: Healthy levels of melatonin help regulate sleep, the immune system, and the onset of puberty. When children who watched an average amount of TV had all screen time removed, their melatonin levels went up by 30 percent after one week.
2. Increased chance of coronary heart disease: A study of 290 boys aged 15 showed that those who averaged over two hours of screen time a day had "elevated levels of chemical markers related to the development of coronary heart disease in later life." A different study out of Melbourne showed that for each hour an adult watches TV a day, there is an 18 percent increase in the likelihood that this adult will die from heart disease. Says Sigman, "Those who watched four or more hours were 80 percent more likely to suffer a fatal heart condition."
3. Changes in chemicals related to hunger and feeling satisfied: After 45 minutes of screen time, subjects consumed 230 calories more than those who had no screen time. Also, women who watched TV during a meal were more likely to snack later on.
4. Elevated blood cholesterol: Individuals between five and 15 who watched more than two hours a day were more likely to have raised blood cholesterol later in life.
5. Release of dopamine: Screen time causes the release of dopamine, a chemical that contributes to learning and concentration. As a result, our brains may become desensitized to the effects of normal levels of dopamine, making it hard to concentrate and focus on non-screen-based stimuli.

Taken in sum, these studies are sending us a clear message that we as parents and educators must take to heart: the more these screen-based technologies occupy time in our days, the more vigilant we must be about maintaining our own healthy habits, as well as educating our students to the risks so they can make their own smart decisions and lead long, healthy lives.

Learn more about the effects of screen time:

• Read more about Dr. Sigman and his work on his website, http://www.aricsigman.com/
• For an overview, read Dr. Sigman's complete article, Teletubbies is as bad for your child as a violent video game, says leading psychologist (MailOnline.com, September 11, 2010)

Get the details from Dr. Sigman's February 2007 article from Biologist, Visual voodoo: the biological impact of watching TV.

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Categories: Brain Fitness, Family Focus

Tags: brain plasticity, digital natives, health and well being, video