Tina Barseghian

Technology is revolutionizing the world of education – replacing familiar classroom tools and changing the way we learn. MindShift explores the future of learning in all its dimensions – covering cultural and technology trends, groundbreaking research, education policy and more. The site is curated by Tina Barseghian, a journalist and the mother of a grade-schooler.

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Tina Barseghian's Latest Posts

Can Digital Games Boost Students’ Test Scores?

Can Digital Games Boost Students’ Test Scores?

| June 17, 2013 | 5 Comments

A new report released today reveals the results attempting to answer the question: do digital games and simulation help students studying science, technology, math, and engineering achieve better learning outcomes?

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Good Read: Do Schools Know How to Spend Their Ed Tech Money Wisely?

Good Read: Do Schools Know How to Spend Their Ed Tech Money Wisely?

| June 14, 2013 | 0 Comments

Intriguing report: “Far too often, school leaders fail to consider how technology might dramatically improve teaching and learning, and schools frequently acquire digital devices without discrete learning goals and ultimately use these devices in ways that fail to adequately serve students, schools, or taxpayers.” Source: Americanprogress SOURCE: AP/Elise Amendola Endnotes and citations, as well as [...]

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Good Read: Who’s Minding the Schools?

Good Read: Who’s Minding the Schools?

| June 11, 2013 | 0 Comments

For those uninitiated to the Common Core State Standards, this New York Times article raises some important questions: “By definition, America has never had a national education policy; this has indeed contributed to our country’s ambivalence on the subject… The anxiety that drives this criticism comes from the fact that a radical curriculum — one [...]

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Does Math Exist Outside the Human Brain?

Does Math Exist Outside the Human Brain?

| June 7, 2013 | 6 Comments

In this episode of the Idea Channel‘s always-brilliant explanation of how and why the world works, the focus is on math, and the mind-bending question: Who created math, anyway? “Unlike physics, chemistry, and biology we can’t see it, smell it, or even directly observe it in the universe. And so that has made a lot [...]

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Reward, Educate, Occupy: Using Technology as Parenting Tool

Reward, Educate, Occupy: Using Technology as Parenting Tool

| June 7, 2013 | 6 Comments

This generation of parents grew up with TVs, video game consoles, and computers, so digital media is one of many tools they use in their parenting repertoire.

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Good Read: How to Teach Students Better Online Research Skills

Good Read: How to Teach Students Better Online Research Skills

| May 22, 2013 | 0 Comments

In a recent Pew study, most teachers surveyed said that courses and content focusing on digital literacy should be incorporated into the school curriculum. Whether or not it’s dictated officially into the curriculum, some teachers are taking the time to educate students on their own.

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Good Read: iPads – A Tool, Not Alchemy, for Education

Good Read: iPads – A Tool, Not Alchemy, for Education

| April 25, 2013 | 0 Comments

In this thoughtful piece about how to frame the conversation around education and tablets, a discussion of what technology can’t do and what it can. “I am not saying that the iPad is the solution to everything—not at all—I am suggesting that we should not be thinking about iPads that way from the beginning. Think [...]

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Good Read: Why 8-year-olds Should Be Coding

Good Read: Why 8-year-olds Should Be Coding

| April 18, 2013 | 0 Comments

A new learn-to-code site called Tynker is catching the attention of schools and districts across the country. This, in addition to an iPad app recently released called Hopscotch. Kids, get coding! Source: VentureBeat Learn-to-code startups abound these days, but one in particular is focusing on the very young and is having some success in elementary [...]

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Good Read: Are Teachers Who Question Ed Tech “Technophobes”?

Good Read: Are Teachers Who Question Ed Tech “Technophobes”?

| April 16, 2013 | 4 Comments

A fifth-grade teacher who embraces technology for its benefits, though also expresses skepticism, wonders whether she’s considered a technophobe. She writes: “Accuse me of being a tech resister, a slow adopter, or an ‘old school’ educator for raising these questions. But I am not afraid of technology… We need to stop oversimplifying the role tech [...]

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Teachers’ Ultimate Guide to Using Videos

Teachers’ Ultimate Guide to Using Videos

| March 26, 2013 | 10 Comments

With one billion monthly users (and growing), YouTube’s popularity is a pretty clear indication that video is a powerful medium. And kids’ unrelenting fascination with videos is motivating many educators to find ways to leverage them for all kinds of purposes. But the best ways of using videos are not always obvious. Teachers want to know: [...]

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