Integrated learning seems like a pretty simple idea. Kids don’t get fired up when you say, “Let’s go study some English!” They get fired up with dinosaurs, scuba diving, and iPhone apps. Why? Because English is boring. In the traditional sense, that is. (Unless you’re that one teacher who really digs grammar. Seriously, I [...]
Posted in Back to School, Eclectic Homeschooling, Homeschool, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, News, Teaching methods, technology, Unit Study, Unschooling 
Tags: homeschool, informal learning, Learning, montessori, Project-based learning, unschool 
Comments OffTED videos have always been great for kids. We’ve been viewing talks as a family for years, enjoying insights into different ways of thinking. With TED-Ed videos, you can use, tweak, or completely redo any lesson featured on TED-Ed, or create lessons from scratch based on any video from YouTube. The featured lessons are mostly [...]
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Homeschool, Learning Methods, Online Tools, Teaching methods, TED Tags: homeschool, Learning, online education, TED, TED-Ed, unschool, video Comments OffYou know that child, the precocious know-it-all that talks enthusiastically and incessantly about arcane topics like 19th century rifling patterns. This child is so ‘odd’. Normal children do not talk like ‘little professors’. Normal children talk about age-appropriate material, like their favorite star on American Idol or the latest episode of Sponge Bob. So, what [...]
Posted in Homeschool, social change, Teaching methods Tags: Education, free thinkers, gifted, homeschool, Learning, unschool Comments OffAccording to the Wall Street Journal, Intel is developing a small, ruggedized tablet device called the studybook aimed squarely at school students. Smaller and less expensive than an iPad, the device will feature cameras with applications for performing time-lapse photography and add-on lenses that turn the device into a microscope (although you can do this [...]
Posted in Electronics, Learning Methods, Teaching methods Tags: classroom management, Education, Intel, Learning, studybook, tablet device Comments Off
Trying to learn something new isn’t always easy. Because of various learning types, educators aren’t always able to reach every student which can be frustrating at times for both parties. However, the internet has helped bring the gap between teacher and student so that every student can find the resources needed to supplement their education. [...]
Posted in Back to School, Learning Methods, Online Tools, Teaching methods, TED Tags: Khan Academy, OpenCulture, TED, Wikipedia, Wikiversity, YouTube Comments OffAs a parent you can probably easily see the vast differences between what you learned in school while you were growing up and what your kids are learning now. Some changes that have been made are definitely for the better, while some are certainly worse, and what kids are learning from traditional education could use [...]
New York Times education reporter Tamar Lewin recently covered the ongoing race for a new system of qualifications assessment to replace the traditional university degree. In her article, Lewin describes how the future of higher education may be one in which institutions divvy out a badge for a particular skill set acquired. While federal and private [...]
Posted in Learning Methods, Online Tools, Teaching methods Tags: certificate courses, college degree, higher education, Virtual Learning Comments OffGame-based learning motivates students both in and out of the classroom Game-based learning is so effective because the actual progress built into any game is the actual lessonóbe it the skill and dexterity needed to shot a precise arrow to the knee of your opponent in Skyrim, or the strategy and technique needed to maneuver [...]
Posted in Learning Methods, Teaching methods, technology, Video Games Tags: classroom, Computer Games, Education, Learning, Video Games, World of Warcraft Comments Off“The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) almost seems designed to flunk an autistic person: it is a completely verbal, timed test that relies heavily on cultural and social knowledge. ” -Scientific American Mainstream public schools supposedly offer educational instruction to everyone. However, children who think and learn in ways not accommodated for in public schools [...]
Posted in Learning Methods, Teaching methods Tags: autism, IQ, Personalized learning, Scientific American, Unschooling, WISC Comments OffSal Khan, founder of the now famous online math and science video tutorial website Khan Academy, is thinking about expanding his online tools into the physical world and beyond. Although Sal already runs a small summer camp in Silicon Valley for science and technology middle and high schoolers, he is thinking about possibly creating a project-based [...]
Posted in Learning Methods, Online Tools, Science, STEAM, Teaching methods Tags: Crowdsourcing, eLearning, Khan Academy, Online Learning, Project-based learning, Sal Khan Comments Off
