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AI-Powered Pedagogy: Redefining Education

by Dr Jennifer Chang Wathall (Author)

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AI-Powered Pedagogy: Redefining Education by Dr Jennifer Chang Wathall (Author)

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Learning Skill: What is Diamond Ranking Strategy?

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The diamond ranking strategy is an excellent means of encouraging collaboration in the classroom or workshop. When making decisions, you often need to choose between a series of options. When told to rank options, people sometimes want to give the same rank to multiple options. In some cases, it mig…

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Strategies to implement ATL skills efficiently in our classrooms

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Strategies to implement ATL skills efficiently in our classrooms

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This diagram was inspired by the blog post, The agile learner in a VUCA world, written by @alohalavina. VUCA is an acronym used to describe volatility , uncertainty , complexity , and . Put simply, we live in a fast-changing world and in such unfamiliar environment, we face unpredictable changes, often are required to make decisions in complex systems, and to take uncertain actions that are outside of our expertise. We need to rethink education and build students' capacity for the VUCA world.

Developing becomes more important than ever through the schooling process. Learners must equipped with skills and strategies that allow them to be thinkers, communicators, risk-takers, inquirers, reflective, caring, open-minded, balanced, principled and knowledgable. If we can truly follow the framework of the IB curriculums and develop a continuum, I am hopeful that we can develop students who strive for understanding, nurture passion in self and others, as well as take actions ethically. ​

Having this big picture in mind, we help students to develop these skills and stretch their learnability. One way to do this is to align the objective (learning target), skill indicator, and strategy. Most importantly, we also need to take an evidence-based approach to monitor their progress and provide cognitive coaching conversation. The process of practicing and developing skills must be deliberate in order for students reach mastery. The use of the strategy must be practiced several times as repetition of learning is the key to mastery. We can relate this teaching approach to the concept of apprenticeship. When teaching approaches to learning skills, think about Mr. Miyagi in the the movie, Karate Kid!

Here are some strategies that can help to build the skills. The skill indicators are merely suggestions by the IB. These skills are not the definitive or exhaustive list of ATL skills. Schools are not required to cover them all. Instead, I think the important point is for schools to consider their own contexts, reflect on their school missions and develop own continuum of approaches to learning skills that can prepare students for the future.

Strategies must be used intentionally and practice deliberately. When choosing the strategy to explicitly teach specific skills, we need to consider our subject specific objectives, the complexity of of summative assessment, desired learning outcomes, and the age appropriateness. This document is named "ATL Smörgåsbord". Just like you are going to a buffet, there is a wide variety of food, and you will take only what you need.

ATL Toolkit by Excited Educator Lenny Dutton: Lenny has created many amazing resources to help teachers teach ATL skills. She inspired me to create the ATL Smörgåsbord and collect explicit teaching strategies. Check out her website for more ideas.

The Art of Learning by Lance King: Lance emphasized the importance of helping students develop approaches to learning skills way before the IB made it a required component. He has shared and collected many amazing resources to support teachers in explicitly teaching ATL skills.

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This diagram was inspired by the blog post, The agile learner in a VUCA world , written by @alohalavina. VUCA is an acronym used to describe volatility , uncertainty , complexity...

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ATL skills posters as handy notes for us and students (can also be used as checklists)

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ATL skills posters as handy notes for us and students (can also be used as checklists)

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Copy of Smithsonian Education Guides 6-11-2021

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We were honored to partner with Adobe in July of 2021 to super-charge the annual Adobe for Education Summit hosted as a live, virtual event free to all participants. HyperDocs are where creativity meets pedagogy and thanks to the amazing tools Adobe makes for students, it has never been easier to infuse your lessons with innovation at every layer.

Here you will find 7 Free HyperDocs sessions from the summit that cover topics like HyperDocs basics, equity and inclusion, and digital lesson design best practices. We hope you enjoy!

Digital Lessons that Spark Creativity for Students

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7 Free HyperDocs Workshops from the Adobe for Education Summit 2021

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We were honored to partner with Adobe in July of 2021 to super-charge the annual Adobe for Education Summit hosted as a live, virtual event free to all participants. HyperDocs are where creativity meets pedagogy and thanks to the amazing tools Adobe makes for students, it has never been easier to infuse your lessons with innovation at every layer.

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Welcome! You are invited to register for a recording.

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Welcome! You are invited to register for a recording.

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Hexagonal Thinking: A Colorful Tool for Discussion | Cult of Pedagogy

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Hexagonal Thinking: A Colorful Tool for Discussion | Cult of Pedagogy

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Sponsored by Teaching Channel and UL Xplorlabs

While hexagonal thinking is not new in the world of business and innovation, it's just making its way into the classroom. It's a method for considering the connections between ideas and finding the nuances in those connections. If you're looking for a fresh framework for discussion and critical thinking, this may be just the thing.

How it Works

When you place an idea on a hexagon, it has six sides where connections could be made to other ideas. When you place many ideas on many hexagons, the discussion about where to connect what will be different every time.

Hexagons for the Vietnam-War era
(click all images for a close-up view)

If you gave the same seven idea cards to seven people, do you think you'd get the same seven webs of interconnected hexagons? Would the people explain the connections in the same way?

Nope.

And really, that's the beauty of hexagonal thinking. It provides a springboard for a totally creative discussion. When you give a small group of students a deck of hexagons and ask them to connect them however they choose, every group will come up with a different web for different reasons. Along the way they'll hopefully question each other and dig deep into the concepts on the cards, arguing about which idea connects more to an important concept and which example deserves one of those precious six sides.

The Step-by-Step

Let's imagine you've got your students in small groups, and each group is staring at a beautiful deck of hexagons.

Now what?

I recommend you kick off this activity for the first time by giving directions something like this:
Once you have your set of hexagons, it's time for your group to begin making connections between them. Your conversations now will be about showing how and why you think the different ideas and options connect. Everyone will see things differently, and that's OK. Just keep talking until you find the connections that stick. As you discuss your ideas, use the text to find supporting evidence for why you think your connections are strong ones. Each hexagon can connect to up to six others. Arrange and rearrange until you feel you have the strongest hexagon web in place that you can. Then begin explaining your connections with connection arrows, writing in why you have created intersections between key hexagons. Everyone in the group will contribute differently, and that's OK. You need to have people listening and moving pieces to create the web, people debating, people asking questions. By the end of your discussion, you should have an interconnected web of concepts along with clearly explained connections. If you're working with paper hexagons, tape or glue them down to another sheet of paper to secure them, or take a photo of your finished web. If you're working digitally, submit your two slides: the finished hexagon web, followed by the slide with your explanations.
There's a lot of room here for students to participate in their own unique ways. For me, part of the point of the activity is for students to see that everyone can take on different roles that matter.

Two Examples

Let's take a look at what this might look like in your classroom. In this case, I'll share digital examples created in Google Slides, since you may well be leading your discussions and small group activities via online channels this year. But paper hexagons are equally wonderful when you can use them.

Example 1: English Language Arts

First let's take a look at a hexagonal thinking discussion for an English class, wrapping up a unit on 1984.

Here's the set-up, with the terms listed in individual (moveable) text boxes.

Now students can discuss the placement of their terms/hexagons. In this case, rather than shifting paper hexagons around, they will go into the Google Slide, then drag and drop their terms across the slide and into the web of hexagons as they decide where to place them.

Now that the students have made their connections as they wish, they need to explain their choices. This can take place in many ways:

Students could record arguments for one or two connections on a tool like Flipgrid,

Students could write down their analysis.

Groups could collaborate to write explanations for several of their connections or present them back to the class.

Take a peek at what the written explanations look like for the web pictured above. In this case, students are sharing five explanations, but you could adjust that to suit your needs. Some connections are always going to be more interesting than others - the ones that generate the most debate, the surprising ones, the ones where three key sections link in one place. Have students write or present about the key connections, rather than about every single one.

Example 2: Science

Now let's take a look at how this might look in a science class. Imagine you're looking back over a unit on global warming, and helping students review the big ideas.

Here's the set-up: For this version, students can move the hexagons as well as the terms, creating any number of different webs. Then they use the connection arrows to point to the intersections they are going to explain in detail.

Student groups discuss the possibilities, dragging the hexagons and terms into place as they go. The final product could look one hundred different ways.

Once they have their web created, they make their explanations.

Creating Your Hexagonal Thinking Decks

You can create decks of hexagons with the terms already inside (let your students help you cut them out!) or print blank hexagon sheets and invite student groups to brainstorm the concepts to put inside before their discussion.

No matter how you create them, you want the hexagon decks to be filled with the key ideas of your recent class work, as well as interesting ties across disciplines and to the modern world. Hexagonal thinking makes it easy to cross disciplines and bring relevant modern connections into the discussion.

Let's say you're creating a hexagon deck for Jason Reynolds' book, Long Way Down. You'll fill it with characters, themes and style elements, but also with figures from the news, current political movements, similar books, and background information about the author.

Now imagine you're creating a deck for a unit covering an artistic period. You can put in key terms and artists, but also important authors and political figures of the period, and artists and movements of today that connect back.

As for making the shapes themselves, there are lots of time-saving options, whether you want to use digital hexagons or paper ones.

Digital Hexagons

Get access to your free copy of the digital hexagonal thinking toolkit featured above right here.

Create your own digital hexagons with PowerPoint or Google Slides by following these instructions:

Paper Hexagons

Use this online hexagon generator, created by Pam Hook.

Print and laminate these free rainbow hexagons, then add concepts with dry erase markers for quick discussions.

Print blank sheets of hexagons (you can easily create these in any size using the shapes tool in PowerPoint) to give out to small groups of students, then ask them to generate key terms, ideas, connections to other disciplines, connections to the modern world, etc. on their hexagons and cut them out. Then have groups switch decks so they are discussing a fresh list of ideas.

Create your own hexagon templates with terms you can change up whenever you want to do a hexagonal thinking discussion. Cut them out while watching New Girl on Netflix, or make the first step of the discussion in class to cut out the hexagons while beginning to discuss how they will connect.

A fun addition to any paper deck is a set of connection arrows. Print a few bubble arrows (again, the PowerPoint shapes tool makes it easy) on paper for students to put in at key intersections. Have students fill them in with their explanation of the connection. Sticky notes will also work well.

Wondering how to grade this?

There are a few ways you could grade hexagonal thinking. You could have everyone write a short reflection at the end about their contributions, and grade that. You could use it as a springboard into a writing assignment, asking students to explain and argue for key connections from the discussion, then grade that. You could have students present about a key connection on Flipgrid. Easy.

But I want to suggest a slightly more complex option too. Recently I interviewed Sarah Fine, co-author of In Search of Deeper Learning. One of her findings, after years of study across American high schools, was that we rarely ask students to truly collaborate in our core subjects, so we don't really create a culture of interdependence among them. They don't get to use their individual gifts to contribute to a final product created by the team, although that is often what real-world projects look like. Instead, we favor what she calls "lockstep learning." Everyone must do the same thing, separately.

So maybe for hexagonal thinking, you grade the final group web. And you ask the kids to share about how their different strengths allowed them to contribute to the final product.

Maybe some kids are super brainstormers, coming up with lots of great terms and ideas for what to put on the hexagons. Maybe one or two students in the group are great at lettering and drawing. They could create beautiful visual representations of the terms and ideas. Maybe some students shine at leading discussion. Maybe some are natural at making spatial and visual connections, and can help move the hexagons around as they listen to the group. Maybe some are excellent listeners, and can be taking notes about the connections based on what they hear from others. Maybe some are good mediators, who can help find common ground and calm down heated debates when discussion gets intense.

If you go this route, I really think it's worth discussing in advance what project teams are like in the workplace, and how people contribute in different ways. Then, at the end, you might let kids write a short paragraph about how they contributed based on their own strengths and skills, and whether they were happy with the way the group dynamics turned out.

Variations and Additions

Individuals or Partners

This would certainly work as an individual assignment or a prompt for partners as well. But with a small group, you'll get more perspectives on where to place what, which can be nice. You might consider giving students the option to work alone, with a partner, or in a group.

Adding Visuals

If you and your students are fans of sketchnotes or one-pagers, you can always add a visual layer to your hexagons. Invite students to illustrate their concepts with representative imagery and add quotations from their texts to bring more meaning for each idea into the conversation.

This is certainly not necessary, but adds dimension to the discussion and the eventual display of the concept web.

Hexagonal One-Pagers for Long Way Down

Gallery Walking

Once your students have completed their webs, you can do a gallery walk to see each other's concept webs and check out the connections their peers have made (this can be done online through a collaborative Google slides presentation), or have each group in turn present briefly back to the class about some of their most interesting connection points. The hexagons that caused the most debate will probably be the most fun to share back, and everyone will get to see how others mixed and matched the same hexagons in unique ways.

When you bring hexagonal thinking into your classroom -whether that's online or in person-you bring a fresh spark of energy to discussion. Your students will see things in new ways as they seek to connect wide-ranging ideas. If you're finding it difficult to get kids talking this year as they transition into new scenarios, you're definitely not alone. Hexagonal thinking just might be the tool you're looking for to help your classes over this transition and back into their critical thinking zones.

Come back for more.
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Hexagonal Thinking: A Colorful Tool for Discussion

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If you've been looking for a fresh way to get students thinking outside the box, this may be just what you need.

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Descriptive Vs critical writing difference- pdf  and poster on RRS (attached here)

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Descriptive Vs critical writing difference- pdf  and poster on RRS (attached here)

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Very engaging and effective Research learning modules

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Very engaging and effective Research learning modules

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Thinkport.org | Special Collections | Teaching with Primary Sources

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Learn the research process using this series of self-paced lessons. Each lesson guides you step-by-step as you practice important research skills. You will learn to define and analyze sources, how to write a solid thesis statement, and ultimately understand how to create a research project.

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8 Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions               by Terry Heick

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8 Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions               by Terry Heick

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by Terry Heick

Questions can be extraordinary learning tools.

A good question can open minds, shift paradigms, and force the uncomfortable but transformational cognitive dissonance that can help create thinkers. In education, we tend to value a student's ability to answer our questions. But what might be more important is their ability to ask their own great questions-and more critically, their willingness to do so.

The latter is a topic for another day, but the former is why we're here. This is part 2 of a short series (can two articles be considered a series?) built around the idea about how to ask great questions as learning tools. Part 1 'An Updated Guide For Questioning In The Classroom.'

8 Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions
1. TeachThought Learning Taxonomy

The TeachThought Learning Taxonomy is a template for critical thinking that frames cognition across six categories.

It imagines any learning product, goal, or objective as a 'thing,' (i.e.g, a subject of some kind) then suggests different ways to think about said 'thing'-mitosis, a math formula, an historical figure, a poem, a poet, a computer coding language, a political concept, a literary device, etc. It's designed to promote 'whole' thinking about otherwise discrete or disconnected ideas.

1. Function-thinking critically about how a 'thing' works

2. Self-Making sense of how the thinker relates to the 'thing'

3. Abstraction-Thinking about the 'thing' creatively, or in non-traditional ways

4. Parts-Seeing the individual parts of the 'thing'

5. Interdependence-Examining how the 'thing' relates to other (similar and non-similar) things

6. Whole-See the 'thing' fully and within context

A literary device-a metaphor example, is usually studied in isolation. This writer uses this metaphor in this way to this effect. Using the TeachThought Learning Taxonomy, a learner would be forced to confront that metaphor in much more diverse cognitive terrain-to think about something in multiple ways for a more complete picture and advanced understanding.

Function -Communicate the metaphor's most ideal utility (how it can and should be used, and why).

Self--Identity what you do and don't understand about the metaphor

Abstraction -Design a 'sequel' of the metaphor (not a simile-an extended metaphor would be a good start)

This framework can be used not only as a planning or assessment tool, but to promote students in self-directed learning and self-created questioning and examination. In short, they can use this framework (or a simplified version of it) to create their own questions. Some examples?
Prompt: Parts-Give examples and non-examples Questions: What are 3 examples and non-examples of mammals? What are 5 examples of push-pull factors? What are 3 non-examples of mixed fractions? Prompt: Interdependence-Direct others in using it Questions: How do-or might-others use alternative fuel sources to help create fresh water sources?
Prompt: Explain it differently to a novice or an expert
Questions: How would explain the Pythagorean Theorem differently to a 2nd grader and a college freshman? What would the main difference be?
The downside to using the TeachThought Learning Taxonomy to help students ask their own questions is the relative complexity of the framework, and the extra step of converting prompts to questions. Therefore, it's better suited to late middle school-university settings.

The upside? It can be used in any content area to think deeply about almost anything.
2. Digital Taxonomy Power Verbs
'Power verbs' aren't exclusive to Bloom's Taxonomy (see below). In addition to our TeachThought Learning Taxonomy (see above), there are 'verbs' that describe cognitive 'actions.' Add some kind of framework or hierarchy, and you've got a full 'taxonomy.'

Enter the 'digital taxonomy' power verbs. You can download a ready-for-the-classroom curricula version of our power verbs here, but you can do plenty with digital taxonomy power verbs to help students ask great questions without spending a penny. From designing projects and refining assessments to classroom, discussions and digital citizenship lessons, the 'actions'of students are among the most critical components of any learning experience.
3. Socratic Discussion
A Socratic Discussion, which is also referred to as a Socratic Seminar, is a group learning strategy designed to support students in open-ended examination and extended critical thinking through dialogic terms. In short, students learn together by talking together in an open and student-centered format. These discussions are not teacher-led, but student-led-students talk to one another.

It is a dialectal method of learning inspired by Socrates' iconic teaching methods that depend on a pattern of theory formation, revision, and elimination to arrive at loosely-held "truths." Used strategically, this approach should promote inquiry as learning and the close examination of one's own beliefs as primary catalysts for learning.
4. Paideia Seminar
A Paideia Seminar is similar to the Socratic Seminar-in fact, it uses Socratic Discussions on the part of the students, combined with a minor but clear role for teachers, to facilitate verbal and critical examination of ideas. From the (a?) Paideia Seminar website, "The Paideia Seminar is an integrated literacy event built around formal whole-class dialogue. The purpose for doing Paideia Seminar is to support students' ability to think conceptually and communicate collaboratively."

One of the key differences between a Paideia Seminar and a Socratic Seminar is that within the Paideia format, teachers are "allowed" a role, provided that that role doesn't exceed 10% of the total discussion. You can see a video here to learn more.
5. The Question Game

The Question Game focuses on "teaching children a kind of thinking which is particularly useful in creative problem-solving-a focused approach to get from a problem to the most effective solution. It is most effective when combined with regular repetition, which solidifies the thought pattern, and with groups, which encourages contributory exploration of alternative responses and creativity."

Its dice-form not only offers a whiz-bang manipulative, but also introduces a level of gamification and playful uncertainty into the process, and its open-ended and universal stems make it practical for a wide variety of classroom applications.
6. Bloom's Taxonomy
Similar to the TeachThought Taxonomy, Bloom's Taxonomy can act as a framework or pattern to funnel content, inquiry, or other learning processes. These use of the taxonomy to create universal stems is one approach as modeled in the following graphic from flickr user enokson.

7. Question Formulation Technique
We'll have more on this soon but in short, the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a kind of question brainstorming process based around a topic as a kind of kernel.

