Funny on Sunday: The Ultimate Left-Right Brain Test
If you see the turtle, you are right-brained. If you see the camel, you are left-brained (to be clear: no, you’re not) Found this gem here. Check here for more Funny on Sunday.
Why Multitasking During Video Meetings Leads to Fatigue and Worse Performance
Anyone who has ever sat in an online meeting with an email open on the side, a document that needed to be checked “quickly”, and perhaps a chat message popping up, will recognise the feeling. You are busy, but at the end of the meeting, you mainly feel tired. A new study by Frontzkowski and… Read More Why Multitasking During Video Meetings Leads to Fatigue and Worse Performance
How a Relatively Small Paper Laid the Foundation for ChatGPT and Gemini
Anyone using ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude today relies, indirectly, on an idea from 2017. Barbara Oakley reminded me of this today. That idea appears in a paper with a strikingly confident title: Attention Is All You Need. In hindsight, the title was not bravado but an accurate summary of what followed. Oakley also noted that… Read More How a Relatively Small Paper Laid the Foundation for ChatGPT and Gemini
Maybe We Should Talk About Wasted Money?
Over seventy billion dollars. That is what Zuckerberg and Meta poured into the metaverse. Not gradually, but at full speed, Meta chased an idea that sounded convincing. Mainly because no one could explain what it was meant to become. Zuckerberg doubled down so hard he even renamed his company after it. And now Meta is… Read More Maybe We Should Talk About Wasted Money?
Schooling or Maturation? What a New Study Reveals About Early Reading and Maths
Anyone with young children, or anyone teaching first grade, sees it happen every year: somewhere between the ages of five and seven, a child suddenly seems to switch on a turbo for reading and maths. In just a few months, some children go from barely recognising letters to reading simple words, and from counting on… Read More Schooling or Maturation? What a New Study Reveals About Early Reading and Maths
What happened when schools reopened?
During the pandemic, we talked a lot about the effects of school closures. Sometimes based on experience, sometimes on anecdotes, and only occasionally on solid research, often from other contexts such as teacher strikes. A new study by Pelin Ozluk and colleagues in California clearly belongs to that last category. However, I sincerely hope we… Read More What happened when schools reopened?
Cool is Rarely Virtuous. And the Reverse Is Also True
Anyone who follows education and psychology – and yes, if you read this blog regularly, I do mean you – knows that some research questions sound almost playful but end up revealing something quite fundamental. The British Psychological Society recently highlighted one of those cases in their Digest, pointing to a new and rather ambitious… Read More Cool is Rarely Virtuous. And the Reverse Is Also True
ChatGPT feels easier, but taking notes works better
Anyone following recent discussions about AI in education will recognise a familiar pattern, the same one I highlighted last week in my blog on a meta review about this topic. Much AI research focuses on technological possibilities and pays far less attention to the underlying didactics. We experiment enthusiastically, but often without a clear view… Read More ChatGPT feels easier, but taking notes works better
Funny on Sunday: No, I’m not talking about you, LinkedIn
Well, maybe I am. Or xkcd is. Check here for more Funny on Sunday.
What Biology Textbooks Around the World Consistently Get Wrong
Every teacher knows that textbooks shape how students think. And we discussed earlier how this can go wrong with psychology textbooks. That’s why we tried to write a better one. But this is not only happening in psychology. A new global review by Marek Vydra and Jozef Kováčik of 93 studies analysing 1083 biology textbooks… Read More What Biology Textbooks Around the World Consistently Get Wrong