Cell phones were not available when I was growing up. The single rotary phone we did own hung inconspicuously on the wall near the kitchen. I never gave much thought to the phone other than to find out what the weather forecast was for the following day. Anyone else remember doing that as a child? We [...]
“The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) almost seems designed to flunk an autistic person: it is a completely verbal, timed test that relies heavily on cultural and social knowledge. ” -Scientific American Mainstream public schools supposedly offer educational instruction to everyone. However, children who think and learn in ways not accommodated for in public schools are [...]
A quick Google search confirms that there is a dizzying array of online learning platforms that provide everything from standardized educational courses to niche subjects and personalized feedback. Some are free, others cost money. Some are better at online education and others focus on learning. So, which online products (free or otherwise) are worth investment of [...]
Back in the 1990′s, Constructivist Seymour Papert (father of Lego Mindstorms), wrote and spoke about learning as opposed to being taught. He showed how technology provides pathways for learning where instructors learn right along with children. As brilliant as Seymour Papert is, his ideas haven’t penetrated the teacher->student relationship in public schools. His visionary model [...]
SpottyBanana loves project-based learning. We can’t think of a better way to showcase project-based learning than through chronicling a maker project. MAKE’s Zero to Maker column is chronicling newbie maker David Lang’s project-based learning approach to gaining Do-It-Yourself (DIY) skills. Follow David as he progresses from novice to maker phenom! At the bottom of the [...]
Happy Holidays to all of our loyal readers. We’re looking forward to another great year of sharing learning resources with you.
Enjoy these past posts for ideas on extending the fun from holiday gifts, especially if those gifts include LEGO or Apple devices.
Photo courtesy of Henri Sivonen Creative Commons licensed
MIT is following Stanford University’s lead by offering certificates for collections of free, online courses like those already available through MIT Open Courseware. Learn more about how MIT is changing the face of higher education
Photo by Travis Vance, Creative Commons Licensed
There has been growing criticism that K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in the United States is insufficiently preparing students for college and the workforce. Teachers interested in revamping their curriculum with live demonstrations of scientific phenomena may wish to consider demonstrating basic principles of physics and chemistry by making a lemon battery for their class. Having dynamic demonstrations which exemplify foundational knowledge will help students down the road in their masters degree pursuits. One of the simplest ways to do so is allowing students to build their personal lemon batteries to learn about how circuits work.
The procedure for constructing a lemon battery is both simple and inexpensive:
A benefit of this simple experiment is that it demonstrates multiple scientific principles in one easy-to-understand format. The operation itself, for instance, demonstrates how batteries and circuits work. The acid inside the lemon juice reacts with the two different types of metal inserted into the lemon. This reaction leads to electrons building up on the rods and a charge being produced. This charge is what is stored in batteries from a similar reaction between acids and metals.
When you connect these charged rods to something such as a light bulb and complete the circuit, electrons are allowed to flow across the wires. This electron flow is manifested into electricity and enables the bulb to give off light.
Teachers can also use this to teach about certain kinds of chemical reactions and how they produce electric charges. Chemistry or physics teachers could even make the procedure a lab for the entire class to complete in addition to a demonstration. For instance, one can demonstrate the difference between an open and closed circuit by removing one of the wires and observing that the light no longer functions because the electricity has stopped flowing. Being able to watch this occur firsthand may foster better comprehension in students.
This lemon battery experiment can be a great tool in teaching any or all of the above principles. Assembling this lemon battery costs less than ten dollars and can foster curiosity and greater understanding in students of all ages. This is a simple yet effective demonstration for science teachers looking to bypass outdated textbooks.
By Elaine Hirsch
Elaine Hirsch is kind of a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and video games. This makes it difficult to choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for various education-related sites and writing about all these things instead.
Hosting hackerspaces in libraries might seem odd, but libraries are and have always been central to all sorts of learning. Hackerspaces are becoming increasing popular, so it makes sense that a respected institution such as public libraries bring maker tools to everyone. Everything from mold injection machines to 3D printers are taking up residence in some libraries.
In the Fayetteville Free library in upstate New York, Librarian Lauren Smedley won a grant and received funding on Indi Go Go for creating a hackerspace. The Fabulous Laboratory, as this hackerspace is called, will occupy over 8,000 square feet of space that was once owned by a furniture manufacturer. Although some might wonder how hackerspaces fit into a library, I can’t think of a better place to house one. The Fayetteville library already has video gaming stations, iPads available for check-out, and Skype sessions with authors so a hackerspace fits nicely.
Learn more about hackerspaces in libraries
Related library articles
Child’s Own Studio hand crafts stuffed toys based on your child’s drawings. The examples on the Child’s Own Studio website show that no matter how crazy-looking the drawing seems, a cute, creative, and beautiful toy emerges. This is such a great idea that I wonder how Child’s Own Studio will keep up with demand as the word gets out on this unique toy.
Prices range between 60 and 130 Canadian Dollars, but you can email Child’s Own Studio for a quote based on your picture. Unfortunately, it is too late to order one for the holiday season as Child’s Own Studio isn’t taking any more orders until January 2012. I can imagine all sorts of reasons to have a child’s drawing made into a cuddly stuffed toy. Here are a few I like
1. Create a nightmare-deflecting character. The stuffed toy made from a protective creature drawing might just help keep the nightmares at bay.
