Showing posts with label Education Artical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education Artical. Show all posts

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Differentiated Instruction & Adaptive Learning


Differentiated instruction, the tailoring of educational experiences to meet individual learner needs, is nothing new. Hardworking teachers have always recognized the diverse needs of students and adjusted their instruction to account for them. Through one-on-one coaching sessions, small group activities, individualized course packets, reading assignments, and projects, teachers are addressing a range of student levels, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and goals in their classrooms today.

ماهو التدريس الفارقي
الانفوجرافيك في آخر الموضوع ومترجم بالعربية سيساعد المدرس على فهم العديد من النقاط المهمة التي تتميز بها البيداغوجيا الفارقية كأسلوب تعليمي فريد يلبي احتياجات التعلم الفردية للمتعلمين . فبالإضافة إلى شرح بسيط للمفهوم سنحاول إبراز فوائد التدريس الفارقي و مجالات تطبيقه في الفصول الدراسية بغض النظر عن الإكراهات و المشاكل التي نواجهها على أرض الواقع

Differentiated instruction is difficult and time-consuming work, however, and class sizes are increasing all the time, making individualized learning harder to achieve. New adaptive learning technology can assist teachers and augment their efforts by recommending which concepts to focus on with a learner or an entire class and by providing instructors and students themselves with information about their concept level strengths and weaknesses. These advancements allow teachers to make the most of class time, leaving students neither overwhelmed nor bored.








Site: knewton

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Could This Be Your Classroom Of The Future?


 How a major tech company (Intel) thinks the classrooms of tomorrow could look?



هل ستكون الفصول الدراسية في المستقبل هكذا
هذا رأي شركة (إنتل) العملاقة.. ما هو رأيك أنت؟ يسعدنا أن تبدي رأيك معنا في كوكتسايت

Friday, September 26, 2014

10 Ways to Motivate Your Child to Learn


If you want your child to be a stellar student, don't limit learning to the walls of his classroom. Although the skills he's learning there are crucial to his intellectual and social growth, your child needs your help to open up the world of ideas. His renewed joy in discovery will transfer to his schoolwork, so you'll boost his academic achievement too!

عشر طرق لزيادة دافعية طفلك للتعلم
إن كنت تريد لطفلك أن يكون طالباً متميزاً، لا تجعل التعلم محدود في جدران الفصول الدراسية، وهذا لا يعني أن التعليم في المدرسة غير مفيد، ولكن عليك أن تساعده لإطلاق أفكاره بحرية وهذه عشرة طرق تزيد من دافعية تعلم طفلك


1. Fill your child's world with reading. Take turns reading with your older child, or establish a family reading time when everyone reads her own book. Demonstrate how important reading is to you by filling your home with printed materials: novels, newspapers, even posters and placemats with words on them.
إملء عالم طفلك بالقراءة



2. Encourage him to express his opinion, talk about his feelings, and make choices. He can pick out a side dish to go with dinner and select his own extracurricular activities. Ask for his input on family decisions, and show that you value it.
شجع طفلك على التعبير عن رأيه، والحديث عن مشاعره



3. Show enthusiasm for your child's interests and encourage her to explore subjects that fascinate her. If she's a horse nut, offer her stories about riding or challenge her to find five facts about horses in the encyclopedia.
أظهر الحماس لاهتمامك طفلك، وشجعه لاستكشاف هذه الاهتمامات



4. Provide him with play opportunities that support different kinds of learning styles — from listening and visual learning to sorting and sequencing. Supplies that encourage open-ended play, such as blocks, will develop your child’s creative expression and problem-solving skills as he builds. He'll need lots of unstructured play time to explore them.
وفر له فرص اللعب التي تدعم انواع مختلفة من أساليب التعلم كالاستماع، والتعلم البصري إلى الفرز والتسلسل




5. Point out the new things you learn with enthusiasm. Discuss the different ways you find new information, whether you're looking for gardening tips on the Internet or taking a night class in American literature.

