Education 2.0 & 3.0

Isolating? Boring? Not so fast. We debunk four myths about distanced, online learning, speaking with Athabasca University's president Neil Fassina.

Via John Evans

Gavin Phillips

Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)

The Weirdest Mythical Creatures That Live in Your Home Boggarts and banshees may be closer to home than you think. Find out about the crazy creatures that could be in your home to bring good luck or misfortune!

This piece is co-authored by Chelsea Waite, research fellow, education, at the Christensen Institute.

In February 2016, the Christensen Institute debuted the Blended Learning Universe (BLU)—an online hub of blended learning resources—in response to more and more schools across the U.S. implementing a blended-learning strategy for students. Researchers at the Institute define blended learning as a formal education program that must have three components: it must be part online, with students having some control over the time, place, path, or pace of their learning; it must occur, in part, in a brick-and-mortar location away from home; and the modalities along a student’s learning path must be connected to provide an integrated learning experience. While there is great diversity of practice, the Institute identifies seven common models leveraged by educators:

Via Elizabeth E Charles

Via Miloš Bajčetić

by Lee Watanabe-Crockett

Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)

This blog was originally posted in Dutch on Didactiefonline by Fred Janssen Translated by Mirjam Neelen & Paul A. Kirschner Almost every curriculum document emphasises that learners must learn to solve problems, do research, reflect, self-regulate, acquire information, think creatively, and think critically. Often, it’s incorrectly assumed that we’re dealing with broad, generic skills here,…

Via Ana Cristina Pratas

Despite what you see online, eating garlic and drinking water can't protect you from getting infected.

Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)

I’ve been teaching technology for over fifteen years. While student familiarity with this tool has improved, one thing that never varies is the myths surrounding teaching with it. It’s …

Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)

By Amanda Morin

Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)

One of the highlights of my day at researchED Amsterdam was hearing Paul Kirschner speak about edu-myths. He began his presentation by forbidding the use of laptops or mobile phones, explaining that taking notes electronically leads to poorer recall than handwritten notes. The benefits of handwritten over typed notes include better immediate recall as well as improved retention after 2 weeks. In addition, students who take handwritten notes are more like to remember facts but also to have better future understanding of the topic. Fascinatingly, it doesn’t even matter whether you ever look at these notes – the simple act of making them appears to be beneficial.

Why might this be? One problem is that most people can type faster than they can write. Although this makes typing easier it results in notes which are much more likely to be accurate verbatim reports of what a speaker has said. Because hand writing is slower, we are forced to interpret and paraphrase what a speaker says instead of simply producing a transcript. This act of synthesis leads to better semantic processing which means that schematic changes to long-term memory are likely to be taking place as notes are taken. Typing, because it demands less of us, results in less change to long-term memory.

Via Miloš Bajčetić

These new online learning myths are spreading almost as fast as program creation.

Via Becky Roehrs