Cultural Whiplash

Slaying the Learning Gap and Effects of Socio-Economic Status in American Education Corbin Campbell 2013 (from research conducted Oct. 2011)   The learning gap has infiltrated the minds of American educators and parents, making everyone wonder why there’s a gap at all, and what it means. I address this issue in a previous post. In this article, I suggest some possible solutions as indicated by research I’ve reviewed. It’s entirely possible that conflicting research exists, as well. There is a noteworthy plethora of learning initiatives and research innovations being tested to better understand the process of learning. Such a wide range of approaches is not likely to occur in many countries in the world, and is a welcome perspective for developing curricular and educational policy. Perhaps someday this approach will arrive at a ‘best for every student’ solution (perhaps a soon-to-be outdated mode of thinking is that what works for students in one place doesn’t wo...

The Learning Gap: Understanding It Dear Parents, Educators, Curricular Writers, and Educational Policy Makers, In the United States, there is something known as The Learning Gap. It occurs in elementary school, when learning is supposed to proceed without interruption, and is terribly distressing in educational circles (as well as to children experiencing the gap from beneath it). There are two important things to note about this gap. The first thing to note is that it has been documented and exists. The second thing to note is that it is misunderstood. The learning gap that does exist may vary somewhat from state to state. However, it is helpful to think of this gap as existing due to a fundamental flaw in curriculum and application of curricular theory. Curricular theory must always take cognitive development into account when curriculum is developed. Curriculum that ignores cognitive development can be counter-productive. The current problem with the learning gap (as I ...

https://www.createspace.com/3765903 This fantastic collection of papers explores the idea of a new paradigm for EFL/ESL using technology as the vehicle. Highly recommended for EFL/ESL teachers, chairpeople of English departments, educators, English curriculum writers, English learning theorists and linguists, and anyone else interested in education using technology.

A BROAD TO NARROW PERSPECTIVE ON INFORMATION LITERACY AND HOW IT APPLIES IN EDUCATION Consisting of the following sections: [Information Literacy Defined Broadly; Socio-Cultural Dimension of Information Literacy; An Academic Information Literacy; Information Literacy Integrated with UDL Curricula; Information Literacy Degree of Implementation Based on Grade Level; Origin and Use of the Term: Information Literacy; An Educational Definition of Information Literacy; Addressing 21st century literacies and Information Literacy used in Education; Information Literacy as Envisioned in a Multicultural UDL Classroom; Information Literacy in the First Grade; In Conclusion; References] INFORMATION LITERACY DEFINED BROADLY Information Literacy is difficult to define. While it is possible to rely on a single definition of Information Literacy a person must be careful which definition they use. Most definitions that are available are currently slanted toward one or another group’s agenda,...

I am not very familiar with the Multiple Intelligences, but I have encountered them in various ways over the years. The main way was through tests designed to indicate a career path. These kind of tests are great for indicating jobs that you might like. Willingham has truly opened my eyes in a number of regards. The biggest eye-opener for me, which makes perfect sense, is that there is no evidence that applying modalities when teaching individuals based on their professed preference has any benefits. I think the most important problem with modality approaches is the assumption that modality can be applied successfully based on the individual without regard to what is being taught. Teaching someone with a visual preference using a visual modality will not bear more fruit than the usual teaching techniques. Another problem is that modality approaches assume that children learn best in only one way, and that we have to specialize instruction for each individual student. Willingham...

I have always been convinced that there is a learning style for each of the senses. One can learn by touch, smell, taste, sound, and vision. If we want to take the 5 basic senses and expand them to include the additional senses that have been added by research over the years, this statement still holds. Academically, people learn primarily by sound and vision. The typical elementary school system is set up so that the bulk of learning is done by seeing, hearing, and doing. In high school, we lose a lot of the doing, and teaching leans more heavily on seeing and hearing. In trade schools, the emphasis is on doing. In culinary schools I think all five senses are used. Some people learn better using a particular sense than others. Some people learn better from auditory lessons, some learn better by visual demonstration, and some learn better by other senses. I think this way because in helping others to learn and in my own learning, I've had to apply the use of the senses, and f...