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Showing posts with tag teacher effectiveness Show all posts >
Tomorrow is Digital Learning Day – Don’t Miss It!
- January 31, 2012 by Cory Armes
Have you heard of Digital Learning Day yet? It’s happening tomorrow—February 1, 2012—and will be a celebration of the innovative use of digital technologies in education to engage students in rich learning experiences. Digital Learning Day is likely to contribute valuable insights into the projected continued expansion of digital technologies in schools throughout the US.
According to the ed tech experts, in 2012:
- Digital learning will help solve results and budget challenges. Digital learning will play a greater role in education as budgets continue to shrink. Technology will help education improve results and lower expenses through blended learning models, with charter schools likely leading these efforts.
- Technology & content will continue to come together for more personalized instruction. A student learning revolution is coming that will be led by the integration of technology and digital content, resulting in a greater shift toward data driven instruction that addresses each student’s needs.
- Teachers will build capacity to implement blended learning programs. In response to this student learning revolution, there will need to be a distinct change in teacher training and staff development to provide greater facility with blended learning models.
- Student voice will be amplified. Competency-based learning will create a global push for more personalization and deeper learning through innovative online delivery. Blended and online learning also will play a part in engaging students by allowing them to control some aspects of their learning experience, giving students a voice and providing adults new ways to advocate and support their pupils.
- Gadgets and games that students love will play a greater role in teaching and learning. There will be more use of iPads and game-based learning programs in schools.
- Improvements to tech infrastructure and social media will deliver connections and content we can’t yet predict. With greater broadband access for students both in and out of school, we will find improved content and resources to support learning. Educational efforts also will gain additional support through both learning analytics and social networks that connect teachers and other professionals.
Given these predictions, why not check out what Digital Learning Day has to offer? Visit the Digital Learning Day website to sign up for the webcast or town hall meeting, learn about contests you and your students can enter, download toolkits (there’s a kit for just about anyone – from parents and teachers to school district and state leaders), and more. You can also search “digital learning month” to find out how your state is celebrating digital learning all February long.
And finally, be sure to subscribe to this blog if you haven’t already. Because here, nearly every day is Digital Learning Day!
Reference:
See the full text of the experts’ predictions at: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/01/04/experts-share-their-ed-tech-predictions-for-the-new-year/
Related Reading:
10 Big Benefits of Using iPads in Schools
5 Ways to be a Better Teacher in Today's Classroom
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
School District Technology: Plan or Blueprint?
- January 12, 2012 by Joseph DuLaney
You are looking to make changes to your school district’s technology infrastructure or offerings. You have a plan for what you would like. But is it a blueprint?
Many times our school systems are put in the very difficult position of “expanding technology” or “finding online solutions” because funding becomes available on short notice or parents of students are putting pressure on the school system to buy more technology. We get excited to go out and execute a plan.
Immediately talks happen to purchase tablets, desktops, interactive white boards, servers or maybe run new wire. A plan is underway.
The challenge from this is that many times expenditures come in higher than expected and we end up purchasing technology that does not ultimately serve as a solution to a specific problem, like declining test scores. We have teachers with tablets in hand or interactive white boards on the wall, but with no direction on how to use either and for what.
Free Download
District Technology Blueprint
Template
We do not have a blueprint.
A blueprint ensures that your technology purchases have a measurable impact on a problem your school or school system faces.
So, how do you build a blueprint that will ensure that technology expenditures are building a measurable, core foundation in your schools and ultimately providing a solution to a specific problem like lagging reading scores?
Here are a few things to consider when building a blueprint:
- Start with the end result in mind. What result must be realized from this purchase? (For example. As a district, we would like to have a five point gain in writing scores in seventh grade from this purchase.)
- Know the scale of your purchase. Does this need to truly serve every student or is a smaller scale a smarter direction? There is no harm in starting small, piloting and expanding within your comfort level.
- Understand what supporting technology (software) will be needed to achieve the desired results. Do your homework and pull research and results studies.
- Know the specs of the supporting technology so that you can implement with fidelity. The first time. Does a school need a dedicated server? Can the software run via web and if so what kind of pipeline will be needed to run it smoothly? What processes need to be in place to install?
- Locate existing technology already in use to determine conflicts and/or updates needed.
