Evaluating Current Educational Trends and Strategies

CEU Course Description 

Part 1: As researchers are learning more and more each day about how children learn best, we are learning more about how the educational paradigms of the past are or are not primed to best serve our students. By rethinking our educational strategies and improving the dynamics of our classrooms, it’s entirely possible to find new ways of teaching that are more engaging, effective, and actually more educational than the lecture systems traditionally used. 

Part 2: Microlearning and nanolearning have recently surfaced as trends within the corporate world for training and professional development—and, now, these strategies are making waves in K-12 education. By focusing on hyper-targeted, accessible, engaging and brief lessons that only last from 5-15 minute, microlearning and nanolearning offer opportunities to save time and achieve more productivity for both students and teachers. This learning trend is based on neuroscience as well as the universal Zoom and learning fatigue that everyone experienced over 2020 and 2021. 

Part 3: Over the past few decades, researchers have found that there are two specific mindsets that humans tend to employ: a fixed mindset, and a growth mindset. They differ in the ways that individuals think about change. According to a fixed mindset mentality, we cannot change. According to a growth mindset mentality, we can. When students were encouraged to cultivate a growth mindset in the classroom, researchers found that those students tended to have higher objective success rates, such as good grades, as well as a deeper understanding of their subjects and increased happiness with education overall. This has resulted in a trend across K-12 classrooms nationwide. Teachers everywhere are looking to establish classroom practices that naturally support growth mindsets.

Part 4: As teachers, we want what’s best for our students - and that has led many teachers to spend hours on end crafting gorgeous, intricate lesson plans, and upping the intensity of the academic subjects they teach. However, new research is showing us that investing in the learning experience of the student, investing in ways for students to properly socialize and form emotional connections with their peers and teachers, and brainstorming ways to invite the student into a more interactive learning experience, can make even more of a difference than creating new curricula. 

CEU Course Objectives

Part 1: 

1. Review several cutting-edge educational trends currently being implemented in K-12 classrooms.
2. Explore the different learning modalities and other recent discoveries into the varied ways students best learn.
3. Examine updated ways to best utilize the Internet to build an increasingly connected and automated classroom.
4. Distinguish between practical ways to expand the classroom to reach a growing audience of students. 
5. Identify ways in which modern teachers can enrich their classrooms and curricula with science-backed educational philosophies and strategies for welcoming and engaging their students.