They’ve created an iPad app which lets people record their own lessons (think KhanAcademy but with thousands of Khans). They’ve started to build up a library of content from teachers around the world.

Education seems to be moving more and more online, and tools like this will make it easier than ever for people to create lessons.  If you have an interest in recording some of your lessons so that multiple people can benefit from them, give it a try.

The iPad is versatile enough that it’s opening up all sorts of new applications that previously would have required a dedicated piece of hardware.  Maybe even one-on-one tutoring will move to the iPad in the near future.

What do you think?

Who knew you could get a daily dose of education from Twitter.  This looks like a great way to integrate a little bit of learning into your day, and passively learn a subject over time.

http://www.onlinecourses.org/2009/08/19/100-best-websites-for-free-homework-help/

With all the buzz about Twitter being the latest source for breaking news, it may be easy to overlook the fact that Twitter is also a good place to look for information about the past. Whether you are studying history and want a little additional knowledge to support what you are learning in class or are just a history buff, then you will want to check out these Twitter feeds that offer all sorts of historical facts ranging from American history to European history to history of specific places or building to history of families to history in the making.

Continue reading…

Here is a link to the video if you if can’t view it below.

Even if you decide to do something a bit more tame, I think there are a few very important points we can glean from this essay:

• You need to envision the person reading these essays.  They have a huge stack of them sitting on their desk, it’s Sunday afternoon, and it’s taking forever to get through them.  They are BORED.
• After reading 20 essays, they will all start to blur together in their mind.  Everyone was inspired by a historical figure or overcame some adversity.  By the end there will be only one or two which really stand out in their mind, and those will be the ones who did something different than everyone else.
• The most powerful form of communication is story telling.  If you aren’t sure what to write, just tell a story.  The more personal, embarrassing, politically incorrect, or ridiculous the better.
• Everyone tries to paint themselves in a positive light.  Don’t be afraid to talk about your failures as well as your successes.
• If you are a little hesitant or afraid to tell a particular story, that is the one you should probably tell.

Reprinted from http://users.rcn.com/alderete/humor/norm/college.html

IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.

We’re accepting applicants right now for contributing authors who would be able to post to this blog about once a week or every other week.  Length of the article is not a primary concern (they can even be as short as one paragraph if that’s all you need – often being concise is better).  What is of primary concern is that the content is original and the advice useful!

Our site has grown rapidly in recent months and we are now adding about 50 new subscribers per day.  As a contributing author you are welcome to include a short “about the author” section at the bottom of your posts which can include a link of your choice (for exampe, if you have a tutor profile or related business).  This can be a great way to send some qualified traffic your way (our readership consists primarily of current students and parents).

To apply please email us at “contribute at homeworkhelpblog dotcom” and tell us briefly (in no more than a few sentences) why you’d like to contribute and how you can bring a unique perspective.  Feel free to include any writing samples if you have some handy.  We’ll get back to you ASAP.

It’s worth identifying your own type and also the type of anyone you are trying to teach.  For example, you may make little progress with an auditory learner by forcing them to write words over and over again, while quizzing them out loud is a breeze.

This also helps explain why one particular learning technique can be very effective for one student and not another.  We all learn differently.

Types of Learners:

VISUAL LEARNERS

• Visual learners learn primarily through the written word and sight.
• They learn well on their own.
• They tend to be readers who diligently take down every word.
• Provide them with written materials and exercises
• Have them write key words and take notes while reading
• Use visuals or graphics
• They will do best reviewing topics in a text book or reviewing their own written notes

AUDITORY LEARNERS

• Auditory learners learn primarily through listening and talking with others.
• They learn well in groups.
• They focus their ears and attention on your words, listening carefully to everything you say.
• They like to talk rather than write and relish the opportunity to discuss what they’ve heard.
• They will do best reviewing topics in a group by discussing them and quizzing each other out loud.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS

• Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing and moving their body.
• This group learns best when they can physically practice what they’re learning.
• They want to have their hands on the keyboard, the hammer, or the test tube because they think in terms of physical action.
• Encourage underlining and highlighting.
• Provide real-life simulations and examples
• Offer hands-on activities 

To conclude, here is a first hand story from Kathryn Lay on the power of understanding “learning types”…

Michelle stared at her math homework with tears in her eyes. “I just can’t memorize this stuff,” she said.

It irritated me and frustrated her. I couldn’t understand why memorizing the multiplication tables was so hard. It wasn’t until I understood that my daughter is a kinesthetic, or hands-on, learner that I realized it really was difficult, and the difficulty wasn’t from lack of trying.

It may not be what your child is learning that is frustrating her, but how she is learning–using visual, auditory, or kinesthetic strengths.

According to Cheri Fuller, author of Unlocking Your Child’s Learning Potential, “Learning style entails how a person best takes in, understands, and remembers information.” She concludes that, “while most of us learn in all three ways…in most children, one sense is usually more finely tuned and influential for learning than the others.”

