Using Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve to Memorize Words

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve is a line which slhows how information saved by our mind is lost over time when we do not review it. This curve is important because it tells people when to review knowledge is optimum. In other words, we can spend less time during a period to acquire the permanent recollection. So if we obey this curve to recite foreign languages, we will get the best effect on learning a new language.

Shanbay is a website which aims to teach native (Chinese) speakers to learn English in terms of listening, writing, speaking and reading. The biggest difference between this website and other foreign language learning websites is the learning method that follows the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.

All of functions of this website are showed below.

1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.	11.
Shanbay	Memorizing Words	Making a Sentence	Listening	Reading	Group Chat	Elite	Test of Words Volume	Insurance of Quiz	Sign In	Sign Up

The most famous part in this website is Memorizing Words (Second Column). You need to sign up at first because this website records your data in order to provide you a long-term study plan. I have registered an account: User name: ljiayi@umich.edu; Key: 123456789. After you sign in, you will see:

Press the green button which means “Start Learning”, and then you will start reciting words. As this one:

On the bottom of this screenshot, red "2" means that after you saw these two words, you also do not know the meaning of that, the website will repeat these two words soon; green "2" means you have already know the meaning of two words showed before. The rest part "16" illustrates you will learn 16 new words soon.On the middle of this screenshot, "1" means you know this word, “2” means you don't know the meaning of this word.

After studying these words, the website will collect your data and then some words may occur after the several days. When and whether the word occurs again follow the rule of the Forgotten Curve.

Almost all of my friends in China who want to recite English words use this website to improve their English skills. Facts speak louder than eloquences. After reciting words form this website for more than a month, they told me they know a lot of new words and some of them also use these new words into writing the article.

Sometimes it is hard for students to learn new things or remember some physical rules. A better way to solve these problems is to repeat learning these things by following the forgetting cure.

The Bright Orange Box

A child is sitting at their desk in a typical, modern day classroom in the United States. They are watching a video lesson that's being streamed from the internet and broadcasted onto the front board of the room by a smart projector. The end of the class eventually comes and perhaps the student will think nothing of the technological advancements that were used in their learning during that school day.
Somewhere else in another area of the country, or perhaps a location in another country, the students there are flipping through old textbooks that are frayed and worn from use year after year. The board in the front of the room is not filled with a digitally displayed image, but with the strong, sharp lines of white chalk or dry erase markers. One thing that these students may not have access to is an internet connection and/or electricity.

A start up company called LumenEd has tried to fill in that gap to allow classrooms who don't have access to the internet or electricity, the same means as those who do. After a successful Kickstarter fundraiser, the product that they created is called the Bright Orange Box and is designed to allow a multitude of various uses in these types of rural school settings. The box is essentially a smart projector that has a bright display to show a full amount of digital content and allowing it to be heard by the units built in speakers. One of the main features of the Bright Orange Box is that it solves the issue of not having internet or electricity available. The unit has built-in 3G and WiFi wireless so the internet can be accessed from almost anywhere in the world. The issue of not having electrical access is solved by containing an internal battery that powers the unit for over 2 hours if it's on full brightness setting. It will last much longer if it's at a lower brightness level. The unit can then be charged either by a standard wall outlet or by putting it in the path of sunlight. There are built in solar panels that will charge the internal battery. It's pointed out that the Bright Orange Box uses a simplified version of Android as it's operating system and will play back a vast array of assorted multimedia formats and files. Not only does the box have a built-in camera, but it can also be used to record their classroom if they wish.

Having a built-in camera is a major feature that leads to another goal that LumenEd wants to accomplish. LumenEd wants classrooms with these units to pair up with one another through what they call the Video Pen Pal Program. Through the use of a mobile app, the two classrooms can create and share short videos with each other. This promotes many objectives such as cultural exchange, elevation of learning through technology, and collaboration skills, just to name a few.

Even though many students in this day and age live in a location where high tech learning is the norm, there's also many students who live in locations that do not have access to such learning methods and equipment. I believe that the Bright Orange Box is a fantastic creation with a high level of potential, bridging the gap between those with and without certain educational technologies.

For more in-depth look at the tech specs, a video and overall details, please visit this website.

Make Me Genius

        I found a site for grades K-7, that focuses on science. They have multiple videos and they separate them by grade or popularity. Videos from animal homes, plant parts and their functions, landform, and many many more topics to pick from. They have a section called "cool facts" this gives you a couple options to chose from depending on what you want to learn. Once you click on the facts you want to learn about it takes you to a page that lists all the neat facts about that one particular topic. The lists of facts is incredibly long, some are short little facts, some are a bit longer facts. They also have another section with even more videos, called "see and learn." This is mostly projects for grades 2-5, but I'm sure the older students can still enjoy the projects. 

