In the 1980s and 1990s, we all thought that computers would bring in the new golden millennium, a millennium characterised by greater efficiency, greater productivity and fewer work hours.
We are now older and wiser. We’ve lived the IT paradox: the faster the computer, the longer the office hours. Instant communication (email, mobile phones) demands instant results, all of them spell-checked and cleverly formatted. Work pressures result in increased stress levels. Deadlines cost us our family life. Internet browsing can cost us our marriages.
So, the question that I’d like to pose is this: if computers are so fraught with danger, why do we still introduce them at the lowest possible age at school and at home? As parents, we still spend money on educational computer games, and we judge the local school by how many computers it has in its lab.
The proponents of computer-based education claim that:
- Computers stimulate young minds by making learning fun.
- The Internet allows students to explore whole new worlds in real time.
- Resources available on the Internet make researching new topics enjoyable.
- Tedious drills like times tables can be rehearsed on the tireless, patient computer.
- Technology makes it easy to communicate.
What do you think? Is it a good idea to teach a 3 year old how to use a mouse? Do computers stimulate or stifle creativity? Should a computer be doing a teacher’s job? Oh, and while we’re at it, what do you think a computer’s Teaching Style might be? (To find out more about Teaching Styles, visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp?sub=TSAEDU.)
We look forward to reading your comments.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Is Technology the Answer to our Education Problems?
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Learning Styles and Personalized Teaching Pocket PAL
"As teachers generally teach the way they learn best themselves, they will often not be aware that more than half of their students learn very differently and need different approaches. It's a sad truth that a mismatch between teaching methods and learning styles always leads to discipline problems, reduced academic achievement and often comes with a high social cost.
It is possible for both teachers and students to become more flexible in using analytic and holistic approaches but teachers need to lead the way by practicing certain strategies.”
That’s an excerpt from Barbara Prashnig’s latest book, “Learning Styles and Personalized Teaching Pocket PAL”, published by Network Continuum 2006. If you’re an educator and would like an express introduction to Learning and Teaching Styles, this is the book for you. Its slim dimensions (10cm by 20cm) allow you to carry it with you for easy on-the-spot consultation.
Although aimed primarily at teachers, the book is also an invaluable resource for parents who are interested in helping their children achieve their learning potential.
Full of illustrations and supporting graphs, bullet points, overviews and summaries, this book practices what it preachers by catering to the diverse Learning Styles of its readers.
The book is available from our website, www.creativelearningsystems.com.
Creative Learning would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful learning new year.
It is possible for both teachers and students to become more flexible in using analytic and holistic approaches but teachers need to lead the way by practicing certain strategies.”
That’s an excerpt from Barbara Prashnig’s latest book, “Learning Styles and Personalized Teaching Pocket PAL”, published by Network Continuum 2006. If you’re an educator and would like an express introduction to Learning and Teaching Styles, this is the book for you. Its slim dimensions (10cm by 20cm) allow you to carry it with you for easy on-the-spot consultation.
Although aimed primarily at teachers, the book is also an invaluable resource for parents who are interested in helping their children achieve their learning potential.
Full of illustrations and supporting graphs, bullet points, overviews and summaries, this book practices what it preachers by catering to the diverse Learning Styles of its readers.
The book is available from our website, www.creativelearningsystems.com.
Creative Learning would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful learning new year.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Train your brain to stay sharp
I was not at all surprised to read that the latest research into brain functions advocates exercising your brain in order to retain its aptitude. Whether you dress it up in fancy terminology or rely on the old “if you don’t use it, you lose it” joke, the message is clear: practice makes better.
What did surprise me, however, was the fact that just 18 hours of training still benefited the brain 5 years later. While it is good to exercise your brain every day, for a couch potato like me who shivers at the very word “exercise”, it’s comforting to know that a single training effort could have such a vast impact on the brain.
So, while making those New Year resolutions, let’s put Brain Training on top of the list. (If you don’t use lists, let’s put Brain Training as a 2007 goal.)
But what Brain Training is best for you? Is it crossword puzzles, making up rhymes, solving jigsaw puzzles or learning a new language? Doing your Learning Style Analysis (LSA) can help you decide what works best for you and your brain.
Please visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp and give yourself a gift of learning this Holiday Season: your very own Learning Style Analysis.
On behalf of everybody at Creative Learning, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading our blog this year and to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.