Is it the math, or the manner of learning the math that causes your child problems? The science, or the approach to science? Do you know your child’s learning style? How could you use this knowledge to help in the learning process, both at home and at school?

Once you find your child’s learning style, you can also find ways to help difficult subjects become easier.

The OCW is an online repository of all courses offered at MIT in both their graduate and undergraduate departments.

It doesn’t allow you to get an MIT degree, but you can work through material at you own pace. This is the exact same material that many people pay over $120,000 to learn….for FREE to everyone in the world.

Here are some of the subjects you get learn:

* Aeronautics and Astronautics
* Anthropology
* Architecture
* Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation
* Biological Engineering
* Biology
* Brain and Cognitive Sciences
* Chemical Engineering
* Chemistry
* Civil and Environmental Engineering
* Comparative Media Studies
* Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
* Economics
* Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
* Engineering Systems Division
* Experimental Study Group
* Foreign Languages and Literatures
* Health Sciences and Technology
* History
* Linguistics and Philosophy
* Literature
* Materials Science and Engineering
* Mathematics
* Mechanical Engineering
* Media Arts and Sciences
* Music and Theater Arts
* Nuclear Science and Engineering
* Physics
* Political Science
* Science, Technology, and Society
* Sloan School of Management
* Special Programs
* Urban Studies and Planning
* Women’s and Gender Studies
* Writing and Humanistic Studies

The content is translated into many different languages and is accessed by people in every country in the world, with over 1 million visitors to the site per month.

Check it out. I suggest subscribing to their RSS feed or newsletter so that you can see new courses as they come out. Instead of watching TV, take an hour or half hour and watch a lecture each night. It just might change your life…

Sure there are a few rare people who are born with a natural gift for memory (for example, the 2004 World Memory Champion Ben Pridmore memorized the order of cards in a randomly shuffled 52-card deck in 31 seconds). But for the rest of us, using the simple technique of mnemonics is more than enough to prep for an exam.

The technique basically consists of making up a sentence or phrase where the first letter of each word has a special meaning. Because of how our brains work we can easily remember a single sentence word for word, but remembering a random list of unfamiliar material IN ORDER tends to cause us problems.

We’re much better at memorizing words in order; this comes naturally to us.

One thing thats interesting about mnemonics (besides that its a difficult word to spell!) is that even nonsensical arbitrary words or sentences can be easy to remember.

For example…

“Roy” is a legitimate first name, but there is no actual surname “Biv” and of course the middle initial “G” is arbitrary. Why is “Roy G. Biv” easier to remember than to memorize the seven colors of the rainbow? (ROYGBIV) The sentence “Richard of York gave battle in vain” is commonly used in the UK, an almost meaningless phrase.

You have heard “thirty days hath September, April, June and November”, to remember the number of days in the months. If you’ve taken music you will have heard “every good boy does fine” to remember the notes which appear on the lines of the treble clef. Your English teachers may have taught the rhyme “I before E except after C”.

Clearly mnemonics are used in many disciplines.

Furthermore, mnemonics don’t have to just be for memorizing words. They can also be used to memorize numbers. The most common type of mnemonic is the word-length mnemonic in which the number of letters in each word corresponds to a digit. This simple one gives pi to seven decimal places:

How I wish I could calculate pi.

And here is pi to 31 decimal places:

Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling
In mystic force, and magic spelling
Celestial sprites elucidate
All my own striving can’t relate
Or locate they who can cogitate
And so finally terminate.
Finis.

Sure…you might not have the time to make a fancy rhyming mnemonic that looks pretty, but in most cases you can quickly string together a sentence on paper that is memorable to you. Remember, it doesn’t have to be grammatically correct, use real words, or even make sense!

When you get your test, take a minute to write out your mnemonic at the top or back of the paper and decode each word into its actual meaning. Now sit back and relax, you’re taking an open book test!

As a little exercise, lets try memorizing the countries of South America and see what mnemonics people come up with.

Click the image to the right to enlarge it.

To keep the order straight I’m going to start on Brazil (the biggest) and go left in a circle around the outside toward the center. This seems easiest to me but you can do it in any order that works for you.

So my order will be…
Brazil => B
French Guinea => FG
Suriname => S
Guyana => G
Trinidad => T
Venezuela => V
Columbia => C
Ecuador => E
Peru => P
Chile => C
Argentina => A
Uruguay => U
Paraguay => P
Bolivia => B

Let’s see, the first thing that comes to mind is…

Brian fails golf so God takes vengeance. Come eat pineapple chips at ugly park bench.

It might look a little funny but I guarantee you I can memorize that in 30 seconds or so instead of 30 minutes ;)

I bet you can create a better one! Post your own mnemonic in the comments below to memorize the South American countries.