        This website also has many power-points. Including parenting tips, one for preparing your child against bullying and another about attention span improvement. There are some jokes as well! Another neat thing is the science test questions. Which includes a video you may want to watch before taking the test. You could also have the student take the test before watching the video to see how well they do. If you didn't get all the answers correctly you could watch the video and retake the test and see how much you learned and improved. It test doesn't exactly let you see which questions you answered wrong, but it will let you know if you are ready to move on to the next level.

        I personally think that this website is neat. You can use this at home with your children. Throughout the day you can have them pick a video or a topic they want to learn about and you can both sit down and watch the video. You can even just sit down and read some facts if you would like. This is a good idea for a classroom project as well. The only disadvantage would be if YouTube was blocked at your school, because all the videos are actually uploaded onto YouTube. You could always take some type to download the video with a url you could actually open in class. The power-points would be another thing that you could use in class, and it wouldn't require internet access if you didn't have it. All you would have to do is save the powerpoint in a flash drive before the date scheduled for this activity. I do wish that they had printable projects for students to work on. This was if they did not have access to YouTube they could still learn about the topic as well as have a project on it. 

B.Y.O.D (Bring Your Own Device)

There was a time that it was often discouraged for a student to bring electronic devices to school with them. Items such as mobile phones, iPad's, iPod's, etc. They were considered a hindrance and a distraction from learning in the classroom. Although, as technology has become much more commonplace in the modern classroom and educational setting, those devices have become not just acceptable, but items that are expected for a student.

B.Y.O.D is an acronym for Bring Your Own Device. This is a trend that is starting to become more and more common in the school setting as a multitude of reasons are allowing (and sometimes expecting) students to bring their own personal electronic devices from home to use as an accompanying learning tool. In the linked article, there's many different factors that are supplied which point out the reasoning behind the shift into the B.Y.O.D policy.

One of the factors pointed out is that students are familiar with their own devices and that it makes the learning process easier for them than it would be to learn a whole new piece of hardware. In return, it makes the overall flow of the classroom much smoother and there's less time wasted in the never ending search for maximum and efficient instructional time. Another factor that's worthwhile of being pointed out is the cost. It's no secret that many schools are facing hefty budget cuts, that many teachers use their own personal funds for classroom supplies, etc. Having a student bring in their own device saves the schools and districts massive amounts of money as compared to what they would have to spend on the hardware, software, workers to setup the workstations and so on. It then raises the question of what about the students who can't afford to purchase their own smartphone or other device. The supplied article essentially makes the push for the belief that it's cheaper for local communities and organizations to help raise the money to purchase these items for low income students than it would cost for state funded, school assigned devices to be supplied. These are only a few of the many complex factors that are involved in the change to students using personal devices.

I think that B.Y.O.D carries a great deal of potential, although many factors come into play that would need to be addressed. Would all students have to have the same operating systems so that apps and software would work? Since they are personal devices, how would you stop the students from playing games, messaging friends, etc when they should be focusing on the lesson being instructed, and so forth. It is mentioned in the article that schools set up separate networks that offer limited internet access, but this doesn't offer the same control as to what a teacher would be able to limit if the class was using school assigned devices that are able to be commanded in every aspect.

To help get an idea of how B.Y.O.D can be implemented into schools and classrooms, the following article provides examples on policies and how you could also create your own. I'm sure that B.Y.O.D will continue to gain in popularity and that if applied right, it will equally beneficial to schools, students and teachers.

Multiplying...

        The scary truth is that I have always had trouble with multiplication. Math in general has always been my weak area. Till this day it takes me a lot longer than the average person to complete a problem. I know I am capable of doing any problem, it just takes a lot longer for me to process the problem so quickly. Anytime the teacher gave us 5-15 minutes to complete a do now that was as "simple" as 3 problems it scared me inside. No matter how good I was at doing the problem it seemed like I could never finish either before or around the same time as my classmates.

        I remember always having a laminated multiplication chart. I carried that baby around like it was life or death, I needed it more than it needed me. It was very embarrassing to pull out my chart, so I tried to take sneak peaks at it. Of course I didn't have the option of using my chart on tests, so my test score depended on how well my memory was working. As I got older I repeated over and over and over to myself those certain multiplication tables I couldn't seem to keep in my head. Eventually I memorized more than I had previously knew, but even today I couldn't say probably half of the chart with out actually doing the math.

