Why a classroom culture of kindness is so important

TES | October 20, 2019

Upon arrival to college, however, they find themselves in classes with people who share those same passions. I have seen so many times students start their time at college and totally come out of their shell within the first few weeks. It’s fascinating to watch these nervous students who previously hid themselves away suddenly being presented with the opportunity to talk, discuss, debate and ultimately express their feelings with excitement and great gusto. Those students who were the quiet ones, the shy ones, the slightly “nerdy” (for want of a better word) ones who never spoke out transform into confident and passionate learners, supported and encouraged by their peers. Fostering a “culture of kindness” in the classroom is something that is rarely talked about: it often happens organically and is something that is felt rather than measured. Students being supportive, kind and respectful to each other should be a major factor in their life at college. This community begins with their teacher and should flow through their experience at their place of study. Be kind to your students, and they will be kind to you. IT students aren’t alone in this. Coming to college allows all learners to associate and create communities with like-minded people. They are (hopefully!) on a course that they have a passion for and should be able to share experiences in ways they haven’t been able to before. For some students, coming to college might be the first time they feel like they “belong” somewhere.

Spotlight

Globibo's e-Learning Interactivity Levels enhance the learning experience with varying degrees of engagement.
Level 1 offers basic navigation and content display, while Level 2 includes quizzes and assessments. Level 3 incorporates interactive elements like drag-and-drop exercises, simulations, and branching scenarios. Level 4 brings gamification elements for increased motivation. Finally, Level 5 features immersive experiences with virtual reality and augmented reality.
With these diverse options, learners can interact and participate actively, ensuring effective and engaging learning journeys.

Spotlight

Globibo's e-Learning Interactivity Levels enhance the learning experience with varying degrees of engagement.
Level 1 offers basic navigation and content display, while Level 2 includes quizzes and assessments. Level 3 incorporates interactive elements like drag-and-drop exercises, simulations, and branching scenarios. Level 4 brings gamification elements for increased motivation. Finally, Level 5 features immersive experiences with virtual reality and augmented reality.
With these diverse options, learners can interact and participate actively, ensuring effective and engaging learning journeys.

Related News

Talent Development

Noodle Acquires Meteor Learning, Strengthening Noodle's Consulting Practice

PRnewswire | August 24, 2023

Noodle, higher education's leading strategy, services and technology partner, has completed the acquisition of Meteor Learning, a Certified B edtech corporation based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Noodle, also a Certified B corporation, welcomes Meteor Learning's higher education and employer partners into its network. This addition strengthens Noodle's ability to help its partners be more resilient, responsive and efficient. William Rieders and Donna Ritchie, Meteor's founders, will join the Noodle leadership team and will head Noodle's consulting practice, driving strategic insights and operational effectiveness for Noodle partners. "Meteor extends our capacity and reach, and I am very excited to work with Bill and Donna, who bring tremendous insight and experience to the team," said John Katzman, Noodle's founder and CEO. "This acquisition will expand our consulting practice with leadership and expertise, methodologies and proven results to solve a unique challenge – how does higher ed best leverage technology and data to execute against their strategic goals?" With this acquisition, Noodle now supports more than 65 top US and UK universities through aligned learning design, marketing, recruiting, support, strategy and technology services. Noodle provides these services, along with internal resources at its partner universities, to address challenges and opportunities that higher ed faces. "This acquisition will provide Meteor Learning partners with additional scale, expanded services and innovative new models to support greater flexibility, efficiency and internal capacity building," said William Rieders. "Universities are looking for a strategy, services and technology partner to help navigate the rapidly changing post-secondary market. The combination of the two organizations gives us that much more capacity to be their strategic partner." Meteor's focus on skills-based programs provides a strong catalyst for Noodle's University-to-Employer service, addressing some of the most significant workforce challenges in such areas as Nursing and Education. About Noodle Noodle is higher education's leading strategy, services and technology partner. Founded in 2013, Noodle has developed infrastructure and online enrollment growth for some of the best academic institutions in the world. Our vision is "to empower universities to change the world." We achieve this vision by offering our partners various products and services that help them become more resilient, responsive, efficient and interconnected. Noodle is a Certified B edtech corporation. About Meteor Meteor Learning is a leader in addressing the vast skills gap. Meteor is uniquely positioned to serve learners with its broad portfolio of skills-based programming developed and validated with higher education and employer partners. Led by seasoned educational technology and service executives, Meteor Learning is a high-growth company with deep expertise in serving the needs of adult learners. Meteor Learning is a Certified B Corporation, Boston Business Journal Fast 50 Company and Inc. 5000 award winner.