قم بالإشارة إلى الأشياء التي تعلمتها بحماسة بالغة




6. Ask about what he's learning in school, not about his grades or test scores. Have him teach you what he learned in school today — putting the lesson into his own words will help him retain what he learned.
لا تسأل طفلك عن درجاته أو النقاط التي تحصل عليها في المدرسة بل اسأله ماذا تعلم في المدرسة




7. Help your child organize her school papers and assignments so she feels in control of her work. If her task seems too daunting, she'll spend more time worrying than learning. Check in with her regularly to make sure she's not feeling overloaded.
ساعد طفلك في تنظيم أوراقه وواجباته المدرسية، لأن هذا يعطيه احساساً بالسيطرة على عمله





8. Celebrate achievements, no matter how small. Completing a book report calls for a special treat; finishing a book allows your child an hour of video games. You'll offer positive reinforcement that will inspire him to keep learning and challenging himself.
مهما كانت إنجازات طفلك صغيرة قم بالاحتفال بها معه فوراً






9. Focus on strengths, encouraging developing talents. Even if she didn't ace her math test, she may have written a good poem in English class. In addition to a workbook for math practice, give her a writing journal.
ركز على نقاط القوة وشجعه مواهبة الناشئة






10. Turn everyday events into learning opportunities. Encourage him to explore the world around him, asking questions and making connections.
حول الأحداث اليومية إلى فرص للتعلم


Site: Scholastic

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Ten ways to make learning easier

Are you learning in the best way that you can? Do you find learning easy and enjoyable? If not, by following these learning tips you can make a few powerful changes to make learning easier.

عشر طرق لجعل التعلم أكثر سهولة 
هل تعلم  ما هي أفضل طريقة تمكنك من التعلم بشكل أسهل؟ وهل تجد عملية التعلم ممتعة؟ إن لم يكن، قم باتباع هذه النصائح


1. Stay relaxed, alert and motivated.
Stress in any form reduces your learning power. Learn how to alter your state of mind accordingly. 

ابق هادئاً، وفي حالة استعداد ودافعية فالتوتر والإجهاد يقلل من قدرتك على التعلم واكتساب المهارات الجديدة، لذا ينبغي عليك أن تعلم عقلك ونفسك كيف تبقى هادئاً




2. Cash in on your uniqueness.
Find out how you personally learn best. Ensure that you learn that way. For example, if you listen better than you read, then use audio.

تفرد بطريقة تعلمك الشخصية! واستكشف ما هي أفضل طريقة تناسبك للتعلم، فعلى سبيل المثال إذا كنت تتعلم بالاستماع أكثر من القراءة فتعلم عن طريق السمع 




3. Learn with your mind, body and senses.
After all, you’ve got them, so why not use them? When you do, learning becomes more enjoyable, stimulating, easier and effective. Take inspiration from the way babies learn. Imagine if they were taught by being put in a chair and lectured to! Our brains are used more fully and actively when we bring in physical movement and use as many of our senses as possible.

تعلم باستخدام عقلك وجسدك وحواسك، إن مشاركة جميع ما تملك يجعل التعلم أكثر متعة وتحفيزاً، كما يجعله أكثر سهولة ومتعة، واجعل الطريقة التي يتعلم بها الأطفال ملهمة بالنسبة لك، كما يمكنك أن تتخيل لو أنك ستقوم بإلقاء محاضرة بهذا الدرس وأنت جالس على مقعد، وكلما أستخدمت حواساً أكثر في تعلمك كلما كان ذلك ميسراً لتعلمك





4. Sharpen your learning power with memory skills, speed reading and mindmapping.
These skills save time and increase results. They’re all learnable and will change the way you think and learn forever.

سخر مهارات تنمية الذاكرة، وسرعة القراءة، والخرائط الذهنية في زيادة قوة تعلمك! فهذه المهارات تحفط الوقت وتزيد نتائج التعلم، وسيجعل كل شيء سهل التعلم، كما أنه سيغير طريقة تفكيرك وتعلمك إلى الأبد





5. Learn with others
Social learning, with the right people, provides great benefits. Explore your learning content together and support one another as you move forwards.
Want more articles like this?