In their words of the Right Question Institute, QFT is "straightforward, rigorous process that helps all students learn how to produce their own questions, improve their questions, and strategize on how to use their questions. In the process, they develop divergent, convergent and metacognitive thinking abilities."

For now, you can read more about the QFT here.
8. Question Stems
As seen in the Bloom's graphic, sentence stems and question stems are wonderful tools that can empower students to ask questions by giving them a head-start in doing so.

By using a 'stem,' a teacher has set the ball on the proverbial tee for the student to smash. Yes, ideally the student asks their own great questions, but what if they can't-or don't think they can? What if they don't? What if they're still learning how? What if they lack the background knowledge in some narrow sect of science or math or whatever, and need a push in the back? Stems can help.

See also 26 Sentence Stems For Higher-Level Conversation In The Classroom

Question stems are a more elementary questioning strategy than the Question Formation Technique (see above), but not necessarily less effective. They can be used for younger students, students struggling with a concept, or even "advanced learners" (not a huge fan of this term) as they narrow an open-ended learning experience, or to be used as 'bread crumbs' in the case that the teacher is trying to help them arrive at a pre-determined destination. Some examples?

8 Basic Question Stem Examples

Which differences between ____ and ____ stand out to you?

Why does____never seem to____?

How does_____impact____?

How does _____ work?

What's most important about?

What's most simple/complex about ______?

How could you classify____? (And 'Why would you classify____?')

When____, why does____?
8 Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions; image attribution flickr user enokson

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8 Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions

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A good question can open minds, shift paradigms, and force the uncomfortable. Here are strategies to help students ask great questions.

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Auto-graded student investigations

Progress monitoring, actionable alerts, and TIPS for instruction

Real-time feedback to students as they work

InqITS (Inquiry Intelligent Tutoring System) is an online educational environment for science. InqITS puts students in control of their own learning by leading an authentic inquiry experience through our NGSS-aligned virtual labs. As students work, InqITS uses patented algorithms that automatically assess students and generate real-time reports on classroom-wide and student-specific performance for educators. Teachers also receive real-time alerts as to which students need assistance and on what skills. Rex, an AI virtual tutor, can also help students in real-time as they move through the virtual labs. The distinctive design behind InqITS provides necessary resources for teacher instruction and assessment, and for student education on critical science and learning skills.

Joseph Ostgarden
Teacher & Coach of World Champion Robotic Team, ND

Select an image to view it in Full Screen Mode.

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Inq-ITS | Virtual Science Labs and Assessment

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Inq-ITS (Inquiry Intelligent Tutoring System) is an online educational environment for science. Students learn through digital simulations that allow them to conduct their own investigations. Teachers receive automatically scored reports on student performance, and real-time alerts on student needs.

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Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer and inventor who is revolutionising recycling science. She is renowned for pioneering the high temperature transformation of waste in the production of a new generation of 'green materials' at the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, where she is Founding Director. Professor Sahajwalla is the inventor of polymer injection technology, known as Green Steel™, an eco-friendly process for using recycled tyres in steel production. In 2018, Veena launched the world's first e-waste MICROfactorie™ and in 2019 she launched her plastics and Green Ceramics™ MICROfactories™, a recycling technology breakthrough.

Veena is the director of the Australian Research Centre (ARC) Industrial Transformation Research Hub for 'microrecycling', a leading national research centre that works in collaboration with industry to ensure new recycling science is translated into real world environmental and economic benefits. Professor Veena has also been appointed hub leader of the National Environmental Science Program - Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub, working with research institutions and many industry, government and community stakeholders.

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Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer and inventor who is revolutionising recycling science. She is renowned for pioneering the high temperature transformation of waste in the production of a new generation of 'green materials' at the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, where she is Founding Director.

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Can You Name That Book: 2020 Edition is a book quiz about new releases from 2020! I've been doing a lot of book reviews and lists on The Bibliofile, so I thought I might switch it up with a bookish-themed quiz.

The point is to see how many of these new book releases from last year that you're able to identify based on either a) their cover or b) their plot synopsis! There's 10 book covers below and 5 plot descriptions - how many will you recognize?

How well do YOU know the 2020 releases? Can you NAME THAT BOOK? There are 15 titles featured here in all, feel free to drop a comment to let me know (slash brag about) how many you were able to name!

P.S. For an extra challenge, see if you can name the author as well!

Part I: Book Covers!

There are 10 book covers shown here. For how many of them can you recognize the book?

Part II: Plot Descriptions!

There are 5 plot descriptions here. For how many of them can you recognize the book?

1. This popular fantasy novel is about a girl who makes a deal with the devil to live forever, but no one can remember her.

2. This popular book club read is about two twins, both light-skinned black women, whose lives take very different paths. One of them hides her identity, passing as white, while the other marries a black man and later goes home to take care of their mother.

3. This non-fiction book by a well-known non-fiction writer tells the story of Winston Churchill and the Blitz during WWII.

4. This book released in 2020 was a sequel to a popular novel that was adapted into a movie directed by Stephen Spielberg. It's a sci-fi novel set in a dystopia where people spend their days in a virtual reality version of the world.

5. This novel is about a woman's journey as a refugee trying to travel from Mexico City to the United States. Despite its popularity, it sparked a lot of controversy regarding it's portrayal of Mexico, among other issues.

So, how did you do? How many of these 15 books were you able to identify?

Drop a comment below about how you did or share your results! Also, if you'd like to see more stuff like this on The Bibliofile, please let me know! I love to hear about what stuff people are enjoying on here!

Click Below to Share Your Results!

via Twitter via Facebook

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Can You Name that Book? (2020 Edition) | The Bibliofile Quizzes & Games

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Can You Name That Book: 2020 Edition is a book quiz about new releases from 2020! I've been doing a lot of book reviews and lists on The Bibliofile, so I thought I might switch it up with a bookish-themed quiz. The point is to see how many of these new book releases from last ...

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I like to compare the teacher's work designing learning experiences to the work of an architect. In my new book with Dr. Katie Novak, UDL and Blended Learning, I share a story about working with an architect to design a new home after my family lost our house in the Tubbs Fire in 2017. Over a series of three meetings, my architect asked me countless questions about what I wanted in a home and how I used the space. He wanted to understand me to ensure that the home he sketched would fit my needs, preference, and lifestyle. In much the same way, teachers must get to know their students. How do they enjoy engaging with information? Do they work better on their own, with a partner, or in a group? What are they interested in or passionate about? Do they work best in particular environments? What avenues might work best for them to share their learning?

Below are three aspects of our design work that I encourage teachers to consider as they architect learning experiences for their students.
#1 Get To Know Your Students
The first step in our design work must be an effort to get to know our diverse learners. Without this crucial step, teachers fall into the practice of designing a single experience for all students. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to design does not provide equitable learning experiences. In an educational context, equity understands that different learners will need different inputs to reach a particular output. Some students will need more time, resources, and support to reach a particular learning objective successfully. Providing the varied inputs that learners need to thrive in a classroom demands that teachers have more than a single model for designing their learning experiences.

Engage Learners in Conversation

How will you get to know your individual students at the beginning of the school year?

How can you make time for conversations with individual learners?

How might you lean on digital tools (e.g., surveys, video recordings) to aid your understanding of your students?

#2 Establish Clear Objectives and Firm Goals & Select the Best Instructional Model
Teachers must believe all students are capable of meeting high expectations. However, different students will need different inputs and learning paths to get to a particular outcome or goal. It is that flexibility that demands our teachers have an arsenal of instructional models and strategies to choose from when designing learning experiences. Too often, teachers rely exclusively on the teacher-led, whole group model because that is what they were taught in teacher training programs. It's still common to walk into classrooms with an agenda written on the board and the teacher positioned at the front of the room. In a teacher-led, teacher-paced lesson, students have little control and few opportunities to make key decisions about their learning experience.

I want teachers to explore the range of blended learning models available to them to select the best model for a particular outcome. The beauty of blended learning models is they shift control over the learning experience from teacher to student. This is a critical shift if we want to cultivate expert learners who are resourceful, strategic, and motivated. The qualities of an expert learner are impossible to cultivate when students are not asked to share the responsibility for learning in meaningful ways. If the focus is on compliance and following directions, learners do not have opportunities to become resourceful or strategic. Over time, the lack of autonomy and agency also negatively impacts a learner's motivation.

As teachers use the range of blended learning models to combine active, engaged learning online and offline, they are freed from feeling pressure to spend large chunks of a lesson at the front of the room controlling the experience. Instead, these models create the time and space for teachers to work directly with individual or small groups of students. It is in these one-on-one and small group settings when we can be most effective at understanding where learners are and meeting their specific needs.

Create Flexible Pathways

Do you consistently anchor your design in grade level standards and articulate clear learning objectives?

How much control do students in your class typically have in your lessons? Do they get to make meaningful choices?

Which instructional models have you used with your learners? How much experience have you had experimenting with blended learning models?

What concerns do you have about designing learning experiences that shift students to the center of learning? What explicit skill building might need to happen to help learners be more successful as we shift the responsibility for learning to them?

#3 Identify and Remove Barriers
When I lead training sessions on blended learning models, I sometimes experience pushback from teachers concerned with the time it will take to make a video or design a station rotation. Yet, when we think about many of the instructional strategies we have used for years (e.g., lecture, discussion, written responses), there are myriad barriers that may make it hard for students to access information and share their learning effectively.

Last week at the end of a flipped classroom workshop, a teacher said, "Why would I spend time to make a video when I can present this information to the class?" I turned the question to the group and asked them to work with a partner to brainstorm all the barriers that might make it hard for all students to access information presented that way. Teachers identified the following factors that might create barriers: audio processing disorders, poor vision, attention deficit, distractions and day dreams, headache or illness, language proficiency, etc. So, if all those factors could be at play in a classroom, it makes sense to question whether a live lecture or whole group mini-lesson would be the best strategy for ensuring that all students can access the information we are presenting.

Taking time to identify barriers in our design work is critical.

Identify and Remove Barriers

What might make it hard for a student to process information presented verbally in a lecture or mini-lesson?

How might a whole group, real-time discussion make it challenging for some students to participate?

How might asking students to demonstrate their understanding in a written response distort our understanding of what they actually know or understand?

Once we have identified potential barriers, we can focus on providing meaningful choices and providing scaffolds in the lesson to remove those barriers.

The architect I worked with to rebuild my home created a blueprint. He designed a detailed plan customized to my needs, but he did not build my home. Instead, it was a team of contractors and subcontractors who did the laborious work of building the structure. Similarly, I want teachers to design learning experiences that invite the students to do the hard work of making meaning and constructing knowledge. Too often, the teacher does the heavy cognitive lifting in the lesson when it should the students doing it. The more intentional our design work, the more likely we are to create learning experiences that allow all students to be successful and encourage them to think, do, make, discuss, and reflect, which are critical to deep and meaningful learning.
Summer Learning Opportunities
If you want to do a deep dive into universally designing blended learning to remove barriers and create flexible pathways, you can order your copy of UDL and Blended Learning: Thriving in Flexible Learning Landscapes from Amazon or request a bulk order for a team of teachers (10+) who want to do a book study! Each chapter ends with reflection and discussion questions to guide those book study conversations.

Want to explore blended learning in an online course? I have two courses-1) beginning and 2) advancing- so you can choose the self-paced course that is the best fit for you! Both courses include video tutorials, templates, resources, and action items to help teachers explore blended learning models and design student-centered learning experiences that combine active, engaged learning online and offline. Teachers who purchase a license for either course will have unlimited and ongoing access to it, so you can continue learning all year long! Leaders looking to purchase bulk licenses to support teachers can complete this form!

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UDL and Blended Learning: Removing Barriers with Design

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I like to compare the teacher's work designing learning experiences to the work of an architect. In my new book with Dr. Katie Novak, UDL and Blended Learning , I share a story about working with an architect to design a new home after my family lost our house in the Tubbs Fire in 2017.

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Bored Teachers | Celebrating Educators Every Day.

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50 Best Psychological Thrillers of All Time (By Year)

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50 Best Psychological Thrillers of All Time (By Year)

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By on Jun 24th, 2021 (Last Updated )

I love a good mystery-thriller novel and psychological thrillers books are probably my favorite within that genre. There's just something uniquely delightful about those twisty plotlines and the multitude of suspicious characters that populate this genre. Psychological thrillers are also the perfect pairing for a full-bodied glass of red wine.

This list of the Best Psychological Thriller Books of All Time is ordered reverse chronologically by publication year.

This list is based on a combination of a) my opinion, b) my friends' opinions, c) reviews I've read, d) online ratings.

Hope you find something to read here that will keep you on your toes! And please don't hesitate to leave a comment if you'd like to suggest a book to add to this list!

The Push (2021)

The Guest List (2020)

Home Before Dark (2020)

The Silent Patient (2019)

The Wife Between Us (2018)

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50 Best Psychological Thriller Books of All Time (By Year) | The Bibliofile

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I love a good mystery-thriller novel and psychological thrillers books are probably my favorite within that genre. There's just something uniquely delightful about those twisty plotlines and the multitude of suspicious characters that populate this genre. Psychological thrillers are also the perfect pairing for a full-bodied glass of red wine.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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This webpage was generated by the domain owner using Sedo Domain Parking. Disclaimer: Sedo maintains no relationship with third party advertisers. Reference to any specific service or trade mark is not controlled by Sedo nor does it constitute or imply its association, endorsement or recommendation.

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pernilleripp.com is your first and best source for all of the information you're looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, pernilleripp.com has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for!

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Campbell River's independent bookstore, located in the heart of downtown Campbell River, B.C.!

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Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning

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Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning

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American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

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Deadline: February 1

Submission Forms:

Overview

AASL's Best Digital Tools are recognized for fostering qualities of:

Innovation/Creativity

Active Participation

Collaboration

User-Friendly

Encourages Exploration

Information/Reference

Eligibility

Nominations may be submitted by developers, school librarians, or the general public. For a tool to qualify as "digital," it must be accessible remotely (website, app, etc.).

NEW - Tools that have been recognized previously may be submitted for repeat recognition. For tools that were recognized within three years or less (2020, 2021, or 2022) the committee will consider tools that demonstrate progress, improvements, or changes since the previous recognition. Progress is considered both in terms of new features or tools, but also for improvements in usability and accessibility.

Tools recognized prior to 2020 may be submitted for consideration without the need to demonstrate progress over time.

Preparation for Application

Incomplete applications will not reviewed. Please prepare the following information prior to submitting:

If your tool has received the Best Digital Tools recognition in the past three years (see lists below) you must submit any improvements, changes, or progress to the tool for consideration.

Committee members must receive full access to your tool including any features that are behind paywalls. Access must remain available through April 1.

If your tool has a pricing structure that is not available for public viewing an example of pricing must be included.

Questions

Allison Cline
Deputy Executive Director

2023

ChessKid.com is the scholastic extension of Chess.com, the #1 online chess site, and serves more than 3 million kids around the globe with lessons offered in English, Spanish, French, Korean and other languages. ChessKid is working to introduce chess education to as many students as possible worldwide and we pride ourselves as being the safest place for kids to learn and play chess in and out of the school. Media Specialists use ChessKid.com in their centers to help students enhance their creativity, improve their power of concentration, develop and expand critical thinking skills, boost memory and retention, and achieve superior academic performance. Find out if your school is eligible for FREE ChessKid accounts through our annual grant program at ChessKid.com. Privacy Policy Grades: K-12

2021

Diverse BookFinder is a catalog of trade picture books published or distributed in the U.S. since 2002 that includes Grades: K-3 (target) but picture books can be used widely:

1. A Unique Circulating Collection: Diverse BookFinder collects all depictions of Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC) in picture books. Anyone with a library card can check these books out through Interlibrary Loan.

2. A Search Tool: Diverse BookFinder is first-of-its-kind online, searchable database making it easier for educators to locate and explore picture books featuring BIPOC characters.

3. A Source of Critical Data: Diverse BookFinder provides real-time data on WHO (which BIPOC characters) is depicted and -- using unique book categories -- HOW they are depicted in diverse picture books.

4. A Collection Analysis Tool (CAT): Diverse BookFinder offers a free, online tool designed to help libraries diversify their picture book collections.

Grades: 1-10 (Scratch Jr. K-2)

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Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning

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Sponsored by AASL Deadline: February 1 Submission Forms: Developer/Vendor Submission Form School Librarian Nomination Form Overview AASL's Best Digital Tools are recognized for fostering qualities of: Innovation/Creativity Active Participation Collaboration User-Friendly Encourages Exploration Information/Reference Eligibility Nominations may be submitted by developers, school librarians, or the general public.

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5 - Ancient Indian Scientists Part 1- Astronomers and Mathematicians | SIMBLY CHUMMA#152

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5 - Ancient Indian Scientists Part 1- Astronomers and Mathematicians | SIMBLY CHUMMA#152

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5 - Ancient Indian Scientists Part 1- Astronomers and Mathematicians | SIMBLY CHUMMA#152

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Stephen Hawking Biography in English | Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist

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Stephen Hawking Biography in English | Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist

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Stephen Hawking Biography in English | Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist

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What is Science? | Introduction To Science | Letstute

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What is Science? | Introduction To Science | Letstute

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What is Science? | Introduction To Science | Definition of science | Types of science | Letstute

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Stephen Hawking Biography in English | Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist

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Stephen Hawking Biography in English | Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist

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Stephen Hawking Biography in English | Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist

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Amazing Science Experiments to Try at Home

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Amazing Science Experiments to Try at Home

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Amazing Science Experiments to Try at Home

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Information visualization is not as easy as it might first appear, particularly when you are examining complex data sets. How do you deliver a "good" representation of the information that you bring out of the data that you are working with?

While this may be a subjective area of information visualization and, of course, there are exceptions to the guidelines (as with all areas of design - rules are for breaking if by breaking them you achieve your purpose) it's best to begin with the four guidelines outlined by Edward Tufte.

About Edward Tufte

Edward Tufte is, perhaps, the world's leading authority on information design and data visualization. He is an American statistician and a Professor Emeritus at Yale University (for political sciences, computer sciences and statistics).

He has authored several books and papers on analytic design and is a strong proponent for the power of visualizing data. In particular his books, Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Envisioning Information, Visual Explanations and Beautiful Evidence are considered to be definitive works in the field of information visualization. The New York Times called him; "The Leonardo da Vinci of data."

Within his works you can find four essential guidelines for visual information representation:

1. Graphical Excellence

2. Visual Integrity

3. Maximizing the Data-Ink Ratio

4. Aesthetic Elegance

Tufte's Criteria for Good Visual Information Representation

The purpose of "good' representations is to deliver a visual representation of data to the user of that representation which is "most fit for purpose". This will enable the user of the information to make the most out of the representation. There is no single hard and fast rule for creating good representations because the nature of the data, the users of that data, etc. are enormously varied.

Thus we find ourselves with a set of criteria which can be applied to most visual representations, as suggested by Tufte, to judge their fitness for purpose. It must be acknowledged, however, that these criteria can be bent or even broken if doing so serves a purpose for the user of the information representation.

Graphical Excellence

There could be hours of debate as to what constitutes graphical excellence but Tufte offers that in data representations at least it should provide the user with; "the greatest number of ideas, in the shortest time, using the least amount of ink, in the smallest space."