- Put a training program in place for each site. For virtual training, you will want to be able to monitor online participation to ensure that your expenditures are being used by the staff and not sit idle.
- Finally, build a multiyear blueprint for update. You want to insure that you are looking out into the future for possible expenditures a planning ahead.
Technology is changing, fast.
Statistics show that currently there are four students for each piece of instructional technology, which is significantly different from just a decade ago when it was twelve to one. Even though students have more access now than ever, know that this number will change even more in the next five years.
Are you prepared? Do you have a blueprint in place to make sure it is not just technology for every student, but technology that provides a solution to a specific set of problems?
Position the technology with a blueprint and engineer your way to results you can measure.
Related Reading:
Blended Learning Implementation Strategies for the K-12 Classroom
Using Data Effectively in School Districts: Tips for School Administrators
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
Blended Learning Implementation Strategies for the K-12 Classroom
- January 3, 2012 by Cory Armes
Blended learning, the combination of independent online learning with supervised brick and mortar programs, is on the rise. While there were 2.94 million students participating in a hybrid learning program in 2010, it is expected that the number will be 10.07 million by 2015.
This growth pattern surpasses homeschooling, virtual schools and online charter schools. Schools employing these methods believe that students are more engaged with a 24/7 access model and have seen improvement in both district achievement and graduation rates. It does require a culture shift that includes a strong emphasis on trust, but there are many benefits.
Through a blended learning program, educators can move beyond the “one teacher, one textbook model” of education in a host of ways, including:
- Allowing students to move at their own pace and excel
- Providing “just-in-time” intervention
- Grouping students more effectively
- Providing real world experiences
- Helping students construct meaning rather than just memorizing (and forgetting) facts
- Creating learning opportunities across grade levels, subjects, departments and between teachers and students
- Teaching problem-solving in multidisciplinary units
- Encouraging 21st century collaboration through videoconferencing with authors, speakers and other students from around the world
- Increasing productivity – both for themselves and students
- And more
The trend toward blended learning within a district often begins in a specific school or grade level. For example, some districts start using blended learning strategies with their alternative education program, as the students are monitored by teachers at the alternative school but are supported by their general education teacher’s instruction, which can be delivered virtually. Others have found it makes sense to prepare students taking AP classes by providing virtual summer reading groups that include discussions and self-assessments in pre-class learning.
As blended learning takes hold with the starting group, the enthusiasm often quickly spreads when teachers see the opportunities for stronger student engagement and enhanced learning. Some districts also have found it helpful to implement online professional development programs as another way to help teachers gain acceptance and make the transition to blended learning.
Teachers can build powerful learning systems over time by adding online components to their classes. Starting gradually allows teachers to learn at their own pace and gives them a better understanding of what is needed on the teacher’s side to make blended and online learning more successful for students. A simple way to begin is with a blogging program, posting stimulating questions to foster student discussion, then guiding students in ways to respond appropriately to their peers in writing. Once the initial tools and processes are mastered by teachers and students, teachers can expand the initiative by asking students to turn assignments in electronically, encouraging students to participate in discussion boards or providing online quizzes that are self-graded.
Incorporating a virtual option into their classroom model enables teachers to more easily and effectively communicate with parents, collaborate district-wide via online communities and distribute curriculum materials. When curriculum maps are loaded into the district learning platform, students, parents and teachers can see where they are in the curriculum, and where they should be, at any given point in time.
The addition of virtual learning options can also solve pacing disparities that are more difficult to address in standard classrooms, such as providing more rigorous programs and college courses (engineering and biomedical classes, etc.) for advanced students. Similarly, students in need of credit recovery can be grouped in virtual learning programs that help them catch up and move forward, rather than re-teaching in the traditional environment.
Transitioning to a blended learning model is not about spending more, but about reallocating resources, changing mindsets and creating a paradigm shift within an existing culture. Most importantly, though, it’s about doing what is right for kids. The world they live in is fast, flexible, and online, and their schools should be, too.
References
Blended Learning Strategies for K-12 Leaders
Hybrid Learning Pushes Personalization Forward
Related Reading:
The Trend to Blend: The Debate Over Online and Blended Learning
Individualizing Instruction Through Understanding Different Types of Learners
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
Using Data Effectively in School Districts: Tips for School Administrators
- December 20, 2011 by Corey Fitzgerald
The proliferation of data and data systems in Education has given rise to vast amounts of information; so much so that it can be difficult understanding what to do with it. I suppose that’s why some districts still rely on “random acts of improvement” (Bernhardt 2006, p.30) to track progress and recognize success, a tattered approach that falls short in justifying outcomes.