تعلم بمشاركة الآخرين، فالتعلم الجماعي مع أشخاص مناسبين يحقق الكثير من الفوائد لك ويكشف قدراتك ونقاط ضعف وقوة تعلمك





6. Question, Question, Question!
Never stop questioning. Be curious. Pull existing ideas, concepts and models to bits. Questions activate the search for answers. Answers provide you with understanding and with usable facts that increase your learning power further.



إسأل، إسأل، إسأل ولا تتوقف عن التساؤل، حلل الأفكار والمفاهيم إلى أجزاء، فالأسئلة تحزفك للبحث عن إجابات، وهذه الإجابات تقدم لك الفهم واستخدام الحقائق لزيادة قوة تعلمك






7. Never forget the main goal
What will learning this particular material enable you to do that you couldn’t do previously? Think short and long term. Exactly what do you have to learn to achieve your desired results? Whatever it is, simulate the desired outcome as early as possible. You’ll learn more, and faster, by immersing yourself in the desired end result situation. You can then learn more theory, and go back and simulate again. Practice, practice, practice.

لا تنسى أبداً الهدف الرئيسي! لا تنسى ما عليك تعلمه لتحقيق النتائج والأهداف التي تتطلع إلى تحقيقها، وحاول دوماً الوصول إلى هذه النتيجة في أقرب وقت ممكن، وحينها ستتعلم بشكل أسرع وبكمية أكبر، وركز على ممارسة ما تتعلمه ومحاكاته باستمرار





8. Show you know
How do you know for sure that you have learned something? Only when you output what you know, either verbally, in writing or by performing. Give it a go, then check with your notes or answers to see if you got it right. Note what you missed. Learn that. And test again.

اعرض ما تعرفه! فكيف يمكنك أن تقطع الشك بأنك فعلاً قد تعلمت شيئاً؟ الحل بسيط وهو اخراج وعرض ما تعرفه سواء بالقول أو الكتابة أو بالأداء، وحينها ستتحقق بنفسك لمعرفة ما إذا كنت على صواب وعاود الكرة من جديد





9. Self assess on how you are progressing
Watch yourself. Notice what you found hard or easy. Notice which learning tips and approaches work and which don’t. Use this information to improve your approach.

قم بتقييم نفسك ذاتياً لتعرف مدى تقدم تعلمك، لاحظ تعلمك ومواطن السهولة والصعوبة فيما تعلمت، واستخدم هذه المعلومات في تحسين أسلوب تعلمك





10. Enjoy the time you’ve freed up!
You will find that working in this way, you have more time at your disposal. Use it to enjoy sports, hobbies and socialising, or to get more work done. Aim to keep a good balance between work and play. You will become much more effective and sharper.

تمتع بالوقت! حتماً ستجد أن الكثير من الوقت تحت تصرفك، استخدمه في الرياضة وممارسة هواياتك، وتقوية علاقاتك الاجتماعية، وحتى لإنجاز المزيد من العمل، وحافظ على التوزان الجيد بين العمل والتسلية


Site: Flying solo

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

How Chinese multiply ...really awesome



This is a Chinese multiplication trick that is really cool and you can multiply bigger numbers without a calculator easier and cooler.

طريقة بسيطة يستخدها الصينين في اجراء بعض عمليات الضرب ... سهلة وقابلة للتطبيق ببساطة على أرقام أكبر وبدون استخدام الآلة الحاسبة






Monday, September 22, 2014

Explore Japan Schools


The basic school system in Japan is composed of elementary school (lasting six years), middle school (three years), high school (three years), and university (four years). Education is compulsory only for the nine years of elementary and middle school, but 98% of students go on to high school. Students usually have to take exams in order to enter high schools and universities. Recently some middle and high schools have joined together to form single, six-year schools.




