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

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We’ve compiled an extensive list of 75 digital tools that can help teachers use formative assessment to elicit evidence of student learning.

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We have FREE practice guides for download. All written by cognitive scientists, 10 pages or less, including practical teaching strategies and links to research. All Creative Commons access, too. Share them, please!

Our 5 guides: Retrieval Practice, Spacing, Interleaving, Transfer of Knowledge, and Early Childhood Education. We have a guide on feedback/metacognition on the way and even more in the works. Is there a guide you'd like to see by leading cognitive scientists? Reply and let us know.

Help us reach educators around the world and share our Retrieval Practice guide translations in Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin (more on the way, too!).

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Here are the four most powerful tools for long-term learning - Retrieval Practice

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Make a big impact on students' long-term learning with the four most powerful tools backed by cognitive science research : retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition. Access free downloads and our four favorite teaching strategies for each Power Tool.

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How well do students learn when a lesson is mainly in PowerPoint? Henrik Berger Jørgensen, CC BY-NC-ND

For a brief period in the history of teaching, using PowerPoint automatically qualified you as a tech-savvy professor - an innovator who wouldn't settle for the usual combination of staticky black-and-white overhead films and hand-scrawled chalkboard notes.

Now, it's hard to believe that PowerPoint was once considered innovative by anyone. Popular criticism includes everything from tongue-in-cheek comments about death by PowerPoint to serious claims that it fundamentally degrades how we think and communicate.

But much of today's college instruction isn't in face-to-face classrooms, a setting in which PowerPoint was traditionally used. It's in the burgeoning field of online learning.

So if more learning is moving online, does that mean that teaching with PowerPoint is becoming a thing of the past?

Surprisingly, the answer is no.

Passive learning through PowerPoint?

Even though there's little research that directly addresses whether PowerPoint affects learning in college students, critics have questioned its value in educational settings.

Some ask whether PowerPoint might indirectly undermine the quality of teaching by reinforcing a passive learning approach.

We know that lecturing is less effective than alternative methods. It therefore makes sense for teachers in face-to-face classrooms to question how much of their class time ought to be spent on slideshows.

But the fact is "slideshows" remain a popular method for presenting content in today's online courses.

Technically, these are often not PowerPoints, but decks generated using other types of specialized programs.

And they may differ from standard in-class PowerPoint presentations in important ways.

For example, taking advantage of the increased flexibility of the online environment, they give students more control over how quickly to go through the material and when to backtrack. They can also have more interactive features, such as quizzes, that ask students to apply material while they are learning it.

Even so, the basic - and flawed - idea is the same: put the material in front of students, and learning will happen.

What's wrong with slideshows in online courses

As a psychologist specializing in teaching techniques and course design, when I talk to faculty about teaching effectively with technology, I sometimes tell them to follow the ABS principle: anything but slideshows.

I'm only half-kidding with that blanket statement.

After all, we learn with the same brains in online environments as we do face-to-face; the principles of learning don't change just because the medium changes. And today's learning theorists agree: active involvement trumps passive viewing.

Students need to grapple with challenging problems, practice skills, discuss and defend viewpoints. But for this kind of active learning to happen, instructors need to ensure they do not rely too heavily on slides.

There are alternatives: simulations, problem-based learning, even educational games are all proven methods for drawing students in. They also transplant well into online learning.

Using slideshows the right way

So do slideshows have any place in a well-designed online course? Possibly.

They can be used strategically for things they are best at: giving students an overview of new material, or providing a refresher on concepts students will need for an upcoming activity.

Slides are also great for for integrating visual illustrations. This is important because visuals - diagrams, figures, photos and the like - have a powerful impact on learning.

Visual information is almost always more memorable than sound, text or other modalities.

This isn't because of the now-debunked idea that some people are "visual learners," but more likely stems from how the brain codes images. There are separate systems for representing verbal and visual information in the brain. When we save information in both places, it is easier to recall.

Teachers don't have to stick with static images, either. Even basic animations can illuminate conceptual relationships - such as cause and effect, or the unfolding of a process over time - in ways that text can't.

