Awesome looking course designed for K–12 teachers, other educators, researchers, and adult learners.
** FREE RESOURCE **
http://www.learner.org/courses/neuroscience/
One of the authors is here http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~immordin/
We feel therefore we learn: the relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education - Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasio
http://www.learner.org/courses/neuroscience/about/about.html
Course Goals
Exciting new developments in the field of neuroscience are leading to a new understanding of how the brain works that is beginning to transform how we teach in the classroom. Teachers are aware of these developments and are hungry for information that they can apply to their practice. One of the central goals of Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections is to help teachers learn to use research to create their own solutions to their particular classroom challenges. Another important goal is to provide new and useful metaphors that we all can use to describe teaching and learning and that are grounded in modern neuroscience. Through this course, teachers learn to think critically about the field of Mind, Brain, and Education and thus learn to be informed consumers of information about brain science, better able to separate science from myth and misinterpretation.Course Audience
Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections was designed for K–12 teachers, other educators, researchers, and adult learners who want to learn more about current issues in education. College or graduate students—especially those considering careers in education—will find this course useful. We welcome their use of these materials.Course Components
Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections is a self-contained distance-learning course distributed free of charge on the Web. The course is designed by Kurt Fischer, director of the Mind, Brain, and Education Program at Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, assistant professor of education at the Rossier School of Education and assistant professor of psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California; and Matthew H. Schneps, George E. Burch Fellow in Theoretic Medicine and Affiliated Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution and director of the Laboratory for Visual Learning at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).The multimedia course consists of six units, with an introduction and a conclusion. Each unit contains many integrated videos and sidebars of additional information, as well as a list of resources. The website provides access to all the course components, plus additional materials, which include:
- Two Interactive Lab Activities
- Visuals: A Compilation of Images Used in the Units
- A Course Guide
- A Glossary
- Three Site-wide Search Features: Traditional, Visual (Dynamic Content Map), and by "Top Teaching Issues"
- Teacher Talk: A Moderated Discussion List
How to Use This Course
The materials are designed for various uses. Some individuals may want to learn about a single topic and study parts of one unit on their own. Some may want to join facilitator-led groups, such as professional development workshops or in-service sessions. Information on how to use these materials to facilitate a professional development workshop is available in the PDF downloadable Course Guide. Graduate credit is available to those who choose it.Each unit of the course is composed of text with integrated videos, visuals, and sidebars. However, each component of the course is also designed to stand alone. You do not need to use all of the materials or access them in any particular order. If you are interested in a particular topic, you can jump in at your point of interest. Users can search the site for topics of interest in three ways: a traditional key word search, a visual search engine (Dynamic Content Map), and by "Top Teaching Issues." Users are also encouraged to "chat" with other participants by utilizing the Teacher Talk section of the site. For the fullest experience with all the components, use the Course Guide to set learning goals and to explore your understanding of the course concepts.
Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections is available beginning in the fall of 2011. You may watch the videos free on demand via broadband streaming at www.learner.org, with Course Guides available as downloadable PDFs on this website, or you may purchase DVDs and Course Guides from the Annenberg Learner online catalog.