In short as with many other areas of user experience - the focus here is on usability; it is completely possible to create beautiful graphical representations of data which fail to deliver on these premises. In fact, it might be said that this occurs so often that the power of data visualization is muted because people have come to expect such visualizations to be decorative rather than valuable.

Author/Copyright holder: Farcaster. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

The graphic above, relating to US employment statistics in March 2015, offers many ideas in a very small space and is easy to digest. We'd suggest it meets the criteria of "graphical excellence".

Visual Integrity

This is a confusing term. When Tufte refers to "visual integrity" he is invoking an almost moral position in that the representation should neither distort the underlying data nor create a false impression or interpretation of that data.

In practice this means that numerical scales should be properly proportionate (and not fudged to exaggerate the fall or rise of a curve at a particular point, for example). That variations, when they occur, should relate to the data rather than to the artistic interpretation of that data. The dimensions used within an image should be limited to the dimensions within the data and should never exceed them and finally that the keys (or legends) should be undistorted and unambiguous.

Author/Copyright holder: Smallman12q. Copyright terms and licence: CC0 1.0

This bar graph fails to give us enough information to be useful and thus fails in delivering "visual integrity".

Maximizing the Data-Ink Ratio

Tufte recommends that we pay attention to the way that a visualization is compiled; in that all superfluous elements (to the user) should be removed. He offers the idea that borders, backgrounds, use of 3D, etc. may do nothing but serve to distract the user from the information itself. He promotes that you give priority to the data and how it will be used and not to the visual appearance of that representation.

He also provides a mathematical formula for a data-ink ratio:

Data-Ink/Total Ink Used

This is simply a comparison of the ink needed to clearly and unambiguously present the data to the ink actually used (including aesthetic considerations). The closer the ratio is to 1 - the less distracting your representation is likely to be and thus the more useful it is likely to be for your user.

Author/Copyright holder: Shing Hin Yeung. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

This image of business processes with an ERP environment is quite good at conveying which business functions are affected by the ERP processes but what purpose does the color scheme serve?

Aesthetic Elegance

Tufte's interpretation of aesthetic elegance is not based on the "physical beauty" of an information visualization but rather the simplicity of the design evoking the complexity of the data clearly.

He holds up Minard's visualization (pictured below) of Napoleon's March in the Russian Campaign as an example of aesthetic elegance.

Author/Copyright holder: MartinGrandjean. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

The Take Away

Tufte's guidelines are not prescriptive but rather designed to assist the information visualization professional in creating usable and useful information representations. At their core his rules can be boiled down to keeping things as simple and as honest as possible. The rest simply ensure that you adapt to complexity in the most creative and basic way possible.

UX designers will see clear links between their own design work on products and the design of information representations.

References and Resources

You can find all of Edward Tufte's work to buy through his website - http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/

Find out more about Charles Jospeh Minard and his map of Napoleon's Russian Campaign here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Joseph_Minard

You can also find an interesting analysis of the Minard's map here - https://robots.thoughtbot.com/analyzing-minards-visualization-of-napoleons-1812-march
Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: Kitware Inc. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-ND 2.0

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Guidelines for Good Visual Information Representations

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Information visualization is not as easy as it might first appear, particularly when you are examining complex data sets. How do you deliver a "good" representation of the information that you bring out of the data that you are working with?

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Thinking about conducting some user research? Wondering which techniques are most likely to provide useful results? Then look no further. We've compiled a list of 7 excellent techniques which are tried and tested and have been proven to deliver real value in UX projects. Let's take a look at each technique and see what it is and why it works:

Technique Number 1 - Card Sorting

Card sorting was originally a technique used in psychological research long before UX research was a "thing". It's a simple concept, you write words or phrases on cards, then you ask the user to categorize them. You might also ask them to label the categories. It's a great way to determine whether your Information Architecture (IA) is heading in the right direction or to examine IA for new products.

Author/Copyright holder: Yandle. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY 2.0
There are all sorts of card sorting techniques and choosing the right one is important. Better still, there are a bunch of online tools that let you do card sorting remotely now - allowing you to use the technique globally and not just locally.

Why is card sorting a good technique?

It's a very cheap form of research - particularly face-to-face, online tools may be more expensive.

It's a very easy technique for users to understand and for clients to understand too.

It's a very easy method to get user input (or even to get user validation) for ideas early on in a UX project.

It requires next to no effort to prepare a card sorting study.

Technique Number 2 - The Expert Review

Expert reviews involve a single "expert" walking through a product via the User Interface (UI) and looking for issues with the design, accessibility, and usability of the product. There's no fixed process to follow and the expert review can vary from professional-to-professional as well from product-to-product. The more expertise the reviewer has in usability and UX design - the more valuable their input (in most cases).

Why is an Expert Review a Good Technique?

It's quick, easy and cheap. This is doubly so when you compare it to more formal usability testing methods.

It only takes a single professional to conduct an expert review.

It is a great way to inform further UX research and caution should be used in taking an expert review at face value without further user testing.

Technique Number 3 - Eye Movement Tracking

It can be really useful to know where your users are looking when they're using your system. It helps with UI design and it helps with knowing how to prioritize certain kinds of content. This technique was developed for academic research and has been used extensively in medical research and has now become popular and cost-effective enough to be deployed by the UX team too.

Why is Eye Movement Tracking a Good Technique?

Now that technology is advanced enough, eye movement tracking systems are no longer bulky and invasive and they do not interfere with the results of usability tests.

The technology is reasonably affordable now. It won't suit every project budget but it often won't break the bank either.

The technology is now reliable enough for results to be easy to reproduce and for researchers to be able to rely on the outputs.

Clients love eye movement tracking. It's a great way to demonstrate why they might want to invest in further usability testing.

Technique Number 4 - Field Studies

This is actually a number of techniques under a broad heading. It's all about going out and observing users "in the wild" so that behaviour can be measured in the context where a product will actually be used. It includes; ethnographic research, interviews and observations, plus contextual enquiry.

Why are Field Studies a Good Technique?

There's no stronger form of research than observing users behaving as they will when they use your product. Researchers love these techniques and are often passionate about persuading their clients to take them on board.

When conducted well, the outputs of field studies provide the deepest insights into user issues and how they might be solved.

Technique Number 5 - Usability Testing

A firm favourite that has a long and prestigious history in UX research. Usability testing is the observation of users trying to carry out tasks with a product. They can focus on a single process or be much more wide ranging.

Author/Copyright holder: Luca Mascaro. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

Why is Usability Testing a Good Technique?

Can you think of a better way to understand what users do than watching them do stuff? Of course, you have to pick the right users - they need to be a good representation of the user base as a whole but that's pretty much the only constraint.

Usability tests produce specific results that lead to specific action. Better still, it's very hard for people to contradict decisions based on these tests; it's nearly impossible to refute evidence of user behaviour.

You can bring clients into usability testing easily as observers. This increases their enthusiasm for such testing and shows clearly why such testing adds value.

Technique Number 6 - Remote Usability Testing

This is usability testing but without the need to drag users into your laboratory environment. It was once complex and expensive but technology has moved on and now it's fairly simple to set up and reasonable value for money too.

Why is Remote Usability Testing a Good Technique?

It often saves time and money when compared to lab testing and it allows for a wider range of participants when you don't have to get them in the lab.

It is closer to field testing in some respects in that the tests are conducted in the user's environment and not an artificial lab environment. This delivers better results in many cases than a lab environment.

Author/Copyright holder: Paul Veugen. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

Technique Number 7 - User Personas

User personas are a fictional representation of the ideal user. They focus on the goals of the user, the characteristics that they have and the attitudes that they display. They also examine what the user expects from the product.

User personas are created from other forms of user research and thus offer an in-depth real-life vivid portrait that is easy for the whole team to keep in mind when designing products. User personas have a name and a backstory. They inspire the imagination and keep focus on the user.

Why are User Personas a Good Technique?

They are a step above the old user profile and give a more in depth and specific look at a user.

They are easy for people to relate to and become part of the team as they are constantly spoken about during a project.

They are a lot of fun and they tend to be interesting, easy for people to engage with and more memorable than many other research outputs.

Summary

There are many user research techniques but these 7 have shown time and again to offer valuable input into UX projects. Which is your favourite?
Header Image: Author/Copyright holder: Zeke Franco. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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7 Great, Tried and Tested UX Research Techniques

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Thinking about conducting some user research? Wondering which techniques are most likely to provide useful results? Then look no further. We've compiled a list of 7 excellent techniques which are tried and tested and have been proven to deliver real value in UX projects.

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Let's look at a topic that deals with, oddly enough, how we look at designs. Once you understand how the human eye processes these, you'll find yourself better able to arrange your elements more effectively.

Content in any digital page layout will follow a specific hierarchy. Headers appear above body text. Menus go at the top, bottom, left, or right of the screen (or any combination of these). Designers try to organize content so that they present the highest priority content on any given page first. Then, they deliver the rest of the content from highest to lowest priority.

"Hierarchy" is simply a nicer way of saying organized from most to least important. We also use "hierarchy" to show relationships (where relationships exist) between content blocks.

Users define the visual hierarchy of a website or app. The item that first grabs the eye's attention is at the top of the hierarchy. Each item that next draws attention is subordinate to the one before it.

Hierarchy Principle

Author/Copyright holder: Digital Markketing. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY 2.0

The human eye perceives information visually rather than as blocks of data. Unlike computers, we're at the mercy of our eyes' natural tendencies. The reading material we likely encountered as young children featured many pictures and larger print. Whether these were comics, coloring books, or story books, we could take in what was going on because we perceived the illustrations and interpreted the sequence of events alongside the easy-to-read text.

The way we perceive information is affected by several factors that contribute to how we rank the hierarchy of the content within the layout. Jones (2011) showed that the factors that affect hierarchy include:

Size: The larger the element, the more attention it will attract, compared to smaller elements. Think of a newspaper headline. The newspaper uses that (large font) header text to signal what the rest of the text (in smaller font) will deliver. Let's take a hypothetical "breaking story". Your eye should go right to the headline. Notice how it dominates, spurring you to find out what it's about?

Color: Bright colors are more likely to draw attention than drab shades. We've probably all used a highlighter to mark outstanding points on a photocopied handout. Yellow is richer and brighter than white (in the sense that white is more muted), so it stands out. After bright colors, richer and darker ones will grab the eye's attention. Lighter tints follow, because they seem more washed out and distant. At the bottom of the color hierarchy are the grayscale or muted, subdued colors. Think of a foggy day, and you're trying to find four friends. One wears a hi-vis vest: he'll stand out first; the one in a deep burgundy trench coat will stand out next. Someone's wearing a cream-colored long coat; she'll be harder to spot. You meet up with each other and start talking, asking where Jim is. Unfortunately, Jim is wearing a smoky gray hoodie and matching sweatpants. He's seen you all already, though.

Contrast: Dramatically contrasting colors will catch the eye more than slightly contrasting colors. Contrast helps you show what's more important in your design. Everything is relative. Imagine you want to make a design based on an architect's plan for high-rise apartment blocks. You want to show the light, airy and eco-friendly buildings above ground, but you also need to show the strong, deep foundations and underground car park below. By dividing your design in this way, you'll draw the eye to the cheery living features of the forest-side apartments. This plays off against the lower section-the footer-where you're showing the utility and safety side of the structures. A little hierarchy goes a long way to engaging the user.

Alignment: Alignment can create order between design elements. For example, placing content and then a sidebar column creates a priority for the reader. We expect important information (such as login buttons) to be in the top right-hand corner of a page. We also see this at work in magazines. If you're near one, why not flick through; look out for a pull quote. That's part of, say, an interview, where the writer wants to highlight what the subject said. With its larger font and its break with the alignment of the other text, it makes a hierarchy that draws our eye first.

Repetition: Repeating styles can give the viewer a sense that content is related. For example, we've presented most of the text in this document in a similar fashion. If we broke that style, say, by using red text, it could quickly draw attention from the familiar surroundings. It worked, didn't it? What if we did it again? Another good example is hyperlinks. When you visit a page that has lots of blue words underlined, you know right away that you can click to a lot of other pages.

Proximity: How closely we place design elements to each other tells our users how likely they are to be related. In our list, we've separated items with a single row of whitespace. We don't separate headers in this lesson from the first paragraph of information. This proximity shows that list items are separate (though not so much as to be completely unrelated to each other) but that headers are related to the content that follows.

Whitespace: You can use the space around content (it can be any color, not just white) to draw attention to certain pieces of content. Imagine how much work you'd have without it! It does two jobs: it makes information easier for the eye to digest, and it lets the eye zero-in on each area of information (paragraphs in this case).

Texture and style: The use of textures and styles can help prioritize content, too. Like fonts, they can set the tone of the design. Imagine a pair of projects. Two travel agents want a landing page to show their resort package deals. One is beach-themed, one lake-themed. For the beach-themed resort, we presented a background close-up view of the clear water overlying beautiful white sand. The effect was pleasing. However, when we tried repeating that with the lake, we found that the crystal clear water gave us a lot of large, dark pebbles and stones. That texture ended up being too distracting because it was far more textured than the smooth sand.

"Eye-Catching Designs Need Psychology"

Reports from Copenhagen confirm that more designers, especially web designers, are appreciating the need to engage users more directly. Reaching back into their art school days while working a little psychology into the mix seems to do the trick.

Hierarchy Patterns

There are common patterns for hierarchy both on the printed page and for the digital page. These patterns are based on the movements that our eyes tend to make when presented with a fresh page. English, for example, is read from left to right. English readers have a set scanning pattern when facing a page of text. Arabic readers have a different pattern. Why? It's because Arabic is read from right to left.

It's important to understand how your audience processes information before adopting a hierarchy pattern. As this lesson is in English, we've included two common left-to-right patterns here:

Z Pattern

Author/Copyright holder: Supermariolxpt. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
In websites with a low level of text content (e.g., websites that act as small advertisements for a business or a product rather than delivering volumes of information), the Z pattern of eye scanning is common. The user sees the "text-lite" page and scans from the top left to top right, then glances down through the content (following a diagonal) to the bottom left, before moving to the bottom right.
You can make use of this pattern by ensuring that you include the most important information along the Z pattern this eye movement follows. You'll have four points joined by three lines going in a Z-shape.

F Pattern

Designers usually apply the F pattern on websites that include text-heavy content and/or video content.

With the F pattern, users begin by scanning left to right along the top, but then scan down the left side of the page, looking for visual clues to the information they seek. When they find such a clue, they scan from left to right. They repeat this process until they reach the end of the page.

This scanning pattern often produces a heat map that looks like the letter "F", as shown in the image at the top of this article.

It's perfectly possible to use both Z and F pattern pages on the same website. For example, you might have a very clean homepage that utilizes the Z pattern; however, when the user delves deeper into the site, you might present much more data and use an F pattern instead.

The Take Away

Hierarchies give us order to make sense of a design easily. We want to prioritize headers and menus according to how we know what our users want and what we want them to do. We process information visually, perceiving elements in the order in which the designer has emphasized them according to:

Size - Larger elements will dominate and catch eyes first.

Color - Bright colors catch eyes ahead of muted, drab ones.

Contrast - Stark differences between elements draw eyes to the brighter one.

Alignment - Users expect to find certain elements in the same place.

Repetition - A repeated quality (e.g.,colored parts of text) draws the user's eye.

Proximity - Putting related elements (e.g., header with associated text) close together means these are related.

Whitespace - Including whitespace around elements singles them out as separate groups of information.

Texture and Style - Using distinct textures/styles (e.g., chunky, military-style buttons) draws the eye while setting the theme.

In the Western World, we read designs according to two common hierarchical patterns:

The Z Pattern - In designs without much text, our eye starts scanning from top left to top right, then diagonally down to bottom left, stopping at the bottom right.

The F Pattern - In designs with more text, we scan across the top, from left to right, then down the left, searching for clues to what we want to know. On finding one, we'll scan across to the right.

You have your user's eye to guarantee that you can include these factors to make more effective designs. Keep all of these in mind as you plan. Your best effort might involve using them all, including a fusion of the Z and F patterns. Remember that you're designing for your users. What are they using, and how might they want to see it online?

Where To Learn More

Course: The Ultimate Guide to Visual Perception and Design:
https://www.interaction-design.org/courses/the-ultimate-guide-to-visual-perception-and-design

Jones, B. (2011) Understanding Visual Hierarchy in Web Design. Web Design Tuts Plus. Retrieved from: http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/understandi... [2015, May]

Bank, C. (2015?)."Understanding Web UI Visual Heirarchy".Awwwards. Retrieved from: http://www.awwwards.com/understanding-web-ui-visual-hierarchy.html

Bradley, S. (2015). "Design Principles: Dominance, Focal Points And Hierarchy". Smashing Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/02/design-principles-dominance-focal-points-hierarchy/

Cao, J. (2015). "The 5 Pillars of visual hierarchy in Web design". The Next Web/TNW. Retrieved from: http://thenextweb.com/dd/2015/04/30/the-5-pillars-of-visual-hierarchy-in-web-design/

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Visual Hierarchy: Organizing content to follow natural eye movement patterns

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Let's look at a topic that deals with, oddly enough, how we look at designs. Once you understand how the human eye processes these, you'll find yourself better able to arrange your elements more effectively. Content in any digital page layout will follow a specific hierarchy. Headers appear above body text.

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Corporate ethnography isn't just for innovation anymore. It's central to gaining a full understanding of your customers and the business itself. The ethnographic work at my company, Intel, and other firms now informs functions such as strategy and long-range planning.

Ethnography is the branch of anthropology that involves trying to understand how people live their lives. Unlike traditional market researchers, who ask specific, highly practical questions, anthropological researchers visit consumers in their homes or offices to observe and listen in a nondirected way. Our goal is to see people's behavior on their terms, not ours. While this observational method may appear inefficient, it enlightens us about the context in which customers would use a new product and the meaning that product might hold in their lives.

Ethnography at Intel initially focused on new markets. The company had provided products only for the workplace, but in 1995 managers wondered whether users at home would become a distinct market. Ethnographic research showed so much potential that Intel set up a business unit to concentrate on processors and platforms for home use.

Recently, Intel ethnographers have veered into strategic questions. Like many high-tech companies, Intel makes long-term bets on how markets will play out. Will television and PC technology converge? Are baby boomers retaining their PC and TV habits as they age, or are they comfortable shifting to new media? Will smartphones take over most of the functions of personal computers?

Intel can analyze the latest buying patterns and customer surveys for useful data. But people often can't articulate what they're looking for in products or services. By understanding how people live, researchers discover otherwise elusive trends that inform the company's future strategies. With smartphones, for example, we can contrast the technology perspectives of teenagers, who have used cell phones since they were in elementary school, with those of older generations, who came to them only after becoming proficient with PCs. Our job as anthropologists is to understand the perspective of one tribe, consumers, and communicate it to another, the people at Intel. Our experiences in both worlds make this translation possible. Ethnography has proved so valuable at Intel that the company now employs two dozen anthropologists and other trained ethnographers, probably the biggest such corporate staff in the world.

High-tech companies have to date employed the lion's share of corporate ethnographers. But I believe that ethnography is so beneficial that it will spread widely, helping firms in every industry truly understand customers and adapt to fast-changing markets.