Furthermore, as University of California, Santa Barbara researcher Richard Mayer has discovered, visuals and the spoken word pair up in powerful ways, so that audio plus visuals produce better learning than either alone.

Research also tells teachers some things not to do with visuals. Instructors should avoid purely decorative graphics, as these can actually hamper learning.

They should also eschew reading text verbatim, instead using a conversational, natural speaking style for voiceovers and verbal explanations.

What this means in the larger context of online learning

In sum, slideshows can be a useful part of online instruction, when used for the right things and designed in the right way. But they shouldn't be the main, or the only, method of instruction - any more than lectures should dominate face-to-face classes.

But it's not just instructors who need to hear this message.

Publishing and educational technology companies, who provide many of the tools that educators rely on, can do more to develop products that push beyond familiar formulas and draw on the latest learning science.

We need tools that make it easy to create assignments that ask students to apply what they have learned, in scenarios that are as realistic and challenging as possible.

These learning tools also need to be adaptive, adjusting the material and pace to the individual learner. This kind of educational technology does exist, but far more can be done to expand the available options.

Teaching in the age of technology comes with its own set of opportunities as well as challenges. And online education presents educators and tech developers with a rare opportunity to fundamentally rethink what we do.

Will we use it to explore new avenues for learning, or will we fall back on the the same old techniques that don't work well in face-to-face classrooms?

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Learning from PowerPoint: is it time for teachers to move on?

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Slideshows, when designed right, can be a useful part of online instruction. But they shouldn't be the main, or the only, method of instruction.

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TATP Creative Teaching Strategy #4: "Snowball Active Learning Technique"

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"This is one of my favorite books on meta-cognition and it's one that I recommend frequently... This one is canonical."

You've Got This Podcast (Episode 62)

"Most students enter university unaware they must become active problem-solvers rather than passive receivers of information. Academics know this implicitly, but like most subject-matter experts, forget that students don't share their knowledge. Challenging teachers to reject their assumption that students arrive at university prepared to learn―and convincing them to teach their students new ways of learning―is the goal of [this book]. Teach Students How to Learn provides method and motivation to become more effectively involved in helping your students succeed. "

Technical Communication

"It shouldn't be surprising that a volume intent on teaching students how to learn is just as intent on teaching the reader how to do just that, but it is still refreshing to read a book that lays out its goals, sticks to the promises it makes, and even creates its own study guide based on how much time the reader has to give to the text. Well-structured and clear, Saundra Yancy McGuire's Teach Students How to Learn is as thoughtful about itself as it is about the content it presents. McGuire has composed this book to reflect her own response to and engagement with a pressing problem in higher education: namely, that many students, even those who qualify for admission at prestigious institutions, arrive without ever having been taught to learn by anything but rote memorization. Faced with college's demands of skills higher in Bloom's Taxonomy, they find themselves struggling and even failing.

With this book McGuire gives teachers the tools they need to move their students past the high school model of retention until regurgitation, helping them instead to internalize a more nuanced, flexible understanding of learning. To convey this understanding, McGuire focuses on student mindset, encouraging educators to bring in everything from neurobiological models to fellow student success stories in order to help learners see that they are not stuck being 'bad' at something - that change is not only possible, but already well within reach.

Most of all, McGuire is a fun writer. Personal and plainspoken, her style makes the pages fly by. (Any worries that this book might drown the reader in jargon should be alleviated by the appearance of the words 'metacognition, schmetacognition'. I would recommend this book in particular to educators working with students from underserved communities, as giving students access to these techniques will help ensure their success far beyond the boundaries of a single classroom."

Reflective Teaching (Wabash Center)

"I just wanted to write you a quick note to talk about how much I enjoyed your book Teach Students How to Learn. I work as the Associate Director for Teaching and Learning at the Faculty Center at my university. Every year I get to put on a Summer Teaching Institute for faculty. The theme that came out of much of the work we have been doing about High-Impact Practices and what we want to accomplish at the university centered on life-long learning and nurturing autonomy and agency in students. I wanted to make that the theme of the institute this year and in looking for materials I came across your book. I loved it and it is the book we are going to cover this summer. I think it will provide a wonderful road map for us as we try move past how best to teach information to our students into helping our students become better learners."