To avoid this gaffe, successful administrators use a practical framework to establish a culture of data-driven practices that wholly and effectively measure the performance of their entire educational system. Achieving this is not a random act – it takes focus, leadership and plenty of practice to turn data into knowledge. And with knowledge comes intelligence, like these 8 tips for effective data use in your school district.
1. Establish a Clear Vision
Know where your district is going. Ensure the school board, staff and students, along with the community understand the rationale and have a plan on how to get there.
2. Ensure Buy-in
Give all members the opportunity to participate in creating the goals and objectives. Getting their input will produce a stronger commitment because participants will ‘own’ the process.
3. Learn From Others
Explore districts that have developed and implemented effective data-driven decision making processes. Examine the criteria 15 districts used to create performance targets, deliver professional development and address technology and budgetary issues.
4. Examine the Infrastructure for Data Collection and Use
Analyze the following to ensure resource availability and compliance:
- Personnel involved (time, cost and application)
- Data you have vs. data you need (analyze growth)
- Reliable storage and access (cloud computing)
- Frequency of data collection and reporting (daily)
- Accountability and reporting (operational requirements)
5. Foster Professional Development and Growth
In addition to developing skills, people need to create an understanding of their role in the data culture. Focused, data-supported interactions among staff are paramount to building relationships and ensuring best practices are shared.
6. Follow Indicators and Lead by Example
Build habits that encourage data use and create momentum for monitoring change. One approach is to incorporate real-life stories from your staff profiling both the positive and negative outcomes. When everyone is aware of the impact, they know exactly how change is being supported and what they can do to improve the product of their work.
7. Change the Way You Lead
Putting data and data-driven leadership to use in every conversation, meeting and interaction sends the message that this approach is valued and expected. Frequent highlights of success are rewarding and validate the outcomes, while adding integrity to the transformation of your district.
8. Make Good Use of Your Resources
Making the shift to a data-driven culture often imposes many changes to a district. Identifying solutions to these challenges should be done through the vast network of talent and skill already in your district, which include not only staff but also business partners and non-profits in your community.
What you do with this new intelligence is now up to you… share it, embrace it, or erase it.
References:
Creating a Data-Driven Culture: Leadership Matters. Eight steps to prepare a school district for accessing and integrating data to make informed, proactive decisions. December 19, 2011. http://www.sas.com.
Related Reading:
Data Driven Decisions: A GPS Approach
How Can You Predict Student Reading Growth?
Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!
Categories: Education Trends
School Gardens: Sowing the Seeds of Experiential Learning
- December 15, 2011 by Norene Wiesen
Many children’s songs and rhymes reference gardens and the vegetable world, but when I was a student we stayed indoors singing rather than experiencing that world firsthand. But in the last two decades, schools have introduced gardening into the curriculum as a way for students to learn lessons only nature can provide. Allowing students to research, design, and build a garden gives a teacher an opportunity to demonstrate the practical application of classroom subjects in a real world scenario.
Activities such as composting, selecting appropriate plants for a climate zone, and profiling soils are directly related to science and ecology. Building trellises, measuring wood for fences, and solving garden equations such as “If a row is 10 feet long and we plant our corn 12 inches apart how many corn stalks can we grow in one row?” all contribute towards mathematical problem solving. Having students keep a handwritten and illustrated journal is a great way for them to develop handwriting and written communication skills, and to scientifically observe and chronicle the seed-to-plant life cycle. The opportunities for learning go on and on, from collecting bugs and insects in a terrarium and observing their habitat and behavior, to researching the nutritional composition of vegetables grown, to learning safe kitchen procedures and following a recipe in preparation for cooking the harvest later in the school year.
When I was a child I detested most vegetables, even ones I had yet to taste! Because students are often willing to taste vegetables they have helped to grow, school gardens can improve a child’s eating habits, giving them nutrient rich foods that may be lacking in their diet. It’s also fun for children to participate in the preparation of meals, adding a sense of accomplishment in seeing their harvest from seed to plate. Students can opt to sell their vegetables and flowers to raise money for their school or a class field trip to a local garden. Introducing a business plan and how to handle money is a great hands-on math assignment that can be rewarding for students.