متعة التعليم في اليابان
ندعوكم في كوكتسايت إلى التعرف على كوكب اليابان وخاصة في مجال التعليم الذي نجح ببراعة في إنتاج هذه العقول المذهلة عالمياً في البداية في الحقيقة لا يختلف نظام التعليم الأساسي في اليابان عن أنظمة التعليم في عالمنا العربي فهو يتكون من المدرسة الابتدائية (ست سنوات)، المدرسة المتوسطة (ثلاث سنوات)، المدرسة الثانوية (ثلاث سنوات) والجامعة (أربع سنوات). التعليم إلزامي فقط لتسع سنوات من المدارس الابتدائية والمتوسطة، والحقيقة أن 98٪ من الطلاب يكملون مرحلة الثانوية، وعادة ما يتوجب على الطلبة تقديم امتحانات ليدخل إلى المدارس الثانوية والجامعات






What Children Learn?
Japanese children enter the first grade of elementary school in the April after their sixth birthday. There are around 30 to 40 students in a typical elementary school class. The subjects they study include Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, music, crafts, physical education, and home economics (to learn simple cooking and sewing skills). More and more elementary schools have started teaching English, too. Information technology is increasingly being used to enhance education, and most schools have access to the Internet.

Students also learn traditional Japanese arts like shodo (calligraphy) and haiku. Shodo involves dipping a brush in ink and using it to write kanji (characters that are used in several East Asian countries and have their own meanings) and kana (phonetic characters derived from kanji) in an artistic style. Haiku is a form of poetry developed in Japan about 400 years ago. A haiku is a short verse of 17 syllables, divided into units of five, seven, and five syllables. Haiku uses simple expressions to convey deep emotions to readers.

ماذا يتعلم الأطفال في اليابان
يدخل الأطفال اليابانيون الصف الأول من المدرسة الابتدائية في ابريل نيسان بعد عيد ميلادهم السادس هناك حوالي 30 إلى 40 طالبا كحد أقصى ليكون الفصل نموذجيا وتشمل الموضوعات التي يدرسونها اللغة اليابانية والرياضيات والعلوم والدراسات الاجتماعية والموسيقى والحرف والتربية البدنية والاقتصاد المنزلي (لتعلم الطبخ والخياطة والتي تكون على شكل مهارات بسيطة)، وقد بدأ المزيد والمزيد من المدارس الابتدائية في تدريس اللغة الإنجليزية أيضا كما يتزايد استخدام تكنولوجيا المعلومات لتعزيز التعليم، ومعظم المدارس من الوصول إلى الإنترنت. 


يتعلم الطلاب أيضا الفنون التقليدية اليابانية مثل الشودو (الخط) والهايكو والشودو ينطوي على غمس الفرشاة في الحبر واستخدامه لكتابة كانجي (الحروف التي تستخدم في العديد من دول شرق آسيا ولها معان خاصة بهم) وكانا (الحروف الصوتية المستمدة من كانجي) بأسلوب فني، في حين الهايكو هو شكل من أشكال الشعر تطورت في اليابان منذ حوالي 400 سنة، ويستخدم الهايكو تعبيرات بسيطة لنقل المشاعر العميقة للقراء

School Life


In Japanese elementary schools, classes are divided into small teams for many activities. For example, as part of their education, every day the students clean the classrooms, halls, and yards of their school in these teams. In many elementary schools, the students eat lunch together in their classrooms, enjoying meals prepared by the school or by a local "school lunch center." Small teams of students take turns to serve lunch to their classmates. School lunches contain a rich variety of healthy and nutritious foods, and students look forward to lunchtime.

There are many school events during the year, such as sports day when students compete in events like tug-of-war and relay races, excursions to historical sites, and arts and culture festivals featuring dancing and other performances by children. Students in the highest grades of elementary, middle, and high schools also take trips lasting up to several days to culturally important cities like Kyoto and Nara, ski resorts, or other places.

Most middle and high schools require students to wear uniforms. Boys generally wear pants and jackets with stand-up collars, and girls wear two-piece suit with sailor collar or blazers and skirts.

