Blog Archives

How to learn the piano from the comfort of your home

How to learn the piano from the comfort of your home

Not too long ago, if you wished to learn how to play the piano, you absolutely had to hire a tutor for piano lessons with no other way around it. However, with increases in speed and accessibility of the internet, things are much different now. You can find plenty of resources online and learning to […] … learn more→

AI education must help students see inside the black box

AI education must help students see inside the black box

The ripple effect of AlphaGo’s triumph in 2016 has been growing ever since. The comprehensive defeat of world Go champion Lee Sedol by Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence application signified that the promise of AI – first widely publicised by DeepBlue’s defeat of then world chess champion Garry Kasparov two decades earlier – was set to […] … learn more→

Will COVID-19 be the death of summer vacation?

Will COVID-19 be the death of summer vacation?

Will schools make up lost time this summer? This should be decided by each school district in conjunction with state education agencies. A blanket approach is not the best option, nor an assumption that every school district, even within a state, is addressing the needs of all students in the same manner through online learning. […] … learn more→

Learning styles are fake news

Learning styles are fake news

Before “fake news”, we used to think that demonstrating the falsity of a claim consigned it to irrelevance for all but a delusional fringe. But perhaps it is time to accept that myths persist and mutate as malignantly as viruses. Academic research can have its own myths. Education research certainly does. Perhaps the most pervasive […] … learn more→

Coronavirus and school exams: despite plan for grading pupils, there may be trouble ahead

Coronavirus and school exams: despite plan for grading pupils, there may be trouble ahead

Two weeks after the A-level and GCSE exams were cancelled, English assessment authority OFQUAL has decided how grades will be decided for these qualifications. They will be awarded by teachers in the first instance, and these recommendations will then be moderated by exam boards. The fact that this announcement was delayed twice suggests that the prime […] … learn more→

What will happen to school grades during the coronavirus pandemic?

What will happen to school grades during the coronavirus pandemic?

COVID-19 has brought a tsunami of change and impacted every facet and sector of society, including the lives of children, parents and teachers. UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently said that the coronavirus pandemic is the biggest global challenge since the Second World War. When K-12 schools will reopen in Canada remains an open question, and hope […] … learn more→

6 ways to build motivation to do your schoolwork now that you’re forced to learn online at home

6 ways to build motivation to do your schoolwork now that you’re forced to learn online at home

Even in normal circumstances, it can be hard to get motivated to do your schoolwork. But these are not normal circumstances. The switch to remote instruction caused by COVID-19 has been unsettling. Patterns have changed. Habits have been disrupted. Remote classes are simply different from classes that involve face-to-face instruction. As a researcher who looks at what it takes to […] … learn more→

US private schools often inflate student grades. This could happen in Australia if we cancel year 12 exams

US private schools often inflate student grades. This could happen in Australia if we cancel year 12 exams

The unfolding COVID-19 situation has brought many changes to school education. NAPLAN tests have been cancelled for 2020 and most children are learning online. Education minister Dan Tehan is meeting with the states on what to do with year 12 exams and criteria for university entry. One option flagged is for universities to look at a mixture of students’ […] … learn more→