Is Google making us stupid?

On the 1st of January I completed a post titled 'Does the Internet make you stupid?'  I was interested to see a similar article in today's Dominion Post titled 'Web frees up brain power for analysis'.  However, the thing that caught my attention for the article was the flyer on the front page 'Is Google making you stupid?'

As I stated in my earlier post, I believe that we could become little more than over reliant dumb terminals if we're not too careful.  The brain isn't like a computer with a limited memory.  The more we use it, the more it grows and the more powerful it gets. 

The Internet is a fantastic tool, but there is an even more impressive one between your ears!

30 day class challenge

Watch this TED presentation and be inspired to try something new in your classroom for 30 days.




If you do a 30 day class challenge, it would be great if you could comment on this post to let me and other readers know what it is.  My 30 day class challenge will be to take a photo of my class every day for the first 30 days of Term 3, starting on the 1st of August.  You will be able to see the photos on my class blog.

Schools need to embrace cloud computing

I read an article in yesterday's Dominion Post titled 'Small firms need to get heads in a cloud'.  The article starts:

'A survey of small businesses in New Zealand has shown a "surprising" degree of ignorance about cloud computing technologies available for businesses.'  (click here to read the full article)

I would argue that 'small businesses' could be replaced with the word 'schools' in the article.  I recently attended the Interface Magazine Expo Day in Palmerston North.  In a straw poll raise of hands, a vast majority of attendees signaled that cloud computing was something that they hadn't yet introduced in their schools.

The good news is, it's never to late to start.  The bad news is, if schools don't start soon a large number of students will be as ignorant as their teachers!

Google Plus for my School - I can't wait!

I am really looking forward to introducing Google Plus at Lakeview School.  I believe that the implications for sharing and support are huge.  One possible example could be to set up times in which teachers will be on line and avialble to support students outside of regular school hours; for example, a regular 5pm to 6pm weekly slot to help with homework.

For an introduction to the Google Plus project, click here.

Give me a pushy parent over a neglectful parent anyday!

This article from the New Zealand Herald comments on how gifted children are susceptible to becoming anxious when their pushy parents fill up their schedules with too much extra curricular activities.

My feelings are that I would much rather see this type of 'abuse' than the other extreme, with parents who neglect their children by not providing them with any extra stimulus whatsoever.  However, there are some interesting points in the article, which starts:

'Gifted children often feel pressure to over-achieve in order to excel later in life - and teachers and parents are often responsible.'

To read the article in full, click here.

Phonics - not the answer to teaching reading?

This article from The Dominion looks at research that demonstrates that the explicit teaching of phonics beyond a certain point is not beneficial to the long term reading development of children.  The article starts:

'Having children "sound out" words is not the best way to teach them to read, a new study says. 

A joint project by Victoria and Otago universities has found that learning through phonics, or "sounding out" words, does not help children to develop their reading after the first few weeks of school.'

To read the article in full, click here.

All brains are wired diffferently

I have just finished reading Brain Rule number three in John Medina's excellent researched based book, Brain Rules.  The key point with this brain rule is that all brains are wired differently, develop in different ways and at different rates.

Taking school children into account, the idea of national standards does not fit comfortably with this rule.  A stringent set of aged based standards assumes that we all develop brain wise in the same way.  John Medina uses only scientific evidence based research in Brain Rules to negate this.  The following statement from his website highlights the point I am trying to emphasise:

'Regions of the brain develop at different rates in different people. The brains of school children are just as unevenly developed as their bodies. Our school system ignores the fact that every brain is wired differently. We wrongly assume every brain is the same.'

I think it's time to look at the education of our children in a more scientific way.  I strongly believe that this isn't the case with national standards, which to be seem to be little more that fear mongering that goes against PISA findings which rates New Zealand's education system as one of the very best in the world.