Are our Brain there yet?

This week at our course we took a special look at how the brain and learning work together. Most folks including myself believe that the brain is just an organ that is to complex and it will take years before we understand how it works. To my surprise, there has been tons of research and our science has been able to get started on the blue prints of our mind and possibly comprehend how to learn and understand all subjects at a better efficiency.

Learning is important because no one is born with the ability to function competently as an adult in society. Of course we start off at with looking at our younger years. Educators hope that children will transfer learning from one problem to another within a course, from one year in school to another, between school and home, and from school to workplace. One idea is that we must ensure that they are kept in the right path and not doing foolish behavior. In the article “Are Teens Just Wired that way?” by Shanker Vedantam, found some researches that believe that the brains appeared to change in unexpected ways as the youths matured through adolescence.

The hypothesis is controversial because the roots of behavior are intricate and cannot be easily explained by relatively superficial changes in the brain. Critics say the theory reduces the range of teenage behavior to stereotypes. Just because one person’s environment is different from another does not have doom a teenager for the rest of life. "The idea that because the frontal portions of the brain are immature and therefore children undertake risky behavior is nonsense," said John Bruer, president of the James S. McDonnell Foundation (Vedantam, 2001). This type of research need to be further researched to find definite answers. Linking brain alterations with actions probably requires consideration of the complexity of inter-neural connections, which is probably where the chemistry of the brain becomes thought, ideas -- and behavior (Vedantam, 2001). Science isn't there yet, which is why brain images cannot tell the difference between people with IQs of 80 and 160.

Another interesting article came from an online parental magazine called Curious Parents. The article “The Brain & Learning” by Dr. Richard Bucko looked at how brain-based learning may be the most important influence in the way we teach since the first school was founded. Processes of learning and the transfer of learning are central to understanding how people develop important competencies. Three areas that Dr. Bucko mentions in his article were great tips for parents to think about when raising their kids, movement, languages and mental challenges.
Movement primarily dealt with giving plenty of stimuli to the kids during all stages of their lives. Walking thru the park, going to the zoo, museum trips, would give any child’s plenty of stimuli rather than sitting in front of a TV. The use of music aerobics provides an opportunity to combine movement and rhythm—a powerful learning combination (Bucko, 2007)
Language is in important to learning and most folks would not even think it matter at all. Building better talking and listening skills would stimulate the brain immensely. Research provides a clear link between a child's language skills and the quality and quantity of language used in the home (Bucko, 2007). This is most likely an area that is taken very lightly and could easily be fixed immediately.
Mental challenges are basically like any other physical challenge. Remember the brain is like a muscle and needs to work out like any other muscle in the body. Engaging kids in fun facts toys and puzzle where one must be able think and develop answers for their games is more than fun. It’s like doing 50 pushups a day.
This week was certainly a eye opening experience as I have learned that I need to update my own knowledge and develop better systems to not only help my knowledge base but also my kids. One of the most famous commercial I grew up watching always talked about taking drugs and that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. After reading and understand new research on the brain and learning, Taking drugs is not the only factor that stumps your growth in learning but ignorance. There are great tips out there for everyone to improve their knowledge and understanding, and simply ignoring it is a disservice to you and everyone else.

Hermes Sanchez

Vendatam, S, 2001. “Are Teens Just Wired That Way?”. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. pp. A01

Bucko,S,2007. http://www.curiousparents.com/Main/xq/asp/article.Brain_and_learning/qx/article.htm

From Blocks to Blogs

   Back in the day, life was so easy when it came to finding information, data, and knowledge to do your paper, develop new lesson plans or to be up to date on any data.  The library was your main hub of information and only sci-fi movies would only allow people to dream of being able to get this info at home with a small device.  It started with build blocks with the library, and journals. Now with the Internet, it comes in many forms including Blogs.  They are you new source that can get you any journal, magazine, or interview with folks you would have to wait months to read about.  Ever since I started this new course, I was looking forward to learning new ways to gather information and learned that I have been using this technology without even thinking about.  Being a big sports nut and away from my home state of New York, finding information was difficult especially being in the military always on the move.  Blogs have been my savior.  Now with this course I have found three blogs that I know will increase my knowledge base but maybe even make some contribution of my own.
      The first blog I found was elearnspace.org/blog.  This site is well known for posting new learning concepts that being research, new changes in theories of learning, technology that will enhance any instructors class, etc. . .  They have form a good series of tags which can quickly allow anyone to take a glance of a particular topic which would excite any Technology designer.  Furthermore they can help you network with other sites in order to get your proposal of a new process to understand any particular subject.
     The next blog is ideas.blogs.com.  They are primarily looking at e-learning.  With the new technology moving so quickly, its important for any education or designer to make sure and keep up with all types of new tools used in the Internet to teach students.  This blog will be essential to not only stay within course of the world but also be able to ask questions to those who work the issues.
     Finally, the last blog is technologyforcommunities.com.  The last blog help us with using our educational tools and implementing them in the Internet to ensure our students can learn to the best of their ability.  This blog will help us with all the technology tools we will have to use.  Whenever new computer terms come about talking about the RSS feed and the URL link, this blog will give tips and terms that will help those of us who need the idiots guide to be able to achieve these steps.  Learning the new features and tools can work great but sometimes you need a blog to keep it slow and maybe have a few guides that help us not fall behind.
      Blogs have certainly been able not only keep use stay up on the workforce but also allow us to be part of it.  Whenever you feel that you have found a common misconception that has hurt many others, you have the tools to put the word out and help others.  This is probably on of the most beneficial items that blogs have brought to us since the blocks.

Hermes