Imagine students having to wear a brain reading device so teachers can tell if they have understood what they need to know. Possible benefits: no tests needed anymore? a real possibility to measure effectiveness But at the same time… it does sound as an episode of Black Mirror, or just a plan in China. Bring… Read More Interesting but with mixed feelings: your brain activity can be used to measure how well you understand a concept

Lately I have been involved in different discussions about Artificial Intelligence in education behind the screens. To paraphrase Larry Cuban: the claims made about AI are often oversold, with simple algorithms without any element of machine learning being labeled AI. E.g. together with some other scientists I’m still waiting for any solid evidence of a… Read More An interesting use of artificial intelligence in education: to catch the cheats

We can’t multitask. But… when you are doing an online course it’s so tempting to do something else at the same time. So this Kent study won’t come as a surprise to many people, from the conclusion: Students reported significantly greater multitasking behavior in online versus face-to-face courses (Table 2). Specifically, students were more likely… Read More Multitasking increases in online courses compared to face-to-face (and yes that is a bad thing)

There is a new Best Evidence in Brief with among others, this study that shows how important it can be to check the lasting effects of what you do. Published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, Martin Hassler and colleagues carried out a randomized controlled trial of a mathematics intervention on tablets (iPads). The trial involved 283… Read More Will the effect last? Math on a tablet helps low-performing second graders… for a while