March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a fascinating interactive showing the number of college graduates between 1940 and now. You can also break it down by ethnicity and gender.
Students doing demographic research could have a field day tracing the changes, and then identifying the historical factors they the changes could be attributed to…
March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
3 Comments
About two months ago, our District changed its policy and allowed teachers to access many previously-blocked site, including YouTube. It really expands learning opportunities for our students in so many ways. I wanted to share two great music sites we can now use with our students. I’m adding both to The Best Music Websites For Learning English.
One is Lyrics Training. It shows YouTube videos of the latest popular songs, and provides subtitled “clozes.” In other words, it will show the words as they are sung, but it will periodically show a “blank” where a word has been removed. The video will stop at the end of that line, and listeners have to type in the correct word that they heard. The “blank” also shows how many letters there are in the missing word. You’re given the option of watching the video with a few blanks, more blanks, or none (which is great after you complete the whole song). It’s great to project it up on the screen and then have students — either individually or in small groups — use small whiteboards to write down their answers. It’s simple to use — no registration is necessary — and you can learn more about it at Teacher Training Videos.
Batlyrics has been on The Best Places To Find Lyrics On The Web list for awhile. It shows the lyrics on the side while playing a YouTube video of the song at the same time. Now that we can access YouTube, it’s great to have a full sing-along.
Thanks goodness for lightening up on content filters!
March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning About Daylight Savings Time.
Additional suggestions are welcome.
March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
7 Comments
NOTE TO READERS: All new updates to The Best Sites For Learning About The Japan Earthquake & Tsunami list after March 11th will be found on this post. For some reason, every time I updated the original list, the embedded videos were disappearing. Instead of continuing to re-embed them, I decided to just start a second part for the list.
Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Japan Earthquake & Tsunami:
Here are some good sites that have set-up webpages on the quake updated regularly with multimedia reports:
TIME Magazine has a special page for quake coverage.
The Wall Street Journal has their coverage here.
Disaster In The Pacific comes from ABC News.
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami shows the Guardian’s complete coverage.
Japan coverage from The Telegraph.
The Lede blog from The New York Times is providing good continuing coverage.
The Lede has developed a good Twitter list on the disaster.
Here’s a video of an explosion at a nuclear plant:
The LA Times has a slideshow.
Breaking News English has a lesson for ELL’s on the earthquake.
How Shifting Plates Caused the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan is a good interactive from The New York Times.
Here’s another amazing animation from NOAA’s Environmental Visualization Laboratory showing the tsunami wave height:
How the nuclear emergency unfolded is an interactive from The Washington Post.
The tsunami’s destruction: Before and after is a good series of images from CNN.
A Closer Look at the Damage From the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan is an interactive from The New York Times.
Here’s an MSNBC clip on the nuclear meltdowns:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The Wall Street Journal has an interactive on the nuclear plant, as well as a history of major nuclear accidents.
The Crippled Japanese Reactors is an interactive from The NY Times.
CNN has many videos on the nuclear meltdowns here.
Japan Earthquake Aftermath is a series of photos from The Atlantic.
Japan: earthquake aftermath is from The Big Picture.
Here’s amazing video footage of the moment the tsunami hit — from the BBC.
Japan Earthquake: before and after comes from ABC News in Australia.
Recent Quakes In Japan gives you a scale of how massive this quake really was.
How You Can Help comes from Scholastic
Teaching Ideas: The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan comes from The New York Times Learning Network.
Satellite photos of Japan, before and after the earthquake and tsunami is a slideshow from The Washington Post.
Q&A: What has quake done to Japanese nuclear reactors? is from CNN.
Here’s more footage of the tsunami actually going through a town:
Earthquake Shakes Japan comes from TIME for Kids.
The Sacramento Bee has a good collection of photos.
Japan Earthquake: Rescue, Recovery, and Reaction is a series of photos from The Atlantic.
Second Explosion at Japan Nuclear Plant is a lesson for ELL’s from Breaking News English.
The Los Angele Times has an animated timeline of the first quake and after-shocks.