A version of this article appeared in the March 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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Ethnographic Research: A Key to Strategy

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Corporate ethnography isn't just for innovation anymore. It's central to gaining a full understanding of your customers and the business itself. The ethnographic work at my company, Intel, and other firms now informs functions such as strategy and long-range planning. Ethnography is the branch of anthropology that involves trying to understand how people live their [...]

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Case studies for design students

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Apple's Product Development Process may be one of the most successful design processes ever implemented. With the company verging on becoming the world's first $1 trillion business organization - there's a lot that designers can learn from Apple and introduce into their own design environments.

Apple is a notoriously secretive business. In Steve Jobs' time at the company it would have been near impossible to find out about the internal workings of the business. This isn't surprising when a business's market advantage is its design approach. It's worth keeping it under wraps.

However, Adam Lashinsky, the author of Inside Apple: How America's most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works has been given a look at the process. While there are still aspects of the way that Apple works that are shrouded in secrecy - you can get a good idea of the overall high level process.

Apple's Product Development Process

Design is at the Forefront
Author/Copyright holder: GiuliaPiccoliTrapletti . Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
How do you give designers the freedom to design and ensure that the products they produce fulfil their visions? Well at Apple they put design at the forefront.

Jony Ive - the British designer that is the Chief Design Officer (CDO) at Apple- and his design team lead the company and they do not report to finance, manufacturing, etc. They are given free rein to set their own budgets and are given the ability to ignore manufacturing practicalities.

At the heart of the design department is the Industrial Design Studio where only a select few Apple employees have access.

It's a simple concept that allows for the creation of incredible products.

Design Teams are Separated From the Larger Company

When a design team works on a new product they are then cut off from the rest of the Apple business. They may even implement physical controls to prevent the team from interacting with other Apple employees during the day.

The team is also removed from the traditional Apple hierarchy at this point. They create their own reporting structures and report directly to the executive team. This leaves them free to focus on design rather than day-to-day minutiae.

A Documented Development Process

Author/Copyright holder: Ed Uthman . Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.5

The Apple New Product Process (ANPP) information is given to a product development team when they begin work. It details every stage of the design process and it goes into elaborate detail. The idea is to define what stages the product creation team will go through, who will be responsible for delivering the final product, who works on which stage and where they work and also when the product is expected to be completed.

Monday is Review Day

The Apple Executive Team holds a regular Monday meeting to examine every single product that the company has in design phase at that point in time. This isn't as daunting as it may sound; one of the keys to Apple's success is that they don't work on hundreds of new products at once. Instead, resources are concentrated on a handful of projects that are expected to bear fruit rather than being diluted over many lesser projects.

If a product cannot be reviewed at one meeting - it's automatically at the top of the agenda for the next meeting. In practice, this should mean that every single Apple product is inspected by the executive team at least once a fortnight. This keeps delays in decision making to a minimum and enables the company to be very lean with its approach to design.

The EPM and the GSM

The EPM is the engineering program manager and the GSM is the global supply manager. Together they are known within Apple as the "EPM Mafia". It's their job to take over when a product moves from design to production.

As you might expect, these people are usually going to be found in China, Apple does very little of its own manufacturing. Instead it relies on contract outsourcing companies like Foxconn (one of the largest employers in the world) to do this for them. This removes much of the headache of manufacturing for Apple whilst keeping production costs as low as possible. There is a significant market advantage to this approach and its one that many other electronics manufacturers are emulating now.

The EPM Mafia may sound scary (and they probably are to the suppliers) but their real job is simply to ensure that products are delivered to market in the right way, at the right time and at the right cost. They may disagree at points but their guiding principle is to act in the interests of the product at all times.

Iteration Is Key

Like any good design company, the design process at Apple is not over when manufacturing begins. In fact, Apple iterates the design throughout manufacturing. The product is built, it's tested and reviewed, then the design team improves on it and it's built all over again. These cycles take 4-6 weeks at a time and may be run many times over a product's development lifecycle.

Author/Copyright holder: CyberDoc LLC . Copyright terms and licence: Fair Use.

When production is complete the EPM will take possession of some or all of the test devices and then take them back to Apple's headquarters at Cupertino.

This is a very costly approach but it's one of the reasons that Apple has a reputation for quality. The more you invest in design, the more likely you are to build incredible market changing products. It's the process that the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad went through.

The Packaging Room

This is a very-high security area in Apple and it's where prototypes are unboxed. As you might expect, the security is to prevent leaks to the outside world. If you ever do see a leaked prototype for an Apple product - it won't have come from here. It's more likely to have vanished from a production line in China.

A Launch Plan

The final step in Apple's product development is product launch. When the product is considered to be as good as it can be - it enters an action plan known as "the Rules of the Road". This explains all the responsibilities and actions that must be taken prior to a commercial launch of the product.

It must be a nerve-wracking experience to be privy to the "Rules of the Road" because if you lose it or leak it... you're immediately fired. This is explained in the document itself.

The Take Away
Author/Copyright holder: Manutaus. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 3.0
Apple's process is complex, expensive and demanding. If you compare it to most business theories - it shouldn't work. However, to date it has out-performed even the wildest of expectations.

You may not be able to emulate all of their processes within the space of your own workplace but there's no reason that you can't develop written processes for design phases and launch phases of your projects, for example. And, of course, there is no reason at all for you in not iterating!

The more you know about successful design processes, the more you can take some of the best aspects of them and use them to enhance your own products.

Resources

Find out all the details of the design process in: Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired--and Secretive--Company Really Works by Adam Lashinsky ISBN 97814555512157, Published January 25, 2012

And take an insight into Apple's greatest designer's mind in: JonyIve: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney ISBN 159184617X, Published November 14, 2013
Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: Sreejithk2000. Copyright terms and licence: Public Domain.

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Apple's Product Development Process - Inside the World's Greatest Design Organization

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Apple's Product Development Process may be one of the most successful design processes ever implemented. With the company verging on becoming the world's first $1 trillion business organization - there's a lot that designers can learn from Apple and introduce into their own design environments. Apple is a notoriously secretive business.

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Wireframes help you quickly ideate and test your ideas. While paper wireframes are the quickest to create, digital wireframes look more polished and presentable. If you are after a pocket-friendly wireframing tool, then look no further! Depending on whether you prefer browser-based apps or offline desktop apps, how big a project you have on hand and how many people you need to collaborate and share your work with, here are a variety of free wireframing tools for you to choose from. Each has its own advantages and use cases. For the most part, you'll be able to work with the free apps; however, as your project expands, you may need to upgrade to access additional features or create more documents. If you find it hard to choose between the tools, go ahead and play around with them to get a feel for what works best for you, your team and your UX project.

Figma
All-in-one design tool
Product Type: Browser-based app
Free Tier Limitations: 3 projects & 2 editors
Upgrade: Starts at $12 per editor/month

Figma is one of the most popular design tools in the market. The all-in-one platform allows you to create everything from clickable wireframes to high-fidelity prototypes and supports 30-day version history and unlimited cloud storage-all in the free plan. Figma has both browser-based and desktop applications. You can also mirror and preview your designs on mobile devices in real time. The limit for the free plan is 3 projects and 2 editors. The Professional plan starts at $12 per editor/month and allows you to create team libraries. To implement organization-level design systems and administer plugins, you will need the Organization plan, which starts at $45 per editor/month.

Penpot
All-in-one design tool
Product Type: Browser-based app
Free

Penpot is an open-source project that prides itself on involving the entire product team in the design process. It includes all the tools designers are familiar with to create pixel-perfect UIs and interactive, shareable prototypes. Moreover, you can host the application on your own server to completely control the software and your data. If all this for free sounds too good to be true and you're looking for a catch, it comes in the form of SaaS pricing. The project is committed to being "Free Forever" for individuals. It intends to price medium to large organizations and self-hosts, in addition to paid add-ons such as templates.

Miro
Collaborative whiteboard
Miro is a AI-enabled virtual whiteboard where teams can collaborate and design in real time. With realistic sticky notes, a built-in wireframe library as well as a mind-mapping tool, it is a supercharged whiteboard. It has several built-in templates, integrations (Slack, Dropbox, Creative Cloud, Trello and Zapier, among others) and allows unlimited users for up to 3 boards in its free version. To create more than 3 boards and get access to the Kanban framework, you can upgrade to the team plan starting at $8 per member/month.

Wireframe.CC
Wireframing tool
If you're into ultra-minimal and sleek interfaces, you will love Wireframe.cc. You can use the free version without any user accounts to create single-page wireframes. To create clickable wireframes, or to export to PNG and PDF formats, you'll need a premium account. The premium licenses run from $16 to $99 a month depending on your needs, with the top of the range allowing unlimited users and projects. Unlike the other design tools listed here, the interface of this application does not have any immediately apparent tools. Instead, you get context-sensitive tools that appear only when you click on an element or drag the mouse.

Cacoo
Diagramming tool
Cacoo is a diagramming application that allows you to present your ideas visually. One of the few products that support unlimited users in its free plan, Cacoo offers templates, including wireframes, and integrates with several applications-Google docs, Adobe Creative Cloud, AWS, Slack and Dropbox, just to name a few. However, you can create only 6 sheets and export projects only in PNG format in the free forever plan. With the $6 / month Pro plans, you get multiple export options, unlimited sheets and revision history.

Jumpchart
Website planning and project management tool
If you are planning a website, Jumpchart will help you create sitemaps, manage content and manage the project. One of the nice features is that you can export your project to WordPress, Drupal or HTML. Its free plan is rather limited, allowing 1 project (up to 10 pages), 2 users and 10 Mb storage. However, it has one of the most cost-effective premium plans. You can get 5 projects (up to 25 pages each), 5 users per project and 1Gb storage for just $5 per month.

MockFlow
UI / screen design tool
MockFlow allows you to collaboratively create user interfaces. Its free version is good for a single project and limited to 3 pages, so you are almost certainly going to have to upgrade to get all the functionality that you need. That starts at $14 per editor/month, in which you get access to UI templates and desktop applications for you to work offline, along with unlimited UI projects, team component libraries and business app integrations.

Wirefy
Functional wireframes
Product Type: Browser-based app
Free

Wirefy helps you build functional wireframes. Unlike the other tools here, you will need to download and install it from the GitHub repository. The philosophy behind Wirefy is to focus on content and speed up the development process. You will need to know basic HTML and CSS to create the wireframes. The advantage of this tool is that once you've settled on the wireframes, the journey to the final deliverable is much faster. Your base UI structure and content are ready for you to add the visual layer. Being an open-source project, it gets updated frequently.

Draw.io
Diagramming tool
Product Type: Browser-based app
Free

Draw.io is an open-source, browser-based diagramming application. It has a large library of shapes and templates to start with. If you are tired of creating new accounts for applications, you will love this tool: you do not need to register or log in. Draw.io prioritizes privacy and data ownership; it allows you to save data where you'd like to, and the app owners won't have access to it. You can save your files in XML format on Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or GitHub and open them with the application later.

Whimsical
Diagramming and wireframing tool
Whimsical is a browser-based collaborative brainstorming application equipped with built-in components and an icon library that you can use to create wireframes. It also has an AI-enabled mind-maps feature to help you get unstuck. It offers unlimited personal boards that you can export to high-resolution pdfs-a feature many tools often lock behind a paywall. The free version provides 3 collaborative boards with unlimited view-only guests, which might make this clean-look application good for small projects. You unlock more AI prompts and unlimited boards for $10/month.

More Tools

This list is by no means exhaustive. While we are certain that one of the tools above will fit your requirements, here are a few more that you can explore:

Pencil Project is an open-source GUI application you can download and use offline. You can download pre-built stencils and templates to help you create quick wireframes.

Mydraft.cc is an open-source wireframing tool that runs in a browser and does not require you to create an account. Your files live online, and you will need to save the URL of your projects to retrieve them.

You may have noticed that some major names are missing from this list ( Balsamiq, Axure, Gliffy, UXPin, Moqups, Adobe XD, Sketch -to name a few). This round-up looked at 10 free wireframing tools. If budget isn't a constraint, then you can certainly give one of the paid applications a shot-each has a limited-duration free trial so that you can evaluate the product before you purchase it.

If you think there are any others we've missed, please let us know on , or . We'd love to know what you're using at the moment.

Images

Hero Image: Aurimas, CC BY-ND 2.0

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Wireframes help you quickly ideate and test your ideas. While paper wireframes are the quickest to create, digital wireframes look more polished and presentable. If you are after a pocket-friendly wireframing tool, then look no further!

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About Teach Creativity with Adobe and Khan Academy activities (1)

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by Terry Heick

Purpose: Improving our chance for a common language in discussing existing and emerging learning trends, models, and technology in hopes of innovation in classrooms, and collectively, education at large.

Audience: K-12 & higher ed educators, researchers, institutions, and organizations globally.

Form: An index of learning models, theories, forms, terminology, technology, and research to help you keep up with the latest trends in 21st-century learning. This page was created and is updated by Terry Heick, who you can contact directly with suggestions for terms, improved citations, corrections, or additions to the index.

Revisions: Persistently updated. In addition to new definitions, models, and strategies, citations and references will also be added periodically, as will updates, corrections, edits, and revisions.
Ed note: As stated, this is an ambitious work in progress that we're choosing to share as we proof, revise, iterate, and generally improve for wider dissemination. When you find typos, dead links, missing sentences, inconsistencies, or flat out lies, let us know. ; ^ ) A Dictionary For 21st Century Teachers: Learning Models & Technology 1:1
A description of a learning environment where there is one "screen" for each student (whether an iPad, laptop, etc.)
Activity-Based Learning
According to Harvard University, "in Activity-Based Learning courses, students do public service, fieldwork, community-based research and internships in conjunction with in-class work. ABL pedagogy aims to enrich students' academic experience and learning outcomes by connecting theory with practice, and concepts with methods, using data and insight they obtain through engagement with the larger world." (1)
Andragogy
The study of teaching adults.
BYOD
An initialism that stands for "Bring Your Own Device." BYOD programs allow students to use their own technology (usually smartphone or tablet) in a classroom. BYOD is often seen as a way of solving budget concerns while increasing the authenticity of learning experiences, while critics point to the problems BYOD can cause for district IT, privacy concerns, and more.
Blended Learning
Blended learning is a learning model that combines digital and face-to-face learning experiences. The Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation defines Blended Learning "a formal education program in which a student learns: (1) at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace; (2) at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home; (3) and the modalities along each student's learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience." It is generally accepted that there are four models of blended learning: Rotation, Flex, A La Carte, and Enriched Virtual. The Christensen Institute clarifies that "the Rotation model includes four sub-models: Station Rotation, Lab Rotation, Flipped Classroom, and Individual Rotation." (3)

There is some thought that a certain percentage of instruction must be digital to qualify as 'blended learning,' but there is no clear industry standard.
Challenge-Based Learning
Challenge-Based Learning is a learning model pushed by Apple that promotes the academic classroom as a think tank to solve authentic problems. It is similar to place-based education and project-based learning as a teaching tool.

Apple defines Challenge-Based Learning as "an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages learners to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems. Challenge Based Learning is collaborative and hands-on, asking students to work with peers, teachers, and experts in their communities and around the world to ask good questions, develop deep subject area knowledge, identify and solve challenges, take action, and share their experience." (5)
Cognitive Apprenticeship
Cognitive apprenticeship focuses on "learning-through-guided-experience on cognitive and metacognitive skills and processes" (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989, p. 457), instead of the physically concrete craft or trade that is the focus of traditional apprenticeships.

"The method is aimed primarily at teaching the problem-solving processes that experts use to handle complex tasks. Cognitive apprenticeships are intended to enable apprentices to learn strategies and skills in the context of their application to realistic problems, within a culture focused on and defined by expert practice." (6)
Communal Constructivism
A learning theory "in which networked learners not only construct and assimilate their own knowledge from their own learning opportunities but deliberately contribute their own learning to a community resource base."( Holmes & Gardner 2006). (7)
Connected Learning
A learning model by Digital Media & Learning that emphasizes the role of social interactions as a catalyst for learning. (See "Connected Learning: The Power Of Social Learning Models".) Characteristics of Connected Learning include: Interest-Powered, Production Centered, Peer-Supported, Shared Purpose, Academically-Oriented, and Openly-Networked. (15)
Constructionism
According to Seymour Papert, constructionism is, put roughly, learning by making.

That Papert is known to struggle with the idea of defining Constructionism by a "pipeline" of knowledge-giving hints at its nature-open-ended, learner-centered, playful, non-institutional, non-academic, and so difficult to describe in an academic context.

Papert explained that, while close in meaning and spelling as Constructivism, it is suitably unique:

"Constructionism-the N word as opposed to the V word-shares constructivism's connotation of learning as "building knowledge structures" irrespective of the circumstances of the learning. It then adds the idea that this happens especially felicitously in a context where the learner is consciously engaged in constructing a public entity, whether it's a sand castle on the beach or a theory of the universe."

Papert went on to describe Constructionism as a kind of learning which "allows full range of intellectual styles and preferences to each find a point of equilibrium. (Papert, Harel 1991) (16)
Constructivism
A learning theory suggests that "people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences" (Christie 2005). (14)
Differentiation
According to differentiation expert Dr. Carol Tomlinson, differentiation is not a teaching strategy, but rather a way of thinking about learning. In terms of application, the definition of differentiation is the specific design of "content, process, or product" according to a student's readiness, interest, or learning profile. (Citation needed).

Tomlinson explains that "differentiation does not presume different tasks for each learner, but rather just enough flexibility in task complexity, working arrangements, and modes of learning expression that varied students find learning a good fit much of the time." (22)

In short, differentiation is the process of personalizing universal learning goals for groups of students. As such, it is closely related to (but different than) personalized learning and individualized learning.

See here for The Ultimate List: 50 Strategies For Differentiated Instruction
Digital Citizenship
Karen Mossberger, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, defines digital citizenship simply as "the ability to participate in society online." (9)

Terry Heick offers a definition of digital citizenship as "The quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities." (10)
eLearning
Learning expressly through online courses and related digital resources.
Flipped Classroom
Stated simply, a flipped classroom is one where students are introduced to content at home through digital tools (usually video), and then practice it at school under the guidance of a teacher. This is the reverse of the traditional pattern, where students are introduced to content at school, and then practice it at home without the guidance of the teacher (i.e., More Knowledgeable Other).
Flow
A tenet of Eastern philosophy and thought for millennia, and more recently repopularized by Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, flow is the complete merging of task and doer-a state of being where a body, mind, and task resonate effortlessly and result in improved performance and extraordinary satisfaction.

A useful example of flow from Diane Ackerman's Deep Play:

"In Bone Games, climber Rob Schultheis recalls how he felt descending a mountain after a harrowing near-death fall: "The person I became on Neva was the best possible version of myself, the person I should have been throughout my life. No regrets, no hesitation; there were no false moves left in me. I really believe I could have hit a mosquito in the eye with a pine needle at thirty paces; I couldn't miss because there was no such thing as a miss."
Game-Based Learning
Learning through games (from physical to digital).
Gamification
The application of game-like 'encouragement' mechanics to non-game entities. Put another way, it is making a game out of something that's not.
Genius Hour
The allotment of a specified amount of time in a formal learning environment for the purpose of self-directed learning. (23)
Google Apps for Education
A collection of software bundled by Google that is available on a subscription model for schools and classrooms. Services include Google Drive, Google Docs, Gmail, and more.
Google Classroom
Google describes their Google Classroom as "designed to help teachers create and collect assignments paperlessly, including time-saving features like the ability to automatically make a copy of a Google Document for each student. It also creates Drive folders for each assignment and for each student to help keep everyone organized. Students can keep track of what's due on the Assignments page and begin working with just a click. Teachers can quickly see who has or hasn't completed the work, and provide direct, real-time feedback and grades right in Classroom.