Read More

Corporate Education and Training, Online Education

Course Hero Launches "AI Academy" to Help Educators Navigate Role of AI in the Classroom

prnewswire | August 23, 2023

Course Hero, the learning platform used by over 150,000 educators, today announced the launch of AI Academy, a first-of-its-kind teacher training program empowering educators to respond to the various opportunities and challenges that AI presents. "Artificial intelligence has significantly disrupted the classroom in recent months, leaving educators with little guidance and even less training, while institutions work to catch up with the technological advancements," said Sean Michael Morris, Vice President of Academics at Course Hero. "We designed and built this course based on feedback from our community of educators, who are astute learners themselves and relentless in their pursuit of creating impactful learning for their students." The four-week program, AI Academy, will help faculty gain the critical tools and skills needed to teach in the age of AI and will prepare them to use the technology as an effective teaching and learning resource. Participants will learn new ways to create assessments and assignments, understand how AI impacts academic integrity, and use it to teach digital literacy to their students. Educators who complete the four-week-long program, will receive a Certification in Teaching with AI, along with 10 continuing education units. Those who are interested in the program can register here: https://education.coursehero.com/ai-academy/. In a recent survey from The Crimson, many faculty respondents revealed in open-ended responses that they did not know how to proceed in plans to adapt their teaching, research, and scholarship in the age of AI. In another recent survey of 1,000 faculty, commissioned by Course Hero, younger faculty (Gen Z and Millennials) respondents were more likely to say the pace of adoption is too fast, while half of all Baby Boomer respondents said they were not aware of their institutions' pace of change regarding the adoption of generative AI. "While used thoughtlessly, AI can shortchange learning, but there are also enormous opportunities to empower students if faculty members are intentional and thoughtful in introducing AI to the classroom," said Edward Tian, Founder of GPTZero and speaker at Course Hero's 2023 Education Summit, where some of the most well-attended sessions were focused on the role of AI in the classroom. "Every educator should take this opportunity to equip themselves with the tools they need to succeed as the classroom continues to evolve." About Course Hero Course Hero is on a mission to help students graduate confident and prepared. The online learning platform now offers more than 100 million course-specific study resources created by and for students and educators, as well as 24/7 tutor help. More than 150,000 faculty across the U.S. and Canada use Course Hero to share their resources with the community, collaborate with other faculty, and hone new strategies for instruction. Every day, students, educators and tutors on Course Hero help more than 30 million students make every study hour count.

Read More

Corporate Learning Systems

Lumio and Canva for Education Announce All-New Integration to Bring Immersive Digital Learning to Life

PRnewswire | June 27, 2023

Lumio, the digital learning tool used by millions of teachers and students worldwide, is pleased to announce its integration with Canva for Education. This new integration allows teachers to seamlessly add Canva designs to Lumio, merging the power of Canva's visual communication platform with Lumio's ability to add interactivity for engaging, dynamic lessons. The integration offers educators free access to export and upload Canva lessons, presentations, and other materials into Lumio to create interactive lessons with game-based activities, formative assessments, and more. Educators will also be able to access libraries from both Canva and Lumio to explore thousands of high-quality, ready-made templates and infographics. "The Lumio team is excited to roll out our integration with Canva for Education," said Dan McMahon, Lumio Vice President of Software. "This collaboration reinforces our commitment to inspiring creativity, saving teachers' time, and creating an active learning environment that is accessible and collaborative for all." Canva for Education makes it easy to create and communicate visually in the classroom and beyond. It allows educators to bring their ideas and lessons to life with thousands of ready-to-use educational templates. Lumio is an intuitive digital learning tool that transforms lessons into active, collaborative learning experiences that engage students on their devices, in class, or remotely. "Empowering educators and students through creativity and collaboration are core values for both Lumio and Canva for Education," says Head of Canva for Education, Jason Wilmot. "We are thrilled to come together with Lumio to support both teachers and students and to provide them with the high-quality resources they deserve and need for fantastic learning experiences." Lumio, created by global EdTech leader SMART Technologies, is also unveiling several new features aimed at making teaching easier and learning more engaging and accessible for students. The latest updates include: • Ability to edit PowerPoint slides after they have been imported into Lumio with editing support for Google Slides and PDFs to follow. This feature is now live as a public beta. • Access to OpenDyslexic, a typeface designed to support learners with a variety of dyslexia symptoms. • New themes available for several Lumio game-based activities, including clean, simple versions that appeal to older learners. Also, Lumio is showcasing a new Logic Model that highlights research demonstrating Lumio's effectiveness to enable leading teaching practices to drive student outcomes. The Canva for Education and Lumio integration will be available for teachers to work with over the summer and for back-to-school, and other new features in Lumio are available for use today. About Canva for Education Canva for Education makes it easy to create, collaborate, and communicate visually in the classroom and beyond. It's 100% free for K-12 districts, schools, teachers and their students. Bring your ideas to life with thousands of ready-to-use educational templates from presentations, posters, comic strips, book reports, infographics, newsletters, and more. About Lumio Lumio is an easy-to-use, digital learning tool that lets teachers transform lessons into active, collaborative learning experiences to engage students on their devices, wherever they are. With countless ways for students to engage and drive their own learning, Lumio is a perfect fit for educators who are looking for ways to increase interactivity, collaboration, and game-based learning.

Read More