Matthew C. Atherton, Ph.D.

California State University San Marcos

"Dr. McGuire's book, Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation, is a must read for faculty, staff, students, and top administrators. Students are coming to college not knowing what to expect or how to handle the level of preparedness that is expected of them. The strategies in this book are not difficult to implement or to include in the instruction of early core classes or a freshman seminar class. The best or the least prepared students can learn from Dr. McGuire's strategies."

NCLCA Newsletter

"For those interested in helping students develop strong metacognitive skills, Dr. Saundra McGuire's book, Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate Into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation, is concise, practical, and much less overwhelming than trying to figure out what to do on your own. It is both a consolidation of the research surrounding metacognition, mindset, and motivation and a how-to guide for putting that research into practice.

Improve with Metacognition

"If you are already convinced - or are at least willing to consider the possibility - that your students could learn more deeply and achieve more success than they are at present, this book is for you. If you are frustrated by students who seem unmotivated and disengaged, this book is for you. If you find it challenging to teach underprepared students, this book is for you. And if you care about educational equity and fairness, this book is for you.

The not-so-familiar good news is that these same students can both survive and thrive in higher education. The message from relevant research is quite clear: What students do in college matters more than who they are or which institution they attend. What these underprepared students need most to do is to learn how to learn.

In this book, Saundra McGuire provides specific, practical, research-based strategies to teach students how to learn, focusing on the three key M's - mindset, motivation, and metacognition.

The book offers a broad range of strategies for teachers and for students, along with a wealth of examples, illustrations, and resources."

Thomas A. Angelo, Clinical Professor of Educational Innovation & Research, The Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and Director of Educator Development, Eshelman School of Pharmacy

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

"This book is a wonderful resource for college faculty. It provides us with practical, yet powerful learning strategies and metacognition techniques that can be easily incorporated into our courses, and which in turn, will improve student learning. Dr. McGuire shares both research and her personal experiences, as well as her expertise in teaching all kinds of diverse students with tremendous success. This book is a welcome addition for the post secondary teaching and learning field and should be read and utilized by all."

Kathleen F. Gabriel, Associate Professor, School of Education

California State University, Chico

"Teachers need to learn as much as their students. In a masterly and spirited exposition, spangled with wit and exhortation, rife with pragmatic strategies, Saundra McGuire teaches teachers how to awake in their students the powers dormant in them. Be aware, and you will learn!"

Roald Hoffmann, 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

"An electrifying book! McGuire demonstrates how learning strategies can improve learning―and then charges faculty to teach them, complete with the slides for doing so in your class. . . A must read―and must do―for every teacher who struggles with students who don't learn as much as they could or should!"

Tara Gray, Ph.D., Director

The Teaching Academy

"Dr. McGuire's specific strategies serve me as paradigms I can adapt for my literature courses. Many of the specific exercises McGuire uses to illustrate metacognition quickly convinced my students that cognitive functions such as pattern recognition effectively guide the close reading of a text while taking time to overview a text and place it in context helps more advanced students take on the challenges of literary theory. The strategies outlined here take away the mystery, not the magic, of writing about literature."

Helen Whall, Professor of English and Director of Comprehensive Academic Advising

College of the Holy Cross

"Based on solid scientific theory and real classroom case studies, Dr. McGuire's workshop on Metacognition provides the participants with sound pedagogical advice and an impressive array of ready-to-use, result oriented teaching techniques for a 21st century classroom. With a metacognitive approach to teaching and learning, everything comes together."

Irina Ivliyeva, Associate Professor of Russian

Missouri University of Science and Technology

"I believe The Study Cycle handout was particularly useful because it provided a helpful step-by-step approach for students to learn the material in a class more effectively. Moreover, it is a good way to place the accountability for student success where it belongs―on the shoulders of the students (with professors providing guidance and support for their learning)."

