Caroline Knorr, parenting editor at Common Sense Media — an independent group that reviews the media in kids’ lives — keeps an eye on kid-oriented social networks.
The need is undeniable; the market potentially huge and lucrative. Companies are gearing up for this gold rush by creating websites strictly for children, and websites that allow parents to create profiles for their kids.
How Do We Get More Students Interested in Math, Science & Tech Careers? [INFOGRAPHIC].
Interesting takeaways from this Mashable article:
Why do students choose to pursue math or science? The answer appears to vary by gender. Forty-nine percent of female STEM students say it was to make a difference, and 61% of male students said that games or toys in their childhoods sparked their interest. For 68% of the female respondents, a teacher or class got them interested in science, math, engineering or technology.
AND
Harris Interactive asked parents about their perception of STEM education in K-12. It found that 93% of parents believe that STEM education should be a priority in the U.S., but only 49% believe it is treated as a priority. And while 50% of parents want to see their children pursue careers in STEM, only 24% said they were willing to spend extra money to make their children successful in math and science classes.
So parents want their children to pursue STEM studies, but are unwilling to pay extra for the specialized, technical courses? Sounds like there’s a couple of solutions:
It’s up to politicians and administrators to consider all options. Parents must be understand the value of investing in education now, to produce better professionals later.
If you distilled all the new science about talent development into two words of advice, they would be “practice better.”
That’s it. Practice. Better.
Forget everything else about your genes, your potential — it’s all just noise. The most basic truth is that if you practice better, you’ll develop your talent — and you won’t develop your talent unless you practice better. Period.
-Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code
This philosophy applies to just about anything in life. It’s what your parents and grandparents always told you: “Practice makes perfect.” I think it’s important to remember that this also applies to educating our gifted students.
We need to make sure that each time we teach them something, that they learn it just a little bit better. We want them not only to learn something, but to learn it better.
If you haven’t visited Daniel Coyle’s blog about his book, I highly recommend taking some time to check it out. He has a lot of great ideas about developing talent.
