ICT teachers and brothers,
Matt Britland and
Mike Britland, discuss the new computing curriculum and debate whether it's balanced enough to prepare students for the workplace
Wednesday 18 February 2015
Tuesday 17 February 2015
Saturday 14 February 2015
Friday 13 February 2015
Wednesday 11 February 2015
ICT Education
Information
and Communications Technologies is becoming the global
standard term for all computer, software and communications
technology related fields. From a big picture perspective,
which is important in developing policies or educational
systems, it is useful to consider as one thing all of the
closely interrelated, rapidly developing and converging fields
related to computers, software, communications technologies
and associated management practices. In the U.S., ICT and its various sub-fields are called many different things, ICT educational departments have many different names and focuses, and there are important differences in ways ICT is taught, and in ways ICT degrees and certifications are packaged.
The Mid-Pacific ICT Center is primarily focused on ICT education in community colleges, but it is also engaged with the ways ICT is taught and presented to students in K-12 schools that feed students into community colleges and in 4-year colleges and universities where community colleges students go to continue their educational careers. MPICT endeavors to demystify often confusing ICT educational and career issues and to harmonize many ICT educational efforts and communications in its region.
Monday 9 February 2015
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Course for education leaders
Saturday 7 February 2015
10 minutes with a head of ICT: is it possible to future proof the curriculum?
10 minutes with a head of ICT: is it possible to future proof the curriculum?
How has the teaching of ICT changed in the past eight years?
When I first started teaching ICT, it was based on using applications and these are skills that are still important now. I remember teaching students how to create video games some four years ago. With the new curriculum, things are going less towards using computers and more learning how they work. This includes programming, networks, algorithms and computer hardware among others. We have gone from one extreme to the other and have completely missed a balanced approach which would be better for our students and would have gone some way to future proof the subjectIs there anyway we could future proof the curriculum?
It will never be possible to completely future proof the curriculum, but things could be improved. I look at the curriculum and it is like taking a step into the past. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as some of the new programme of study, such as coding, is important for the future of technology and software. Future proofing should mean ensuring that our students are able to walk into the workplace when they leave school and have the practical and creative skills, as well as some theoretical skills. This will prepare them for a variety of workplaces.How do schools go about the process of trying to future proof the curriculum?
There should be some guidelines for schools on what digital skills students should be taught across the curriculum, these guidelines could be updated every year. This would help fill some gaps. The problem at the moment is that some schools don't always have someone to advise them how to implement digital skills across the school. Things are moving so quickly schools need someone with their ear to the ground.How do you think teachers are preparing for the change and are they ready for it?
Some teachers are very excited about it and are busy developing their existing skills and subject knowledge. There are lots of conferences and training courses going on at the moment and I know from experience that these are very popular. Unfortunately, some teachers are burying their heads in the sand and pretending the change isn't happening. They have decided they are not happy with the changes and not co-operating. Some schools are not giving teachers the opportunity to get out of the classroom and attend training sessions, leaving many teachers disheartened. I know of a number of schools who have done away with computing in year 7 and 8, and just run GCSEs in year 9 and above. This is not good, in my opinion.Is it understandable that schools take this approach if there is a lack of qualified teachers out there to deliver it effectively?
Perhaps, but it is their job to make sure that their teachers can deliver a subject effectively. It is their responsibility to send their teachers on courses or get people into their schools to help retrain members of staff. Without computing in years 7 and 8, how can we expect students to take it at GCSE? Will they even know what computing is?How will schools go about delivering digital literacy now that there will be no specific subject that will deliver it?
The new curriculum contains a minimum of what schools are expected to teach. If there is time in the curriculum, digital literacy can be taught during computing lessons. However, there are a lot of schools who only give one lesson a week or less to computing ICT, this is barely enough time to teach the curriculum as it is. The other alternative is to teach it across the curriculum, which should be happening anyway. Each school needs to have a member of senior management to ensure that this takes place.Is there much difference between state and independent schools in relation to ICT provision and facilities?
I think it will very much depend on the school. The last school I worked at had five state-of-the-art computer suites, equipped with new iMacs and wireless projectors and that was a state comprehensive. I have been to independent schools who have not been equipped with the latest technology. It really does depend. Money is tight for many schools and it will depend on who is charge of the schools digital strategy.How can schools marry the advances in technology with decreasing budgets?
Schools need to do their research. They have access to so many great websites that can be used to create work on and many are free, such as Google Apps for Education. If you take the virtual learning environments you don't need to spend a fortune on them, sites such as Edmodo can easily replace more established and expensive ones. If you look at hardware, this doesn't have to be expensive either. You can pick up a Raspberry Pi for next to nothing (£24) and budget Android devices are also worth getting hold of. The key is ensuring that you know what you are going to do with them – do your research, read blogs and get yourself on Twitter.Wednesday 4 February 2015
Effective Discipline Techniques for 4-Year-Old Children
4 year olds are interesting little characters. Although they can be
at many different developmental levels, many are showing an improved
ability to follow the rules. They should have a better understanding of negative consequences.