Larry Gragg, Curators' Teaching Professor and Chair, Department of History and Political Science

Read, Write, PERFECT

"It is incredibly important to make sure your home schooler has access to quality curricula―regardless of whether you are doing traditional home schooling, unit home schooling, unschooling, or some combination of the above.

However, one area of study that is frequently neglected in home schooling programs is the systematic development of study skills to support independent learning. While many students―and especially those following less traditional home schooling paths―such as unschooling―develop these skills organically as an adjunct to their content explorations, understanding that they have them and why they work is an essential component when it comes to transitioning students to college-level learning.

Teach Students How to Learn and Teach Yourself How to Learn are companion volumes: the second covers the same material as the first, but for a readership of students rather than instructors. Both volumes are extremely effective at providing practical and concrete techniques for improving study habits and learning mindsets. McGuire's insights are based on both rigorous educational research and years of experience as a learning support specialist.

At first glance, Saundra McGuire's books might not seem like an obvious choice for homeschooling parents and students. The books are designed with college undergraduate students and their faculty in mind, and are designed to help students understand the skills that will result in better college performance. However, McGuire's books are invaluable to home schoolers because they provides the whys and hows for the most important homeschooling skill out there: independent learning and thinking."

Jennifer Harrison

Read, Write, PERFECT

"This is one of my favorite books on meta-cognition and it's one that I recommend frequently... This one is canonical." ― You've Got This Podcast (Episode 62) Published On: 2017-09-21Teach Students How to Learn Published On: 2017-08-09 is as thoughtful about itself as it is about the content it presents. McGuire has composed this book to reflect her own response to and engagement with a pressing problem in higher education: namely, that many students, even those who qualify for admission at prestigious institutions, arrive without ever having been taught to learn by anything but rote memorization. Faced with college's demands of skills higher in Bloom's Taxonomy, they find themselves struggling and even failing. Published On: 2016-09-01 Published On: 2016-07-01 Published On: 2016-06-01 Published On: 2016-03-01. Published On: 2015-08-01 Published On: 2015-07-01 Published On: 2015-05-01 Published On: 2015-04-01

"Most students enter university unaware they must become active problem-solvers rather than passive receivers of information. Academics know this implicitly, but like most subject-matter experts, forget that students don't share their knowledge. Challenging teachers to reject their assumption that students arrive at university prepared to learn―and convincing them to teach their students new ways of learning―is the goal of [this book]. provides method and motivation to become more effectively involved in helping your students succeed. " ― Technical Communication Teach Students How to Learn Reflective Teaching (Wabash Center)

"It shouldn't be surprising that a volume intent on teaching students how to learn is just as intent on teaching the reader how to do just that, but it is still refreshing to read a book that lays out its goals, sticks to the promises it makes, and even creates its own study guide based on how much time the reader has to give to the text. Well-structured and clear, Saundra Yancy McGuire's Teach Students How to Learn

With this book McGuire gives teachers the tools they need to move their students past the high school model of retention until regurgitation, helping them instead to internalize a more nuanced, flexible understanding of learning. To convey this understanding, McGuire focuses on student mindset, encouraging educators to bring in everything from neurobiological models to fellow student success stories in order to help learners see that they are not stuck being 'bad' at something - that change is not only possible, but already well within reach.

Most of all, McGuire is a fun writer. Personal and plainspoken, her style makes the pages fly by. (Any worries that this book might drown the reader in jargon should be alleviated by the appearance of the words 'metacognition, schmetacognition'. I would recommend this book in particular to educators working with students from underserved communities, as giving students access to these techniques will help ensure their success far beyond the boundaries of a single classroom." ―