Classroom is "available to anyone with Google Apps for Education, a free suite of productivity tools including Gmail, Drive, and Docs."
Heautagogy
A term coined by Stewart Hase, heautogogy is the study of self-directed learning. (Citation needed)
Inside-Out Learning Model
A school model developed by Terry Heick and inspired by Wendell Berry designed to immerse student learning in local communities. Rather than an outcomes-based and standards-driven approach, it instead seeks local accountability, new knowledge types, and overtly 'human' learning models.
Individualized Learning
The customizing of universal content (e.g., Common Core) for individual students.

See also Personalized Learning, Differentiated Learning, and Self-Directed Learning.
Informal Learning
Informal Learning has been defined as "any activity involving the pursuit of understanding, knowledge or skill which occurs without the presence of externally imposed curricular criteria. Informal learning may occur in any context outside the pre-established curricula of educative institutions. The basic terms of informal learning (e.g. objectives, content, means and processes of acquisition, duration, evaluation of outcomes, applications) are determined by the individuals and groups that choose to engage in it. Self-directed or collective informal learning is undertaken on our own. Informal education or training is distinguished from such self-directed informal learning only by the presence of some form of institutionally-recognized instructor. (Livingstone 2001). (13)
Learning Simulation
Often (not necessarily) digital, a learning simulation is a recreation of a context that allows a learner to bring strategy, tactics, and skills to experiment, play, or otherwise interact with that context's manipulatives.

Learning Simulation Clark Aldrich defines a learning simulation as "an abstracted interactive environment (or) structure for education in which a learner can take actions and make decisions, and get ongoing feedback and consequences."
Learning Through Play
The process of acquiring knowledge, skills, or conceptual understandings through play.

According to Johan Huizinga in the critical anthropological text Homo Ludens, play is "an activity which proceeds within certain limits of time and space, in a visible order, according to rules freely accepted, and outside the sphere of necessity or material utility. The play-mood is one of rapture and enthusiasm, and is sacred or festive in accordance with the occasion. A feeling of exaltation and tension accompanies the action.

See also Flow & Play.
Learning Taxonomies
Any framework for thinking (and thus understanding), including Bloom's Taxonomy, Heick's Taxonomy, and Understanding by Design's 6 Facets of Understanding. These taxonomies can be used to plan units, lessons, assessments, and other teaching and learning processes.
Mastery Learning
According to Vahid Motamedi of Tarbiat Moallem University, "Mastery learning is a method of instruction where the focus is on the role of feedback in learning. Furthermore, mastery learning refers to a category of instructional methods which establishes a level of performance that all students must "master" before moving on to the next unit (Slavin, 1987). Thus, through one or more trials, students have to achieve a specified level of content knowledge prior to progression on to the next unit of instruction."

"Mastery learning is used in order to advance an individual's potential for learning. Compared to traditional learning models, sufficient time, attention, and help are afforded to each student." (11)
MOOC
An acronym for Massively Open Online Course, a digital course that allows asynchronous access to content.
Mobile Learning
The United Nations defines mobile learning as "Mobile learning involves the use of mobile technology, either alone or in combination with other information and communication technology (ICT), to enable learning anytime and anywhere. Learning can unfold in a variety of ways: people can use mobile devices to access educational resources, connect with others, or create content, both inside and outside classrooms. Mobile learning also encompasses efforts to support broad educational goals such as the effective administration of school systems and improved communication between schools and families." (12)
Model-Based Learning
A learning strategy by Terry Heick in which learners analyze an existing model of some kind, isolate one compelling idea, and then transfer that idea into a new circumstance.
Modeling Instruction
Modeling Instruction is an evolving, research-based pedagogy for high school and middle school science. It emphasizes constructing and applying conceptual and mathematical models of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena as a central aspect of learning and doing science. It is a robust methodology for developing student abilities to make sense of physical experience, understand scientific claims, articulate coherent opinions of their own and defend them with cogent arguments, and evaluate evidence in support of justified belief. It was developed at Arizona State University. It is sustained and expanded nationwide by the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA) in approximately 60 multi-week Modeling Workshops each summer.
Personalized Learning
The process of designing a learning experience for an individual learner, including content, learning model, assessment forms, and mode of knowledge application.

Personalized learning can arise from any learning experience that is self-initiated and self-directed in pursuit of outcomes that are first personal (e.g., curiosity-based, self-prioritized, etc.)
Place-Based Education
Place-Based Education "immerses students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences, uses these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum, and emphasizes learning through participation in service projects for the local school and/or community." (citation needed) (24)
Play
Play can be described as a pattern of free and joyful experimentation with voluntary barriers.

Rather than a merely recreational activity, Terry Heick describes play as "a state of being" often "characterized by unencumbered, courageous, and joyful interactions with people, objects, interfaces, or circumstances." Heick goes on to say that play is more a matter of "tone and possibility than form or function." (citation needed) Through play, learners are able to develop a range of intellectual, moral, strategic, physical, or creative capacities.

In Deep Play, Diane Ackerman describes play as cultural and evolutionary.

"Our culture thrives on play. Courtship includes high theater, rituals, and ceremonies of play. Ideas are playful reverberations of the mind. Language is playing with words until they can impersonate physical objects and abstract ideas....

For all we know, what we call intelligence may be a characteristic exclusively of primates. It may not be life's pinnacle at all, but simply one mode of knowing, one we happen to master and cherish. Play is widespread among animals because it invites problem-solving, allowing a creature to test its limits and develop strategies. In a dangerous world, where dramas change daily, survival belongs to the agile not the idle. We may think of play as optional, a casual activity. But play is fundamental to evolution. Without play, humans and many other animals would perish." (17)
Problem-Based Learning
What is problem-based learning? An approach to learning where the identification, analysis, and solving of problems drives student learning.

Similar to challenge-based learning, problem-based learning is a learning framework that uses (ideally authentic and highly personal) problems to frame learning experiences. Problem-based learning, then, uses the problem to necessitate a need to know in the student, which ideally would create a sense of both motivation and context for the learning experience.
Project-Based Learning
A method of framing curriculum that results in students learning through projects (rather than simply completing projects). (3)

ASCD explains that the "core idea of project-based learning is that real-world problems capture students' interest and provoke serious thinking as the students acquire and apply new knowledge in a problem-solving context. The teacher plays the role of facilitator, working with students to frame worthwhile questions, structuring meaningful tasks, coaching both knowledge development and social skills, and carefully assessing what students have learned from the experience. Advocates assert that project-based learning helps prepare students for the thinking and collaboration skills required in the workplace." (4)
Question-Based Learning
A learning strategy developed by Terry Heick that encourages learners to form, reframe, and improve questions as they are gather information and adjust their thinking in response.
Scenario-Based Learning
Scenario-based learning is a mode of learning that functions as a social simulation, requiring students to use authentic contexts to solve problems. Sounds a lot like problem-based learning, doesn't it? It is, but the scenario doesn't have to be a "problem." Massey University explains.

"Scenario-based learning (SBL) uses interactive scenarios to support active learning strategies such as problem-based or case-based learning. It normally involves students working their way through a storyline, usually based around an ill-structured or complex problem, which they are required to solve. In the process students must apply their subject knowledge, and critical thinking and problem solving skills in a safe, real-world context. SBL is often non-linear, and can provide numerous feedback opportunities to students, based on the decisions they make at each stage in the process. Scenario-based learning may be self-contained, in that completing the scenario is the entire task, or it may be the first part of a larger assignment requiring the student to complete the scenario, and then provide a written or oral reflection and self-assessment on the process.

As for the research basis, Massey University goes on to offer that SBL "is based on the principles of situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991), which argues that learning best takes place in the context in which it is going to be used, and situated cognition, the idea that knowledge is best acquired and more fully understood when situated within its context (Kindley, 2002)"
Self-Directed Learning
Self-directed learning is a model of learning where the student designs learning goals, pathways, and application. It can be used both formally and informally, for learning both academic and non-academic, in classrooms, homeschool settings, and workplaces. (See Google's 80/20 rule, or video game developer Valve for more on what this might look like in a professional setting.)

As a phrase, it is often used interchangeably with self-managed learning or independent learning, where students execute teacher-designed learning processes designed from institutional learning goals.

Note: While at TeachThought we think of self-directed learning as something "whole" and entirely personal, we recognize the subjectivity of language, and the relative obscurity, opaqueness, and ambiguity of much of educational terminology (thus this page). In that way, one person's "SDL" may be another person's "independent project," and we respect our own biases, and thus general impotence in the face of this problem.

See also Genius Hour and TeachThought's self-directed learning model.
Self-Organized Learning Environments
A Self Organized Learning Environment is a program designed to support self-directed education. Sugata Mitra, an education scientist, first popularized the term in 1999, referencing an approach he developed following his Hole in the Wall experiments. ( Wikipedia)
Situated Cognition
A learning theory that emphasizes the absolute and permanent relationship between knowledge and context, or "situation," situated cognition suggests a taut relationship between what one knows, and what one does with what one knows (i.e., knowledge and behavior).

This creates a problematic collision between "the different instructional goals of 'knowing what' and 'know how' result in different structures and practices of our education system," and harmfully "decontextualized learning resulted from separation between learning and doing." (Brown, Collins and Duguid (1989).

Clancey offers, "The theory of situated cognition...claims that every human thought is adapted to the environment, that is, situated, because what people perceive, how they conceive of their activity, and what they physically do develop together" (Clancey, 1997).

See also, Cognitive Apprenticeship. (19, 20)
Sync Teaching
A teaching strategy developed by Terry Heick that seeks to merge self-directed learning in an outcomes-based learning environment. Also known as Second-Screen Learning, the idea is to give students freedom to follow their curiosity (while adjusting for their own background knowledge) while still be requiring to 'sync' with the teacher as the teacher sees fit (e.g., within a time frame, a learning target, etc.)

In this model, the teacher chooses what, when, and how the students 'sync'-which would seem to suggest each student have their own screen, but doesn't necessarily require it. Imagine a teacher is delivering 'Content 1,' and each student or group of students are then accessing 1A, 1B, 1C. The topic could be the causes and effects of war, which could also act as the 'sync point.' The students direct their own learning around that idea while the teacher facilitates, and chooses when (in terms of timing), where (in terms of space), and why (in terms of purpose) the "sync" occurs (i.e., students redirect attention from their screens to teacher as guide).

Whether this is done in 4 groups with 4 tablets, or 28 individual students in 1:1 or BYOD classrooms, the big idea is the same: students accessing (or creating) personalized content while the teacher guides and facilitates the core of the lesson. (8)
Team-Based Learning
According to Dr Rachel Maxwell, for University of Northampton, England, team-based learning is an effective, structured and learner-centred approach to teaching on-campus modules where students work effectively in groups. A combination of individual work, group work and feedback is used to create a motivational framework in which learners increasingly hold each other accountable for coming to class prepared and contributing to discussion.

Use your class time for more than simply covering content, and focus instead on providing students with opportunities to apply their learning of core course concepts to solve problems.

References & Citations

1. Harvard Education Center For Teaching & Learning

2. Clayton Christensen Institute For Disruptive Innovation

3. The Difference Between Projects & Project-Based Learning from TeachThought

4. What The Research Says About Project-Based Learning

5. Challenge-Based Learning by Apple

6. Cortland.edu

7. University of East London Research in Teacher Education

8. The Sync Teaching Method by TeachThought

9. MIT on Digital Citizenship

10. A Definition for Digital Citizenship (Heick 2012)

11. (updating)

12. United Nations ICT in Education

13. Adults' informal learning: Definitions, finds, gaps, and future research

14. (updating)

15. 6 Characteristics of Connected Learning

16. Situating Constructionism (Papert & Harel 1991)

17. How To Create Learning Through Play (Heick 2013)

18. Deep Play (Ackerman 1999)

19. Dr. Jennifer Brill at The University of Georgia

20. Brent G. Wilson and Karen Madsen Myers at the University of Denver

21. The Difference Between Personal Learning & Personalized Learning

22. (Understanding Differentiated Instruction: Building a Foundation for Leadership Tomlinson, 2000)

23. Six Principles of Genius Hour in the Classroom
A Dictionary For 21st Century Teachers; A Dictionary For 21st Century Teachers: An ongoing index of emerging learning models and learning theories for progressive teaching.

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The TeachThought Dictionary: Learning Models & Technology

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by Terry Heick Purpose: Improving our chance for a common language in discussing existing and emerging learning trends, models, and technology in hopes of innovation in classrooms, and collectively, education at large. Audience: K-12 & higher ed educators, researchers, institutions, and organizations globally.

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A Comprehensive Gamification Framework For Human Motivation
by Terry Heick

When researching student motivation and gamification a few years ago, I came across the most comprehensive gamification framework I've ever seen. Developed by gamification expert Yu-kai Chou, it was an ambitious effort that distinguished black hat gamification (which is 'bad'-think Farmville and Candy Crush) from white hat gamification (which is 'good'-think Minecraft or even an ACT score). (It's also copyrighted, but they graciously allowed us to use it.)

While it is designed not as an educational framework, but rather as a way to demonstrate gamification and its many strands, gamification is about human encouragement and motivation. For educators, student motivation is one of the pillars of academic performance. While the terms are sometimes misunderstood-and risk becoming cliche as we continue to talk about them topically rather than specifically-student motivation and student engagement are prime movers in the learning process. Without either, teaching is an uphill battle.

So what began as a post about gamification became more a matter of student motivation-what motivates students in the classroom and why. If we can nail down those factors-those characteristics that drive student motivation-we can, at worst, be more attentive to them as we design assessments, lessons, units, and even learning models.
8 Core Drives Of Student Motivation 1) Epic Meaning & Calling
Yu-kai Chou explains, " Epic Meaning & Calling is the Core Drive where a player believes that he is doing something greater than himself or he was 'chosen' to do something. A symptom of this is a player that devotes a lot of his time to maintaining a forum or helping to create things for the entire community (think Wikipedia or Open Source projects)."

Educator takeaways? This is easy to reduce to 'get good grades' to get into college to 'become' whatever you want to 'be,' but while they wait to 'become' something (i.e., a 'professional' of some kind), they need meaning from their work that is a matter of self, knowledge, and personal development (see Development & Accomplishment below).

What if... we continued to build on the ideas of problem-based learning, place-based education, and scenario-based learning, where students have the ability to interact with authentic-and hopefully local-problems, designing solutions to problems they see on a daily basis.
2) Development & Accomplishment
Yu-kai Chou explains: "Development & Accomplishment is the internal drive of making progress, developing skills, and eventually overcoming challenges. The word 'challenge' here is very important, as a badge or trophy without a challenge is not meaningful at all."

Educator takeaways? Right now, letter grades, certificates, and in cases, digital portfolios are tasked with communicating a learner's measure of performance, progress, and accomplishment. The visibility of this development and accomplishment is also limited and completely academic.

What if... the development of a 'learner identity' was a matter of choice and authentically-sourced, rather than universal and academically-derived?
3) Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback
Yu-kai Chou explains: "Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback is when users are engaged in a creative process where they have to repeatedly figure things out and try different combinations. People not only need ways to express their creativity, but they need to be able to see the results of their creativity, receive feedback, and respond in turn."

Educator takeaways? Learning feedback is different than grades, and grades are different than assessment, and assessment is different than learning results-offering feedback that promotes learning while encouraging creativity (part of the root of the word encourage is courage)? How can we give learners space and emotional support to experiment with complex ideas and data sources without letting them flounder, or "play and experiment badly"?

What if... play was at the core of learning while married to an authentic feedback loop, and lessons and units and projects ground to a halt without creativity?
4) Ownership & Possession
Yu-kai Chou explains,"This is the drive where users are motivated because they feel like they own something. When a player feels ownership, she innately wants to make what she owns better and own even more."

Educator Takeaways? Space, place, voice, and choice are among the principles of student-centered learning. A sense of agency can be both empowering and overwhelming for students.

What if... Students 'owned' their learning experiences in connection with mentors outside the school?
5) Social Influence & Relatedness
Yu-kai Chou explains, "This drive incorporates all the social elements that drive people, including: mentorship, acceptance, social responses, companionship, as well as competition and envy...Also, it includes the drive we have to draw closer to people, places, or events that we can relate to. If you see a product that reminds you of your childhood, the sense of nostalgia would likely increase the odds of you buying the product."

Educator takeaways? How can we design learning so that students need to connect to clarify a need for knowledge, to create knowledge, or to share knowledge? Pushed further, how does social influence change the knowledge and competencies we choose to value?

For example, how has social media-twitter for example-altered social currencies? In a physical environment, charisma can be a matter of aesthetics, height, voice tone, or verbal linguistics. In a digital realm, the ability to communicate concisely, to use hashtags effectively, and to time your messages properly all give the appearance of charisma. The lesson? Unique spaces create unique conditions for influence and value.

What if... we created a classroom where the social influence was both a cause and an effect for curiosity and an authentic need to know?
6) Scarcity & Impatience
Yu-kai Chou explains,"This is the drive of wanting something because you can't have it...."

Educator Takeaways? Choosing what to make scarce, and how to build want in students is a matter of design with a few simple bullet points. Traditional academia has scarcity built-in already-extra-credit, choice, opportunities for self-selected grouping, personal technology use (BYOD), course selection (in K-12) and more are all 'scarce,' and thus have value.

Education also withholds permanent markers of performance (i.e., final letter grades) until the end of a semester to both motivate students as well as provide the image of authority and control. Using 'Scarcity & Impatience' becomes a matter of being selective in what is made scarce, and how that scarcity and requisite need-for-patience impacts student learning.

Put another way, what are we withholding, and to what end? That which is scarce-but still integral to a larger process-has embedded value. How can we use that?

What if...what we wanted students to value was a matter of personalized learning- this value for this student in this community based on this circumstance?
7) Unpredictability & Curiosity
Yu-kai Chou explains, "Generally, this is a harmless drive of wanting to find out what will happen next....The very controversial Skinner Box experiments, where an animal irrationally presses a lever frequently because of unpredictable results, are exclusively referring to the core drive of Unpredictability & Curiosity, although many have misunderstood it as the driver behind points, badges, and leaderboard mechanics in general."

Educator Takeaways? Learning without curiosity is like a fire without heat. Unpredictability is one source of curiosity, but there are many sources of curiosity. So much of a classroom is a matter of process and routine, which places a premium on predictability and procedural knowledge.

What if... instead, our classrooms were learning spaces that were charged with possibility, connections, creativity, and student-sourced emotion? And what if, by some matter of design, created intellectual chaos rather than worried about behavioral chaos? How would we need to design access to content, feedback loops, learning models, and outward visibility to make this work?
8) Loss & Avoidance
Yu-kai Chou explains, "This core drive is based upon the avoidance of something negative happening. On a small scale, it could be to avoid losing previous work. On a larger scale, it could be to avoid admitting that everything you did up to this point was useless because you are now quitting."