MSNBC has a similar animation
Japan tsunami – before and after pictures comes from The Guardian.
The BBC has a Q & A on the nuclear meltdowns.
The Tale of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.
Japan – Vast Devastation is from The Big Picture.
The Weekly Reader has free materials on the disaster.
Understanding Japan’s Nuclear Crisis is an interactive from The Associated Press.
Interactive: A Visual Guide Inside Japan’s Reactors is an interactive from NPR.
20 Ways to Teach About the Disaster in Japan Across the Curriculum comes from The New York Times Learning Network.
Land of Disaster is a slideshow from Foreign Policy.
Japan: New fears as the tragedy deepens comes from The Boston Globe.
Earthquake in Japan: A wave of destruction is a good interactive from The Washington Post.
1923 Kanto Earthquake: Echoes from Japan’s Past are images from The Atlantic.
The Wall Street Journal has several good new resources:
How Nuclear Reactors Work … And the Dangers When They Don’t
The Journal has a regular updated interactive called “Reactor Monitor.”
The New York Times has an article on the 50 workers who have stayed behind at the nuclear plant to try to prevent a catastrophe.
The PBS News Hour has some good materials and lesson plans on the disaster.
Japan earthquake and tsunami: most dramatic videos is from The Telegraph.
A Chart to Better Understand Radiation Levels and Their Effects on People is from GOOD Magazine.
Japan Earthquake: The Struggle to Recover are photos from The Atlantic.
Crisis in Japan: Understanding Nuclear Energy and Reactors is from The New York Times Learning Network.
Status of the Nuclear Reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant is an interactive from The New York Times.
Japan: Continuing crisis is from The Big Picture.
MSNBC has some pretty amazing panoramic images of the disaster.
Radiation at Fukushima Daiichi is a graphic from The New York Times.
Japan’s nuclear concerns explained is from CNN.
Forecast for Plume’s Path Is a Function of Wind and Weather is an interactive from The New York Times.
Video: Japan’s Natural and Nuclear Disasters is from The New York Times.
Spent Fuel at Risk is an interactive graphic from The Wall Street Journal.
Stop, Thief! Thank You. Why so little looting in Japan? It’s not just about honesty is an interesting article from Slate.
Japan earthquake and tsunami – interactive guide to the humanitarian disaster is from The Guardian.
In Focus: Chernobyl Disaster is a series of photos from The Denver Post.
Japan: Hopes fade for finding more survivors is a collection of photos from The Boston Globe.
Japan observes a minute of silence as the search for missing people goes on is a slideshow from The Telegraph.
Japan’s History of Massive Earthquakes is a TIME Magazine slideshow.
Found In The Rubble of The Japanese Earthquake is another slideshow from TIME.
Teachers Respond to the Crisis in Japan is from The New York Times Learning Network.
The Wall Street Journal has put all their Japan interactives on one page now.
Here’s a wild video of when the tsunami hit:
Nuclear concern: Understanding Japan’s nuclear crisis is an animation from The Associated Press.
Inside Japan’s nuclear emergency is an animation from The Washington Post.
Diplomas, and an Uncertain Future, for Japanese Pupils is an article from The New York Times.
Here’s a well-done infographic on the disaster.
First Glimpses Of The Workers Inside Japan’s Troubled Nuclear Plant is a slideshow from NPR.
Japan Struggles to Deal with the World’s First “Complex Megadisaster” is from TIME Magazine.
MSNBC has a very useful interactive map.
The Associated Press has an interactive on nuclear waste.
The AP also has a good interactive on what’s happening at the troubled nuclear power plant in Japan.
The Aftermath In Japan is a massive slideshow from The New York Times.
I thought it would be useful to add resources related to the country of Japan and its history:
National Geographic Kids — Japan
National Geographic Japan Guide
Make an animated Japanese folktale
Faces of Ainu from the Smithsonian
Here are two Japan-related listening exercises for English Language Learners.