الحياة المدرسية
في المدارس الابتدائية اليابانية تنقسم الصفوف إلى مجموعات صغيرة لتقوم بتنفيذ مجموعة من الأنشطة فعلى سبيل المثال، كجزء من ثقافتهم، كل يوم يقوم الطلاب بتنظيف الفصول الدراسية وقاعات وساحات المدرسة في هذه المجموعات
ويتناول الطلاب الغداء معا في صفوفهم، وتقدم وجبات الطعام من قبل المدرسة أو من قبل محليين "مركز غداء المدرسة"، كما وتوجد مجموعات صغيرة من الطلاب يتناوبون لتقديم الغداء لزملائهم بكل احترام وهذه الوجبات تحتوي على مجموعة متنوعة وغنية من الأطعمة الصحية والمغذية

كما يوجد في المدرسة العديد من الأنشطة خلال العام، مثل اليوم الرياضي كتنافس الطلاب في المناسبات مثل شد الحبل والسباقات والتتابع، والرحلات إلى المواقع التاريخية والفنون والمهرجانات الثقافية وأيضا تضم الرقص والعروض الأخرى الإبداعية من قبل الأطفال كما تقوم المدرسة بتنفيذ رحلات ميدانية طويلة تستغرق عدة أيام لزيارة المدن الهامة ثقافيا مثل كيوتو ونارا، ومنتجعات التزلج على الجليد، أو أماكن أخرى. 


Club Activities






Almost all middle school students take part in an extracurricular club activity of their choice, such as a sports team, a musical or arts group, or a science club.

Baseball clubs are very popular among boys. Soccer (football) clubs are also gaining popularity. Judo clubs, where kids train in this traditional martial art, attract boys and girls. They may be inspired by the many great Japanese judo athletes, both male and female, who have won medals at the World Judo Championships and the Olympic Games. Other popular sports clubs include tennis, basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball. In every sport, many games are held between schools and at the regional level, so students have plenty of opportunities to compete.

Among cultural clubs, meanwhile, one that has lately gained popularity is the go club. Go is a strategic board game played with black and white stones. After a manga (comic book) about the game was published, more and more schoolchildren started enjoying go. Other options for students include choir and art clubs. Brass band, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement clubs are also popular.




نوادي للأنشطة
تقريبا جميع طلاب المدارس المتوسطة تشارك في أنشطة النوادي اللامنهجية التي يختارونها، مثل فريق رياضي، فرقة موسيقية أو الفنون أو نادي العلوم 

نوادي البيسبول تحظى بشعبية كبيرة بين الأولاد وأندية كرة القدم تكتسب شعبية أيضا. نوادي الجودو، حيث يتدرب الاطفال في هذا الفن القتالي التقليدي وقد تكون مستوحاة من العديد من الرياضيين الكبار الجودو الياباني، ذكورا وإناثا، الذين فازوا بميداليات في بطولة العالم للجودو ودورة الألعاب الأولمبية وتشمل الأندية الرياضية الشعبية الأخرى التنس وكرة السلة والجمباز والكرة الطائرة كما وتعقد العديد من المباريات بين المدارس وعلى المستوى الإقليمي، لذلك الطلاب لديهم الكثير من الفرص للمنافسة

وبرأينا في كوكتسايت فإن التعليم في اليابان لا يختلف كثيراً عن التعليم في مدارسنا، ولكن تبقى مشكلة اكتضاض الصفوف عائقاً حقيقياً تحول دون اهتمام المعلم بتفاصيل تعليم كل طفل في الفصل، عدا عن الثقافة المجتمعية التي تدعم التعليم إلى أبعد حدود وتقدسه بشكل كبير



Site: Web Japan

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Create Flash®, HTML and CD-Rom Educational Presentations and Projects


Mediator 9's icon-based editing lets your students drag-and-drop their way to Flash®, HTML and interactive CDs quicker than with any other web or multimedia tool. Combine text, images, sounds and videos. Apply transitions and interactivity - no programming needed! Then simply use the "one click" export to Flash, HTML or CD-Rom. It's easy, fast and fun! 


