Discovering the fountain of youth
I participated in the adult fitness class tonight at my kids’ sports training facility. The instructor made us do all kinds of crazy things like pulling ropes and racing against balls. About 1/2 way through the class I was wishing for it to be over! Boy, did I feel middle-age. It’s incredibly frustrating because in my mind I think that I’m in my 20’s but my body was reminding me that I’m not! Yes, I need one of these companies like FutureMed to discover the fountain of youth. Maybe my kids will invent some magic potion one day.
Oh, well. Makes for a good laugh.
Off to prep for tomorrow..
New basic French curriculum
I just purchased this curriculum for learning basic French with the kids. We’ve used a couple of programs in the past including an in-home tutor and Rosetta Stone. This program came highly recommended so hoping we have a good experience with it. My ultimate goal is to immerse us in the French culture for extended stays.
George Lucas’s “Edutopia” and its purpose in a homeschooling environment
Another site to investigate..Not sure what homeschoolers can use from Lucas’s foundation. I actually emailed them tonight to ask such a question as I did not see homeschoolers mentioned anywhere. Still reading through what they’re offering/purposing.
http://www.edutopia.org/mission-vision
Ray Kurzweil-going against the classical method of education?
Ran across this article below as I was reading through an email from “Big Think”. Ray Kurzweil founded Singularity University, a pricey think tank of sorts for graduate students and CEOs who come together to use technology to impact human issues.
I would deduce from what I’ve read that Mr. Kurzweil would go against the classical model of education, a model which I gravitate towards and try to implement at home. The classical model would say that children have to have the mental pegs in place before they can become “critical thinkers”. He argues that advancing technology will provide the database so teaching memorization of facts will become trivial (if I understood the article correctly). I may need to revamp the way I’m thinking in our home studies!
Smart desks for children-SynergyNet
THE “SMARTDESKS” ARE HERE! EDUCATION IS GETTING A MAJOR FACELIFT
In the last couple of years we have witnessed how the new generations are being exposed to technology in a far younger age than ever before. Some people are concerned that this exposure could be detrimental to the way children think.
The impact that technology can have on children depends directly on how it is used. A great example comes from a 3 year old project that involved 400 students from 8-10 years. The study demonstrated that collaborative learning using “smart desks” potentiate the way children understand mathematics.
The multi-touch smartdesks used in the classrooms enabled the children to interact in innovative ways to solve and answer problems. The study which was published in the journal of Learning and Instruction showed how children exposed to this new technology improve in both mathematical flexibility and fluency compared to those using the traditional pencil and paper. This Project is called SynergyNet, which seeks to fully integrate smartdesks, and other furnitures that will be networked and linked to a main smartboard.
Professor Steve Higgins said: “Technology like this has enormous potential for teaching as it can help the teacher to manage and to orchestrate the learning of individuals and groups of learners to ensure they are both challenged and supported so that they can learn effectively.”
Full Article at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959475212000850
You will need full access to this pdf (send me a tweet if you need more information)
An summary free Review Available at
http://phys.org/news/2012-11-star-trek-classroom-school-desks.html
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-11/23/interactive-school-desks
Ivy League Homeschooling 