Educator Takeaways? As a profession, we tend to design learning experiences that discourage risk-taking and punish mistakes. 'Loss' has been at the core of academia since its inception. If you don't do this work by this date you lose this desirable alphanumeric symbol (letter grade) and may even fail the course outright (i.e. lose 'progress' and credit and be forced to repeat).

This driver of student motivation has not been effective historically in K-12 education for many students because it requires students to value the loss, which requires them to see the long-term consequences of that loss. Unlike adults, students live in the now.

What if.... we could somehow design a unit, for example, that 'forced' the student to 'start over' if they made certain mistakes, but through other principles of student motivation outlined above, they were somehow motivated to do so?
A Comprehensive Framework For Student Motivation; image copyright Octalysis and Yu-kai Chou

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A Comprehensive Gamification Framework For Human Motivation

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A Comprehensive Gamification Framework For Human Motivation by Terry Heick When researching student motivation and gamification a few years ago, I came across the most comprehensive gamification framework I've ever seen. Developed by gamification expert Yu-kai Chou, it was an ambitious effort that distinguished black hat gamification (which is 'bad'-think Farmville and Candy Crush) from white hat gamification (which is 'good'-think Minecraft or even an ACT score).

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I like to compare the teacher's work designing learning experiences to the work of an architect. In my new book with Dr. Katie Novak, UDL and Blended Learning, I share a story about working with an architect to design a new home after my family lost our house in the Tubbs Fire in 2017. Over a series of three meetings, my architect asked me countless questions about what I wanted in a home and how I used the space. He wanted to understand me to ensure that the home he sketched would fit my needs, preference, and lifestyle. In much the same way, teachers must get to know their students. How do they enjoy engaging with information? Do they work better on their own, with a partner, or in a group? What are they interested in or passionate about? Do they work best in particular environments? What avenues might work best for them to share their learning?

Below are three aspects of our design work that I encourage teachers to consider as they architect learning experiences for their students.
#1 Get To Know Your Students
The first step in our design work must be an effort to get to know our diverse learners. Without this crucial step, teachers fall into the practice of designing a single experience for all students. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to design does not provide equitable learning experiences. In an educational context, equity understands that different learners will need different inputs to reach a particular output. Some students will need more time, resources, and support to reach a particular learning objective successfully. Providing the varied inputs that learners need to thrive in a classroom demands that teachers have more than a single model for designing their learning experiences.

Engage Learners in Conversation

How will you get to know your individual students at the beginning of the school year?

How can you make time for conversations with individual learners?

How might you lean on digital tools (e.g., surveys, video recordings) to aid your understanding of your students?

#2 Establish Clear Objectives and Firm Goals & Select the Best Instructional Model
Teachers must believe all students are capable of meeting high expectations. However, different students will need different inputs and learning paths to get to a particular outcome or goal. It is that flexibility that demands our teachers have an arsenal of instructional models and strategies to choose from when designing learning experiences. Too often, teachers rely exclusively on the teacher-led, whole group model because that is what they were taught in teacher training programs. It's still common to walk into classrooms with an agenda written on the board and the teacher positioned at the front of the room. In a teacher-led, teacher-paced lesson, students have little control and few opportunities to make key decisions about their learning experience.

I want teachers to explore the range of blended learning models available to them to select the best model for a particular outcome. The beauty of blended learning models is they shift control over the learning experience from teacher to student. This is a critical shift if we want to cultivate expert learners who are resourceful, strategic, and motivated. The qualities of an expert learner are impossible to cultivate when students are not asked to share the responsibility for learning in meaningful ways. If the focus is on compliance and following directions, learners do not have opportunities to become resourceful or strategic. Over time, the lack of autonomy and agency also negatively impacts a learner's motivation.

As teachers use the range of blended learning models to combine active, engaged learning online and offline, they are freed from feeling pressure to spend large chunks of a lesson at the front of the room controlling the experience. Instead, these models create the time and space for teachers to work directly with individual or small groups of students. It is in these one-on-one and small group settings when we can be most effective at understanding where learners are and meeting their specific needs.

Create Flexible Pathways

Do you consistently anchor your design in grade level standards and articulate clear learning objectives?

How much control do students in your class typically have in your lessons? Do they get to make meaningful choices?

Which instructional models have you used with your learners? How much experience have you had experimenting with blended learning models?

What concerns do you have about designing learning experiences that shift students to the center of learning? What explicit skill building might need to happen to help learners be more successful as we shift the responsibility for learning to them?

#3 Identify and Remove Barriers
When I lead training sessions on blended learning models, I sometimes experience pushback from teachers concerned with the time it will take to make a video or design a station rotation. Yet, when we think about many of the instructional strategies we have used for years (e.g., lecture, discussion, written responses), there are myriad barriers that may make it hard for students to access information and share their learning effectively.

Last week at the end of a flipped classroom workshop, a teacher said, "Why would I spend time to make a video when I can present this information to the class?" I turned the question to the group and asked them to work with a partner to brainstorm all the barriers that might make it hard for all students to access information presented that way. Teachers identified the following factors that might create barriers: audio processing disorders, poor vision, attention deficit, distractions and day dreams, headache or illness, language proficiency, etc. So, if all those factors could be at play in a classroom, it makes sense to question whether a live lecture or whole group mini-lesson would be the best strategy for ensuring that all students can access the information we are presenting.

Taking time to identify barriers in our design work is critical.

Identify and Remove Barriers

What might make it hard for a student to process information presented verbally in a lecture or mini-lesson?

How might a whole group, real-time discussion make it challenging for some students to participate?

How might asking students to demonstrate their understanding in a written response distort our understanding of what they actually know or understand?

Once we have identified potential barriers, we can focus on providing meaningful choices and providing scaffolds in the lesson to remove those barriers.

The architect I worked with to rebuild my home created a blueprint. He designed a detailed plan customized to my needs, but he did not build my home. Instead, it was a team of contractors and subcontractors who did the laborious work of building the structure. Similarly, I want teachers to design learning experiences that invite the students to do the hard work of making meaning and constructing knowledge. Too often, the teacher does the heavy cognitive lifting in the lesson when it should the students doing it. The more intentional our design work, the more likely we are to create learning experiences that allow all students to be successful and encourage them to think, do, make, discuss, and reflect, which are critical to deep and meaningful learning.
Summer Learning Opportunities
If you want to do a deep dive into universally designing blended learning to remove barriers and create flexible pathways, you can order your copy of UDL and Blended Learning: Thriving in Flexible Learning Landscapes from Amazon or request a bulk order for a team of teachers (10+) who want to do a book study! Each chapter ends with reflection and discussion questions to guide those book study conversations.

Want to explore blended learning in an online course? I have two courses-1) beginning and 2) advancing- so you can choose the self-paced course that is the best fit for you! Both courses include video tutorials, templates, resources, and action items to help teachers explore blended learning models and design student-centered learning experiences that combine active, engaged learning online and offline. Teachers who purchase a license for either course will have unlimited and ongoing access to it, so you can continue learning all year long! Leaders looking to purchase bulk licenses to support teachers can complete this form!

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UDL and Blended Learning: Removing Barriers with Design

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I like to compare the teacher's work designing learning experiences to the work of an architect. In my new book with Dr. Katie Novak, UDL and Blended Learning , I share a story about working with an architect to design a new home after my family lost our house in the Tubbs Fire in 2017.

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Meet virtually with Cisco Webex. Anytime, anywhere, on any device.

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Simple, modern video meetings for everyone on the world's most popular and trusted collaboration platform.

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"History: The Story of Everything!"
An A3 poster showing the connection between History and a whole range of other classroom subjects.

Classroom Posters: 10 Celebrity History Graduates
Print these off onto A3, get them laminated and stuck up around the room, then point at them whenever any student asks "What can you do with a history degree?"

Classroom Posters: 15 Key History Questions
Was the Black Death a blessing in disguise? Was Victoria's Empire racist? - 15 key questions, with illustrations, to put up around the classroom.

Classroom Posters: 20 History Quotes
"Study History, Study History! In History lies all the secrets of statecraft!" - plus 19 more motivational quotes about the noble subject.

Classroom Posters: 27 Key Dates from the 20th Century in Pictures
From the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, through to Boris Yeltsin making a fool of himself after too much vodka: 27 posters highlighting key events caught on the camera in the 20th Century.

Classroom Display: 24 Key Terms for IB/A-Level History | Classroom Display: 40 Key Terms for KS3 History
I print these off onto A3, laminate them and then cut them up to display all around the classroom.

Classroom Display: 37 Topics studied in class
These posters (click on each for a larger version!) are designed to be printed, laminated and displayed outside your classroom so that passers-by can get a flavour of what's being studied in your history classroom. They can be changed at appropriate points and they are a great way of highlighting the great topics that your students get to study.

Another great resource to print off, laminate, cut out and give to students to help develop their historical vocabulary: Student bookmark: Vocabulary for essay writing

Historically-themed bookmarks for rewards
Twenty historically-themed bookmarks which I give out as rewards for impressive work:

For more display ideas for the history classroom, check out these blogposts at Tarr's Toolbox!

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"History: The Story of Everything!" An A3 poster showing the connection between History and a whole range of other classroom subjects. Classroom Posters: 10 Celebrity History Graduates Print these off onto A3, get them laminated and stuck up around the room, then point at them whenever any student asks "What can you do with a history degree?"

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OLAB:FOUNDED BY MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND IT

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OLAB:FOUNDED BY MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND IT

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Online Labs for schools - Developed by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and CDAC Online Lab

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The OLabs is based on the idea that lab experiments can be taught using the Internet, more efficiently and less expensively. The labs can also be made available to students with no access to physical labs or where equipment is not available owing to being scarce or costly.

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This activity can be used under Topic 8: Human Population & Carrying Capacity - 8.4 Ecological footprint 

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This activity can be used under Topic 8: Human Population & Carrying Capacity - 8.4 Ecological footprint 

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How many planets does it take to sustain your lifestyle?

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What is your Ecological Footprint? How many planets does it take to support your lifestyle? Take this free quiz to find out!

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75 digital tools and apps teachers can use to support formative assessment in the classroom

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This doc includes 15 rubric s for various activities. If required you can use

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This doc includes 15 rubric s for various activities. If required you can use

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The Paradigm shift from teaching to learning calls for celebrating learning, thereby enabling our learners to open the windows of their curiosity. That is where the onset of digital station comes as a path breaker. Digital education has indeed changed the educational landscape. It ensures the objective of teaching-learning is met-to attain educational goals. Digital learning has seeped into the education system considerably. It has a far-reaching impact, educating the vast population of India. It is growing at a substantially rapid rate.

It becomes extremely crucial to transform the school education landscape in order to make it "future ready". It can be done through aligning informal learning with formal learning and creating a joyful environment to engage learners for purposeful learning. The digital resources help to achieve these aims. Digital assets based on multisensory approach provides retainable learning for life. New Saraswati House is happy to share the digital resources with all stakeholders in playing a vital role as "Partners in Learning'.

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The Paradigm shift from teaching to learning calls for celebrating learning, thereby enabling our learners to open the windows of their curiosity. That is where the onset of digital station comes as a path breaker. Digital education has indeed changed the educational landscape. It ensures the objective of teaching-learning is met-to attain educational goals.

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Our topic areas provide starting points for engaging with complex moments in human history that shape our present.

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At the end of the last academic year, my colleague and I sat down to design a new unit for year 7 that would inspire and empower them to feel that they can do something about the global issues they worry about.

Before we sat down to create our unit, I'd already discussed the idea with some of my year 7 students and they helped me to formulate a few ideas. By the end of our collaborative session, I had a brief outline to take to my colleague for exploration and discussion.

Main points from my students included: - they worry about global issues but feel they have no involvement in dealing with them - they felt they didn't have a voice in the issues that WILL affect them (climate change and the consequential problems primarily) - some knew enormous amounts about particular environmental issues but never got to make use of their understanding - they wanted to feel empowered - they wanted to learn about the solutions as much as the issues

MYP Unit Plan

It's pretty lame, but I was really excited about creating this unit as it would be the first one I'd had the opportunity to create from scratch. I'd started as Subject Leader in September 2016 and inherited the MYP plans already in place. In the first few years, the departmental focus was on developing the new GCSE course & the new IB ESS course initially, followed by the new IB Geography course. MYP would stay as it were until the new exam courses were in place. Instead with the help of the team, we updated the existent MYP units.

Now however is the time to improve the MYP curriculum, to make it the foundations for future geographical study and to make learning, assessment and feedback fully integrated through the 3 years so that everything builds on what has come before.

Year 8 and 9 (MYP years 2 & 3) are functioning well thanks to the changes and developments over the last few years, however year 7 (year 1) needs quite the overhaul to make it truly fit for purpose. So this is where the 'new' department and I have started.

An MYP unit plan looks something like this (please note however that I added SDGs they are not a common feature):

Designing our unit

The first part of designing a new unit is to decide upon the final outcomes - what do we want students to learn and take away from the unit of study?

There are three areas of the unit plan we needed to explore before we could decide on these outcomes, these were
a) the content to cover
b) the objectives of the unit
c) the summative assessment

We started by writing a brief outline of the content we thought appropriate whilst at the same time formulating a few key objectives. Once we had a rough idea, we discussed the summative assessment and how the three would connect. This was all rough and nothing was set at this point.

Once we had a rough idea, we went back to the core elements of an MYP unit; the key concept, relate concepts, global context and statement of inquiry. The aim of these are to establish the purpose of the unit.

From there we created the inquiry questions for the unit, these are broken down into factual, conceptual and debatable questions. These questions guide the learning and are asked throughout the unit to check for understanding.

The next stage of developing a unit is going back to the objectives, content and summative assessment and fine tuning these so they integrate the inquiry questions.

We decided upon the following objectives and summative assessment for the unit:

The unit would develop student understanding of one global issue together - we selected the plastic problem. We would teach students about the issue, management (including responsibility) and a select few solutions to the plastic problem. Student will then use this outline to structure their own awareness raising campaign, which makes up the summative assessment.

Our next focus for discussion returned to the content. We had our objectives and summative assessment decided we now needed to align the content, approaches to learning and formative assessment to these.

We started by breaking down the content and working out the sub-content.

Once the sub-content was determined we explored the approaches to learning that could be developed through the content delivered. Students would cover the AtL - Research (information literacy) in unit 1, so we wanted students to build upon this and selected a further two as shown below.

Now that we had our objectives, summative assessment, AtLs and content sorted we could consider the formative assessment - these are pieces of work that are assessed by the teacher and feedback is provided to the student. These are the only pieces of work teachers are expected to assess. All other work can be assessed through book looks with feedback provided via whole class feedback, assessment for learning strategies or peer/self assessment.

The aim of any formatively assessed work is that it should feed into the summative assessment and future work. Thus meaning that any feedback provided ought to be transferable between topics - thus developing the learner not the work.

We decided upon the following:

And added in where the formative work fitted into the content.

The final stage involved completing other elements of the 'learning process' section which include the learning experiences & teaching strategies along with differentiation (scaffolding).

After this unit, we created two more units using the same process. However the one difference being ensuring that content and approaches to learning developed through this unit, fed into units 3 and 4 of year 7 (MYP year 1).

Assessment for Learning and Feedback

In order to reduce the workload of assessment, teachers and students are provided with a feedback sheet prior to the task. These sheets outline the success criteria for the task. Here's an example for formative work 2.

Teachers are encouraged to live mark whilst students work, pointing out the next steps the student could take before completion of the task.

My classes do a lot of what I call 'messy progress' , this means they are encouraged to add to their work, this can be in the margins, as footnotes or through the use of edit strips, encouraging them to self-assess their work and look for their own potential improvements before submitting as complete. It may end up looking something like this:

Once a formative piece is completed the teacher simply highlights the successes achieved and any relevant next steps. If teachers have any specific feedback for individual students they can either write it in or speak to the individual during the lesson in which they receive their feedback.

Summative feedback looks very similar, except an MYP grade is provided for the criterion assessed.

The key part of producing feedback sheets is that you have to know what you want your students to achieve through the task. This therefore requires an element of planning backwards.

Lesson Planning

From unit planning came lesson planning. During my gained time I created a set of outline lessons to cover the content of the unit. These are just outlines for the class teacher to amend to suit their approach.

Hope you found the post of use, feel free to share how you go about planning a new unit or SoW.

Best wishes,

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Mrs Humanities shares... planning an MYP unit

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At the end of the last academic year, my colleague and I sat down to design a new unit for year 7 that would inspire and empower them to feel that they can do something about the global issues they...

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Efficiency and engagement are critical components of online learning-these often-overlooked, free tools can boost both.

Reuters / Alamy Stock Photo

You've probably been teaching online or with blended approaches for months now. That means you are probably familiar with Google tools, Flipgrid, Nearpod-the usual suspects of remote learning. Those tools are all fantastic and have been pillars during this unprecedented time in education.

There's plenty of reason to explore other options, however, no matter how good the standbys are. It could be that you're looking for new tools or features, or it could be that your students could use a change of pace to boost their engagement.

Here are some alternative, lesser-known, and free web-based tools that are powerful supports to online learning-and can help switch things up a bit and refresh your routine.

Mote, a Cool Google Extension for Audio Comments

Anytime we can provide feedback for students that is more personal, the better their online experience is.

Mote is a Chrome extension that makes giving feedback via audio fast, simple, and personal. When you install this extension, you can use it within Google Classroom, Google Docs, and Google Slides, and even in Gmail. By simply clicking the purple Mote icon, you can record and append audio comments to a Google doc or to Classroom to give students feedback on their work.

The Mote extension is great for giving feedback on writing assignments, but I also love using it to facilitate conversation around digital texts, particularly because with Mote, the user can choose which mode they want to use-normal commenting or audio commenting. That way, every user can engage in the way that they feel the most comfortable, which can make genuine dialogue easier and more lively.

I like to integrate Mote with Google Slides. Previously, adding audio to slides required multiple steps, but when I use the Mote extension, I can do it in one step, directly from the slides themselves.

Your students don't have to have the extension installed to receive the audio feedback, which makes this a very simple tool to use. An added bonus? I save time because I can say a lot more in 30 seconds than I can type, making me more efficient.

Dotstorming, for Smooth Collaborative Brainstorming

If you are looking for ways to get students brainstorming together, Dotstorming offers a powerful collection of tools (voting boards, "walls" [white boards and collages]) that enable collaboration. It's been around for a few years, but lately, it's added new formats and features, making it an even more valuable addition to any online learning toolbox. With Dotstorming, students collaborate, post and share their ideas, leave feedback for their peers, and come to a consensus, all via a digital bulletin board that allows them to vote up their favorite contributions from their classmates.

For example, I recently used Dotstorming to brainstorm and prioritize expectations for our virtual option this school year. As a group, we shared our ideas and then voted to determine our collective priorities.

VideoAnt, to Facilitate Lively Video Discussions

When developing online lessons for students, it's standard practice to create videos or find instructional videos from YouTube, particularly with asynchronous instruction. However, simply sharing a video as part of direct instruction is not always effective, because it can lack the critical engagement component: It's a one-way street of delivery that can make students passive.

