Education Technology


Growth Mindset: Tips for Motivating a Struggling Student

Lacking motivation, trouble staying focussed, difficulty taking direction and general withdrawal – all teachers will recognise the signs of a struggling student.

Seeing a student encounter difficulty can be upsetting, especially if you have a large class size and feel unable to spend the necessary time with them. However, there are some growth mindset activities you can integrate into your classroom, and some ways in which you can utilise this way of thinking yourself as a teacher, to provide some much-needed support and motivation.

"Growth Mindset" is a theory pioneered by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D, and it outlines that all brains can be “trained” or developed over time.

Sc…

9 Maker Projects for Beginner Maker Ed Teachers


Maker education (often referred to as “Maker Ed”) is a new school of educational thought that focuses on delivering constructivist, project-based learning curriculum and instructional units to students. Maker education spaces can be as large as full high school workshops with high-tech tools, or as small and low-tech as one corner of an elementary classroom. A makerspace isn't just about the tools and equipment, but the sort of learning experience the space provides to students who are making projects.

Maker Ed places a premium on the balance between exploration and execution. Small projects lend themselves to indef…

7 Innovative Apps for Parent-Teacher Communication

For many parents, connecting with teachers and staying in the loop about their children’s progress in school is of the utmost importance. Studies show parental involvement helps foster and improve academic performance, while lessening children’s chances of developing behavioral problems. Simply put, involved parents help grow successful students, but in an increasingly digital age with increasingly busy parents, there is a demand for highly accessible ways for parents to connect with teachers and vice versa.

Here are seven innovative apps for smart phones/smart d…

 

The Drill vs. The Hole: The Importance of Being a Relevant Educator

In the earlier 20th century, educators had very few tools to use to accomplish their goal of educating students. Pens, pencils, markers, blackboards, notebooks, and construction paper were staples in every classroom. Eventually, technology evolved and better teaching tools emerged: overhead projectors, record players, filmstrips, movies, VCRs, tape recorders, Xerox printers, and four-function calculators. Each educator made a personal decision as to how much, or how little, they would use the aforementioned tools. Those were the same tools, although very primitive by today’s standards, that society used for curation, calculation, communication, collaboration, and, the ultimate goal of education.

Since all of the tools were commonplace and easy to …

 

Intro to Tech for Teachers: 5 User-Friendly Recommendations from ExamTime

"Get with it or get left behind" — that’s the usual message surrounding technology in the classroom. But Philip Ellis of ExamTime, a platform that helps teachers create “digital backpacks”, is hoping to make things more user friendly.

“We want our users to be co-authors of knowledge and that means sharing content is something we have focused heavily on in developing these tools,” he says of the company, which helps teachers create flashcards, quizzes, mind maps and notes online.

If that sounds daunting and you’re new to using tech in the classroom, don’t fear! Ellis has some great ideas on how to get started with five tech recommendations for teachers that are truly “…a joy to work with and something you…

 

Google’s Latest Education Innovation: Google Classroom

Google recently presented its latest technology tool for the classroom. According to PCMag, Google Classroom is the technology giant’s newest resource in the Google Apps for Education Suite. While it can currently be viewed in preview mode, Google Classroom should be fully available to educators by September, and, best of all, it’s free.

With Classroom, teachers can set up pages for their classes where they can interact with students, set up new assignments and deliver messages to their classes. Teachers can also provide feedback to students on assignments submitted in Google Classroom. The tool is uncomplicated, and according to Zach Yeskel, the Google Classroom program manager, “Classroom is based on the principle that educational tools should be simple and easy to use, and is desig…

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