2. Have one of these made for a child who is ill or hospitalized.
3. Have siblings create drawings for each other.
4. Have your child create a drawing from a memorable vacation or trip and create a stuffed toy as a “souvenir”.
5. Create math, science, history, or literature based characters for a fun way to extend enthusiasm for a child’s favorite learning topic.
Cyberchase, an Emmy Award-winning animated series for 8-11 year-olds is now completely available online. This fun, STEM-rich series is full of hands-on math, engineering, and physics lessons weaved creatively into the stories.
“The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) almost seems designed to flunk an autistic person: it is a completely verbal, timed test that relies heavily on cultural and social knowledge. ” -Scientific American
Mainstream public schools supposedly offer educational instruction to everyone. However, children who think and learn in ways not accommodated for in public schools are often labeled uneducable, mentally retarded, or otherwise unfit to learn. Several great articles chronicling the success (often outside the mainstream school system) and contributions of outside-the-box learners highlight their amazing potential.
Scientific American’s article on The Hidden Potential of Autistic Kids raises some very important points about how school systems view and evaluate autistic children. According to the article, researchers have long labeled autistic children mentally retarded. Yet, when researchers examined the data,they concluded that expectations for autistics is based on really bad data. Using test results from popular WISC tests, educators conclude that autistic children cannot learn. Perhaps they do not learn the same way other people do and non-verbal test results prove this. Instead of looking at what autistic people are not good at, schools can find where autistic students can excel and support these out-of-the-box thinkers.
Laurent Mottron, a psychiatrist at the University of Montreal, proposes that autism is not really a disease — it is just a different way of looking at the world. Let us celebrate autistic people for their differences instead of viewing them through the lens of a disease.
Jo-Ann Tracey shares her story on The Innovative Educator blog. Her son, unable to read at age 9, was labeled uneducable by the school system, labeled ADD, medicated, and was “written off” by the system. With little options open to the Traceys, they began unschooling their son. Amazingly, Jo-Ann discovers her son’s love of reading (in spite of his difficulties in learning to read). As he progressed through unschooling, he learned to cook, repair and build computers,and carpentry. When he realized he wanted to study planetary geologist, he used online tools to learn algebra, calculus, chemistry, and physics. Even though he had problems physically writing with a pencil, he obtained passing marks in a writing course and is now a college student. A young man label uneducable by the system is on his way to becoming a planetary geologist.
Too many learners are being “tossed-out” of education systems because they cannot learn in a mainstream way. Denying opportunities to learn based on strict, narrowly targeted test results is a shame. However, an even bigger disservice to these children is that they are often very bright, creative thinkers, and passionate about learning. Personalized learning environments, geared to how these learners think, make a huge difference. While schools may continue to label and limit “out of the box” thinkers, unschooling provides a personalized learning environment that nurtures confidence, passion, and a rewarding path forward for these learners.
Enterprising engineers and graduate students are creating low-cost devices and methods for conducting basic neuroscience research. Using iPads, apps, blue LEDs, and other off-the-shelf items from Radio Shack, products like Backyard Brains are cropping up to support the DIY biology hacking movement. Building affordable scientific instruments is perhaps the biggest hurdle to accessible research in learning.
According to an article from the DANA Foundation, because these off-the-shelf scientific devices are affordable, students are getting involved in scientific research even before they get to college. Read more about how middle and high school aged students are using these devices to do research and learn about neuroscience.
This over-the-top hack for the iPod touch is both fun and useful. The iPod touch is a handy device for checking email, listening to music, and managing your calendar, but it is a handy reference device. In fact, by attaching a mini microscope and downloading the free Resistor Color-Code app, the iPod touch becomes a really geeky tool for determining the value of tiny resistors. Because some resistors are so tiny, it is extremely difficult to determine the colors of the stripes (the colors correspond to number values). No worries. Simply attach a mini microscope to your iPod touch and view (and photograph) your resistor through the iPod touch’s camera.
Follow the instructions for connecting the mini microscope to your iPod touch case in the “How to Turn Your iPod touch into a Microsope” hack. Next, download the free Resistor Color-Code app.
Once you’ve gotten the app installed and your microscope connected, place tiny resistors under the scope and view or photograph your now easy-to-read tiny resistors. Now that you have a clear picture of your resistor, you can use the handy Resistor Color-Code app to find your resistor’s value.
Sal Khan, founder of the now famous online math and science video tutorial website Khan Academy, is thinking about expanding his online tools into the physical world and beyond. Although Sal already runs a small summer camp in Silicon Valley for science and technology middle and high schoolers, he is thinking about possibly creating a project-based bricks and mortar school. What a physical Khan Academy might look like and how it would differ from current public, private, and charter schools is not yet clear, but Khan Academy is definitely looking to expand its offerings.
The Khan Academy website is more than just videos. It is a learning platform, complete with student progress monitoring tools. Khan Academy has plans to open up its platform to teachers and schools so that the platform itself becomes the product instead of just the Khan Academy video content. The idea is to allow teachers and schools to upload their own video content and use the platform’s tools. In exchange, the uploaded content enters into the noncommercial public domain.
Whether a bricks and mortar school and crowd sourced content are the keys to successful Khan Academy expansion is not clear. However, Sal Khan has captured the imaginations of many teachers and deep-pocketed investors. Hopefully, Sal Khan can resist the temptation to model the future Khan Academy after the existing public education model. With so much funding and attention, he has a real opportunity to show us something new, refreshing, and different.
