If you’re a parent with children in K-12 education, you have likely been STEMed to death in recent years. In primary and secondary education, we are bombarded by STEM this and STEM that. As I’m sure you know by now, STEM is a hot topic these days in the ongoing debate about how to best [...]
A not-surprising finding from a recent study of teenagers has revealed that extra screen time hurts their grades. Specifically, one hour extra each day in front of a screen resulted in a two-grade decline (about 10 points) on exams and two extra hours produced an even greater drop in grades. Usually these studies don't allow [...]
Here's an interesting article describing research that should come as no surprise to anyone. Students do better in school when smartphones are banned. The distraction and the opportunity costs (time spent on smartphones is time not spent studying or paying attention in class) are obvious.
As anyone who has been either a student or teacher in class recently, there is a steady movement away from taking handwritten notes and toward note taking on a laptop computer. This shift seems quite natural given how technology is being used more often in every facet of our lives. But you may take pause of [...]
A really painful article about how the hyper-achievement culture of 'only the best is good enough' that is engulfing America's children is causing real problems for young people these days. An important read for every parent who wants their children to be successful (which is pretty much every parent). How and how hard are you pushing your children? At what cost?
If you have young children , the seduction of e-readers, tablets, and smartphones to distract, placate, or assuage them is strong. The tech industry has been selling the idea that early exposure to technology will benefit children educationally. A big push has been encouraging parents to use e-readers rather than books when reading to them. [...]
Parents getting their children involved in technology as early as possible has become a societal imperative and a source of great pressure on parents these days. The belief is that if children don't get on the technology train at an early age, they will be left behind and be doomed to a life of Luddite failure. [...]
An interesting new study was just published that suggests that children who have little or no screen time are able to read the emotions of others better than those who spend considerable time in front of a screen. Though the sample for the study was small, its implications are disturbing, namely, that the decline in [...]
A fascinating article describes research that is both counterintuitive and has potentially important implications for the worlds of business, sports, education, and beyond. The basic finding, not surprising, is that internal motivation (drive from your values, meaning, passions) produces the best outcomes. What is surprising was the finding that when internal motivation was combined with [...]
A fascinating article about the impact of handwriting vs. typing on a keyboard. The research seems clear that handwriting has important benefits over keyboarding (yes, it is a verb now!). This despite the fact that increasing numbers of schools have stopped teaching handwriting after second grade and no longer teach cursive writing.
