Friday, November 21, 2014

Finland's Educational System


1. School Starts Later

Children in Finland don’t begin school until age seven. That isn’t to say they aren’t being educated earlier in life. Finland heavily subsidizes daycare for children, and 97 percent of Finnish children attend preschool, which starts at age five, and emphasizes playing and socializing.

2. More Recess

In the United States, our imaginative learners get little playtime, averaging 27 minutes of recess a day. Finnish children get 75 minutes of recess a day, receiving a 15-minute break after every lesson. Outdoor physical activity is highly encouraged and some lessons are taught outside—even in winter.

3. No Testing

There are few, if any, mandatory tests in Finland until a single exam at the end of high school. There’s also little homework. Why you ask? Finnish school principal and former teacher Kari Louhivuori told Smithsonian “It’s nonsense. We know much more about the children than these tests can tell us.”

4. Extra Teachers for Struggling Students

The average class size in Finland is 20 students. There is no tracking or separation of students based on ability. They are all taught in the same class. To ensure that children with learning or behavior disabilities, or immigrants struggling to learn Finnish, don’t fall behind, schools hire teaching aides who undergo an extra year of education to supplement teachers’ efforts.

5. More Languages

Finnish language education begins on the first day of school. By age nine, students begin Swedish (Finland’s second official language), and at 11, they start learning a third language, usually English. Many students even take on a fourth language around age 13. Students are tested on their first two languages in a matriculation exam for university placement.

6. Instruction Guidelines, Not Prescriptions

Teachers are given guidelines for what they have to teach, but they are not given prescriptions for how to teach it. This allows the highly trained teachers to develop a curriculum geared toward teaching their unique group of students. For instance, Timo Heikkinen, principal of the Kallahti school, implemented a new environmental science program that revolves around the forest next to the school.

7. Less Teaching

A teacher in Finland might only teach for four hours of the school day, spending at least two hours on building curriculums and assessing student progress. (This is compared to at least five hours of instruction in a U.S. school.) With fewer teaching hours, students are not overwhelmed with class, and teachers are not struggling to prepare.

8. Professional Teachers

You need more than a bachelor’s degree and a teacher certification in Finland—you must have a master’s degree. Teachers can get their master’s degree at one of eight national colleges, the cost of which is completely subsidized by the government. Competition for these spots is fierce: Applicants must be in the top 10 percent of their college classes. In 2010 6,600 applicants applied for 600 slots.

9. Teachers Stick with Students

In the United States, students usually get a new teacher every year. In Finland, a teacher likely sticks with the same group of students for five years. By doing this not only do teachers have a better chance to form relationships with their students, but they also have a better opportunity to get to know students as learners.

10. 46% Attend Vocational School

At the age of 16, students can decide if they want to attend the Finnish equivalent of high school to prepare them for university or enter vocational training. Students who attend vocational school can attend a university provided they score high enough on the matriculation exam.


from mathcloud

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Authentic Learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry


Pahomov outlines a framework for learning structured around five core values: inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. 
For each value, she presents:
A detailed description of how the value can transform classroom practice and how a "digital connection" can enhance its application.
A step-by-step outline for how to implement the value, with examples from teachers in all subject areas.
Solutions to possible challenges and roadblocks that teachers may experience.
Suggestions for how to expand the value beyond the classroom to schoolwide practice.
Anecdotes from students, offering their perspectives on how they experienced the value in the classroom and after graduation.
The framework is a guide, not a prescription, and middle and high school teachers—individually or as a team—can use it to structure whatever content and skills their current school or district requires. 


Thursday, November 13, 2014

RAT: The new SAMR model

R :: replacement | redundant | retrograde
A :: augmented | average | acceptable
T :: transformed | terrific | tremendous

SAMR is almost impossible to pronounce, in English anyway, and while it's simpler than most, it can be simpler, without, I believe, losing anything that is crucial. I don't need to wrestle with the distinction between Augmentation and Modification, seriously—is it that important? What I do see on a really bad day, is tech that is not just replacement, but worse; allow me to reiterate, people using computers in ways that are actually WORSE than not using tech at all—like the person who insists on printing out name labels for each kid, I mean, really? Just get a pen and a write the name on a sticker. I'll tell you what level of integration that is— Retrograde.

Technology as Transformation

The Technology as Transformation Category involves technology use that transforms the instructional method, the students' learning processes, and/or the actual subject matter.
  1. The actual mental work is changed or expanded 
  2. The number of variables involved in the mental processes are expanded
  3. The tool changes the organisation in which it had been used 
  4. New players become involved with the tool's use (or expanded use of the tool). 
  5. New opportunities for different forms and types of learning through problem solving, unavailable in traditional approaches, are developed.

... it [transformative use of ICTs] improves the process of bringing thought into communicable expressions in such significant ways that, once the tool is understood and used regularly, the user feels wanting if it is not available because it has opened up new possibilities of thought and action without which one comes to feel at a disadvantage. It's become an indispensable instrument of mentality, and not merely a tool. (Pea, 1985, p 175)



Many of the innovations, particularly those that provide online content and learning materials, use basic pedagogy – most often in the form of introducing concepts by video instruction and following up with a series of progression exercises and tests. Other digital innovations are simply tools that allow teachers to do the same age-old practices but in a digital format. Examples include blog entries instead of written journals and worksheets in online form. While these innovations may be an incremental improvement such that there is less cost, minor classroom efficiency and general modernisation, they do not, by themselves, change the pedagogical practice of the teachers or the schools. (Fullan M & Donnelly K, 2013, p25)

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Over 200 Educational Resources for Kids


This collection provides a list of free educational resources for K-12 students (kindergarten through high school students) and their parents and teachers. It features free video lessons/tutorials; free mobile apps; free audiobooks, ebooks and textbooks; quality YouTube channels; free foreign language lessons; test prep materials; and free web resources in academic subjects like literature, history, science and computing. This newly-released list is a work in progress.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Scratch Jr. App - Teach Coding



There are tons of wonderful coding apps and here is another you’ll want to check if you work with younger students.  ScratchJr is designed for 5-7 year old children and combines foundational programming skills with storytelling.  It is a colorful, kid-friendly app that sets the stage for more complex computer science skills.  You may already be familiar with MIT’s Scratch programming language and now younger students can join in on the fun straight from their iPad. from classtechtips

Check out this totally free app today!

Top Language Learning Apps 2014