Virtual Reality brings a whole new immersive learning experience to the classroom

Continuing Education

Article | November 15, 2022

Teacher burnout has become a massive challenge for many educational institutions. According to the National Education Association, 55% of the teachers surveyed are considering quitting their profession much earlier than planned. Over 600,000 teachers have already quit in the span of 2020 and 2021. Educational institutions must prepare to identify burnout and ensure teachers successfully create an inclusive, engaging learning experience. Recognizing the Signs of Teacher Burnout Laurie Santos, a professor at Yale University and a cognitive scientist, says that burnout has three major symptoms. Being Emotionally Exhausted Emotional exhaustion is when a person feels exhausted and burned out even after a full night’s sleep. Depersonalizing Santos equates depersonalizing with feeling high levels of cynicism towards others. Individuals who are depersonalizing often feel annoyed at people requesting them to doing something that is part of their regular role. This frustration signals burnout. Reduced Personal Efficacy When an individual feels like she isn’t making a difference or she isn’t doing her job well, a sort of disenchantment sets in. To the individual, it may feel like they aren’t being effective at their work, and this is a sign of burnout. How Teachers Can Reduce Burnout Teacher burnout must be treated as a serious issue. Educational institutions and teachers should team up to ensure they don’t undergo burnout. Here are some ways to do that: Don’t Ignore It Organizations must have a system in place so teachers can seek the help they need to treat their burnout symptoms. A lot of teachers tend to ignore negative emotions in order to keep working, but this is the wrong approach. Just as screen time must be regulated for children, teachers need to regulate their workloads. Instead of sweeping it under the rug, acknowledge it and treat it so you can bounce back higher. Don’t Attach Your Identity to Your Job Santos says that burnout is sometimes a result of being unable to separate your identity from your job. This is something that happens a lot with educators. A way to treat it is to spend off time with friends, engage in hobbies unrelated to your profession, or invest more energy in other life roles, like being a parent. To Conclude In the age of remote learning, teachers and educators must be careful not to let their love of teaching hurt their physical and mental health. As a profession, teaching tends to take its toll. When you combine that with teacher shortages and cases of overwork, education becomes a high risk, high turnover industry.

Education Technology

Article | July 15, 2022

Spotlight on Strategies (SOS) are research-based instructional strategies for integrating Discovery Education digital curriculum resources in meaningful, effective, and practical ways. These strategies are flexible and can be used as part of in-classroom, virtual and hybrid learning environments to support critical thinking and student engagement. Tech for Tomorrow was developed in partnership with The Tech Interactive, a museum in San Jose, CA, and is designed to highlight the ways technology and innovation can better our world.

Online Education

Article | July 19, 2022

With more world-class content launching every week, there are always new topics to explore, new skills to learn, and new ways to achieve your goals. These latest courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and MasterTrack™ Certificates cover everything from AI, blockchain, and cybersecurity, to contact tracing, social work, and UX design. What will you learn next? Financial technology (FinTech) is changing the way we think about financial services, and with blockchain technology serving as an encryption base for a variety of applications, understanding its use and limitations is a critical skill for FinTech leaders across industries.

Article | April 17, 2020

It’s no secret that, even while acknowledging the benefits, many in higher¬ education have long viewed online education and remote learning with some degree of skepticism. Fast-forward to this year’s novel coronavirus pandemic, however, and even skeptics find themselves embracing remote learning — like it or not, ready or not. With universities everywhere forced to indefinitely shut their classroom doors until the health crisis ends (or at least stabilizes), remote learning has become the only option for ensuring students can finish the classes, credits and degrees in which they’ve invested.