What did surprise me, however, was the fact that just 18 hours of training still benefited the brain 5 years later. While it is good to exercise your brain every day, for a couch potato like me who shivers at the very word “exercise”, it’s comforting to know that a single training effort could have such a vast impact on the brain.
So, while making those New Year resolutions, let’s put Brain Training on top of the list. (If you don’t use lists, let’s put Brain Training as a 2007 goal.)
But what Brain Training is best for you? Is it crossword puzzles, making up rhymes, solving jigsaw puzzles or learning a new language? Doing your Learning Style Analysis (LSA) can help you decide what works best for you and your brain.
Please visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp and give yourself a gift of learning this Holiday Season: your very own Learning Style Analysis.
On behalf of everybody at Creative Learning, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading our blog this year and to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
When English is not your home language
I started learning English when I was 12 years old. It was such a struggle I must have blocked out the memory of my learning journey, because it was only this week that I was reminded of it all.
There I was, on a tour of an ice cream factory (yum!), with a group of emigrants who have barely started to learn English. The tour guide insisted that they all introduce themselves, using full sentences. As I watched their tortured faces, I wished there was a way that would make the whole process of acquiring a new language as quick and as painless as possible.
Fortunately, there is. Knowing your own Learning Style is the first step towards learning another language. That way, you know whether you should stay at home reading the dictionary or go on a tour of an ice cream factory, where not only do you hear a lot of spoken English describing what you see, but you also get to eat a delicious ice cream while listening.
For those of you who know about Learning Styles, you of course understand that - if you’re lucky! - licking an ice cream may be an important part of your learning methodology.
For those of you who are not so familiar with the almost 50 elements of a Learning Style, please have a look at our website:
http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/learningstyles.asp?page=learningstyles.
But wait, there’s more! Because we understand how difficult it might be to undergo a Learning Style Analysis assessment for somebody who has only begun speaking English, we’ve translated the instrument into several languages, including:
· German
· Swedish
· Finnish
· Spanish
· Norwegian.
Please contact us for more details on info@clc.co.nz.
If we don’t have the language you require, you can always complete the LSA Junior MINI, which offers simplified language and fewer questions, but a full report at the end of the assessment process.
Please visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com.
There I was, on a tour of an ice cream factory (yum!), with a group of emigrants who have barely started to learn English. The tour guide insisted that they all introduce themselves, using full sentences. As I watched their tortured faces, I wished there was a way that would make the whole process of acquiring a new language as quick and as painless as possible.
Fortunately, there is. Knowing your own Learning Style is the first step towards learning another language. That way, you know whether you should stay at home reading the dictionary or go on a tour of an ice cream factory, where not only do you hear a lot of spoken English describing what you see, but you also get to eat a delicious ice cream while listening.
For those of you who know about Learning Styles, you of course understand that - if you’re lucky! - licking an ice cream may be an important part of your learning methodology.
For those of you who are not so familiar with the almost 50 elements of a Learning Style, please have a look at our website:
http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/learningstyles.asp?page=learningstyles.
But wait, there’s more! Because we understand how difficult it might be to undergo a Learning Style Analysis assessment for somebody who has only begun speaking English, we’ve translated the instrument into several languages, including:
· German
· Swedish
· Finnish
· Spanish
· Norwegian.
Please contact us for more details on info@clc.co.nz.
If we don’t have the language you require, you can always complete the LSA Junior MINI, which offers simplified language and fewer questions, but a full report at the end of the assessment process.
Please visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Coping With Stress And Boredom At Work
by Sharon D'Penha
Are you stressed... or bored... in your job?
Working Styles differ from person to person. Mary, an Office Manager has just started a new job. But will she cope? Mary is the type of person who enjoys routine: change, even a happy positive change like a new job, makes her nervous. Office management is a multi-tasking job that requires the person to be well-organized and meeting deadlines. We can all multi-task and meet deadlines when we need to, but if it’s not our natural style, we will find the experience stressful. Mary likes working with people, but the new job offers little people-interaction (they have a Personnel Manager for that), which may lead to boredom and dissatisfaction.
When you do the Working Style Analysis (WSA) assessment, you learn what type of work environment suits you best and how to organize yourself in that environment. Do you like the environment quiet or noisy while you work? What seating arrangement suits you? How can you most effectively cope with pressure and meet your deadlines, given your unique Working Style?
