Personalized learning is generating interest in education, but discussions about it lack the practical direction that educators need to execute successful programs, writes Kenneth Klau of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Educators should talk with their peers who are implementing these initiatives in their schools to get necessary details, Klau advises.

Why some experts advise caution with personalized learning.

Children were better able to understand -- and retell -- a story they heard from a robot when the robot expressed social and emotional cues, according to a study of 4- to 7-year-old children in Boston. Researchers in this commentary assert that the expressions made the robot more reliable and trustworthy.

Most brain training games are simple memory exercises that don't improve brain function, but games that develop processing speed or require neuroplasticity can be effective, according to Australian researchers. In everyday life, people can train their brains simply by being active, eating better or walking in unfamiliar areas, says Posit Science CEO Henry Mahncke.

A Tennessee school district has used Google Classroom tools to create 13 online training modules for teaching students in special education. Teachers of any grade level or subject at any time can take the courses, which cover topics from special-ed law to behavioral interventions.

Programmering och ny digital teknik hör inte bara hemma i matematik- och teknikämnet. Det menar läraren Maria Franzén som arbetar med datalogiskt tänkande i bildämnet varje dag. "Det här ska genomsyra skolans alla ämnen", säger hon.

Frida Stranne är forskaren som blivit folkbildare kring amerikansk politik. Via bloggen amerikaanalys vill hon bland annat ge lärare information och verktyg att använda i undervisningen.

Sammanfattningsvis tror jag att Körlings praktiska handbok – med dess omisskännliga röst, kreativitet och smittande kärlek till litteraturen, samtalen och undervisningen – kan ge, såväl den blivande som erfarna läraren, stöd i det som är bokens syfte, ”att vitalisera undervisningen”, skriver Ewa Wåhlin Börjeson, lärare i SO och svenska, i en recension.

Hallå Thomas Nygren, docent vid lärarutbildningen i Uppsala. Du är ansvarig forskare för massexperimentet Nyhetsvärderaren som ingår i Forskarfredag.

Surely you’ve heard that kids have different “learning styles.” Some supposedly learn better visually, others through listening. Some kids are cooperative while others are competitive. Well, there is no consensus on what “learning styles” actually are, and some experts say they don’t, in fact, exist.

As another school year begins, the Secret Teacher picks the most instructive reading about this toughest of subjects — from Plato to Shakespeare and beyond.

Neuropsykiatriska diagnoser får mycket ofta förklara skolelevers utåtagerande beteende. Det visar ny forskning vid Göteborgs universitet.