Here’s a video on the workers at the stricken nuclear power plant (thanks to The English blog for the tip):
pp
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
Japan’s Nuclear Rescuers: ‘Inevitable Some of Them May Die Within Weeks’ is an article from Fox News
Japanese nuclear workers face new threat from radioactive groundwater is from The Guardian.
Before School Starts is a Wall Street Journal slideshow.
Japan Struggles to Reopen Schools is a Wall Street Journal article (to get pass its paywall, you might have to Google the headline).
Ancient People Are Still Awesome: Centuries-Old Japanese Tsunami Warning Markers Saved Lives comes from GOOD Magazine.
Japan Disaster’s Human Impact is an interactive from The Wall Street Journal.
Fukushima disaster is an interactive timeline.
Life In Japan’s Evacuation Centers is a TIME Magazine slideshow.
(Video) Inside Japan’s nuclear evacuation zone is from CBS News.
Japan earthquake and tsunami debris floats across the Pacific toward the US west coast is a slideshow from The Telegraph.
Photo Essay: Japan’s Triple Disaster, By the Numbers comes from The PBS News Hour.
Japan earthquake and tsunami – town by town is an interactive from The Guardian.
Town Torn by Tsunami Sees Reopened School as a Therapeutic Step is from The New York Times.
Japan Earthquake: Two Months Later is a series of photos from The Atlantic.
Messages For Japan lets you easily send a message of support to survivors of the Japanese earthquake, and it translates what you write into Japanese.
Japan: three months after the quake is a slideshow from The Boston Globe.
Japan: Tsunami Clean-Up is an MSNBC slideshow.
Here’s a recently discovered and restored video from a delivery truck stuck in the Japanese tsunami. The driver got out, but they just recovered his video:
March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Here are a few good articles and posts on school reform issues that I’ve read over the past couple of days:
Nelson Lichtenstein: ‘A governor like Walker is completely correct that it’s in his self-interest to ignore public opinion.’ comes from Ezra Klein’s Washington Post column. I’m adding the link to The Best Resources For Learning About Attacks On Teachers & Other Public Sector Workers In Wisconsin.
Fact-Challenged Policy is by Richard Rothstein, and is a longer version of a previous piece of his I’ve shared. I’m adding the link to The Best Posts Responding To Bill Gates’ Appallingly Clueless Op-Ed Piece.
The Education of Diane Ravitch is a nice question and answer session with Diane Ravitch. It appeared in Mother Jones.
Gates spends millions to sway public on ed reform is by Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post. I’m adding the link to The Best Resources For Learning About The Role Of Private Foundations In Education Policy.
March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Here are today’s additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Japan Earthquake & Tsunami:
Here’s a picture of the tsunami as it approaches California.
The Christian Science Monitor has a listing of five of the world’s biggest tsunamis.
Captured: Japan Earthquake and Tsunami are photos from The Denver Post.
Tsunamis: World’s Most Devastating is a slideshow from LIFE.
Massive Japan Quake: First Photos is also from LIFE.
Why is Crescent City, Calif., so susceptible to tsunamis? is an interesting article from Slate.
How Tsunamis Work From How Stuff Works
Asia’s Deadly Waves from The New York Times
Anatomy of A Tsunami from PBS.
The British newspaper The Guardian has a ton of interactives on the tsunami.
Here’s a free Brainpop movie on Tsunamis.
Here’s a visual mapping of the reach of the tsunami from the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research:
I’m also adding these resources to The Best Sites For Learning About Earthquakes:
World’s Largest Earthquakes is from The Wall Street Journal.
Major earthquakes throughout history in pictures is from The Telegraph.
72 Hours is a website for earthquake preparation.
March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
“What Is Internet, Anyway?” is a compilation of television clips from the 1990′s explaining the Internet. It’s not to be missed. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About The Internet.
Thanks to Brainiac for the tip.
March 12, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
VYou lets you record an introductory video, and then people can leave you text questions which you can then answer via video — that’s why they call it “conversational video.”
It’s an intriguing concept. There are sites where where teachers can leave assignments for students who can then respond with recorded video (you can find them at The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English. Sites on The Best Applications For Sending Online Video Messages list would also be workable for those assignments).
