Tips for effective teaching if you have to teach at a distance
Because of the Corona pandemic, we’re all going through a period that none of us have ever experienced. With respect to teaching and learning, kids can’t attend school and we must help them learn at home. And this might last weeks or months. Fortunately, online education offers a solution, but the instructional techniques involved are not (completely) the same as what we do in the classroom during face-to-face education.
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Resources and strategies for effective online education
Numerous strategies can be used to take full advantage of the possibilities that online education allows for, while avoiding the risks it can cause. Richard Clark (2001) emphatically argued that the learning process is generated by the methods of instruction (the strategies), and not the means (online or face-to-face). If the best strategies are used, declines in learning can be avoided.
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Online education: a need that may have its advantages
The closing of schools to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 has placed online education in the limelight. In a time when online classes have become a forceful option, two relevant questions arise: How can students learn remotely, and what are the advantages of online education?
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Learning through play is more than play
Let children play! Let them figure out and discover stuff themselves! Let them create things! Let them set their own goals and come up with their own ideas! That’s how they learn: naturally!
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Focus is good but varying its target is even better: when and how to use interleaved study
Switching between ideas and exercises during a study session is a powerful way of improving learning. It is especially effective in enhancing inductive learning, such as mathematical concepts or learn visual materials. And it can be used in the classroom.
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Is “Sit Still!” outdated?
Teachers are constantly urging pupils to sit still in the classroom so they can pay attention to what is being taught. But studies have suggested that school children should do some physical activity before entering the classroom, and others that they should have short “brain breaks” during classes and be allowed to move around for a few minutes now and then.
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What is keeping adolescents awake? Biological time and social time
Most healthy adolescents experience a change in sleep behaviour, including longer periods of sleep and a tendency to delay bedtime. The implications of reduced sleep during this stage of development are a hot topic of research for cognitive neurosciences, and have already had repercussions; in October 2019, the state of California approved a pilot project to delay school start times.
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Does retrieval practise improve learning in real-life classrooms? A recent database will help us answer this question
Recalling prior knowledge and information to be learned is a well-established strategy to improve long-term learning and memory. However, in what circumstances might retrieval be helpful? A systematic review of research on retrieval practise, conducted in classroom settings, help us answer this question.
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Executive Functions - The “stop and think” indispensable for learning
We are not born knowing how to inhibit distractors and prioritise tasks. The ability to “stop and think” is learned, and it is crucial to succeeding in school and in life.
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Double-Barrelled Learning for Young & Old
When accompanying text with images, a learner learns better. However, this only works when they are combined properly!
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A Brief Overview of Working Memory
Working memory is an important concept that we’ve referred to in passing in several other Learning Scientist posts. This relatively simple concept influences how we think about learning and memory, so I wanted to give a brief overview of what working memory is, how it works, and why it’s important.
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Avoiding the disadvantages of being a good teacher
Disadvantages? But are there any disadvantages to being a good teacher?
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