VideoAnt, which was created by the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, can change that dynamic by allowing students to add their own comments or annotations to an online video (either one you've created and uploaded or one from YouTube). It really does transform any video into a discussion activity because students can actively engage and participate in video lessons. VideoAnt is especially useful for online learning because it takes what would otherwise be a static consumption activity (watching a video) and turns it into an active learning experience.

Blooket, for Engaging Educational Games

If you love playing review games like Kahoot or Quizizz with your class but are looking for something new, try Blooket. As with other review games that you and your students know and enjoy, teachers set up the game and students join in using a code that you display on the screen. Students can play independently or in teams.

Blooket stands out from similar tools because it offers a variety of educational games that students can play, helping to ensure that students remain engaged. As students play, they can earn coins and avatars called Blooks. You can create a game from scratch or browse the Blooket community for games that other educators have designed.

Kialo Edu, to Foster Vigorous Debate

Discussion boards are common tools in online classrooms, but they don't always work that well when it comes to facilitating complex conversations or debates. Enter Kialo Edu, a custom version of Kialo, a debate site, which is designed for classrooms and is great for instruction that builds critical thinking skills.

Instead of participating in a linear discussion thread, students provide evidence for their claims on either side of an issue using Kialo's pro and con tree structure. They can then explore the arguments shared by their classmates and develop those further with supporting evidence and counterarguments.

I love this tool for leveling up discussion board activities with students. It can feel daunting to lead a thoughtful debate online, especially when your students are working remotely. Kialo Edu creates a structure for rich, reflective dialogue online.

Classkick, to Add Rich Interactions to Classroom Materials

As we moved online in the past year, many of us needed a tool that would help our students engage with what were normally print materials. There are plenty of great PDF markup tools available ( Kami, for instance), but Classkick stands out with its additional functionality.

With Classkick, teachers upload their content to the site. Then, they and their students can add drawings, audio, video, text, and more to mark up the content. Teachers can see all students working at the same time if they're doing a synchronous activity, making it easier to provide just-in-time feedback directly on their canvases.

Classkick has really gained momentum with our online primary teachers this year. The ability for students to draw and record on their screen has been a game changer among our emerging readers.

Adobe Capture, to Design Your Materials

Adobe Capture is one of my go-to creativity tools that I use while I am designing online experiences. I use this mobile app specifically when I choose colors and fonts. So while this tool is a little different in that I don't use it specifically with students (and because it's strictly mobile), it does make my digital lessons look more polished and improves usability for my students.

If you need some inspiration in choosing color palettes, for example, Adobe Capture makes it easy to create customized color combinations. My favorite feature captures the color codes from photos I take, which I can then use as inspiration for a color palette to use in my online designs.

Another neat feature that Capture offers is font identification. Take a photo of text anywhere, and Adobe Capture shares a list of similar fonts. With Adobe Capture on my phone, I can be inspired anywhere I go and make design decisions in my online content that make it visually more appealing.

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Powerful, Lesser-Known Tech Tools for Teachers

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Efficiency and engagement are critical components of online learning-these often-overlooked, free tools can boost both. Reuters / Alamy Stock Photo You've probably been teaching online or with blended approaches for months now. That means you are probably familiar with Google tools, Flipgrid, Nearpod-the usual suspects of remote learning.

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Flippity.net: Flashcards and Other Resources for Educators and Learners

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Create an interactive virtual breakout activity.

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https://www.diabarsha.com/userfiles/inno-diaabmvc/Documents/02-Learning/DIAB%20-%20SGO%20-%20DESIGN.pdf

https://www.fridleyschools.org/uploaded/IB_Files/Subject_Group_Overviews/Design.pdf

https://www.rfs.edu.ps/uploads/files/MYP%20Design.pdf

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Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

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https://kahoot.com/
https://mystery.knightlab.com/
https://edpuzzle.com/

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What we like most about iSpring Suite is the capability to develop training modules rapidly from simple media. The tool allows us to preserve our training heritage while enriching training content with sound, video, interactions, quizzes, simulated dialogues, etc. We also save time developing the design, thanks to iSpring's user-friendly interface and lots of ready-to-go content templates.

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Create cutting-edge eLearning content right in PowerPoint. Turn your presentations into SCORM courses and build quizzes for your LMS. All for free!

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MYP eAssessment – May 2017 integrated humanities on-screen examination

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MYP eAssessment – May 2017 integrated humanities on-screen examination

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https://vimeo.com/309299461

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https://www.ibo.org/professional-development/free-learning/myp-pd-learning-resources/myp-eassessment-webinar-series/

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I have received lots of queries and requests to share the printable worksheets. After giving it a thought I decided to share them with the followers of Balrachna blog but at a nominal cost.

They are just not cut n paste worksheets but a lot of planning and hard work goes into creating them.

They are bunched in groups, topic wise-

1. Pictorial Varnamala - Swar/ Vyanjan (43wrshts.)

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/04/varnamala-swar-vyanjan.html

2. Pictorial Worksheets -

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/04/hindi-varnamala-swar-vyanjan-worksheets.html

(B) Matching pic n alphabets (11)

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/06/alphabets-swar-and-vyanjan-pictorial.html

3. Pictorial Worksheets -

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/06/hindi-varnamala-swar-vyanjan-worksheets.html

(B) Choose the correct Consonant category(11)

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/11/hindi-varnamala-swar-vyanjan-worksheets.html

4. Shabd Banao - (Matra aur Shabd) -

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/12/shabd-banao-swar-vyanjan-matra.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/12/pictorial-worksheets-make-sentences.html

7 Khel Khel Mein - 1. Match the pics - 6

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/12/fun-with-words-3-onemany-1.html

4. Rhyming Words - 15

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/12/fun-with-words-1-hindi-rhyming-words.html

8. Introducing Noun (Sangya) - 9

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2019/05/sangya-noun-1the-naming-words-for.html

9. Introducing Adjectives (Visheshan) - 9

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2020/02/visheshan-adjective-3-describing-words.html

10. Introducing Verb (Kriya - Action Words) - 6

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2019/09/kriya-verb-2-action-words-for-preschool.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2020/04/primary-school-class-456-2-swar-vyanjan.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2018/12/fun-with-words-2-swar-vyanjan-matra.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2019/01/swar-vyanjan-1-varna-viched.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2019/03/conjunct-consonants-sanyukt-vyanjan-2.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2019/01/swar-vyanjan-3-varna-viched.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2019/03/conjunct-consonants-sanyukt-vyanjan-1.html

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2019/03/conjunct-consonants-sanyukt-vyanjan-2.html

8. Conjunct Consonants (Sanyukt Vyanjan 3)

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8487319423849143283/6437478150037433559

9. Gender - Primary School - class 1,2,3

https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2020/07/gender-primary-classes-123.html

10. Gender - Primary School -class 4,5,6
https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2020/09/gender-primary-classes-456.html
11. Primary School Noun (Sangya) - class 1,2,3
https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2020/05/primary-school-class-123-sangya-noun.html
12. Primary School Noun (Sangya)- class 4,5,6
https://balrachna.blogspot.com/2020/05/primary-school-class-456-sangya-noun.html

These are some of the worksheets uploaded here and I have inserted the link of each worksheet for your perusal.

Kindly contact via email for your queries of each package. Happy teaching and Happy learning too. Followers share your emails.

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I have received lots of queries and requests to share the printable worksheets. After giving it a thought I decided to share them with the followers of Balrachna blog but at a nominal cost. They are just not cut n paste worksheets but a lot of planning and hard work goes into creating them.

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Our topic areas provide starting points for engaging with complex moments in human history that shape our present.

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https://interactives.ck12.org/plix/arithmetic/

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​Like many educators I know, this return to blogging is long overdue ....

Disclaimer: I am not an assessment expert. The aim of this post is two fold -- to provide some key strategies as well as some examples -- in regards to what I feel has had successful outcomes in terms of assessment during school closures due to COVID-19.

To begin, here are three key strategies that I feel could be applied to any context...
Key Strategy One: Transparency (i.e. "No Secret Teacher Business")
A winning strategy in any classroom, whether you're physically distant from your learners or not, is transparency (i.e. "No secret teacher business") among stakeholders.

Something that works very well for my learners, parents and I is a shared Google Sheet that all have viewing access to, communication in more channels that they could ask for. This document serves as our first port of call for any 1:1 conference or discussion. It also includes links to student work, where necessary, that only are only accessible to those who need to see it.

This document includes a legend, and three tabs, one for inquiry, math and literacy, respectively. Not pictured are the student's names in rows of the first column.

If I've sold you already on doing something like this, awesome. I'd strongly suggest that before you introduce it to students and parents, that you elucidate that any learning in life happens at different times. Some learners, particularly during COVID-19 school closures, are going to take longer than others.

Let them know that this is okay.

Whilst we have been using this document all year, parent/guardian and student feedback is overwhelmingly positive as they know exactly where to channel their focus and see where to next. They also know what I'm looking for, have responded to, what is due, and more. It is a wonderful starting point to any conference with either stakeholder.

In students, I find that it promotes self-regulation, self-efficacy and more.
Key Strategy Two: Honor the asynchronous aspects of learning
Sure, some lessons or projects need have a due date and, when left too long, the learning, concepts and/or big ideas fall out of context. However, in my experience, the majority doesn't and we have to honor that humans develop and learn at different paces. The asynchronous nature of learning things at different times and locations is particularly amplified at present. Some of our learners are not on the same schedule as us (i.e. the teachers) due to a variety of reasons out of their control. In my context, I have learners that are overseas in their home country (including different time zones), sharing one device with multiple people in their family, and others that need to work at a pace or schedule that works better for their family.

Be flexible. Let go. Know that you'll be doing right by your people!

Key Strategy Three: Provide more opportunities for assessment AS learning happens
Again, I don't think any of these strategies are isolated to being physically distant from our learners -- these are pillars of sound pedagogical philosophy. In a world where we are trying to step away from the pernicious industrial models of education, assessment as the learning takes place naturally creates a home for more of a student-centered approach.

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times where we, as educators, need some quick assessment for learning to gain prior knowledge or inform us on where to next. And yeah, eventually, after multiple assessment opportunities as the learning takes place, there eventually needs to be a point where there is an assessment of learning.
When it comes to examples - think BIG - projects that is!
Assessment as the learning takes place is student-centered because it fosters the ownership piece of learner agency. Some ways we can achieve this can be giving more opportunities for our students to create their own success criteria, giving ample opportunities to self assess and reflect upon their work, as well as allowing for more time to reflect, practice and improve on the feedback given to them.

Bigger projects, allow opportunities for inquiry, choice, exploration of big concepts, knowledge transfer and more.
Let's look at a couple examples: #1 - Geometry town
But what about academic honesty? This is not the cure all, end all on this question many of you have ruminated upon during this time, however bigger projects also allow for ample opportunities for feedback (i.e. assessment as learning). Since all educators have a pretty good pin on the voices of their learners, it's pretty easy to highlight when or if it becomes apparent. Multiple feedback loops give the opportunity for teachable moments and student reflection and correction of this if it does become an issue. From my experience, I feel that the more voice and choice that you give within the spectrum of the project, you'll find that this concern becomes a non-issue.

After learning about various concepts of shape and space, students were asked to engage in an independent Geometry Town project. We decided to make the task 2D over 3D because most of the things that needed to be assessed could be done in 2D, which also would take up less time. Next, we gave students their three part assessment checklist and provided an exemplar of "a way" the project could look like once completed. This was supported with video instructions as well. Students could choose to represent their town digitally or on paper.

Before submitting their work, students were encouraged to self-assess their work using the criteria, and get feedback from an elder in their household, too.

Where we fell short, was not including student voice in the assessment criteria, which could have been easily accomplished with a Google Form. This will be an area of improvement for next year.

Where did students benefit? They could design their town as creatively as they liked and could work on or offline. There were some constraints in order to achieve the assessment criteria, but it was designed to allow for as much diversity as possible. Plus, students were given the criteria before they started the project. Best of all, there was no hard due date (even though we gave them one) and they could go through as many feedback loops and photo submissions that they wanted in order to achieve success.

​Example #2: Literacy and inquiry - Information report
Pictured below, is an example of a how, through multiple feedback loops and submissions, a student was able to achieve a greater amount of success.

In a summative project for a PYP, How the world works, inquiry into scientific topics of their choosing, students were asked to write an information report.

To try and be as brief as possible, students chose topics generated from the science curriculum domains, then chose big questions to explore within that topic. Some key research skills taught and developed were learning how find resources (mostly online and our digital databases, given the current situation and limited access to offline material), how to TRAAP test these resources, skimming and scanning, summarizing, and more. Then, came all the scaffolding and teaching of skills of how to write a five paragraph information report - the text features, structure, writing introductions, body paragraphs, conclusions, referencing and more.

No easy feat in any context, particularly a home learning one. This took longer. That was okay.

A big reason for this is that learning during physical distancing needs to slow down. We need to break bigger concepts down to their finest nuance and explain them succinctly and explicitly through multiple methods. Keep things simple.

For this project, my colleagues and I also wanted to create as many opportunities as possible for a variety of feedback loops that included all the people they had access to - self, peers on chats, elders in their households, and their teachers.

This project had roughly twenty feedback loops. Many were with the teacher through submission and response, but I will also include some of the other ways that we varied our assessment as the learning was taking place.

Assessment in lieu of physical presence of your kiddos does require some thought, sure. Some key strategies, regardless of whether or not you're in front of your learners, are being transparent as possible with your stakeholders, honoring the asynchronous nature of learning, and thinking of more ways to include assessment as learning takes place. The bonus is that you're probably used to doing some or all of these things already.

Embedded in the examples and strategies above is creating plenty of opportunity for student voice and choice in ways to demonstrate what they know. Through this, students become empowered and more intrinsically motivated. As a result, they take more ownership in their learning. John Spencer and A.J. Julianni, in their excellent book, Empower: What Happens When Own Their Learning, also posit that this ownership develops students that are able to, "Figure out what they know, don't know, want to master and what they'll do to improve." Sure, these 21st century skills need to be taught and reinforced, but the end result will be equate to more meta cognitive, self-regulated and efficacious souls in the driver's seat of their own learning.

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I'd love to hear from you! What have been some of your key strategies and/or examples for assessment during this time? Please share in the comments below. 😊

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​Like many educators I know, this return to blogging is long overdue .... Disclaimer: I am not an assessment expert. The aim of this post is two fold -- to provide some key strategies as well as some examples -- in regards to what I feel has had successful outcomes in terms of assessment during school closures due to COVID-19.

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Efficiency and engagement are critical components of online learning-these often-overlooked, free tools can boost both.

Reuters / Alamy Stock Photo

You've probably been teaching online or with blended approaches for months now. That means you are probably familiar with Google tools, Flipgrid, Nearpod-the usual suspects of remote learning. Those tools are all fantastic and have been pillars during this unprecedented time in education.

There's plenty of reason to explore other options, however, no matter how good the standbys are. It could be that you're looking for new tools or features, or it could be that your students could use a change of pace to boost their engagement.

Here are some alternative, lesser-known, and free web-based tools that are powerful supports to online learning-and can help switch things up a bit and refresh your routine.

Mote, a Cool Google Extension for Audio Comments

Anytime we can provide feedback for students that is more personal, the better their online experience is.

Mote is a Chrome extension that makes giving feedback via audio fast, simple, and personal. When you install this extension, you can use it within Google Classroom, Google Docs, and Google Slides, and even in Gmail. By simply clicking the purple Mote icon, you can record and append audio comments to a Google doc or to Classroom to give students feedback on their work.

The Mote extension is great for giving feedback on writing assignments, but I also love using it to facilitate conversation around digital texts, particularly because with Mote, the user can choose which mode they want to use-normal commenting or audio commenting. That way, every user can engage in the way that they feel the most comfortable, which can make genuine dialogue easier and more lively.

I like to integrate Mote with Google Slides. Previously, adding audio to slides required multiple steps, but when I use the Mote extension, I can do it in one step, directly from the slides themselves.

Your students don't have to have the extension installed to receive the audio feedback, which makes this a very simple tool to use. An added bonus? I save time because I can say a lot more in 30 seconds than I can type, making me more efficient.

Dotstorming, for Smooth Collaborative Brainstorming

If you are looking for ways to get students brainstorming together, Dotstorming offers a powerful collection of tools (voting boards, "walls" [white boards and collages]) that enable collaboration. It's been around for a few years, but lately, it's added new formats and features, making it an even more valuable addition to any online learning toolbox. With Dotstorming, students collaborate, post and share their ideas, leave feedback for their peers, and come to a consensus, all via a digital bulletin board that allows them to vote up their favorite contributions from their classmates.

For example, I recently used Dotstorming to brainstorm and prioritize expectations for our virtual option this school year. As a group, we shared our ideas and then voted to determine our collective priorities.

VideoAnt, to Facilitate Lively Video Discussions

When developing online lessons for students, it's standard practice to create videos or find instructional videos from YouTube, particularly with asynchronous instruction. However, simply sharing a video as part of direct instruction is not always effective, because it can lack the critical engagement component: It's a one-way street of delivery that can make students passive.

VideoAnt, which was created by the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, can change that dynamic by allowing students to add their own comments or annotations to an online video (either one you've created and uploaded or one from YouTube). It really does transform any video into a discussion activity because students can actively engage and participate in video lessons. VideoAnt is especially useful for online learning because it takes what would otherwise be a static consumption activity (watching a video) and turns it into an active learning experience.

Blooket, for Engaging Educational Games

If you love playing review games like Kahoot or Quizizz with your class but are looking for something new, try Blooket. As with other review games that you and your students know and enjoy, teachers set up the game and students join in using a code that you display on the screen. Students can play independently or in teams.

Blooket stands out from similar tools because it offers a variety of educational games that students can play, helping to ensure that students remain engaged. As students play, they can earn coins and avatars called Blooks. You can create a game from scratch or browse the Blooket community for games that other educators have designed.

Kialo Edu, to Foster Vigorous Debate

Discussion boards are common tools in online classrooms, but they don't always work that well when it comes to facilitating complex conversations or debates. Enter Kialo Edu, a custom version of Kialo, a debate site, which is designed for classrooms and is great for instruction that builds critical thinking skills.

Instead of participating in a linear discussion thread, students provide evidence for their claims on either side of an issue using Kialo's pro and con tree structure. They can then explore the arguments shared by their classmates and develop those further with supporting evidence and counterarguments.

I love this tool for leveling up discussion board activities with students. It can feel daunting to lead a thoughtful debate online, especially when your students are working remotely. Kialo Edu creates a structure for rich, reflective dialogue online.

Classkick, to Add Rich Interactions to Classroom Materials

As we moved online in the past year, many of us needed a tool that would help our students engage with what were normally print materials. There are plenty of great PDF markup tools available ( Kami, for instance), but Classkick stands out with its additional functionality.

With Classkick, teachers upload their content to the site. Then, they and their students can add drawings, audio, video, text, and more to mark up the content. Teachers can see all students working at the same time if they're doing a synchronous activity, making it easier to provide just-in-time feedback directly on their canvases.

Classkick has really gained momentum with our online primary teachers this year. The ability for students to draw and record on their screen has been a game changer among our emerging readers.

Adobe Capture, to Design Your Materials

Adobe Capture is one of my go-to creativity tools that I use while I am designing online experiences. I use this mobile app specifically when I choose colors and fonts. So while this tool is a little different in that I don't use it specifically with students (and because it's strictly mobile), it does make my digital lessons look more polished and improves usability for my students.