The WSA assessment shows you how to think positively and what changes to make in your work environment to work more efficiently and effectively. Understanding your own Working Style and that of your colleagues will also improve your relations and communications at work.
Working Style Analysis is the best way to analyze how you can work best. It brings out the real “YOU”. All you need to do is DO THE ASSESSMENT!
So go ahead and learn what works best for you in a challenging world of change at www.creativelearningcentre.com. We are here to assist you.
Are you stressed... or bored... in your job?
Working Styles differ from person to person. Mary, an Office Manager has just started a new job. But will she cope? Mary is the type of person who enjoys routine: change, even a happy positive change like a new job, makes her nervous. Office management is a multi-tasking job that requires the person to be well-organized and meeting deadlines. We can all multi-task and meet deadlines when we need to, but if it’s not our natural style, we will find the experience stressful. Mary likes working with people, but the new job offers little people-interaction (they have a Personnel Manager for that), which may lead to boredom and dissatisfaction.
When you do the Working Style Analysis (WSA) assessment, you learn what type of work environment suits you best and how to organize yourself in that environment. Do you like the environment quiet or noisy while you work? What seating arrangement suits you? How can you most effectively cope with pressure and meet your deadlines, given your unique Working Style?
The WSA assessment shows you how to think positively and what changes to make in your work environment to work more efficiently and effectively. Understanding your own Working Style and that of your colleagues will also improve your relations and communications at work.
Working Style Analysis is the best way to analyze how you can work best. It brings out the real “YOU”. All you need to do is DO THE ASSESSMENT!
So go ahead and learn what works best for you in a challenging world of change at www.creativelearningcentre.com. We are here to assist you.
It’s never too late (go on, it’s not a test)
Find out today what works for you best!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Teach your children to master their memory
A few months ago, we sent out a newsletter featuring numerous tips on how to improve your memory, and we received overwhelming feedback from our readers who wanted to find out more.
This is why today’s blog topic is memory. Many scientific articles and books have been written on the subject. By now, it’s general knowledge that you should:
· eat more salmon (rich in Omega 3),
· exercise your brain (if you don’t use it, you lose it),
· think positive (tell yourself that you will remember, and you will),
· use mnemonic techniques (acronyms, method of loci, etc.)
(If you’d like more information about any of the mnemonic methods, please
contact us at Creative Learning on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/default.asp?page=contact.)
What’s truly amazing, however, is that so little attention is given to one of the most important aspects of memorising anything from faces and names to important dates: namely, your Learning Style.
Your children’s Learning Style is responsible for the way they learn and memorise best. Your children have their own preferred style of taking in information and then recalling it later.
Just like you may need to put a bit of cheese on the vegetables for your children to eat it, you may need to present information to their brain in a certain preferred way in order for them to respond.
In other words, if your children are visual, they will learn best by using colour coding, pictures and diagrams. Use plenty of sound with auditory children. If your children are not auditory, however, making up rhymes or chants like “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” is not going to help them very much.
What do you do when your children are tactile? Or kinesthetic? Do you know what kind of environment stimulates their memory best?
We at Creative Learning recognise the important role that the learning style plays when it comes to remembering things. That is why the multiple page report that you get from us with every Style Assessment contains many useful tips about memory techniques that work best for your unique child.
Please visit us at www.creativelearningcentre.com and get a Learning Style Analysis (LSA) for your children. It’ll be their first step on the road to success.
Your children can get straight "A"s in school.
This is why today’s blog topic is memory. Many scientific articles and books have been written on the subject. By now, it’s general knowledge that you should:
· eat more salmon (rich in Omega 3),
· exercise your brain (if you don’t use it, you lose it),
· think positive (tell yourself that you will remember, and you will),
· use mnemonic techniques (acronyms, method of loci, etc.)
(If you’d like more information about any of the mnemonic methods, please
contact us at Creative Learning on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/default.asp?page=contact.)
What’s truly amazing, however, is that so little attention is given to one of the most important aspects of memorising anything from faces and names to important dates: namely, your Learning Style.
Your children’s Learning Style is responsible for the way they learn and memorise best. Your children have their own preferred style of taking in information and then recalling it later.
Just like you may need to put a bit of cheese on the vegetables for your children to eat it, you may need to present information to their brain in a certain preferred way in order for them to respond.