"I just wanted to write you a quick note to talk about how much I enjoyed your book . I work as the Associate Director for Teaching and Learning at the Faculty Center at my university. Every year I get to put on a Summer Teaching Institute for faculty. The theme that came out of much of the work we have been doing about High-Impact Practices and what we want to accomplish at the university centered on life-long learning and nurturing autonomy and agency in students. I wanted to make that the theme of the institute this year and in looking for materials I came across your book. I loved it and it is the book we are going to cover this summer. I think it will provide a wonderful road map for us as we try move past how best to teach information to our students into helping our students become better learners." -- Matthew C. Atherton, Ph.D. ― California State University San Marcos Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation , is a must read for faculty, staff, students, and top administrators. Students are coming to college not knowing what to expect or how to handle the level of preparedness that is expected of them. The strategies in this book are not difficult to implement or to include in the instruction of early core classes or a freshman seminar class. The best or the least prepared students can learn from Dr. McGuire's strategies." ― NCLCA Newsletter

"Dr. McGuire's book, Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate Into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation , is concise, practical, and much less overwhelming than trying to figure out what to do on your own. It is both a consolidation of the research surrounding metacognition, mindset, and motivation and a how-to guide for putting that research into practice. ― Improve with Metacognition do

"For those interested in helping students develop strong metacognitive skills, Dr. Saundra McGuire's book, in college matters more than who they are or which institution they attend. What these underprepared students need most to do is to learn how to learn University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill California State University, Chico

"If you are already convinced - or are at least willing to consider the possibility - that your students could learn more deeply and achieve more success than they are at present, this book is for you. If you are frustrated by students who seem unmotivated and disengaged, this book is for you. If you find it challenging to teach underprepared students, this book is for you. And if you care about educational equity and fairness, this book is for you.

The not-so-familiar good news is that these same students can both survive and thrive in higher education. The message from relevant research is quite clear: What students The Teaching Academy College of the Holy Cross

In this book, Saundra McGuire provides specific, practical, research-based strategies to teach students how to learn, focusing on the three key M's - mindset, motivation, and metacognition.

The book offers a broad range of strategies for teachers and for students, along with a wealth of examples, illustrations, and resources." -- Thomas A. Angelo, Clinical Professor of Educational Innovation & Research, The Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and Director of Educator Development, Eshelman School of Pharmacy ―

"This book is a wonderful resource for college faculty. It provides us with practical, yet powerful learning strategies and metacognition techniques that can be easily incorporated into our courses, and which in turn, will improve student learning. Dr. McGuire shares both research and her personal experiences, as well as her expertise in teaching all kinds of diverse students with tremendous success. This book is a welcome addition for the post secondary teaching and learning field and should be read and utilized by all." -- Kathleen F. Gabriel, Associate Professor, School of Education ― Missouri University of Science and Technology

"Teachers need to learn as much as their students. In a masterly and spirited exposition, spangled with wit and exhortation, rife with pragmatic strategies, Saundra McGuire teaches teachers how to awake in their students the powers dormant in them. Be aware, and you will learn!" -- Roald Hoffmann, 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Published On: 2015-05-01

"An electrifying book! McGuire demonstrates how learning strategies can improve learning―and then charges faculty to teach them, complete with the slides for doing so in your class. . . A must read―and must do―for every teacher who struggles with students who don't learn as much as they could or should!" -- Tara Gray, Ph.D., Director ―

"Dr. McGuire's specific strategies serve me as paradigms I can adapt for my literature courses. Many of the specific exercises McGuire uses to illustrate metacognition quickly convinced my students that cognitive functions such as pattern recognition effectively guide the close reading of a text while taking time to overview a text and place it in context helps more advanced students take on the challenges of literary theory. The strategies outlined here take away the mystery, not the magic, of writing about literature." -- Helen Whall, Professor of English and Director of Comprehensive Academic Advising ― Read, Write, PERFECT

"Based on solid scientific theory and real classroom case studies, Dr. McGuire's workshop on Metacognition provides the participants with sound pedagogical advice and an impressive array of ready-to-use, result oriented teaching techniques for a 21st century classroom. With a metacognitive approach to teaching and learning, everything comes together." -- Irina Ivliyeva, Associate Professor of Russian ―

"I believe The Study Cycle handout was particularly useful because it provided a helpful step-by-step approach for students to learn the material in a class more effectively. Moreover, it is a good way to place the accountability for student success where it belongs―on the shoulders of the students (with professors providing guidance and support for their learning)." -- Larry Gragg, Curators' Teaching Professor and Chair, Department of History and Political Science ―

"It is incredibly important to make sure your home schooler hasaccess to quality curricula―regardless of whether you are doing traditionalhome schooling, unit home schooling, unschooling, or some combination of theabove.