Disciplining
4 year old can be a little tricky. They want you to know that they
aren’t babies anymore but they certainly aren’t in the same league as
the big kids. Focus on helping them increase their auto
no my while also showin
Disciplining
4 year old can be a little tricky. They want you to know that they
aren’t babies anymore but they certainly aren’t in the same league as
the big kids. Focus on helping them increase their autoDiscipline Techniques
Of course the best way to deal with misbehavior is to prevent it. Stay a step ahead of your child and be mindful of situations that are likely to be difficult. Establish a daily routine so your child knows what is expected of him throughout the day. No matter which of the 5 types of discipline you prefer to use with your child, there are some specific discipline techniques that tend to work with 4-year-old kids.no my while also showin
Monday 2 February 2015
The future of technology in education
Future students will learn easily and quickly because of modern technologies
for education which are being developed for the future. The main goal
is to create an educational environment which encourages students to
read more and learn from anywhere in the world. So these future
technologies are being created in mind that they have to be user
friendly and also affordable to any student or any school . Teachers
will use these future educational technologies
to tailor lessons basing on students interests. Forget about the
classroom where you’re taught what you do not like, in the future,
students will learn only what they like most and this will boost
innovation amongst students and teachers.
Educational leaders and ministries have to notice that the rules and curriculum of education will change in the future, so they have to be ready for these changes and they have to create an infrastructure which will accommodate these changes in education. For example, the introduction of E-Mobile learning has and will make education more mobile. Mobile phones are portable and now days we have smart phones which can access internet and they also have big storage hardware which can be used to store electronic books and notes for students. So long distance learners can easily use their smart mobile phones to attend a lesson in Harvard University or any other academic institution; they can also use the same device to download course units and books for further reading about a specific subject.
Educational leaders and ministries have to notice that the rules and curriculum of education will change in the future, so they have to be ready for these changes and they have to create an infrastructure which will accommodate these changes in education. For example, the introduction of E-Mobile learning has and will make education more mobile. Mobile phones are portable and now days we have smart phones which can access internet and they also have big storage hardware which can be used to store electronic books and notes for students. So long distance learners can easily use their smart mobile phones to attend a lesson in Harvard University or any other academic institution; they can also use the same device to download course units and books for further reading about a specific subject.
Saturday 31 January 2015
Preschool Music Activities
Preschool Music Activities, Kids Music and Early Learning Programs.
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Wednesday 28 January 2015
Children,s Rights Education
The 3 Pedagogical Pillars
In Children's Rights Education, the 3-Period Lesson is applied in the following way:
Period 1 - Identification of Rights (These are my rights...):
This is the concrete part of the curriculum where the child first identifies the rights entitled to him or her in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The color associated with Period 1 is blue.
Period 2 - Analysis of Rights (These rights I share with all children...):
The second period is the time to analyze the Convention's rights identified by the child in Period 1. In this period, the child analyzes the value of the rights in the Convention to self and others. The color associated with Period 2 is red.
Period 3 - Application of Rights (This is how I stand with others for our rights...)
The third period is the point where the child acts to uphold the Convention's rights for all children. In doing so, the goal of Children's Rights Education is accomplished because a rights respecting culture is created that is reference to the Convention. The color associated with this period is yellow.
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Rights of the Child
The meaning of the child and the rights of the children
“Humanity has to do its best for the child.” Declaration of Geneva.Definition of the child
This notion evolved a lot through centuries and cultures to finally designate human being from birth until adulthood. But this conception of the child was wide and the age of the majority varied from a culture to an another.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 defines more precisely the term “child”:
The idea, through this definition and all the texts concerning child welfare, is that the child is a human being with rights and dignity.“[…] a child is any human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”
What
characterizes the child, it is his youth and vulnerability. Indeed, the
child is growing, a future adult, who has no means to protect himself.So, the child has to be the object of a particular interest and a specific protection. In this perspective, texts proclaiming the protection of the child and his rights were adopted.
Definition of the rights of the child
The recognition of the rights of the children
Children’s rights were recognized after the 1st World war, with the adoption of the Declaration of Geneva, in 1924. The process of recognition of children’s rights continued thanks to the UN, with the adoption of the Declaration of children’s rights in 1959.The recognition of the child’s interest and his rights becomes real on 20 November 1989 with the adoption of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child which is the first international legally binding text recognizing all the fundamental rights of the child.
Children right Education
Direct Aim
To develop to one's potential inclusive of spirituality, talents and abilities.
To gain self respect resulting in the ability to respect others.
To gain self respect resulting in the ability to respect others.
Indirect Aim
1. To appreciate that acquiring an education is to help refine one's abilities to serve one's community.
2. To value the role of education in the actualization of democracy.
3. To uphold the rights and responsibilities of the community.
2. To value the role of education in the actualization of democracy.
3. To uphold the rights and responsibilities of the community.
Saturday 24 January 2015
childrens Rights Education Curriculum
Children's Rights Education Curriculum
Critical Thinkers Problem Solvers Innovators Self-Regulators Collaborators
The Children's Rights Education Curriculum consists of 15 units, each focusing on one of the general Convention rights. The purpose of this curriculum is to fulfill the obligation of dissemination that is outlined in Article 42 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike.
