Spotlight on Collaboration
This spotlight issue from Education Week features several articles related to cooperative learning. Topics include assessing group projects, supporting team work, and encouraging collaborative experiential learning. Read in its entirety this collection provides a good overview of the benefits of collaborative learning for both students and teachers. Source Organization: Education Week Visit the Resource
20 Collaborative Learning Tips And Strategies For Teachers
This simple list of tips will help teachers implement collaborative learning strategies in the classroom. It includes suggestions for making group work more effective such as creating roles, building trust and norms, considering diversity, focusing on problem-solving and providing scaffolding. It also includes an infographic that teachers may find useful. Source Organization: teachthought Visit the… Read More ›
The Science of Talking in Class
In this article, one of the authors discusses the findings of a recent review of the research studies on the effectiveness of collaboration in the classroom. The study, “How effective is peer interaction in facilitating learning? A meta-analysis,” was published in the Journal of Educational Psychology. The author offers some take aways for teachers implementing… Read More ›
5 Worthwhile Augmented and Virtual Reality Tools
This article presents 5 free tools teachers can use to integrate AR and VR in the classroom to create engaging learning experiences without the addition of extra equipment or cost. With these tools, students can take a virtual reality tour of a national historic site or make their own VR or AR experience to share… Read More ›
What to Teach Today to Prepare Students for Tomorrow’s Workplace
This online conference will feature Education Week reporters and their expert guests discussing the 21st century skills students will need for tomorrow’s workplace. Participants will have an opportunity to participate in one of several online conversations on a variety of related themes. In particular these sessions will tackle the following questions: • What exactly are… Read More ›
This District Uses Micro-Credentials to Boost PL
This article describes the work of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) education technology to provide more than 3,000 rural educators from southeastern Kentucky with personalized professional development. The article describes the unique challenges of rural communities and describes how their suite of micro-credentials has been used to meet the unique needs of the community.… Read More ›
7 Ways to Make Teaching a More Sustainable Profession
This article offers school leaders general advice on how to create a supportive culture to nurture teachers. The author offers suggestions based on observations of factors that contribute to teacher burnout. School leaders of any grade levels will get inspiration from advice on creating belonging and trust, as well as modeling vulnerability and valuing wellness.… Read More ›
Competency-Based Transformation in Northern Cass School District Series
The three pieces in this series, look at the transformation of Northern Cass School District, a rural district in North Dakota, to a competency education model. The Evolution of Competency-Based Transformation in Northern Cass outlines how the district gained support and prepared to begin the transformation Framing Habits of Work and Capstone Skills in Northern… Read More ›
Better PD through Design Thinking
This article describes Martin County School District’s innovative professional development series, CampTEACH (Technology Empowering Academic Change), which helps teachers more effectively leverage technology to foster learning. During two-day workshops teacher teams redesign a specific lesson plan using a design thinking approach to empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test their ideas. This engaging type of learner-centered… Read More ›
Involving Families: A Relationship-Centered Approach
This article describes the efforts to more fully include Latino parents at a school in Boulder Valley School District. While the featured school is an elementary school, the ideas in this article can be applied when working with families with students of any age. School leaders, community outreach specialists/parent coordinators, and teachers will all get… Read More ›
Modernizing the Teaching Workforce for Learner-Centered, Competency-Based, Equity-Oriented Education: State Policy Recommendations
This issue brief discusses opportunities in state policy to modernize educators’ professional learning to support a mastery-based k-12 education system. In particular, it challenges state leaders to: Convene state task forces to craft a unifying vision and roadmap Increase the diversity of the educator workforce Prepare teachers for learner-centered, competency-based equity-oriented education Redesign teacher licensure… Read More ›
Black Girls CODE
Since 2011, Black Girls CODE has been empowering young women of color to learn the technology and computer science skills needed to become leaders in the field. Girls age 7-17 learn coding skills at workshops and after school programs. Black Girls CODE’s is committed to providing African-American youth with the skills to occupy some of… Read More ›