However, VYou might make something like that even easier, and more engaging for students. Plus, students could ask their classmates questions in an easy way. Of course, the student doing the talking would have to have access to a webcam, and that could be problematic. Also, it doesn’t appear (though I might be wrong) to be a way not to have your profile be public, so there’s always the chance that others you don’t want to ask questions might ask them. That possibility seems unlikely, though.
It appears that some authors have created “channels” on the site. If some popular ones participated, I could also see students getting excited about asking questions and seeing responses. I’m also thinking that I might even consider using it after my next book is published.
What do you think? Is it usable for English Language Learners?
Thanks to 10,000 Words for the tip.
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Here are a lot more additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Japan Earthquake & Tsunami:
Earthquake in Japan: Path of destruction is an interactive from The Washington Post.
Teaching Ideas: The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan comes from The New York Times Learning Network.
TIME Magazine has published a second slideshow.
Japan earthquake: tsunami warning across Pacific ocean is a very accessible series of resources from the CBBC Newsround.
A Japanese nuclear plant may be in jeopardy, as you can see in this NY Times video report:
Radiation 1,000 times normal at Japan nuke plant is a similar report from MSNBC.
The Wall Street Journal has several good interactives and slideshows:
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
3 Comments
Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Japan Earthquake & Tsunami:
Massive earthquake hits Japan is from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture.
Hundreds killed in tsunami after 8.9 Japan quake is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee.
Earthquake in Japan is series of photos from The Atlantic.
The New York Times has an interactive map and photographs of the quake area.
Here’s a New York Times video of the damage:
Here’s an interactive from The Associated Press on the quake.
The Telegraph has another interactive.
Japan earthquake: How the Japan tsunami unfolded is a BBC video.
The New York Times has a slideshow.
CNN has many more multimedia resources here. This video is just one example:
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post has just reprinted my post, The Michigan Fish Test and school reform.
If you missed it last week, it might be worth a look.
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
8 Comments
NOTE TO READERS: All new updates to this list after March 11th can be found at another post, Useful Updates On Japan Earthquake — Part Two. For some reason, every time I now update this particular post, the embedded videos are disappearing. Instead of continuing to re-embed them, I decided to just start a second part for this list.
I’m leaving for school in a few minutes today but, after just learning about the terrible Japanese earthquake and tsunami that has hit Japan, I thought I’d bring together a few resources and add more later.
You might also be interested in these previous “The Best…” lists:
The Best Sites For Learning About Earthquakes
A Compilation Of “The Best…” Lists About Natural Disasters
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About The Japan Earthquake & Tsunami:
CNN, of course, has multiple videos.
Tsunami hits Japan after massive quake is the BBC’s collection of videos and slideshows.
MSNBC has videos and slideshows.
The Guardian has an interactive showing its effect and location.
Japan struck by earthquake and tsunami – in pictures also comes from The Guardian.
The New York Times has video.
TIME Magazine has a slideshow.
Massive earthquake hits Japan is from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture.
Hundreds killed in tsunami after 8.9 Japan quake is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee.
Earthquake in Japan is series of photos from The Atlantic.
The New York Times has an interactive map and photographs of the quake area.
Here’s a New York Times video of the damage:
Here’s an interactive from The Associated Press on the quake.
The Telegraph has another interactive.
Japan earthquake: How the Japan tsunami unfolded is a BBC video.
The New York Times has a slideshow.
CNN has many more multimedia resources here. This video is just one example:
Earthquake in Japan: Path of destruction is an interactive from The Washington Post.
Teaching Ideas: The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan comes from The New York Times Learning Network.
TIME Magazine has published a second slideshow.
Japan earthquake: tsunami warning across Pacific ocean is a very accessible series of resources from the CBBC Newsround.
A Japanese nuclear plant may be in jeopardy, as you can see in this NY Times video report:
Radiation 1,000 times normal at Japan nuke plant is a similar report from MSNBC.