If you need some inspiration in choosing color palettes, for example, Adobe Capture makes it easy to create customized color combinations. My favorite feature captures the color codes from photos I take, which I can then use as inspiration for a color palette to use in my online designs.

Another neat feature that Capture offers is font identification. Take a photo of text anywhere, and Adobe Capture shares a list of similar fonts. With Adobe Capture on my phone, I can be inspired anywhere I go and make design decisions in my online content that make it visually more appealing.

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Powerful, Lesser-Known Tech Tools for Teachers

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Efficiency and engagement are critical components of online learning-these often-overlooked, free tools can boost both. Reuters / Alamy Stock Photo You've probably been teaching online or with blended approaches for months now. That means you are probably familiar with Google tools, Flipgrid, Nearpod-the usual suspects of remote learning.

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Formative Assessment in Distance Learning

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The pandemic has closed schools, but schooling goes on—and it remains crucial that teachers find ways to see what students are learning.

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​Like many educators I know, this return to blogging is long overdue ....

Disclaimer: I am not an assessment expert. The aim of this post is two fold -- to provide some key strategies as well as some examples -- in regards to what I feel has had successful outcomes in terms of assessment during school closures due to COVID-19.

To begin, here are three key strategies that I feel could be applied to any context...
Key Strategy One: Transparency (i.e. "No Secret Teacher Business")
A winning strategy in any classroom, whether you're physically distant from your learners or not, is transparency (i.e. "No secret teacher business") among stakeholders.

Something that works very well for my learners, parents and I is a shared Google Sheet that all have viewing access to, communication in more channels that they could ask for. This document serves as our first port of call for any 1:1 conference or discussion. It also includes links to student work, where necessary, that only are only accessible to those who need to see it.

This document includes a legend, and three tabs, one for inquiry, math and literacy, respectively. Not pictured are the student's names in rows of the first column.

If I've sold you already on doing something like this, awesome. I'd strongly suggest that before you introduce it to students and parents, that you elucidate that any learning in life happens at different times. Some learners, particularly during COVID-19 school closures, are going to take longer than others.

Let them know that this is okay.

Whilst we have been using this document all year, parent/guardian and student feedback is overwhelmingly positive as they know exactly where to channel their focus and see where to next. They also know what I'm looking for, have responded to, what is due, and more. It is a wonderful starting point to any conference with either stakeholder.

In students, I find that it promotes self-regulation, self-efficacy and more.
Key Strategy Two: Honor the asynchronous aspects of learning
Sure, some lessons or projects need have a due date and, when left too long, the learning, concepts and/or big ideas fall out of context. However, in my experience, the majority doesn't and we have to honor that humans develop and learn at different paces. The asynchronous nature of learning things at different times and locations is particularly amplified at present. Some of our learners are not on the same schedule as us (i.e. the teachers) due to a variety of reasons out of their control. In my context, I have learners that are overseas in their home country (including different time zones), sharing one device with multiple people in their family, and others that need to work at a pace or schedule that works better for their family.

Be flexible. Let go. Know that you'll be doing right by your people!

Key Strategy Three: Provide more opportunities for assessment AS learning happens
Again, I don't think any of these strategies are isolated to being physically distant from our learners -- these are pillars of sound pedagogical philosophy. In a world where we are trying to step away from the pernicious industrial models of education, assessment as the learning takes place naturally creates a home for more of a student-centered approach.

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times where we, as educators, need some quick assessment for learning to gain prior knowledge or inform us on where to next. And yeah, eventually, after multiple assessment opportunities as the learning takes place, there eventually needs to be a point where there is an assessment of learning.
When it comes to examples - think BIG - projects that is!
Assessment as the learning takes place is student-centered because it fosters the ownership piece of learner agency. Some ways we can achieve this can be giving more opportunities for our students to create their own success criteria, giving ample opportunities to self assess and reflect upon their work, as well as allowing for more time to reflect, practice and improve on the feedback given to them.

Bigger projects, allow opportunities for inquiry, choice, exploration of big concepts, knowledge transfer and more.
Let's look at a couple examples: #1 - Geometry town
But what about academic honesty? This is not the cure all, end all on this question many of you have ruminated upon during this time, however bigger projects also allow for ample opportunities for feedback (i.e. assessment as learning). Since all educators have a pretty good pin on the voices of their learners, it's pretty easy to highlight when or if it becomes apparent. Multiple feedback loops give the opportunity for teachable moments and student reflection and correction of this if it does become an issue. From my experience, I feel that the more voice and choice that you give within the spectrum of the project, you'll find that this concern becomes a non-issue.

After learning about various concepts of shape and space, students were asked to engage in an independent Geometry Town project. We decided to make the task 2D over 3D because most of the things that needed to be assessed could be done in 2D, which also would take up less time. Next, we gave students their three part assessment checklist and provided an exemplar of "a way" the project could look like once completed. This was supported with video instructions as well. Students could choose to represent their town digitally or on paper.

Before submitting their work, students were encouraged to self-assess their work using the criteria, and get feedback from an elder in their household, too.

Where we fell short, was not including student voice in the assessment criteria, which could have been easily accomplished with a Google Form. This will be an area of improvement for next year.

Where did students benefit? They could design their town as creatively as they liked and could work on or offline. There were some constraints in order to achieve the assessment criteria, but it was designed to allow for as much diversity as possible. Plus, students were given the criteria before they started the project. Best of all, there was no hard due date (even though we gave them one) and they could go through as many feedback loops and photo submissions that they wanted in order to achieve success.

​Example #2: Literacy and inquiry - Information report
Pictured below, is an example of a how, through multiple feedback loops and submissions, a student was able to achieve a greater amount of success.

In a summative project for a PYP, How the world works, inquiry into scientific topics of their choosing, students were asked to write an information report.

To try and be as brief as possible, students chose topics generated from the science curriculum domains, then chose big questions to explore within that topic. Some key research skills taught and developed were learning how find resources (mostly online and our digital databases, given the current situation and limited access to offline material), how to TRAAP test these resources, skimming and scanning, summarizing, and more. Then, came all the scaffolding and teaching of skills of how to write a five paragraph information report - the text features, structure, writing introductions, body paragraphs, conclusions, referencing and more.

No easy feat in any context, particularly a home learning one. This took longer. That was okay.

A big reason for this is that learning during physical distancing needs to slow down. We need to break bigger concepts down to their finest nuance and explain them succinctly and explicitly through multiple methods. Keep things simple.

For this project, my colleagues and I also wanted to create as many opportunities as possible for a variety of feedback loops that included all the people they had access to - self, peers on chats, elders in their households, and their teachers.

This project had roughly twenty feedback loops. Many were with the teacher through submission and response, but I will also include some of the other ways that we varied our assessment as the learning was taking place.

Assessment in lieu of physical presence of your kiddos does require some thought, sure. Some key strategies, regardless of whether or not you're in front of your learners, are being transparent as possible with your stakeholders, honoring the asynchronous nature of learning, and thinking of more ways to include assessment as learning takes place. The bonus is that you're probably used to doing some or all of these things already.

Embedded in the examples and strategies above is creating plenty of opportunity for student voice and choice in ways to demonstrate what they know. Through this, students become empowered and more intrinsically motivated. As a result, they take more ownership in their learning. John Spencer and A.J. Julianni, in their excellent book, Empower: What Happens When Own Their Learning, also posit that this ownership develops students that are able to, "Figure out what they know, don't know, want to master and what they'll do to improve." Sure, these 21st century skills need to be taught and reinforced, but the end result will be equate to more meta cognitive, self-regulated and efficacious souls in the driver's seat of their own learning.

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I'd love to hear from you! What have been some of your key strategies and/or examples for assessment during this time? Please share in the comments below. 😊

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​Like many educators I know, this return to blogging is long overdue .... Disclaimer: I am not an assessment expert. The aim of this post is two fold -- to provide some key strategies as well as some examples -- in regards to what I feel has had successful outcomes in terms of assessment during school closures due to COVID-19.

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The Fable Cottage: Bilingual stories for language learners

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Fairy tales and fables in Spanish, French, Italian, German and English. Lovingly crafted stories especially for children and adults learning a second language. Great for classroom and home study.

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Experience the best museums from London to Seoul in the comfort of your own home.

Going into a self-quarantine can have many complex issues and complications beyond having enough food and supplies for two weeks. In terms of entertainment, it also probably means you're in for a lot of boredom, a lot of Netflix, and a lot of browsing the internet.

But there is a way to get a little culture and education while you're confined to your home. According to Fast Company, Google Arts & Culture teamed up with over 2500 museums and galleries around the world to bring anyone and everyone virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous museums around the world..

Now, you get "go to the museum" and never have to leave your couch.

Google Arts & Culture's collection includes the British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Guggenheim in New York City, and literally hundreds of more places where you can gain knowledge about art, history, and science. This collection is especially good for students who are looking for ways to stay on top of their studies while schools are closed.

British Museum, London

This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. You can also find hundreds of artifacts on the museum's virtual tour.

Guggenheim Museum, New York

Google's Street View feature lets visitors tour the Guggenheim's famous spiral staircase without ever leaving home. From there, you can discover incredible works of art from the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary eras.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

This famous American art museum features two online exhibits through Google. The first is an exhibit of American fashion from 1740 to 1895, including many renderings of clothes from the colonial and Revolutionary eras. The second is a collection of works from Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.

Musée d'Orsay, Paris

You can virtually walk through this popular gallery that houses dozens of famous works from French artists who worked and lived between 1848 and 1914. Get a peek at artworks from Monet, Cézanne, and Gauguin, among others.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

One of Korea's popular museums can be accessed from anywhere around the world. Google's virtual tour takes you through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

As one of Germany's largest museums, Pergamon has a lot to offer - even if you can't physically be there. This historical museum is home to plenty of ancient artifacts including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and, of course, the Pergamon Altar.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Explore the masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a Street View tour of this iconic museum, so you can feel as if you're actually wandering its halls.

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Anyone who is a fan of this tragic, ingenious painter can see his works up close (or, almost up close) by virtually visiting this museum - the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

European artworks from as far back as the 8th Century can be found in this California art museum. Take a Street View tour to discover a huge collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs.

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

This less well-known gallery houses the art collection of one of Florence, Italy's most famous families, the de'Medicis. The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 specifically for Cosimo I de'Medici, but anyone can wander its halls from anywhere in the world.

MASP, São Paulo

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is a non-profit and Brazil's first modern museum. Artworks placed on clear perspex frames make it seem like the artwork is hovering in midair. Take a virtual tour to experience the wondrous display for yourself.

National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

Built in 1964, this museum is dedicated to the archaeology and history of Mexico's pre-Hispanic heritage. There are 23 exhibit rooms filled with ancient artifacts, including some from the Mayan civilization.

Sadly, not all popular art museums and galleries could be included on Google Arts & Culture's collection, but some museums are taking it upon themselves to offer online visits. According to Fast Company, the Louvre also offers virtual tours on its website.

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Stuck at Home? These 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch

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Experience the best museums from London to Seoul in the comfort of your own home. Going into a self-quarantine can have many complex issues and complications beyond having enough food and supplies for two weeks. In terms of entertainment, it also probably means you're in for a lot of boredom, a lot of Netflix, and a lot of browsing the internet.

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We all want a clean and healthy planet and the small choices we make each day can help us get there. Explore this tool to learn simple, everyday tips and tricks from Google and the California Academy of Sciences to leave the environment in better shape.

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Middle Years Programme (MYP) design facilitator Tamizh Ponni explains how she has been able to apply Da Vinci's principles into her design class.

By Tamizh Ponni

It all started when I began reading Michael J Gelb's Think like da Vinci. Incidentally, it also happened to be my first year teaching design for students in the Middle Years Programme (MYP). With the experience as a tech integrationist, I knew this could be a good start for facilitating STEAM learning.

The MYP design cycle is like any other inquiry model, except that it gives detailed insights into developing feasible solutions to real-time problems. Learners develop curiosity and love for learning when they are shown real-time examples and applications of that learning. Understanding why they are learning a concept is of paramount importance. I started my classes by showing some design sketches of Leonardo da Vinci for various machines he dreamed of developing. The book served as a great resource for sparking interest and inquiry in the class. Students even did this short book review after reading it and you can find an example down below.

The seven da Vincian principles

Da Vinci was a polymath, who developed interest in various subjects and pioneered in areas like art, engineering, anatomy, botany, geolog, physics etc. When I adapted the following seven principles of Da Vincian thinking, it helped my learners unleash their unlimited potential for learning and creativity in design. They also connected the knowledge they had acquired from subjects like English, mathematics, science, arts and technology.

Curiosita

"The desire to know is natural to good men"―Leonardo da Vinci

Intelligence and continuous learning are nurtured by passionate questioning. Design thinking too is fueled by insatiable curiosity and makes questions equally important as answers. As Leonardo says, "questioning is an exercise in creative problem-solving of the very highest order". Learners start designing a product or a solution by making a stream of questions asked from different perspectives.

Here is an example of student-driven inquiry questions stated for research of a unit on an animation project.

Sensazione

"The five senses are the ministers of our soul"―Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo looked at the five senses as keys to open the doors of experience in this world. His appreciation of the beauty around him was demonstrated through the magnificent paintings that captured the subtle expressions of mankind. He was also a brilliant musician who played flute, lyre and other instruments. He savoured the feel of fine fabrics and his studio was always filled with flowers and perfumes.

My design class always has a pleasant ambient atmosphere filled with gentle music and scents to help learners focus on their tasks. Like Leonardo, I have cultivated a passion for culinary arts and my learners also tried their hands on food design by creating interesting recipes following the design cycle. This project helped them put their five senses to use to create a delicious meal.

Sfumato

"The painter who has no doubts will achieve little"―Leonardo da Vinci

This principle talks about the willingness to embrace ambiguity, willingness and uncertainty. Leonardo explored beauty as well as ugliness in his paintings by combining battles, grotesques and deluges with flowers and beautiful youths.

In design, students follow sfumato by doing product analysis using techniques like SWOT, ACCESSFM, FEEDSCAM, etc. This way, they learn how to embrace creative tension and find out the pros, cons and interesting factors in a product or system.

"Study the science of art and the art of science"―Leonardo da Vinci

Here, students develop a balance between science, art, logic and imagination, which leads to, "whole-brain", thinking. Mind-mapping is known to be a powerful tool that helps one to cultivate synergy between art and science in planning and problem-solving. Students inquire and analyze a lot about the problem they are investigating through mind-maps and concept-maps they made.

Corporalita

"Sickness is the discord of elements infused into the living body and healing is the restoration of discordant elements"―Leonardo da Vinci

This principle focuses on cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness and poise. Leonardo's, "vitruvian man", with human body proportions is a perfect example that reflects this principle. He believed that one should accept personal responsibility for one's health and well-being.

Learners in their design projects are mindful of the ergonomic and anthropometric factors when they work on human-centered designs to ensure that the user feels comfortable to use their product without having to face any health concerns.

Connessione

"The earth is moved from its position by the weight of a tiny bird resting upon it"―Leonardo da Vinci

Da Vinci showed unparalleled creativity is his lifelong practice of combining and creating diverse elements from nature. Learners in design class become seekers of connections by learning about biomimicry, also known as natured-inspired designs.

Dimostrazione

"Obstacles do not bend me. Every obstacle is destroyed through vigour"―Leonardo da Vinci

Dimonstrazione is demonstration of knowledge. The theory of knowledge (TOK) embraces the commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and willingness to learn from mistakes. That's the principle students use to test or evaluate their product from their users to get their feedback and learn to accept constructive criticism thereby improving their work.

Tamizh Ponni works as Design Facilitator in an International School, Bengaluru, India. She has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, an MBA in Human Resources and a Masters in English Literature. She is currently pursuing her M.Tech, PhD integrated course in Data Science. She has worked as a Professional Development Coach and as a Tech Integrationist. Tamizh believes that the best thing in being an IB educator is that beyond teaching there's a lot of deep learning involved in the process. Tamizh sees learning as a never-ending process and with technology integration, it gives her an interesting dimension to knowledge acquisition and skill-building. Tamizh spends most of my free time painting, reading, writing articles, stories and poems, playing keyboard and watching documentaries/movies. You can connect with her here.

If you enjoyed this story, consider reading more below:

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Seven ways to spark interest in the classroom

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Middle Years Programme (MYP) design facilitator Tamizh Ponni explains how she has been able to apply Da Vinci's principles into her design class. By Tamizh Ponni It all started when I began reading Michael J Gelb's Think like da Vinci .

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Design virtual models you can build with LEGO® bricks

Easy to Use

LeoCAD has an intuitive interface that is designed to allow new users to start creating new models without having to spend too much time learning the application.

At the same time, it has a rich feature set that enables experienced users to build models by using techniques that are more advanced.

LDraw Compatible

LeoCAD is fully compatible with the LDraw Standard and related tools, and it reads and writes LDR and MPD files so that you can share and download models from the Internet.

It also uses the LDraw parts library, which has over 10,000 different parts and continues to receive updates.

Cross Platform, Open Source

Native versions are available for Windows, Linux and macOS to ensure that users are familiar with the program interface.

LeoCAD is open-source, so anyone can contribute with fixes and features, and it is always going to remain free.

Screenshots

LeoCAD is optimized for large models; here is the Tower Bridge, an official set with over 4,000 pieces:

The application can be used to create building instructions with multiple steps and submodels:

The application also allows multiple views at the same time:

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this software.

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Design virtual models you can build with LEGO® bricks LeoCAD has an intuitive interface that is designed to allow new users to start creating new models without having to spend too much time learning the application. At the same time, it has a rich feature set that enables experienced users to build models by using techniques that are more advanced.

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Internet Public Library Kidspace provides links to other pages on the IPL website where abundant resources for specific topics are listed. All resource links on any page you head to from here will have individual descriptions to make finding information easier for kids.

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Kidspace | ipl: Information You Can Trust

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Internet Public Library Kidspace provides links to other pages on the IPL website where abundant resources for specific topics are listed. All resource links on any page you head to from here will have individual descriptions to make finding information easier for kids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Design virtual models you can build with LEGO® bricks

Easy to Use

LeoCAD has an intuitive interface that is designed to allow new users to start creating new models without having to spend too much time learning the application.

At the same time, it has a rich feature set that enables experienced users to build models by using techniques that are more advanced.

LDraw Compatible

LeoCAD is fully compatible with the LDraw Standard and related tools, and it reads and writes LDR and MPD files so that you can share and download models from the Internet.

It also uses the LDraw parts library, which has over 10,000 different parts and continues to receive updates.

Cross Platform, Open Source

Native versions are available for Windows, Linux and macOS to ensure that users are familiar with the program interface.

LeoCAD is open-source, so anyone can contribute with fixes and features, and it is always going to remain free.

Screenshots

LeoCAD is optimized for large models; here is the Tower Bridge, an official set with over 4,000 pieces:

The application can be used to create building instructions with multiple steps and submodels:

The application also allows multiple views at the same time:

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this software.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Design virtual models you can build with LEGO® bricks LeoCAD has an intuitive interface that is designed to allow new users to start creating new models without having to spend too much time learning the application. At the same time, it has a rich feature set that enables experienced users to build models by using techniques that are more advanced.