Just as important as the practical, hands-on skills that the garden teaches, are the aspects of self-regulation required to bring plants to maturity. A student who wishes to eat a carrot must leave the carrot in the ground until it is grown rather than pulling it up as soon as it sprouts. This lesson is quickly learned, as is the lesson that the carrot plant must receive proper care and nurturing in the form of sun and water and protection from frost and pests so it can fully develop. For many students, a garden provides a rare opportunity to experience first hand the importance of patience and nurturance as life skills. There are no short cuts, and pulling a big orange carrot out of the ground is an irrefutable reward for a job well done.
School gardens provide a highly practical and direct form of education, where children can see the results of their decisions and actions. Learning how to grow good food not only gives students a chance to apply classroom learning in a practical setting, but can also improve health, provide a livelihood, and increase self-sufficiency.
So find out how you can get involved in your school’s garden, or start to build one with your students. What a difference it can make.
Related Reading:
Modeling Healthy Choices: Three Habits for Optimal Brain Health
Individualizing Instruction Through Understanding Different Types of Learners
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
The Making of a 21st Century Educator: 5 Ways to be a Better Teacher in Today’s Classroom
- December 6, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.
The highest calling of today's education system is to equip students with the characteristics and skills needed to navigate the ever-changing 21st century global economy as adults. We talk a lot about how to engage students and make them better learners, but how often do we step back and consider how to make better educators? The success of our students and the effectiveness of the education system as a whole starts and ends with the teacher.
So what might an effective 21st century educator look like? eSchool News recently polled its readers and came up with five characteristics that the most effective educators have in common. Here’s what you can do to emulate them:
- Be forward thinking. The 21st century educator must have a broader vision, anticipating and adapting to trends, not only in education, but technology and science as well. Our teachers are tasked with preparing students, not for the world as it exists today, but for the one they will someday inherit.
- Be an eager learner. Technology has become a fundamental part of our students' daily experience, both in and out of the classroom. Educators operating in such a rapidly evolving technological climate simply must be willing to learn to effectively teach. The phrase "lead by example" comes to mind. If we want our students to be inquisitive, open-minded and willing to learn from making mistakes, so must be our teachers.
- Be a builder of relationships. Today's students are more likely to gauge their number of friends on Facebook than by who sits with them at the lunch table. In such a world of technological isolation, where it's possible to go through an entire day without real human interaction, we must facilitate interpersonal relationships within the classroom while prioritizing communication, respect and cooperation.
- Be equipped to teach all levels of learners. As effective 21st century educators, we not only need to be armed with the same characteristics and skills we plan to impart on our students, we must also have the ability to teach those characteristics and skills to every student at every level in the classroom. This includes the ability to effectively relate to students and teach to their unique learning styles.
- Be able to implement technology effectively. Enhancing the educational environment with technology can facilitate faster learning and streamline teacher tasks, such as grading, planning and presenting lessons, but simply putting a computer in front of your students isn't enough. Technology can just as easily be distracting or unproductive. An effective 21st century educator will have the discernment and know-how to incorporate technology into the classroom in a way that facilitates, rather than distracts from, teaching and learning.
As educators working under pressure to maximize student performance, we sometimes focus all of our time and energy on developing curriculum, planning and implementing lessons, and accessing our students' skill level at the expense of our own ongoing education. If we take the time to foster the characteristics necessary to be an effective educator in ourselves and our peers, our students will ultimately benefit.
References:
Five characteristics of an effective 21st-century educator
Related Reading:
Using Google in the Classroom: Two Simple Tips to Refine Your Search
Facebook in Schools: Tool or Taboo?
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
The Question Formulation Technique: 6 Steps to Help Students Ask Better Questions
- November 29, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.
The ability to ask questions is the genesis – the “big bang” – where learning really starts. It is that moment where information that has entered the brain mixes with other ideas and begins to synthesize new ideas. Questions demonstrate curiosity. Questions represent the beginning of discovery and innovation. The first step of the scientific method itself is the careful formulation of a question.