- The Curriculum is organized into 3 major categories:
- Provisions Rights: Includes the Survival Units - Introduction, Water, Food, Home, and Health, and the Development Units - Education and Play;
- Protection Rights: Includes Units - Love and Care, Work, Special Needs, and Peace;
- Participation Rights: Includes Units - Identity, Expression, Life, and Take Action.
Each Sub-Unit is activated by clicking on one of the 9 boxes on the main unit page. Once on the sub-unit page, you will find:
|
Wednesday 21 January 2015
Early Childhood Education - Preparation Of Teachers, International Context - OVERVIEW - Children, Kindergarten, Care
OVERVIEW
Early childhood education is concerned with the learning experiences of children below the age when compulsory schooling begins (usually age five or six). In terms of organized educational programs, it generally encompasses kindergartens (enrolling mainly five-year-olds) and prekindergartens and preschools aimed at children starting at about age three.Mapping American Early Education
Kindergarten, while not compulsory in most states, became over the course of the twentieth century largely the responsibility of public schools. In the process it became accessible and free to most children, and it came to be administered as part of elementary education. By contrast, preschool at the beginning of the twenty-first century is part of a piecemeal and haphazard "nonsystem" of early care and education in which a wide range of providers offer varying mixtures of structured learning and child care to interested parents who either can afford to enroll their children or receive public subsidies, most of which are targeted to lower income families.Kindergarten. Margarethe Schurz founded the first American kindergarten in her home in 1855; a century later kindergarten education was available as part of public school systems to just over half of children of kindergarten age. By October 2000, 73 percent of five-year-olds were enrolled in kindergarten, along with 4 percent of three- and four-year-olds and 14 percent of six-year-olds. The overwhelming majority of kindergartners (83%) attended public schools–just 17 percent attended private kindergartens.
Although most children attend public kindergarten, attendance is not compulsory in most states and not all states require that public schools offer kindergarten. In 2001, eleven states did not require that districts offer kindergarten, though districts could choose to do so. Only eight states set their compulsory school age at five and required children to attend kindergarten. Several others mandated kindergarten attendance and either permitted parents to hold their children out of kindergarten until the children were six years old or allowed the children to skip kindergarten by demonstrating "readiness" for first grade.
State and district policies about the length of the kindergarten day vary enormously, and the absence of data on and common definitions of "full-day" and "part-day" complicate the task of portraying the availability of different kindergarten offerings. A study of a national sample of about 22,000 kindergartners enrolled in 1998 indicated that 55 percent attended full-day programs and 45 percent attended half-day programs. Some states required districts to offer full-day kindergarten but not necessarily to the exclusion of half-day offerings.
States were slower to assist districts with the funding of kindergarten than with elementary and secondary education, but in 2001 all provided some assistance with kindergarten costs of public schools. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia financed full-day kindergarten for all districts or schools or those that chose to provide it. The remaining twenty-five states financed half-day programs or provided partial funds for kindergarten.
Preschool. Characterizing the early education experiences of three-to five-year-olds who have not yet entered kindergarten is made difficult by the absence of clear rules defining the offerings of the myriad providers who serve these children in center-based settings (as distinct from services provided to children by relatives or nonrelatives in home-based settings). What is known is that by the late twentieth century, it had become the norm for these children to spend at least part of a week in a center-based program. In 1999, 59 percent of these prekindergartenage children were enrolled in settings variously labeled day care, nursery school, prekindergarten, preschool, and Head Start. The older the child, the more likely she was to be enrolled in such a program: 46 percent of three-year-olds were so enrolled, 69 percent of four-year-olds, and 76 percent of five-year-olds.
Center providers operate under a variety of auspices. Nonprofit groups, including religious organizations, operate some of the centers. Some centers are profit-making businesses, in the form of both single centers and large corporate chains. In some places the public school system offers prekindergarten classes, often targeted to children who are at risk of not being ready to succeed in school because of poverty, limited ability to speak English, disabilities, or other factors.
It is not known precisely how many centers serve children age three and over who have not yet entered kindergarten, but in 2001 there were well over 100,000 licensed child-care centers. States differ, however, in the extent to which they include or exclude educationally oriented preschool programs in their child-care licensing requirements. Some states, for example, exclude prekindergartens operated by public schools, which may be regulated by different agencies. Some states exclude religiously affiliated centers from licensing requirements.
