GOOGLE What a deal

9-29-08 Google what a great resource to have. My favorite Google tool is Google docs. It just seems to make sense to me for online collaboration and editing purposes. I really have no practical use for it at this time, but I think it would be pretty easy and practical to use. Maybe someday I'll be fortunate enough to get to visit a a place like Google. It was really interesting to hear about this fabulous place.

Ian Jukes Pod Cast Learning Environment

Digital natives brains are wired differently. It has been proven scientifically that the pathways by which children learn today are different than the pathways by which we learn. It can be physically seen with medical equipment.

87% of kids today do not learn by listening to a lecture nor do by text based writing.
They are very rapid learners and almost totally visual and hands on.

Visual Processing increases with just 10 hours of video game play. Takes on average of 40 hours to master a video game. Think of how this must effect our students today.

What is the implication of this lecture to schools?
We retain 70% of what we say to others while teaching.
We retain 90% of what we say and do.

To me all of this means kids do learn differently today than we may have learned years ago. We do need to change how we teach. Change is hard and slow in the field of education. We have to get students more involved in a way that presents information in a less traditional way. We have to stay away from lecture and note taking and lean more towards a way of teaching that forces students to research their own learning, document that learning however they can learn it best, but then at the end, once it has been researched and documented in a way the student understands, the student needs to present this information to a group of people who will take a genuine interest in what the student has to say. 90% of what we say and do is retained. The say and the do part is for the presenter not the audience. Although having an audience who will listen and take interest does help the teaching.

Fact from Shift Happens

The most interesting Facts for me were how the entire world will be connected in the next few years with the one to one lap top initiative and children born today will have 14 or 15 jobs by age 38.

How Kids Learn Best 9-15-08

I interview 4 5th grade students today 2 girls and 2 boys. One boy responded I like to do things over and over to learn them. The other boy said he liked to do hands on things, things with his hands. The two girls said they would study things over and over.

I asked them where they would go to find out about something brand new they never new anything about and 1 boy said he would look on the computer and the other boy said he would ask someone. The two girls said they would probably go to the library and check out a book.

I also interviewed my 4th grade daughter and maybe I can post that somewhere here where all can see. Kevin Morrow

REAL LEARNING doesn't always come easy.