Given the speed with which teachers, some of whom had spent decades in front of a physical classroom, had to transition to all-remote learning with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s amazing that they — and their students — have done as well as they did. Now, 14 months later, as we move back … Continue reading “The Need to Improve Teaching Online Post-Pandemic”
Category: Education
Teaching Reading in a Digital Age
Reading has changed dramatically over the past decade or so, with the inclusion of mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, eBooks, multimedia websites, and social media. The big questions are, though, has the way we teach reading changed with their introduction, and what should teachers be doing to help prepare students for the complexity of modern … Continue reading “Teaching Reading in a Digital Age”
Learning when to Change Your Mind and when Not To
All knowledge builds upon knowledge that came before, and new knowledge often requires a change of thought. For example, the status of a scientific theory must change and grow when new data become available from additional tests of that theory. In her article “Learning Means Changing Your Mind,” Katherine Burd argues that, in the classroom, … Continue reading “Learning when to Change Your Mind and when Not To”
Study Skills — The Series
Over the last several months, we’ve talked a lot about study skills. You may have missed a part or two, or maybe you just want a refresher. Whatever the reason, here’s the entire list so you can see the series as it developed. Study Skills Part — 1: How to Develop Your Listening Skills Study Skills … Continue reading “Study Skills — The Series”
Study Skills — Becoming an Effective Learner
Effective learners, whether they’re in school or out in the world, are those who discover how to study smarter, not harder. For the purposes of this blog, we’re going to be focusing on classroom learning, and in that environment, studying smarter is key to managing your time efficiently, getting good grades, building upon what you’ve … Continue reading “Study Skills — Becoming an Effective Learner”
Artificial Intelligence and Reading Comprehension
If you believe the sensational headlines from January 2018, both Microsoft and Alibaba have developed computer programs that outperform humans on reading comprehension. Can this be correct? Well, it really depends on how you define “comprehension.” Let’s first start with the claims. The test given to the programs is actually a dataset compiled by a … Continue reading “Artificial Intelligence and Reading Comprehension”
Teaching Reading Strategies for Comprehension
Reading comprehension is the key to critical thinking and learning new information. However, it’s not always an easy process for students to navigate, and it’s at the point where learning to read transitions into reading to learn that many falter. So what’s the best approach to assuring that students are able to master this complex … Continue reading “Teaching Reading Strategies for Comprehension”
Does Learning Music Help Students Learn to Read?
If it’s to be believed, a 2018 study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that students who receive music lessons — specifically piano instruction — have an advantage over their non-musical peers when it comes to learning to read, and that … Continue reading “Does Learning Music Help Students Learn to Read?”
Are Humans Hard-Wired for Reading?
A while ago we posted a blog describing how humans are hard-wired for speech and language, but not for reading and writing, which is why the former can be passively learned while the latter must be expressly taught. Now, however, researchers out of Ohio State University have concluded that humans are hard-wired for reading, as our … Continue reading “Are Humans Hard-Wired for Reading?”
Has the Coronavirus Created a Generational Gap in Education?
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted our lives in numerous ways, from limiting social gatherings to seeing businesses close and even fold from the loss of income. One of the biggest ways it’s impacted us as a society, though, is one that has even greater implications for the future — the movement of education to strictly … Continue reading “Has the Coronavirus Created a Generational Gap in Education?”