But how often do we focus on teaching our students how to formulate good, well-considered questions? Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana have focused their work on exactly this skill, developing an approach they call the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). The two are co-directors of The Right Question Institute (RQI), a non-profit organization that focuses on helping people learn to better advocate for themselves and participate more in decision-making processes by teaching them how to ask questions. While the RQI applies their techniques across health care, community service, public agencies and community-based organizations, their ideas represent an excellent tool that we can use in our classrooms every day.
Recently published in the Harvard Education Letter, their article “Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions,” describes the Question Formulation Technique, a way for educators to present material in ways that encourage students to take a more active ownership role in their learning. There are six steps to the technique, as follows:
1. Find a focus - The “QFocus,” as it is called by Rothstein and Santana, is a prompt that serves to focus student questions so they can explore more expansive ideas. The authors offer an example presented by a teacher after covering the causes of the 1804 Haitian revolution: “Once we were slaves. Now we are free,” With a clear, direct thought like this to focus their thinking, the students begin formulating and posing questions around this idea.
2. Brainstorm - Constrained by a few simple rules to help people stay focused, students formulate as many questions as possible. At this point, they are asked not to judge the quality of the questions, nor pursue any answers. This is much like the classic “brainstorming” process, where ideas are generated in a free, uninterrupted flow.
3. Refine - The students work with the questions they have created, reformulating them as open- and closed-ended questions. They categorize them and make them clearer, more focused and more apt to yield the desired answers.
4. Prioritize - Using lesson plans and teaching goals, the teacher helps students select their top three questions and use them to zero in on the most important aspects of the material.
5. Determine next steps - Students and teachers together review the priority questions and make decisions about how best to use them for learning. The questions can be used to drive experimentation, further reading, research and/or discussion.
6. Reflect - The teacher and students review their questions in the context of the six steps they have worked through to produce them. According to Rothstein and Santana, “Making the QFT completely transparent helps students see what they have done and how it contributed to their thinking and learning. They can internalize the process and then apply it in many other settings.”
Note the key word in that last sentence – internalize. Through this process, students add question formulation to their cognitive toolbox, making it a part of how they address information and problem-solving going forward. The authors note a number of benefits to the QFT, including increased group participation and better classroom management. But more importantly, they found that students were more apt to delve deeply into topics on their own, posing well-considered, critical questions that not only help direct their learning, but allow them to take more effective ownership of that learning as well.
As a “habit of mind,” the Question Formulation Technique demonstrates beautifully how the brain is built for pattern recognition. It also represents research that holds great promise for helping students form thinking patterns early on that will yield lifelong benefits.
Related Reading:
Teaching Creativity in the Classroom
Inspiring Students to Dream, Learn and Grow
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
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
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
Individualizing Instruction Through Understanding Different Types of Learners
- June 14, 2011 by Terri Zezula
For an educator, getting to know each learner is like experiencing a new book. Every child—every mind that comes into the classroom—represents a new discovery with every turn of the page, their own way of seeing and experiencing the world, and they each bring a unique library of experiences, hopes, fears and dreams.
Now, while that makes for a poetic discussion about the wonderful variety among students, it also makes for a practical challenge in helping every one of these individuals achieve their greatest potential. How can an educator present information such that all of these learners—with all their different world views and brain wirings—will get the most out of the school experience?
Researchers have generated multiple models of the mind, each providing its own way of understanding how we can conceptualize and leverage learning differences in the classroom. Such categories are simply ways for us to classify students and ensure that we are reaching every one as effectively as possible.
All these models strive to answer one single question: How does each individual learner experience and process the world around them? Academics have spent great energies on unlocking these secrets and developing models of how we learn. A quick trip through just a few of these theories (and there are many other theories out there) gives us an idea of the breadth of ideas posed by experts of note since the 1980s:
- David Kolb described four types of learners: convergers (who develop abstract concepts and then actively experiment), divergers (who experience the world and then reflect on their observations), assimilators (who develop abstract concepts and then observe and reflect), and accommodators (who experience the world and then actively experiment).
- Honey and Mumford labeled learners as activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists.
- Anthony Gregorc described how people perceive the world in two ways (concrete and abstract) and order the world in two ways (random and sequential), and developed a model with four learner types based on the possible combinations of these qualities.
- Fleming’s model described learners as visual, auditory, read-write or kinesthetic, classifying learners by the kind of information that they most effectively assimilate.
- Howard Gardner described eight different “intelligences,” including linguistic, logical/mathematical, spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist.