البرنامج الجديد ميدياتور
برنامج لتصميم العروض والوسائط المتعددة التعليمية وغير التعليمية ويدعم اللغة العربية بشكل كامل كما يدعم قواعد البيانات باللغة العربية أيضا وبشكل ممتاز يمكنكم من برمجة معظم العروض والفيديو بسهولة ويسر


Mediator is perfect for students to create websites or interactive CDs in any subject across the curriculum. Students can manipulate text, sound, image and video files. An ideal way to cover ICT standards.


Multimedia Authoring in 4 easy steps:
  1. Create the pages you need
  2. Add content
  3. Create interactivity
  4. Distribute with a mouse click





مميزات البرنامج

  • واجهة اوفيس 2007
  • برمجة البرنامج تعتمد على اسلوب السحب والاسقاط ولذلك فلا داعي لوجود خبرة سابقة في الكود
  • ضغطة زر واحدة تقوم بعمل تصدير للمشروع النهائي
  • مشاهدة المعاينة والمؤثرات مباشرة وكأنك قمت بتصدير المشروع فعليا
  • مكتبة هائلة للصور تضم 1500 شكل قابلة للبحث ومضمنة داخل البرنامج
  • وجود معالجات الوسائط لتسهيل مهمتك داخل البرنامج
  • تغيير الدقة تلقائيا لتلائم مشروعك مع امكانية ضبط حجم الشاشة
  • التوافق مع كم ضخم من فورمات الصوت والصورة والفيديو
  • امكانية عمل صفحات فرعية وأخرى رئيسية بسهولة
  • امكانية عمل مشاركة لمشروعك عبر الشبكة ليعمل فيه أكثر من شخص 



Key features of Mediator 9:
  • Get started right away
  • No programming/scripting required
  • Packed with helpful design features
  • Use advanced features instantly
  • One-click export to CD-ROM, Flash® and HTML



  • دعم اللغة العربية في كامل البرنامج وأيضا يدعم ربط قواعد البيانات باللغة العربية
  • يدعم رسومات المتجهات مع وجود محرر داخلي
  • وجود مكتبات للتأثيرات على الصورة والنص مما يوفر الكثير من الوقت
  • ادخال جميع الكائنات عن طريق الاكتيف اكس بسهولة ويسر
  • تحويل مشروعك الى مشروع فلاشي بسهولة والتصدير لفلاش
  • امكانية تحويل مشروعك الى ملف تنصيب لجهاز المستخدم بسهولة
  • مؤثرات ثلاثية الأبعاد ومبهرة
  • لغة برمجة بصرية موسعة وقوية
  • امكانية كتابة وتحرير صفحات الاتش تي ام ال
  • وجود نظام متغيرات البرنامج وكذلك متغيرات النظام والربط بينهما
  • امكانية الربط مع برامج خارجية




Perfect For Creating:
  • CD-ROM presentations
  • Touch-screen displays (kiosks)
  • Auto-running tradeshow demos
  • SCORM-compliant CBT
  • Dynamic HTML design
  • Flash projects
 Download


هذه أمثلة صممتها بالبرنامج

http://www.4shared.com/zip/bKzFF13L/tartib.html
http://www.4shared.com/zip/bKzFF13L/tartib.html
http://www.gulfup.com/?LAk5E7

http://www.4shared.com/rar/uQ905Ie8/lettre1.html

وهذه لعبتين فلاشيتين بالبرنامج
http://upload.traidnt.net/dldmPO51930.zip.html

Site: Awraky

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Elementary and Primary Public School in Roldán / Estudio Huma


The site for the school belongs to the Partial Plan Los Cachimanes, in the town of Roldán (Torre-Pacheco). This is a project on the outskirts of the town, where there is an intention to create a residential complex, equipped with the necessary facilities for the demands of the future population, including the Public School.

The site features various slopes, so it is necessary to fill in different areas of the site, to create a topography as horizontal as possible.