However, one area of study that is frequently neglected in homeschooling programs is the systematic development of study skills to supportindependent learning. While many students―and especially those following lesstraditional home schooling paths―such as unschooling―develop these skillsorganically as an adjunct to their content explorations, understanding thatthey have them and why they work is an essential component when it comes totransitioning students to college-level learning.

Teach Students How to Learn and Teach Yourself How to Learn arecompanion volumes: the second covers the same material as the first, but for areadership of students rather than instructors. Both volumes are extremelyeffective at providing practical and concrete techniques for improving studyhabits and learning mindsets. McGuire's insights are based on both rigorouseducational research and years of experience as a learning support specialist.

At first glance, Saundra McGuire's books might not seem like an obviouschoice for homeschooling parents and students. The books are designed withcollege undergraduate students and their faculty in mind, and are designed tohelp students understand the skills that will result in better collegeperformance. However, McGuire's books are invaluable to home schoolers becausethey provides the whys and hows for the most important homeschooling skill outthere: independent learning and thinking." -- Jennifer Harrison ― Read, Write, PERFECT

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Teach Students How to Learn: 9781620363164: Economics Books @ Amazon.com

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To Read: Multimedia Learning 3rd Edition

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To Read: Multimedia Learning 3rd Edition

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Advances in computer graphic technologies have inspired new efforts to understand the potential of multimedia instruction as a means of promoting human learning. In Multimedia Learning, Third Edition, Richard E. Mayer takes an evidence-based approach to improving education using well-designed multimedia instruction. He reviews 15 principles of multimedia instructional design that are based on more than 200 experimental research studies and grounded in a cognitive theory of how people learn from words and graphics. The result is the latest instalment of what Mayer calls the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, a theory introduced in previous editions of Multimedia Learning and in The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, Second Edition. This edition provides an up-to-date and systematic summary of research studies on multimedia learning, supplemented with complementary evidence from around the globe. It is well-suited to graduate and undergraduate courses in psychology, education, computer science, communication, instructional design, and game design.

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Amazon.com: Multimedia Learning eBook : Mayer, Richard: Kindle Store

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Problem Library | Institute for Transforming University Education

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The problem evokes an exploration of texts, which requires students to explore and discuss the texts within a collaborative framework in an effort to uncover how they are a product of setting and society at a certain point in history yet represent elements which make them valuable in contemporary times.

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Disclaimer

The simplified model presented here is just one of many ways to categorize types of memory. There are other models too, and some of them use slightly different definitions for some of the terms used here.

This model highlights just a few of the key brain regions involved in different memory functions. Since no part of the brain exists in isolation, most types of memory include more areas than the ones listed here. The big idea to take away is that different areas of the brain have different functions.

If you wish to delve more deeply into the types of memory or the brain anatomy involved, we encourage you to explore the references linked at the bottom of the page.

When we learn, our brain takes in information about the world that causes us to change our behavior in some way.

For example, a young baby doesn't understand that fire can hurt them. But thanks to learning, if they touch a candle flame even one time, they will probably not do it again. The information that feeds into the brain-candle, flame, hot, pain-is physically recorded in the connections between cells. And those connections influence our future behavior-don't touch!

As the brain takes in any information and stores it, there are physical changes to the connections between brain cells. And those connections influence our behavior.

Neurons that fire together wire together

The brain is an enormous interconnected network of specialized cells called neurons and supporting cells called glia. To transmit information in the brain, neurons pass signals to one another. This passing of signals can cause physical changes to the connections between cells.

When we learn a skill (like riding a bike) or new information (like multiplication tables), we are building brain connections. The more we use those brain connections, the stronger they get. It's the reason "practice makes perfect."