In looking at these frameworks as a group, they all converge in certain ways and diverge in others. But one element remains consistent throughout, and that is the motivation for having them in the first place. There is a clear practical need for such frameworks in the classroom. Education is not a one-on-one teacher/learner proposition. As much as we would like, we as educators simply cannot provide fully individualized instruction for every student in a classroom of twenty or thirty.
The art and science of classifying how the human brain processes and learns is and will constantly change as we discover more and more about how the brain works. Whichever model or models are applied in the classroom (and again, the best educators will have a deep enough command of each of these models to leverage the best of each), it is up to educators to ensure that each learner is developing and cultivating the same set of core, fundamental cognitive skills: memory (the ability to store information), attention (the ability to focus on tasks and filter out distractions), processing (how fast a student can perceive and manipulate information), and sequencing (how accurately a student can order information). These four key cognitive skill sets, when developed together, have been demonstrated to improve learning and reading. Thus, any teaching we do based on learner classifications must support the development of these skills.
That said, if these classifications add power and efficiency to the way we impart these skills to our students and classes, then we should make use of them as much as possible. In the end, any tricks we can use, any knowledge we can leverage, any technique we can employ—if the research demonstrates it to be effective—represents a valid bit of knowledge that we can use to help our students succeed.
Learn more about the four essential cognitive skills of memory, attention, processing, and sequencing. For further reading:
Kolb, D. A. 1984. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Honey, P & Mumford, A, (1982). The Manual of Learning Styles. Maidenhead, UK: Peter Honey Publications.
Mills, D. W. (2002). Applying what we know: Student learning styles. Retrieved May 22, 2011.:
Gardner, Howard (1983; 1993) Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences, New York: Basic Books. Second edition published in Britain by Fontana Press.
Related Reading:
Inspiring Students to Dream, Learn and Grow
AMPing Up Our Teaching to Increase Intrinsic Student Motivation
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Categories: Brain Research, Reading & Learning
Endorsing the Common Core State Standards Initiative
- May 26, 2011 by Corey Fitzgerald
The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort to provide a nationally consistent framework that will ready American students for success in college and in the global workforce. To date, 44 states have adopted the common core standards approach and numerous public and private business partners, including Scientific Learning, have endorsed this vision of consistence and clarity in our nation’s education system.
What’s important to recognize is that the Common Core State Standards Initiative is NOT a directive from the federal government. Each state voluntarily adopts the standards based on timelines and context within their state; this is key. The role of the federal government will be to support states as they begin to implement this approach by providing flexibility in the use of existing federal funds, accountability metrics and revise or align existing federal education laws with the lessons learned from past initiatives. The outcome will be a more collaborative state- and federal-level relationship that will focus on employing the best practices and highest evidence-based outcomes from educational research across the country.
The goal of the Common Core is to provide educators with an exocentric understanding of what students are expected to learn, allowing them to identify the most effective strategies and modes of instruction that will help them excel in serving their students’ needs. Leading the effort are the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center). Comprised of state leaders in conjunction with parents, teachers, school administrators, business partners and experts from across the country, they have developed a shared set of goals and expectations that will help our students succeed.
To ensure this process is collaborative, inclusive and rigorous, several working groups and committees have been formed to develop, write and validate the approach to implementing these common standards across the country. By aligning our country’s standards with other high achieving educational models and setting realistic goals, we will be better positioned to meet the real world expectations and prepare our nation’s students for college and career-oriented success beyond the K-12 classroom.
The importance of the Common Core State Standards Initiative continues to be viewed from many angles, although there are areas of uncertainty that have given rise to opposition. Of course, standards alone cannot improve the quality of our nation’s education system, but they do give educators a clearer vision for setting goals and expectations for their students. The standards will not prevent different levels of achievement among students, but they will help teachers provide more consistent exposure to curriculum and meaningful instruction through opportunity-based learning and classroom experiences.
Students will no doubt benefit as our country continues to do the right things in calibrating the education system, promoting more frequent, intense and adaptive instruction to improve the way students learn and strengthen our rank among the top-performing nations in the world.
Related Reading:
How Scientific Learning Products Correlate with Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards Initiative: Myths vs. Facts
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Categories: Education Funding, Grants, and Stimulus, Education Trends, Reading & Learning