مدرسة فى أسبانيا جدرانها من الحشائش وتبدو كجزء من الطبيعة
هذا التصميم يمكن أن يسهم فى تربية وتعليم نشء يقدر قيمة المحافظة على البيئة، وهذا المشهد الغريب هو جزء من مدرسة حديثة توجد في أسبانيا، وهي من تصميم مجموعة استيديو هيوما المعمارية التي أرادت جعلها تبدو كجزء من الطبيعة فغطتها بأكملها بالحشائش

ويتميز تصميم المدرسة بالجمع بين متناقضين هما ألوان الطبيعة الهادئة وبساطة التصميم من ناحية، والخطوط الحادة التي ترمز للعالم الصناعي من ناحية أخرى. وبجانب شكلها الغريب تتميز المدرسة بتصميم أفقي، لذا يسهل توسعتها وزيادة وحدات أخرى بزيادة الحاجة لمقاعد أو فصول إضافية في المدرسة. الجميل في مدرسة كهذه أنها ستساهم في تربية وتعليم جيل يقدر قيمة المحافظة على البيئة، لأننا نتجه لعالم يزداد قناعةً يوماً بعد يوم بأننا إن لم نحافظ على كوكبنا فلن يحافظ علينا


The project sets an artificial ecosystem in a place to be consolidated, the result of urban development based on generating a natural entity through architecture and giving it life through its use.

The school is built on virgin land, as this is the first building in the Partial Plan Los Cachimanes. For this reason, the architecture office Huma was concerned that the building should be well designed on the plot and always elevated above the level of the site, protected from the occasional but heavy rains that occur in the area. For this reason, the building stands on a perimeter wall almost two meters high, creating a basement that contains storage space for the school.


The morphology of the site allows us to extend horizontally, designing the entire school on one level, keeping the building up against the edges to create a small void inside to serve as playground for children, isolating them from the noise.

Thus, the site sets the physical layout of the project in plan, with two distinct areas of elementary and primary school united by a common meeting point at the access.

The boundary of the school is the building itself. The building surrounds the perimeter of the site and acts as a boundary, as a permeable filter between the free exterior space and the interior playgrounds, creating controlled and defined spaces.


The school is built modeled by slanted levels, generating spatial tensions, breaking the monotony and giving it expression, fully wrapped by a green carpet of artificial turf that turns it into a natural entity in the place. The facade turns into roof in a spatial continuum, the green turf rises and descends with different slopes, creating a changing profile outside, distinctive and rich. A recognizable skyline for the student, a significant point in the memory of the place.

From the outside to the interior playgrounds, different treatments are designed, calibrated as filters from the most public to the most private.


The first skin, designed as a galvanized mesh, defines the architectural form. The second skin is defined by the classroom blocks and other areas of the school. Between the two is a continuous exterior space, a perimeter acoustic buffer and green barrier, where nature classrooms are located. These are teaching spaces outside where the child’s interaction with nature is enhanced. The third skin separates the main multifunctional block from the interior playgrounds.

The playground is the child’s inner world, structured through the different ‘fingers’, as steps that configure the various entrances and well as spaces with much needed shade, without the need for additions, always understood as a continuation of the school itself.

This architectural piece creates a green school, a place to teach from nature.



Mutant Classrooms

Huma architecture office is developing a PhD thesis on mutant architectures. For this, in this project we propose the possibility of making an outdoor classroom that could change shape, appearance, color, size, and use.

It is a mutant classroom that adapts to the needs of the students at each moment, so that our contemporary classroom is always addressing all the needs of the students.



Result

The building has grown in a natural way, no abrupt decisions are taken. The school is as its own essence and its creative source.

The result is a live green organ, which serves as context for the children to develop and enjoy a green framework, in contact with mother nature.



Site: Archdaily

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Top 10 Tools For Personal Learning in 2014


Are you looking for ways to expand your learning tool set? Do you need to find new efficiencies in the way you learn? If so, you’ll be interested in in Jane Hart’s annual Top 100 Tools for Learning Survey (closes September 19, 2014), where you can participate and see some of the latest results.

The survey allows learning professionals to vote for the applications they find most useful. The results are always informative, providing an opportunity to discover new tools that support personal learning as well as those you might use for design and development. The survey defines a learning tool as, “…any software or online tool or service that you use either for your own personal or professional learning, for teaching or training, or for creating e-learning.”