Monday 19 January 2015
Goals of elementary schools
Goals of Elementary Schools
Elementary schools in the United States, as in other countries, have the goals of providing children with fundamental academic skills, basic knowledge, and socialization strategies. They are key institutions in instilling a sense of national identity and citizenship in children.In the United States, elementary schools prepare children to use language by teaching reading, writing, comprehension, and computation. Elementary schools worldwide devote considerable time and resources to teaching reading, decoding, and comprehending the written and spoken word. The stories and narratives children learn to read are key elements in political and cultural socialization, the forming of civic character, and the shaping of civility and behavior. Throughout the history of American education, the materials used to teach reading exemplified the nation's dominant values. For example, the New England Primer, used in colonial schools, stressed Puritanism's religious and ethical values. Noah Webster's spelling books and readers emphasized American national identity and patriotism. The McGuffey Readers, widely used in late nineteenth century schools, portrayed boys and girls who always told the truth, who worked diligently, and who honored their fathers and mothers and their country. McGuffey values were reinforced by the American flag, which hung at the front of elementary classrooms, flanked by portraits of Presidents Washington and Lincoln. The "Dick and Jane" readers of the 1930s and 1940s depicted the lifestyle and behaviors of the dominant white middle class. Contemporary reading books and materials portray a much more multicultural view of life and society.
The language of instruction in elementary or primary schools is often highly controversial in many countries, especially in multilingual ones. The ability to use the "official" language provides access to secondary and higher education and entry into professions. In such multilanguage nations as India, Canada, and Belgium, protracted controversies have occurred over which language should be the official one. In the United States, the dominant language of instruction in public schools has been English. The children of non-English-speaking immigrants were assimilated into American culture by the imposition of English through the elementary school curriculum. The later entry of bilingual education in the United States was an often controversial educational development, and remains so in the early twenty-first century.
Along with the development of language competencies, elementary education prepares children in the fundamental mathematical skills–in counting, using number systems, measuring, and performing the basic operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Further, the foundations of science, social science, health, art, music, and physical education are also taught.
Curriculum and Organization
In the United States at the primary level, the first level of organization, the curriculum is highly generalized into broad areas such as language arts or life sciences. It gradually becomes more specialized at the intermediate and upper grade levels into more specific subjects. Because of the generality of the elementary curriculum, especially at the primary and intermediate levels, there is likely to be a greater emphasis on methods and styles of teaching in elementary schools in the United States than in primary schools in other countries. For example, U.S. teachers, in their professional preparation and classroom practices, are more likely to emphasize the process of learning, inquiry skills, and social participation than teachers in other countries. Instruction in many other countries tends to be more oriented to specific skills and subjects. While elementary or primary classrooms in the United States and in other countries are likely to be self-contained, the American teacher generally has more autonomy and is not concerned with visitations by outside government inspectors.The typical U.S. elementary school curriculum is organized around broad fields such as language arts, social studies, mathematics, and the sciences. The essential strategy in this approach is to integrate and correlate rather than departmentalize areas of knowledge. Curricular departmentalization often begins earlier in some other countries such as Japan, China, and India than in the United States.
The language arts, a crucial curricular area, includes reading, handwriting, spelling, listening, and speaking. It includes the reading and discussing of stories, biographies, and other forms of children's literature. Here, the U.S. emphasis on reading and writing is replicated in other countries. The methods of teaching language, however, vary. In the United States, the teaching of reading is often controversial. Some teachers and school districts prefer phonics; others use the whole language approach or a combination of several methods such as phonics and guided oral reading.
Social studies, as a component of the U.S. elementary curriculum, represents a fusion and integration of selected elements of history, geography, economics, sociology, and anthropology. It often uses a gradual, step-by-step method of leading children from their immediate home, family, and neighborhood to the larger social and political world. While the U.S. approach to social education has been subject to frequent redefinition and reformulation, its defenders argue that the integration of elements of the various social sciences is a more appropriate way to introduce children to society than a strictly disciplinary approach. Critics, some of them educators from other countries, argue that American students lack the structured knowledge of place that comes from the systematic teaching of geography as a separate discipline or the sense of chronology that comes from the study of history.
Like social studies, science in the elementary curriculum consists of the teaching of selected and integrated concepts and materials from the various natural and physical sciences rather than a focus on the specific sciences. Frequently, science teaching will stress the life and earth sciences by way of field trips, demonstrations, and hands-on experiments. Critics contend that the elementary science curriculum in the United States is too unstructured and does not provide an adequate foundational base of knowledge. Defenders contend, however, that it is more important for students to develop a sense of science as a process and mode of inquiry than to amass scientific facts.
The main part of the elementary curriculum is completed by mathematics, with an emphasis on basic computational skills–addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, measuring, and graphing. The curriculum also includes health concepts and practices, games, safety, music, art, and physical education and fitness, which involves the development of motor skills.
As children in the United States progress from the primary to the intermediate grades, the emphasis on reading continues but changes from stories to more informational narratives. The goal is to develop students' interpretive skills as well as to continue to polish the basic decoding skills related to mechanics and comprehension that were stressed in the primary grades. The broad fields of the curriculum–social studies, mathematics, and science–are pursued but now become more disciplinary.