In other words, if your children are visual, they will learn best by using colour coding, pictures and diagrams. Use plenty of sound with auditory children. If your children are not auditory, however, making up rhymes or chants like “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” is not going to help them very much.
What do you do when your children are tactile? Or kinesthetic? Do you know what kind of environment stimulates their memory best?
We at Creative Learning recognise the important role that the learning style plays when it comes to remembering things. That is why the multiple page report that you get from us with every Style Assessment contains many useful tips about memory techniques that work best for your unique child.
Please visit us at www.creativelearningcentre.com and get a Learning Style Analysis (LSA) for your children. It’ll be their first step on the road to success.
Your children can get straight "A"s in school.
Simply let their brains work FOR them, not AGAINST them.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
When communications break down in your relationship
Have you ever looked at your spouse or romantic partner and wondered why the person who’s so close to you, can also FAIL TO UNDERSTAND YOU so completely? Why he didn’t hang up the washing even though you TOLD HIM twice? Why she can never stick to the shopping list and why she always has to switch on the radio the minute she walks into the room?
There are times in every relationship when communication channels seem clogged up. Nothing you say penetrates. Your good intentions get misinterpreted. You hate the way he or she hangs up the toilet paper roll and you are beginning to wonder what on earth you saw in each other in the first place.
That’s when it’s time to stop, take a deep breath and learn to talk to your partner all over again in three easy steps. It’s easier than you think, because you have a magic tool to help you along the way....
Step 1:
Take out a piece of paper and write down one thing that you used to like about your partner when you first became an item.... Was that easy? I hope so! Because now you will write one thing that you like about your partner AT PRESENT. It could be his blue eyes, or his honesty, or the fact that she brought you a cup of coffee yesterday.
Step 2:
Here is when you bring out the magic tool I mentioned earlier. Learn something new about your partner by checking out his or her Working Style. The Working Style Analysis is available on www.creativelearningcentre.com and it is a treasure chest of information about your partner’s communication style, stress resolution and problem solving approach.
Step 3:
Do your own Working Style Analysis and check how compatible you are and what areas need attention. Do you handle stress the same way? Is one of you a morning lark and the other a night owl? Does she communicate by talking while you have trouble listening? Is he a systematic person who insists that the dishwasher be loaded in a specific way (his way) even though it’s you who’s doing the loading? Find out all that and more on www.creativelearningcentre.com or by clicking directly on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp?page=WSACOR.
That’s all you have to do. By drawing strength from your similarities and recognising your differences, you will be able to bridge that communication gap. You might learn to write to-do lists instead of reciting them verbally, or you might come to understand the other person’s need for clicking their knuckles.
Most important of all, you will discover something new and important about your partner. And you might also learn about yourself along the way.
There are times in every relationship when communication channels seem clogged up. Nothing you say penetrates. Your good intentions get misinterpreted. You hate the way he or she hangs up the toilet paper roll and you are beginning to wonder what on earth you saw in each other in the first place.
That’s when it’s time to stop, take a deep breath and learn to talk to your partner all over again in three easy steps. It’s easier than you think, because you have a magic tool to help you along the way....
Step 1:
Take out a piece of paper and write down one thing that you used to like about your partner when you first became an item.... Was that easy? I hope so! Because now you will write one thing that you like about your partner AT PRESENT. It could be his blue eyes, or his honesty, or the fact that she brought you a cup of coffee yesterday.
Step 2:
Here is when you bring out the magic tool I mentioned earlier. Learn something new about your partner by checking out his or her Working Style. The Working Style Analysis is available on www.creativelearningcentre.com and it is a treasure chest of information about your partner’s communication style, stress resolution and problem solving approach.
Step 3:
Do your own Working Style Analysis and check how compatible you are and what areas need attention. Do you handle stress the same way? Is one of you a morning lark and the other a night owl? Does she communicate by talking while you have trouble listening? Is he a systematic person who insists that the dishwasher be loaded in a specific way (his way) even though it’s you who’s doing the loading? Find out all that and more on www.creativelearningcentre.com or by clicking directly on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp?page=WSACOR.
That’s all you have to do. By drawing strength from your similarities and recognising your differences, you will be able to bridge that communication gap. You might learn to write to-do lists instead of reciting them verbally, or you might come to understand the other person’s need for clicking their knuckles.
Most important of all, you will discover something new and important about your partner. And you might also learn about yourself along the way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)