In the activity above, you can read about how injuries to certain brain areas cause certain memory functions to stop working. But just as important are the connections between them. If two brain areas can no longer communicate, then learning and memory can break down.

Like trails through the wilderness, brain connections get stronger the more they're used

Learning is a process that relies on long-term memory systems in the brain. People who study learning typically divide it into 4 steps: attention, storage, consolidation, and retrieval. These steps dovetail with the Types of Memory described above, and they provide a slightly different framework for thinking about what happens when one or more of these steps go wrong.

Attention - Our sensory systems are constantly bombarded with information, yet most of it fades before we are even aware of it. Attention is like a filter that lets important information into the brain while keeping the irrelevant information out. Without attention, we would remember very little.

Encoding - As sensory information comes in, the brain processes it. Strings of sounds become words, flashes of light and color become images. The brain begins connecting this new information with what it already knows about the world. Some information that is encoded will fade, and some will stick around.

Storage - Long-term storage of information requires new brain connections. The brain has its own way of rehearsing experiences (there's evidence that this is what dreaming is all about), which helps strengthen brain connections. But we can also consciously repeat information or skills to help the brain form strong memories.

Retrieval - Retrieval is the process of accessing stored memories. We use it when we recall a fact or reimagine an experience. But we also use it when we take in new information. It's part of what helps us connect new information to old.

Even when memory systems function normally, memory is imperfect. To learn more about the fallibility of memory, visit The Seven Sins of Memory.

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The simplified model presented here is just one of many ways to categorize types of memory. There are other models too, and some of them use slightly different definitions for some of the terms used here. This model highlights just a few of the key brain regions involved in different memory functions.

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After watching this, your brain will not be the same | Lara Boyd | TEDxVancouver

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After watching this, your brain will not be the same | Lara Boyd | TEDxVancouver

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After watching this, your brain will not be the same | Lara Boyd | TEDxVancouver

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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Attention is how the mind prioritizes. The brain's attention circuits stay busy throughout our waking hours, directing on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis where our limited cognitive resources are going to go, monitoring the information that floods into our senses, and shaping conscious experience. Attention is one of the most mysterious and compelling topics in cognitive science. Years of research on the subject are now paying off handsomely in the form of recent advances in our understanding of how these mechanisms work, on both theoretical and physiological levels. And the more we learn, the more we realize that these findings aren't just important for theory-building -- they offer myriad practical applications that can help people function more effectively across all aspects of life. Teaching and learning is one area where attention research is especially useful for helping us get better at what we do.

In my book Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology, I foreground attention as the starting point for everything designers of college-level online learning experiences should know about human cognition. Without attention, much of what we want students to accomplish -- taking in new information, making new connections, acquiring and practicing new skills -- simply doesn't happen. And thus, gaining students' focus is a necessary first step in any well-designed learning activity, whether online or face-to-face.

But how does this principle play out in a contemporary learning environment littered with tempting distractions -- the smartphones that accompany students to class, social networks that let us reach out to friends around the clock, the sites for games, media, and shopping that beckon every time we open our browsers? It's especially concerning given how overly optimistic people tend to be about their ability to juggle different tasks. As psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simon eloquently explain in The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, human beings are notoriously bad at knowing what we can handle, attention-wise. Essentially, we lie to ourselves about what we notice and what we know, believing that we take in much more that we actually do.

For our students, this adds up to a serious drain on learning. And as learning environments become more complex, it is a drain they can't afford. Consider, for example, some forms of blended learning in which students master foundational knowledge outside of class, usually through online work, then spend class time on focused application and interaction with instructors and classmates. A tightly scheduled and synchronized system like this can work beautifully, but doesn't allow much margin of error for wasted time and scattered focus.

So what can we do about this situation? One strategy is to educate students about the limits of attention and just how much they miss when they choose to multitask. This, however, is easier said than done. Incorporating a learning module on attention is straightforward enough, but what would it take for such a module to be effective? First, it would need to be brief and to the point, reinforcing just a few crucial take-home messages without a great deal of history, theory or other background more appropriate to a full-length course in cognition. At the same time, quality control would be a major concern, especially for the module to be usable by an instructor without academic training in cognitive psychology. Just Googling for materials on attention brings up at least as much pseudoscience as reputable work, and without this solid scientific grounding, a module on the dangers of multitasking could easily devolve into a "Reefer Madness"-style experience, more laughable than persuasive.