The Wall Street Journal has several good interactives and slideshows:
Strong Earthquake Strikes Japan
The Christian Science Monitor has a listing of five of the world’s biggest tsunamis.
Captured: Japan Earthquake and Tsunami are photos from The Denver Post.
Tsunamis: World’s Most Devastating is a slideshow from LIFE.
Massive Japan Quake: First Photos is also from LIFE.
Why is Crescent City, Calif., so susceptible to tsunamis? is an interesting article from Slate.
How Tsunamis Work From How Stuff Works
Asia’s Deadly Waves from The New York Times
Anatomy of A Tsunami from PBS.
The British newspaper The Guardian has a ton of interactives on the tsunami.
Here’s a free Brainpop movie on Tsunamis.
Here’s a visual mapping of the reach of the tsunami from the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research:
Breaking News English has a lesson for ELL’s on the earthquake.
Here’s a video of an explosion at a nuclear plant:
The LA Times has a slideshow.
Six Ways You Can Help Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Japan comes from TIME Magazine.
Additional suggestions are always welcome.
If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
You might also want to explore the over 600 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
“Your actions are disgraceful” is what some of their Democratic legislative colleagues tell Republican Senators who leave after voting to end collective bargaining for public sector employees in Wisconsin. Here’s the video, and other new additions to The Best Resources For Learning About Attacks On Teachers & Other Public Sector Workers In Wisconsin:
In Wisconsin Battle on Unions, State Democrats See a Gift is a New York Times article, along with a slideshow.
The Wisconsin union fight goes nuclear is from Salon.
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Last week, filmmaker Michael Moore spoke to public sector workers protesting in Wisconsin and said, “”Just 400 Americans — 400 — have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.”
I’m an admirer of Moore, but he can also be guilty sometimes of a little hyperbole. I did find it interesting today, though, to read that The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel actually investigated his claim pretty thoroughly. Here’s their last line:
We rate Moore’s statement True.
I’m adding this information to The Best Resources About Wealth & Income Inequality — Help Me Create A Simple Lesson Plan Using Them.
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources To See Who Might Fall Next After Mubarak…:
Uprising In The Middle East, North Africa is a regularly updated interactive from The Associated Press.
Youth movement is a Washington Post interactive on demographics in different Arab countries.
March 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
The first part of this post is my usual introduction to this series. If you’re familiar with it already, just skip down to the listing of new sites…
Here’s the latest installment in my series on The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly. As you may remember, in order to make it on this list, the web tool has to:
* be easily accessible to English Language Learners and/or non-tech savvy computer users.
* allow people to create engaging content within minutes.
* host the user’s creation on the site itself indefinitely, and allow a direct link to be able to be posted on a student or teacher’s website/blog to it (or let it be embedded). If it just provides the url address of the student creation, you can either just post the address or use Embedit.in , a free web tool that makes pretty much any url address embeddable.
* provide some language-learning opportunity (for example, students can write about their creations).
* not require any registration.
You can find previous installments of this series with the rest of my “The Best…” lists at Websites Of The Year. Several hundred sites have been highlighted in these past lists. You might also want to take a look at the first list I posted in this series — The Best Ways For Students (And Anyone Else!) To Create Online Content Easily, Quickly, and Painlessly.
You might also want to look at The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly — 2010.
I’ll also be publishing an “all-time best” list sometime this year.
Here are the newest additions:
CREATE A WEB PAGE: Freedom Share is a super, super-easy way to paste and post text, and use it to create a webpage. Making it even better, you can copy and paste images there, too. You can even create a password to make it editable in the future. It makes things very easy for students to create and share online content.
CREATE A MESSAGE WITH BOUNCING LETTERS TO MUSIC: Font de Music lets you type in a message, choose music to go with it, adjust the font and color, and then it turns your letters into a bouncing, live performance. In addition, and most importantly for English Language Learners, it also lets you write a message that goes along with it, in addition to giving you the url address of your creation. It can be posted on a student or teacher blog or website.
