Technology has empowered my students to demonstrate learning in different ways. In order to revise the relationships between characters and historical context in George Orwell’s allegorical novella ‘Animal Farm’, I created a digital ‘audio map’. This allowed Year 9 students to record verbal explanations linking characters with underlying political ideas about power and oppression.
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Visual Instruction Plans: Word-diagrams to Support Writing
A Visual Instruction Plan (VIP) is a set of visual prompts that provide a clear step-by-step outline of what students have to do to complete a procedure or process. They are much like the instructions you receive with IKEA flat-pack furniture — they have limited words, use diagrams and have simple steps to follow. Learn how they can be used in class to support students with analytical writing.
Read MoreThe Science of Learning: Top Five Tech Tools
In recent years more and more educators are engaging with evidence from cognitive psychology and introducing research based practices to support teaching and learning. Here are my top five tools and apps that support research from cognitive science.
Read MoreEpisode 10: Retrieval Practice Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.
In this exciting episode of The Staffroom, we spoke about retrieval practice with Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D. (@PoojaAgarwal) an expert in the field of cognitive science. Pooja is the Founder of RetrievalPractice.org, a hub of research, resources, and teaching strategies based on the science of learning. Listen for her practical tips and ideas on the most powerful learning strategy - retrieval practice!
Read MoreEpisode 9: The Science of Sketch-noting Oliver Caviglioli
In this episode, we were lucky enough to speak to Oliver Caviglioli about the power of learning visuals and its basis in cognitive psychology. Oliver (@olicav) is an information designer who is widely known as an expert in visualising educational concepts. In recent years, he has worked with lots of different teacher-authors in illustrating their books.
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