Education
Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.
The science of resilience: How to teach students to persevere
Studies show that resilience has a positive influence on academic performance of undergraduates, as well as their social and emotional wellbeing. Resilience in learning, as in life, is about being able to persevere through setbacks, take on challenges and risk making mistakes to reach a goal. Read More...
Meet TOM, the TEDx style project for social action
While TEDx is about sharing stories and fuelling the discussion, TOM is all about the action. It’s a 72-hour event bringing together coders, developers, engineers and doctors to work with individuals with disabilities. The goal is to come up with technological solutions for everyday challenges. Read More...
Standing desks in schools boost engagement in classrooms
At some point in history, sitting down in the school classroom became the norm. And even though researchers already proved that children learn much better if they have a chance to move around, in practice, in the classroom nothing much has changed. Up until now, it seems, because several schools Read More...
Pupils in Windsor could be taken to school by Uber to cut costs
Pupils in Windsor could be ferried to school in Uber cars in a bid to save the council money. Discussions between the Royal Borough and the private hire company are underway as the council looks to curb a projected overspend of £440,000, the Windsor Express reports. The cars would be used for home Read More...
Meditation has transformed one of San Francisco's toughest schools, and its pupils
A San Francisco middle school, surrounded by drugs and gang violence in the neighborhood, has reported the changes it suspects is related to a meditation program that's now in its eighth year. Already in the first year, "quiet time" suspensions were reduced by almost half. After three years, the Read More...
California universities launch experiment to go carbon-neutral 'at scale'
What does it look like when a university decides to walk the walk as well as talk the talk on climate change? The University of California system – which encompasses 10 university campuses and two national scientific research laboratories – is about to find out. Two years ago, Janet Napolitano, Read More...
Kids who 'mind read' tend to learn more effectively
Everyone mind reads to some degree, using intuition and context clues to empathize with and interpret the thoughts, words and actions of others. Young children do this too. And according to a new study, those that do it best tend to be better selective learners. In an experiment conducted by Read More...
A unique approach to math helps boost achievement for children in school
How much is 5 + 3? At the First People’s Center for Education, they know that a significant group of young Native American children would try to count their fingers to find the answer, even if they should be old enough already to add the numbers up in their head. Educators would say that they Read More...
What happens when mindfulness enters schools
Many educators are introducing meditation into the classroom as a means of improving kids’ attention and emotional regulation. A five-minute walk from the rickety, raised track that carries the 5 train through the Bronx, the English teacher Argos Gonzalez balanced a rounded metal bowl on an Read More...
Mind-controlled movie: a quantum leap for cinema?
Watching a movie has traditionally been a largely passive experience. But what if the person watching could influence what happens on-screen via their brainwaves? An experimental short-film called 'Scanners' aims to create a platform that bridges the gap between digital arts and neuroscience. Using Read More...