Readers: Five ways to motivate students

Readers say getting to know your students and empowering them to be leaders are good ways to get students engaged

By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor
Read more http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/13/readers-five-ways-to-motivate-students/2/

Motivation has been, for as far as I can remember, the one factor baffling teachers and administrators alike. Concern over the lack of it and over-expectations when consciously applying motivators soon enough lead to frustration, both for students and teachers alike. Coaching, coaxing, motivating, inspiring and so on, is something that first must be understood as coming from within the individuals and can only work if the one doing it is indeed inspired and motivated to get things done.. Most of our stories around teachers motivated students are spun around a much motivated individual itself, inspiring other teachers as well students to act. Learning organizations foster motivation among all their members. Only when educational institutions grow into learning organizations themselves, is that we will see true joy, inspiration and motivation to learn and help the organization move along its learning path.
Read more by Meris Stansbury

“Students need to know that someone truly cares about them when they are in a classroom,” said one reader.

We recently highlighted a report from the Center on Education Policy that looked at how schools can motivate students. Now, here are some of the best ideas from our readers.

We asked readers: “What are some ways/tactics/activities you implement to motivate students?” Their advice ranged from “be there for your students and let them know you care about them,” to “entice them with technology they use with their friends.”

Here are five of the best responses (some comments have been edited for brevity). What do you think of these ideas? Do you have any stories of your own for how to motivate and engage today’s 21st-century learners? Be sure to leave them in the comments section!

Bill Gates: Why ‘game-based learning’ is the future of education

Essentially what needs to be underscored here is that gaming, and particularly digital or virtual gaming, has proved, beyond a doubt, that it is a learning medium that has  far exceeded expectations. Now this brings to the table the possibility to gauge the learning process and make use of it to scaffold further knowledge. I can't wait!!!! 

"In Bill Gates’ vision of the classrooms of the future, students are grouped according to skill set. One cluster huddles around a computer terminal, playing an educational game or working on a simulator. Another works with a human teacher getting direct instruction, while another gets a digital lesson delivered from their teacher’s avatar.

This kind of “game-based” learning is one of the priorities of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit founded by the Microsoft creator.

Read more @ http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/17/bill-gates-why-game-based-learning-is-the-future-of-education/?

Last year, the foundation announced it would invest $20 million in a variety of teacher tools, including this and other technologies geared toward changing the way teachers teach and kids learn.

Gates sat down with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week while he was in Atlanta speaking at the Education Commission of the States’ national forum.

The billionaire philanthropist said there are lessons to be learned from the enthusiasm kids have when playing video games, including that winning can be a motivator and that students should be able to move to the next level when ready.

“We’re not saying the whole curriculum turns into this big game. We’re saying it’s an adjunct to a serious curriculum,” he said"

Peru's ambitious laptop program gets mixed grades

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/03/perus-ambitious-laptop-program-gets-mixed-grades/comment-page-1/#comment-164475
Considering that teachers are ill prepared or not at all, and parents least of all, it is very likely that it all goes up in political smoke.
It looks and sounds very good for governments and politicians to take on projects like this, and greedy officials and suppliers know so; but if no firm scaffolding is in place to produce the desired results, the learning curve is surpassed by frustration and soon enough it turns into wasted effort.
A project, as this one, requires at the least the creation of digitally sufficient strategically located centers, with well prepared facilitators to create and develop a powerful learning network within reach of every community. If Teachers and parents aren't included, the chance for children and teens to overcome the digital challenge is very small.

New PBS resource could help advance digital learning | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com

New PBS resource could help advance digital learning | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com: "PBS LearningMedia will include content from more than 55 member stations, independent producers, and public institution partners. The site plans to launch with 12,000 digital learning objects, which include video clips, documents, games, images, and activities."

'TV textbooks' bring access to low-income Florida students | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com

TV textbooks' bring access to low-income Florida students | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com

Prompted by lackluster reading scores, Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) in Jacksonville, Fla., is attempting to reach low-income students by turning students' televisions into learning centers.

Now, this could be a quite a positive change for low income families and a welcome opportunity for schools working on a shoestring budget. Everyone owns a TV, and even any school who can't afford investing in computers, can maybe use this as a step up onto the Technology train without having to get into the heavy cost of hardware, software and maintenance involved in your average Technology ware investment.

Military snubbing cyber-school students

Military snubbing cyber-school students http://is.gd/vB7g32.

I have been for years now painfully aware of the snubbing of online graduates in the work world, but this raises quite a few more issues. It seems that although education is trying to reach all and everyone by incorporating and making use of technology, society is still far from getting over its prejudice over online studies and degrees. The question to society is, how do people expect to reach out to all and every individual and provide them with a possibility to educate themselves and improve their quality of life, if every road taken to make it possible is blocked based on biases and misconceptions. We need to get our acts together and really cut the double rhetoric and standards. Online learning is here to stay and we better learn to make the best use of it so that most of the population, wherever they are, whenever they can can achieve an education.

Europe Split on Nuclear Power Debate - WSJ.com

Europe Split on Nuclear Power Debate - WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

The Japanese nuclear crisis has placed atomic energy back at the top of the political agenda throughout Europe, but European countries have split into groups urging immediate shutdowns and others remaining firmly committed to...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204522187643688.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Unfortunately there's much disinformation and even less education on the subject. I'm far from an expert; but certainly do not appreciate that people are being manipulated. We must read and learn, and not let ourselves be swayed by either the media or politics. Let's hope we are able to do so...