CREATE A SONG & MAKE HOUSE LIGHTS CHANGE TO ITS BEAT: John Lewis Harmony lets you either choose your favorite song, or create your own with your keyboard, and watch different parts of a virtual house light-up to its beat. If you choose to create your own song, you’re given a link to share. No registration is required. English Language Learners could have fun by creating their own tune and then writing words that go along with it. Or they students could post their creations on a blog, and other students could comment on what they like about them.
MAKE A VIRTUAL BULLETIN BOARD: I posted about Corkboard Me in January. It’s very similar to Wallwisher, but even simpler to use — and with fewer features (you can’t embed videos, nor password protect your content). You can, however, easily post images by just pasting its url on one of the virtual post-it notes. Recently, Corkboard Me just announced some additional features, including real-time collaboration and a chat room for the people collaborating. I’ve certainly noticed a lot of quirkiness lately with Wallwisher, and I know quite a few others have experienced the same problem. So, I’m going to start having my classes use Corkboard Me.
Additional suggestions are always welcome.
If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
You might also want to explore the over 600 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.
March 10, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments
(Oops, Susan at the great blog, The Book Chook, just pointed out to me that Sprixi is charging now, so I’m removing it from my The Best.. list)
Sprixi is a nice search engine for images, mostly ones that have a Creative Commons license. It’s design is very attractive and easy to use. The key reason I like it, though, is because when you want to use one of their photos, it automatically shows whatever permissions are required.
It’s been off-line for quite awhile, but has just re-opened for business.
It’s on The Best Online Sources For Images.
March 10, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Quizlet has been on The Best Tools To Make Online Flashcards for awhile. In addition to letting you create and study flashcards, it also lets you study the words in “game” forms.
They’ve recently added audio to the flashcards you make. A fairly human-sounding computer-generated voice provides the sound at a click of the audio button. It’s definitely a nice addition.
Thanks to David Deubelbeiss for the tip.
March 10, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments
“Everyone who is party to this travesty is writing their political obituary,” said Wisconsin State Senator State Sen. Chris Larson after Republicans used a fishy and potentially illegal maneuver to pass a bill ending collective bargaining for public sector unions.
In addition to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article where he made those comments, here are some other updated resources (I’m adding all of these to The Best Resources For Learning About Attacks On Teachers & Other Public Sector Workers In Wisconsin).
What happened in Wisconsin tonight by Ezra Klein at the Washington Post.
Here’s a video report from MSNBC:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Anti-Public Employee Bill Passes Senate in Wisconsin; Only the Beginning of the Fight is a good description of potential strategies going forward.
At a Wisconsin Town Hall, the Mood Turns Against Compromise is from The Atlantic.
Wis. GOP strips public workers’ bargaining rights is from The Washington Post.
Top Ten Union Movies is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.
March 10, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
I’ve written several posts on this blog, and in my upcoming book, about how I try to help my students gain a greater understanding of why it’s important to get enough sleep. You can read more about this at The Best Resources For Helping Teens Learn About The Importance Of Sleep.
Some important studies came out this week, and I’ll be adding them to my lessons (and I’ll share what I do on this blog). Here they are:
As We Sleep, Speedy Brain Waves Boost Our Ability to Learn is the title of a report in Science Daily. The study identified what they called “sleep spindles” as a key element in learning and remembering. One of the researchers went on to say:
“A lot of that spindle-rich sleep is occurring the second half of the night, so if you sleep six hours or less, you are shortchanging yourself. You will have fewer spindles, and you might not be able to learn as much.”
Another new study, also reported by Science Daily, documented the negative impact the use of electronic devices has on sleep, particularly on young people:
Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts circadian rhythms to a later hour — making it more difficult to fall asleep,” says Charles Czeisler, PhD, MD, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “This study reveals that light-emitting screens are in heavy use within the pivotal hour before sleep. Invasion of such alerting technologies into the bedroom may contribute to the high proportion of respondents who reported that they routinely get less sleep than they need.
Both Tech Crunch and Scientific American also has reports on this study.
This information will be a great addition to my lessons.
