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Tools to Help Students Learn

By Dr. Ian Kelleher

One of my favorite places in all of Washington, D.C. is the cake counter at Baked & Wired. I have a long love affair with cake. As I stand patiently in line, I know Razmanian Devil is going to be scrumptious, but there are so many choices. I get to the front of the queue….and suddenly, paralysis — what do I do next? What do I choose? To paraphrase another D.C. institution, so much cake, so little time.

Photo by Sarah Culver for Baked & Wired

The education technology choices facing us are a bit like this. So many EdTech tools, lusciously marketed with websites almost as glorious as Baked & Wired’s cake counter. They promise to solve every challenge you can think of, and some you haven’t. But where do you start? 

Many parents around the world are suddenly finding themselves home-school teachers to varying degrees. In addition, many of you know teachers who are facing the EdTech cake-counter challenge. How can we help all these people choose effective, efficient tools?

Our solution is a first-of-its-kind EdTech guide which you can download here. It starts with the science of how students learn, lays out a simple path to get learning to happen, then maps real-world tested EdTech tools onto this.

We share this with you for two reasons. Firstly, you might be intrigued by this insight into what your child’s teachers are thinking of when they are designing their classes, and you might get tools and tips for working with your own children.

And secondly, many of you have children in other schools or know teachers in other schools. Please pass this resource on to anyone and everyone who you think might benefit from it. And tell them they can share it too. Nothing else like it exists. Nothing else is leading with the science of teaching and learning when it comes to putting technology tools into students’ hands. It is a Razmanian Devil gift from St. Andrew’s and the CTTL to teachers everywhere.

Note: this edition is Upper School and Middle School focused. An Elementary School version will follow next week — and we will certainly share this with you, too.

Dr. Ian Kelleher is a science teacher at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, and Head of Research for its Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning. His work focuses on helping teachers translate the science of learning into everyday practices in their own classrooms, and measuring the impact. Ian is the co-author of “Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education,” and co-designer of Neuroteach Global. Ian is the the inaugural Joseph and Kathleen Dreyfuss Faculty Chair for Research, an endowed position at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School for the lead CTTL researcher.