Keeping these caveats firmly in mind, I've worked with my instructional designer colleague John Doherty to create a free-standing, one-shot online learning module called Attention Matters that instructors can drop into existing courses as an extra credit or required assignment. Besides being scrupulous about the science, John and I prioritized interactivity and use of the multimedia capabilities of online learning -- enabling us to show students, not just tell them, what distraction can do to performance in different contexts. Too many online learning activities consist essentially of glorified PowerPoint slides, so although there is a certain amount of text within our module, we put most of the emphasis on media, demonstrations, self-assessment and discussion.

As an example, we used a demonstration we called the "Selective Reading Challenge" to show students how attention mechanisms constantly filter incoming information, and also, how little we remember of information we don't attend to. The demonstration consists of a page of text, alternating lines of bold and regular typefaces. Students are instructed to pay attention to only the bold lines, ignoring everything else, then proceed immediately to the next page. In the "to be ignored" text, we hide a few stimuli that may break through to awareness -- a couple of common names (Michael, Emily, Stephen, Christina), that if they belong to you, will probably pop out, as well as a few attention-grabbing emotional terms (911, murder). After completing the "selective reading," students are invited to go back review the entire page of text -- bold and regular -- to see what they missed, and what they (likely) don't remember at all even though it was well within the field of vision.

Other demonstrations illustrate the dramatic slowdown in processing that takes place when we multitask among competing activities. We present an online version of the classic "Stroop effect" to illustrate how distraction -- even from other mental processes going on at the same time -- can make a simple activity slow and inaccurate. The task involves naming the colors of a sequence of multicolored words -- not a difficult task, except when the words are themselves color names. red, green, blue, and so on - that contradict the colors they are printed in. Lastly, we pulled in several video clips from around the Web to drive home the multitasking point. One shows a prank "driving test" in which unsuspecting students were told to text while navigating a practice course, with predictably disastrous results. Another classic clip called "The Amazing Color Changing Card Trick," created by psychologist Richard Wiseman, dramatically illustrates how attending to one part of a scene causes us to miss major developments going on in practically the same location.

These videos, activities and demonstrations form the anchor for brief, impactful student learning activities throughout the module. Students respond to discussion prompts asking them whether the demonstrations worked on them as predicted, and what they may mean for everyday attention. They also complete self-quizzes with feedback that target the different learning outcomes for each part of the module. At the end, they revisit what they have learned in a brief self-reflection and survey on attitudes and beliefs about attention and its importance for learning.

Attention Matters is an exciting project, offering us the opportunity to apply cognitive science in a novel and - we hope - useful way. The project also has a research component, through which we will be gathering data on student attitudes and beliefs about their own attentional capabilities, as well as on the frequency of different multitasking behaviors in their own lives.

There's another important side to Attention Matters, and that has to do with the collaboration between an instructional design expert and a Subject Matter Expert, or SME. Much has been written about the virtues of instructional design experts' pairing up with SMEs, and yet, such collaborations remain fairly rare within higher education. We hope that this project demonstrates the real benefits to be gained - perhaps motivating others to take the plunge.

It's still too early to know what the long-term impacts of Attention Matters are going to be, or to predict exactly what we might discover about student attitudes and behaviors around multitasking. But I do foresee that as seismic change continues to occur in higher education, we will see more educators entering similar new territory - collaboratively creating focused, technologically delivered learning modules that live outside of traditional courses and use learning theory and cognitive science as the basis for design. And in our case, we may be able to add to our arsenal of strategies for getting students to become better stewards of their own attention.

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Essay calls for professors to start teaching students about distraction and attention

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It's time for professors to move beyond complaining about how students are distracted by social media, writes Michelle Miller. Faculty members need to teach about why attention matters.