Here are my top ten favorite tools for personal learning, though I could have easily listed 15. If you have a published list or have any comments, please leave them in the Comments below.


Learning designers are often addicted to learning and what better way to fulfill your obsession than to listen to podcasts while exercising, driving and doing household chores? I download podcasts through iTunes, but Stitcher may have a better interface–I haven’t tried that yet. I listen to podcasts on brain science, design, business, writing, spirituality, technology, pop-culture, TED talks and stories from This American Life. Story podcasts are great for road trips.


HootSuite is a social media management tool. Using a dashboard interface, it lays out all of your social media input and output in columns, so you can see the incoming feed, messages you’ve received and Tweets you’ve sent (if using it for Twitter) neatly displayed in one view. This makes it easy to hold conversations and to dip into the Twitter stream, which provides endless opportunities for learning.


Like many other people, I find Evernote to be an invaluable tool for varied tasks related to learning. In particular, Evernote makes it easy to save articles and jot down notes when you are researching a topic. You can download an Evernote web clipper tool for your browser (at the browser add-on site) to save articles for later reading. You can use Evernote to write down creative ideas on the fly, make to-do lists and automate tasks with IFTTT, which has thousands of Evernote recipes.

Evernote can help you keep your information organized because of its simple structure: Notes can be tagged and collected into Notebooks. Then Notebooks can be collected into Stacks.


When Google eliminated iGoogle as an RSS feed organizer, I searched far and wide for a replacement. There were several RSS aggregators with beautiful designs, but surprisingly, those interfaces just got in the way of the quick scanning and easy access I was seeking. I finally settled on NetVibes, which has a utilitarian dashboard that works for my purposes. I subscribe to scores of RSS feeds and organize them in tabs by topic. This makes it easy to browse and find articles of interest.


LinkedIn has been around for quite awhile and is often thought of as a networking tool for job seekers. But I also think of it as a social tool that enables discussions for people with common interests. The LinkedIn communities of practice are some of the best places to meet your peers and learn from the group conversations. If you haven’t yet joined any of these groups, access them through the LinkedIn Interests menu and select Groups. Then search for groups of interest by keyword. Some forums that may interest you include: Instructional Design and eLearning Professionals’ Group, the eLearning Guild, Training and Development, Articulate, Adobe eLearning Professionals Group, Instructional Designers and many more.

6. Kindle App (for reading on iPad, smartphone or laptop)

Many people still don’t know that you do not need a Kindle to read Kindle eBooks. The Kindle app works on various tablets, smartphones and computers. You can always having something to read when you’re in the mood with the Kindle app on your phone or tablet. Also, there are many self-published books that are only available in digital versions. The Kindle App opens up lots of opportunities for learning.


SimpleMind is an intuitive tool for creating mind maps when you need to brainstorm or get those ideas out of your head to visualize them. This type of task seems to reflect an early stage of learning, when one organizes, consolidates and clarifies information and ideas prior to writing, creating a presentation, or designing a course. There are many other mind mapping tools, of course, but this one is my favorite.


Although the functionality of an online bookmarking tool overlaps with Evernote, I find Diigo to be more convenient for saving bookmarks. So much of the appeal of a tool is the simplicity of its user interface and functionality. Diigo does well in both these categories, in my opinion. The tagging and search features are straightforward. And you can add a Diigo toolbar to your browser. This is an excellent way to bookmark articles for future research or reading.


Many people consider WordPress to be the best content management system around. Its large user community has produced thousands of plugins to extend its functionality. In terms of learning, one of the best forms of self-education is researching, writing, sharing and discussing. You can do all of that with WordPress. WordPress can also work as a learning portal and there are plugins to use it as a learning management system.


When doing research, my first stop is usually Google Scholar. The results provide a list of journal articles and papers, rather than the typical anything-goes search results. Often, the articles are free PDF files from a university or open journal or provided by the author. Other articles must be accessed from an academic database or from a university library. Google Scholar is a valuable resource for finding research-based articles.