Depending on the particular organizational pattern being followed, the upper grades–six, seven, and eight–offer a more specialized and differentiated curriculum. Subject matters such as English, literature, social studies, history, natural and physical sciences, and mathematics are taught in a more differentiated way. In addition to the more conventional academic subjects, areas such as vocational, industrial, home arts, career, sex, and drug abuse prevention education appear, especially in the upper grades and in junior high and middle schools.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, curriculum is being shaped by an emphasis on subject-matter competencies in English, mathematics, and basic sciences. Computer literacy, computerassisted instruction, and other technologies in school programs reflect the nation's transition to a high-tech information society.
The Standards Movement
The standards movement, which gained momentum in the late 1990s, has required more standardized testing in U.S. elementary education. Standards advocates argue that academic achievement can be best assessed by using standardized tests to determine whether students are performing at prescribed levels in key areas such as reading and mathematics. Most of the states have established standards and require testing in these areas. Strongly endorsed by U.S. President George W. Bush, the standards approach was infused into the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The act requires that, in order to receive Title I funds, states and school districts must develop and conduct annual assessments in reading and mathematics in grades three through eight. Opponents of the standards movement argue that it is based on a narrow definition of education that encourages teachers to teach for the test rather than for the development of the whole child.Saturday 17 January 2015
History Of Information Technology
Introduction
Information technology has been around for a long, long time. Basically as long as people have been around, information technology has been around because there were always ways of communicating through technology available at that point in time. There are 4 main ages that divide up the history of information technology. Only the latest age (electronic) and some of the electromechanical age really affects us today, but it is important to learn about how we got to the point we are at with technology today.Ages
Premechanical
The premechanical age is the earliest age of information technology. It can be defined as the time between 3000B.C. and 1450A.D. We are talking about a long time ago. When humans first started communicating they would try to use language or simple picture drawings known as petroglyths which were usually carved in rock. Early alphabets were developed such as the Phoenician alphabet.
Petroglyph
Now that people were writing a lot of information down they needed ways to keep it all in permanent storage. This is where the first books and libraries are developed. You’ve probably heard of Egyptian scrolls which were popular ways of writing down information to save. Some groups of people were actually binding paper together into a book-like form.
Also during this period were the first numbering systems. Around 100A.D. was when the first 1-9 system was created by people from India. However, it wasn’t until 875A.D. (775 years later) that the number 0 was invented. And yes now that numbers were created, people wanted stuff to do with them so they created calculators. A calculator was the very first sign of an information processor. The popular model of that time was the abacus.
Mechanical
The mechanical age is when we first start to see connections between our current technology and its ancestors. The mechanical age can be defined as the time between 1450 and 1840. A lot of new technologies are developed in this era as there is a large explosion in interest with this area. Technologies like the slide rule (an analog computer used for multiplying and dividing) were invented. Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline which was a very popular mechanical computer. Charles Babbage developed the difference engine which tabulated polynomial equations using the method of finite differences.Elementary Education
The movement to common or public schools. In the 1830s and
1840s, several Western nations began to develop national elementary or
primary school systems that were intended to augment or replace the
existing church-controlled institutions. In France, Francois Guizot, the
Minister of Education in the regime of Louis Philippe, promoted
national elementary schools. In the United States, with its historic
tradition of local and state control, the movement to establish public
elementary schools was not national but carried on in the various
states.
Before public elementary schools were established, attempts were made in the United States to establish various kinds of philanthropic elementary schools, such as the Sunday and monitorial schools. The United Kingdom, a leading industrial nation, also experimented with these approaches to primary education. The Sunday school, developed by Robert Raikes, an English religious leader, sought to provide children with basic literacy and religious instruction on the one day that factories were closed. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, Sunday schools were established in the larger cities.
Monitorialism, also known as mutual instruction, was a popular method of elementary education in the early nineteenth century in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries. Two rival English educators, Andrew Bell, an Anglican churchman, and Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker teacher, promoted monitorialism independently. The monitorial method relied heavily on monitors–more advanced pupils, trained by a master teacher–to teach younger children. Monitors aided teachers in conducting classes, taking attendance, and maintaining order. In using this method, the master teacher trained a selected group of older students as monitors in a particular skill, such as adding single-digit numbers or reading simple words. These monitors then taught that particular skill to subgroups of less advanced pupils. Since the monitorial method promised to teach large numbers of pupils basic literacy and numeracy skills, it gained the support of those who wanted to provide basic elementary education at limited costs.
Initially, monitorial schools were popular in the larger American cities such as New York and Philadelphia, where they were typically supported by private philanthropists and occasionally received some public funds. In the early 1840s monitorial schooling experienced a rapid decline and virtually disappeared. By the time that the New York Free School Society, which had operated monitorial schools, turned them over to the public school system in 1853, more than 600,000 children had attended its schools.
The common school. The common school movement refers to the establishment of state elementary school systems in the first half of the nineteenth century. The term common meant that these state-supported public elementary schools, exalted as the school that "educated the children of all the people," were open to children of all socioeconomic classes and ethnic and racial groups. Nevertheless, many children, particularly enslaved African Americans, did not attend.
