DailyDirt: Better Learning Techniques (Maybe)
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
More education can be the uncontroversial answer to a lot of problems. But better education tends to bring up questions about what makes one educational approach better than another, and how “better” is measured or defined — and if the methods of measuring education can be trusted at all. The solutions for creating better teaching/learning techniques aren’t always effective, but as we learn more about our brains, maybe we’ll figure out how to manipulate our grey matter with more precision. Here are just a few links on how we might improve the way we inject knowledge into our heads.
- Maybe someday you can get better at math by connecting a few electrodes to your head, but for now, transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) and transcranial random noise stimulation (TRNS) are experimental techniques that have shown at least some benefits for faster learning. However, TDCS has also exhibited some negative side effects — such as cognitive impairment. [url]
- A little electrical stimulation to the brain (aka transcranial direct current stimulation or TDCS) could help people learn complex tasks more quickly. The US Air Force and other military operations are already testing out this technique for its effectiveness in training pilots and soldiers. [url]
- There are a lot of myths about how students learn and what the most effective methods are. There are no “left-brained” or “right-brained” students. The Mozart Effect is temporary and essentially useless for any long-lasting effects to a student’s IQ. The science of education is actually not as clear cut as most students tend to believe. [url]
- Is the smell of grapefruit better for learning math? Can pleasant ambient noise improve test-taking performance? These kinds of questions seem to be prone to the Hawthorne Effect, but if performance actually does improve, educators will try it. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: education, hawthorne effect, learning, mozart effect, tdcs, teaching, training, transcranial direct current stimulation, transcranial random noise stimulation, trns
Comments on “DailyDirt: Better Learning Techniques (Maybe)”
Zapping brains doesn’t sound like a great way to learn… It would be cool to learn a language more easily tho.
having your knowledge randomly played back is great
The ultimate app will keep you in touch with all your
Data “video audio pictures and text” for a lifetime.
The ability to randomly pick a video and then a different
entry point is key for disorganized video. Once organized
the app can pick random groupings of LARGE text with the
associated video pictures and audio for playback. Being
able to preselect the video and audio segment to play is
key in keeping it simple. You only have to deal with the
original videos. What good are MOOCs if the site / files go away
not much I’d say. For me I’d capture the MOOC video using a
screen utility or just shoot video of the replays using
a camcorder.
I use the app to keep all my emails, email addresses,
notes, URL favorites and previous google search strings.
Being that the app runs from a USB stick, I can take my data
with me. What use is the cloud when you have your info on
a USB stick.
Yup in 15 minutes I can share the majority of my important
info with anybody. My mega thread “nobody shares knowledge
better than this” goes unchallenged. I am by far the best at
sharing computer info; bar none.
This app will jog your memory
Re: having your knowledge randomly played back is great
@ “Spectate Swamp” “Yup in 15 minutes I can share the majority of my important info with anybody.”
Bet you’d run out of what I judge important in 15 seconds! You can’t even organize words enough to convey a point here.
From your all of FIVE posts since 2009, I’m sure this explains your rambling: “Look at where the Marijuana issue is. It’s safer than Mothers Milk.” — Umm, no, drug-induced stupor causes loss of focus. For this topic (as if YOU are on topic: until looked at your apparently real profile was sure was spam), it definitely doesn’t improve learning.
Re: Re: Knowing next to nothing about pot is stupid
People that are against pot know nothing but propaganda and lies. They think we should lose our homes, assets and face jail time. A cage match with those dummies would be the only answer.
Re: Re: Re: Knowing next to nothing about pot is stupid
don’t you think its funny when you have no knowledge yourself, so you sprook on about what you “think” others peoples knowledge is. You tell use what “they think” but you don’t talk about what YOU think… !!! I wonder why ?
Is it just possible you don’t think, is that why you are here ? to be told what and how to think ? Seems like it.
Re: Re: having your knowledge randomly played back is great
15 seconds !!! I would have said 15ms.
Re: Re: What you got something against mothers milk?
Momma didn’t feed you kid?
Pot makes you smarter.
Another real life pot story.
My sister liked playing scrabble. She would beat her daughter most of the time. That all changed when my niece would step outside for a toke. Boy that almost had my sister taking up pot.
Re: having your knowledge randomly played back is great
what you need is the knowledge that information is not knowledge.
But if you had a decent education, you would have the knowledge and information to determine using your knowledge and is information and what is knowledge.
You can share information, but as information is not knowledge, then who cares.
Information is what you entered into a google search, knowledge if what you found out as a result of that search assuming you have the education to process that information and using your IQ turn it into knowledge and understanding… Understand ?
education and IQ are not really related issues, IQ is how well your brain works, education is what you have learnt.
studying does not increase or decrease your IQ, but it does increase or decrease what you know.
or if you like
IQ is like having a fast CPU with a large instruction set to use, and education is like having a large number of programs and applications that you can run on that CPU.
and a lot of those programs can run on slower CPU with a smaller instruction set, but it takes longer.
Education and money: two of America’s false gods.
Re: Re:
The money part is understandable,
perhaps my lack of education is responsible for not understanding the other part.
Brain Train
Rats all those myths debunked. I do like Mozart in the morning for complex tasks versus rock and roll or jazz. They forgot to debunk that repetition builds retention.
Yes, I can see the cost savings already. Rather than fund k – 12, we simply electro-educate. – what a good idea. Nothing could possibly go wrong.