Not a selective academic institution, the common school sought to develop the literacy and numeracy needed in everyday life and work. Its basic curriculum stressed reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, history, and geography. Emphasizing American patriotism and Christian piety, it was regarded as the educational agency that would assimilate and Americanize the children of immigrants.
The common school movement in the United States paralleled some trends taking place in western Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. In the 1830s the British parliament, though not creating a state school system, began to provide grants to educational societies for primary schooling. In France, under Guizot, a primary school system, too, was established during the regime of Louis Philippe. These transnational trends, found in Europe and America, indicated that governments were beginning to take the responsibility for providing some kind of elementary schooling. Unlike in France, which was beginning to create a highly centralized national educational system, U.S. public schools were decentralized. The U.S. Constitution's Tenth Amendment reserved education to each state. The states, in turn, delegated considerable responsibility for providing and maintaining schools to local districts. Even within a particular state, especially on the frontier where many small school districts were created, resources available for schooling varied considerably from district to district.
The common school movement scored its initial successes in New England, particularly in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Massachusetts, in 1826, required every town to elect a school committee to provide and set policy for the local schools. The Massachusetts legislature established the first state board of education in 1837. It named Horace Mann (1796–1859), an eloquent spokesman for common schooling, as its secretary. Mann, as editor of the Common School Journal and a popular orator, gained considerable support for public schools.
Other northern states emulated New England's common school model. As the frontier moved westward and new states joined the Union, they, too, followed the model and passed laws to create public elementary school systems. In the South, with a few exceptions, common schools were rare until the post–Civil War Reconstruction.
A unique feature in the United States was the small one-room school, found in rural areas and small towns across the country. These schools served local school districts, governed by elected boards. Although small one-room village schools existed in other countries, the American ones were local creations rather than impositions of a national government. The American school's immediacy to its people made the local school a trusted institution rather than an alien intruder into small town life. In contrast, the teacher in France might be suspected as an outsider, a representative of the intrusive central government. Similarly, in tsarist Russia, the zemstvo school, established in the villages, was often extraneous to the needs of life in the countryside. The zemstvo teachers often were not accepted by the peasants whose children they tried to teach or were regarded as rivals of the village priest. In America's one-room schools, the elected school board determined the tax levy and hired and supervised the teacher. This pattern of local control contrasted with the visiting school inspectors sent to inspect teachers and schools in France or even with the royal inspectors in the United Kingdom.
Before public elementary schools were established, attempts were made in the United States to establish various kinds of philanthropic elementary schools, such as the Sunday and monitorial schools. The United Kingdom, a leading industrial nation, also experimented with these approaches to primary education. The Sunday school, developed by Robert Raikes, an English religious leader, sought to provide children with basic literacy and religious instruction on the one day that factories were closed. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, Sunday schools were established in the larger cities.
Monitorialism, also known as mutual instruction, was a popular method of elementary education in the early nineteenth century in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries. Two rival English educators, Andrew Bell, an Anglican churchman, and Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker teacher, promoted monitorialism independently. The monitorial method relied heavily on monitors–more advanced pupils, trained by a master teacher–to teach younger children. Monitors aided teachers in conducting classes, taking attendance, and maintaining order. In using this method, the master teacher trained a selected group of older students as monitors in a particular skill, such as adding single-digit numbers or reading simple words. These monitors then taught that particular skill to subgroups of less advanced pupils. Since the monitorial method promised to teach large numbers of pupils basic literacy and numeracy skills, it gained the support of those who wanted to provide basic elementary education at limited costs.
Initially, monitorial schools were popular in the larger American cities such as New York and Philadelphia, where they were typically supported by private philanthropists and occasionally received some public funds. In the early 1840s monitorial schooling experienced a rapid decline and virtually disappeared. By the time that the New York Free School Society, which had operated monitorial schools, turned them over to the public school system in 1853, more than 600,000 children had attended its schools.
The common school. The common school movement refers to the establishment of state elementary school systems in the first half of the nineteenth century. The term common meant that these state-supported public elementary schools, exalted as the school that "educated the children of all the people," were open to children of all socioeconomic classes and ethnic and racial groups. Nevertheless, many children, particularly enslaved African Americans, did not attend.
Not a selective academic institution, the common school sought to develop the literacy and numeracy needed in everyday life and work. Its basic curriculum stressed reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, history, and geography. Emphasizing American patriotism and Christian piety, it was regarded as the educational agency that would assimilate and Americanize the children of immigrants.
The common school movement in the United States paralleled some trends taking place in western Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. In the 1830s the British parliament, though not creating a state school system, began to provide grants to educational societies for primary schooling. In France, under Guizot, a primary school system, too, was established during the regime of Louis Philippe. These transnational trends, found in Europe and America, indicated that governments were beginning to take the responsibility for providing some kind of elementary schooling. Unlike in France, which was beginning to create a highly centralized national educational system, U.S. public schools were decentralized. The U.S. Constitution's Tenth Amendment reserved education to each state. The states, in turn, delegated considerable responsibility for providing and maintaining schools to local districts. Even within a particular state, especially on the frontier where many small school districts were created, resources available for schooling varied considerably from district to district.
The common school movement scored its initial successes in New England, particularly in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Massachusetts, in 1826, required every town to elect a school committee to provide and set policy for the local schools. The Massachusetts legislature established the first state board of education in 1837. It named Horace Mann (1796–1859), an eloquent spokesman for common schooling, as its secretary. Mann, as editor of the Common School Journal and a popular orator, gained considerable support for public schools.
Other northern states emulated New England's common school model. As the frontier moved westward and new states joined the Union, they, too, followed the model and passed laws to create public elementary school systems. In the South, with a few exceptions, common schools were rare until the post–Civil War Reconstruction.
A unique feature in the United States was the small one-room school, found in rural areas and small towns across the country. These schools served local school districts, governed by elected boards. Although small one-room village schools existed in other countries, the American ones were local creations rather than impositions of a national government. The American school's immediacy to its people made the local school a trusted institution rather than an alien intruder into small town life. In contrast, the teacher in France might be suspected as an outsider, a representative of the intrusive central government. Similarly, in tsarist Russia, the zemstvo school, established in the villages, was often extraneous to the needs of life in the countryside. The zemstvo teachers often were not accepted by the peasants whose children they tried to teach or were regarded as rivals of the village priest. In America's one-room schools, the elected school board determined the tax levy and hired and supervised the teacher. This pattern of local control contrasted with the visiting school inspectors sent to inspect teachers and schools in France or even with the royal inspectors in the United Kingdom.
Wednesday 14 January 2015
Elementary Education - Current Trends, Preparation Of Teachers - HISTORY Of
HISTORY OF
Elementary schools exist worldwide as the basic foundational institution in the formal educational structure. Elementary schooling, which prepares children in fundamental skills and knowledge areas, can be defined as the early stages of formal, or organized, education that are prior to secondary school. The age range of pupils who attend elementary schools in the United States is from six to twelve, thirteen, or fourteen, depending on the organizational pattern of the particular state or school district. While a few, mainly small rural, districts, retain the traditional pattern of grades one through eight, a more common pattern is grades one through six. In most school districts as well as in many teacher preparation programs, elementary education is organized into the following levels: primary, which includes kindergarten and grades one, two, and three; intermediate, which includes grades four, five, and six; and upper, which includes grades seven and eight. A commonly found organizational pattern places grades seven and eight, and sometimes grade six and nine, into middle or junior high schools. When the middle school and junior high school pattern is followed, these institutions are usually linked into secondary education, encompassing grades six through twelve.In comparing elementary schools in the United States with those of other countries, some distinctions in terminology are necessary. In the United States, elementary education refers to children's first formal schooling prior to secondary school. (Although kindergartens, enrolling children at age five, are part of public schools, attendance is not compulsory.) In school systems in many other countries, the term primary covers what in the United States is designated as elementary schooling. In American elementary schools, the term primary refers to the first level, namely kindergarten through grades one, two, and three.
The elementary school curriculum provides work in the educational basics–reading, writing, arithmetic, an introduction to natural and social sciences, health, arts and crafts, and physical education. An important part of elementary schooling is socialization with peers and the creating of an identification of the child with the community and nation.
History of Elementary Education in the United States
The European settlers in the North American colonies, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, initially recreated the school systems of their homelands. They established a two-track school system in which the lower socioeconomic classes attended primary vernacular schools and upper class males attended separate preparatory schools and colleges. The primary schools–elementary institutions under church control–offered a basic curriculum of reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion.Colonial period. While many similarities existed in the colonial schools, there were some important differences between New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the South. The New England colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, which were settled primarily by Puritans, were characterized by a strong sense of religious and social conformity. Because of their Calvinistic emphasis on reading the Bible and other religious literature, the Puritans quickly established elementary schools. In 1642 the Massachusetts General Court, the colony's legislative body, made parents and guardians responsible for making sure that children were taught reading and religion. In 1647 the General Court enacted the Old Deluder Satan Act, which virtually established elementary education by requiring every town of fifty or more families to appoint a reading and writing teacher. Massachusetts and the other New England colonies developed the town school, a locally controlled, usually coeducational elementary school, attended by pupils ranging in age from six to thirteen or fourteen. The school's curriculum included reading, writing, arithmetic, catechism, and religious hymns. The model of the town school, governed by its local trustees or board, became an important feature of later U.S. elementary schooling.
Monday 12 January 2015
What is ICT (information and communication technology)
Information technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology
Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development,
implementation, support or management of computer-based information
systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware."[1]
IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to
convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve
information.
Today, the term information technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable. The information technology umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems.
Today, the term information technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable. The information technology umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems.
Sunday 11 January 2015
Saturday 10 January 2015
history of education
The History of Education
|
The United States of America has a rich history of education dating back
to before the country was even formed. Our ancestors lacked most of
the luxuries of modern day schools and yet they were able to produce
some of the brightest minds in human history. Abraham Lincoln had a
command of the English language like no other and yet he was mostly
self-educated.
If you compare education today with education over the years, you have
to wonder if there are some critical elements of learning that have
gotten lost in the shuffle. Are we considerably better off today than
we were in the past?
Tuition at colleges and universities continues to climb at astronomical rates. Is the quality of the education at these institutions of higher learning drastically better than it was ten or twenty years ago? Libraries at colleges continue to expand the size of their collections and their facilities. Is this the best use of resources now that every student has access to the internet? And how about local schools where teachers are rewarded based on how long they've been breathing rather than the quality of their teaching? All while our politicians and successful leaders send their children to expensive private schools. We should be striving to achieve the best possible education system we can for our children. Looking at our history can give some insights into things we might want to change in our education today. |
Wednesday 7 January 2015
What is a Learning Disability?
A learning disability is a neurological disorder. In simple terms, a learning disability results from a difference in the way a person's brain is "wired." Children with learning disabilities are as smart or smarter than their peers. But they may have difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling and/or organizing information if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.A learning disability can't be cured or fixed; it is a lifelong issue. With the right support and intervention, however, children with learning disabilities can succeed in school and go on to successful, often distinguished careers later in life.
Parents can help children with learning disabilities achieve such success by encouraging their strengths, knowing their weaknesses, understanding the educational system, working with professionals and learning about strategies for dealing with specific difficulties.
Not all great minds think alike
Did you know that Albert Einstein couldn't read until he was nine? Walt Disney, General George Patton, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had trouble reading all their lives. Whoopi Goldberg and Charles Schwab and many others have learning disabilities which haven't affected their ultimate success.Facts about learning disabilities
- Fifteen percent of the U.S. population, or one in seven Americans, has some type of learning disability, according to the National Institutes of Health.
- Difficulty with basic reading and language skills are the most common learning disabilities. As many as 80% of students with learning disabilities have reading problems.
- Learning disabilities often run in families.
- Learning disabilities should not be confused with other disabilities such as autism, intellectual disability, deafness, blindness, and behavioral disorders. None of these conditions are learning disabilities. In addition, they should not be confused with lack of educational opportunities like frequent changes of schools or attendance problems. Also, children who are learning English do not necessarily have a learning disability.
- Attention disorders, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities often occur at the same time, but the two disorders are not the same.
Common learning disabilities
- Dyslexia – a language-based disability in which a person has trouble understanding written words. It may also be referred to as reading disability or reading disorder.
- Dyscalculia – a mathematical disability in which a person has a difficult time solving arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts.
- Dysgraphia – a writing disability in which a person finds it hard to form letters or write within a defined space.
- Auditory and Visual Processing Disorders – sensory disabilities in which a person has difficulty understanding language despite normal hearing and vision.
- Nonverbal Learning Disabilities – a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain, causing problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative and holistic processing functions.
About Educational Leadership® Magazine
EL is ASCD's flagship publication. With a circulation of 160,000, EL is acknowledged throughout the world as an authoritative source of information about teaching and learning, new ideas and practices relevant to practicing educators, and the latest trends and issues affecting prekindergarten through higher education.EL is published eight times each year, September through May, with a combined December/January issue. Copies are mailed to all ASCD members. Subscriptions and individual issues are also available for sale.
Discover and experience the love of books, reading and other learning resources!
Discovering
the joy of reading is the key to experiencing a life long love of
books. Having access to literature and introducing children to books for
pleasure reading at a very early age is very important and will have
links to higher intellectual development in vovabulary, spelling and
mathematics. In this section you will find a large collection of
wonderful reading material for kids. Check out a nice collection of
tales including tales of Beatrix Potter,
wonderful stories and poems for kids. There is also interesting
biographies on famous people, reports and information on many different
topics and numerous tales written by young Hellokids writers. So pick up
a book and read aloud, visit the library, get involved in a reading
program or read books and stories online. Online reading channels like
the one here on Hellokids, reading a book from your own collection or
going to the library are great ways to get your child excited about
reading and books. Discover the power of reading today.
You will also find other helpful informations in the Reading and Learning channel created by Hellokids.com. Enjoy !
-
TALES for Children
85 kids tales
-
STORIES for children
84 storybooks for kids
-
POEMS for kids
181 poems
-
FAMOUS PEOPLE
10 biographies
-
REPORTS & INFORMATION
58 reports
-
Old fashion ecards for adults to read and share
8 readings
-
School Resources
8 School Resources
-
Reading Resources
6 readings
Into the Woods
Write your own book
Books come in different ways and will include either words, words and illustrations or just pictures. Encourage your child to use their imagination and write their own book and if they are too young to write words then suggest to them to tell a story through drawing pictures. Creating pictures for your book are a great addition to telling your story. If you need help illustrating your own book you can practice your drawing techniques using the drawing channel for easy step by step how to draw instructions and video tutorials. You can also discover illustrations made by young people on our illustrations page.
Kids related activities
story
poem
tales
Read more at http://www.hellokids.com/r_402/reading-and-learning#Oqp3XiJykpWETt8S.99
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