        I wish I could have known at the time to look online for some help in this particular area. I consider myself tech-savvy, and if I would have cared a little more about math I would have just goggled math games. I found this neat website that helps you with your 2-10 tables, as well as 11-19 tables. on this website you can drag the equation to the right answer, you can simply type in the answer the equation, or you can tale a test on the equations. I think this is an easy site to navigate and I honestly believe I could have used this when I was younger, and its never too late to learn so I can still use it today. I also like that there is an app for iPhone and iPad users, although you could still use it on a tablet if you just pulled it up from the internet.

       Overall I think this site would be a great help for students that need a little extra help learning their multiplications tables.

Navigating Child Life Apps

One of the most vital technologies that a Child Life Specialist has in their emergency kit is their Ipad. The Ipad has become a staple among Child Life Specialists. However, with all of the apps available on the App Store it can be difficult to narrow down which apps are appropriate for the department you have been assigned to and the age group you will be working with. This website Child Life has a compilation of every app that a Child Life Specialist could ever need.

I think that this website could be used for CLS and teachers alike. If you are looking for a specific app to teach a recently deaf child some basic sign language you can simply search for "sign language" in the websites search bar and all sign-language related apps will pop up. 

Then once you choose the app that you're interested in you can click "view". This button will pop up a variety of helpful materials. It has a rating for that particular app so you can see what other users thought of it. It also has a comments section, which is the best part. CLS, teachers, or any other educator using the website has the ability to leave a comment for everyone else to see. So, if someone figures out a different use for the app then the intended use they can leave that comment. The view window also allows you to see the last time the app was modified, to make sure it is not out of date, and can take you directly to the apps website. The app is also broken down into categories based on who the app is most appropriate for. Some of the categories are: Parents, families, medical reference, pre-school children, etc. 

For a better experience with the website users can create an account through their hospital or school so that their most used apps are saved in a convenient way. While the site is primarily set-up for CLS, I think that teachers could also benefit from its use because of the wide variety of apps available. They have everything from apps for autistic children, medical words in Spanish, to simple distraction games like Angry Birds. 

Educational System------Learning with Computer

Students in K-12 are encouraged to use the laptop in class.

Someone thinks that students may play computer games at classes. The computer rather than teachers may absorb their attentions in class. Obviously, these problems were solved.

One of the elementary school's students tells me that they are allowed to take a laptop to school because they have to do their assignments and teachers may teach them via their own computers. The school only permits students to have very basic functional laptops at school .The operation system of computer usually is Chrome (The cost of this system with other software is much more less than others.(Page 7)) which is not compatible to almost all of games, even no "Mine Sweeping". This operation system solves the problem that students may use the computer to play games installed in hard disks. There is no doubt that some courses need Internet access. Teachers may ask them to submit class attendence via their own laptops or do some interactive games via Internet. However, Some people may think that they may play games on Internet. The best way to solve this problem is that just admit limited websites which relates to learning. In this way, technology really enhances students' learning efficiency and grades.

Nowadays, we cannot block the advanced technology. Every coin has two sides. But if we utilize mobile devices with a limited way or with a proper method, the technology will promote the wellbeing of mankind, especially for kids and children. A search(Page 5) shows that the effency of teaching will increase 25% because of sharing resources with each other between leptops. Besides, The reliability of Chromebooks which aim to use in the field of teaching is higher than other systems(Page 12). In some courses, everyone uses their laptop in class.Although trial sometimes means the failure, we cannot give up the trial. By the same as popularizing mobile devices, it may occur some problems towards students. But after modifying or updating device-using system, the career of education will stand in a higher point. Everyone will get benefits from this new educational system and our society will be more well-aligned.

Why Educational System in American is better than China?------Digital Divices

Last Saturday, I was invited to have a dinner with an American family. They are pretty kind to me. I was interested in the system of education in America. So I chatted with child who is 6th grade at a private high school.

He told me that a class only maintains 20 students. So teachers could teach students with different methods in various ways. This small class satisfies each person’s personality, such as introversion person, outgoing person and so forth. Obviously, this is the innate character of education which means that teach different students with different ways.

Compared to China, there are more than 60 students in a class because of the dense population. This leads to every student absorbs knowledge in a same method. As a result, most of students don't have their own opinion but a same rule that teachers told toward a certain problem. Obviously, everyone is unique. We need to obey the rules that teach students according to their own aptitude. However, until now, there are more than 60 students in a class. That is the main reason why most Chinese will not be leaders after they have the advanced education.

We cannot deny the dense population in China, but we can use the advanced technology to change this situation. Mobile era is coming now so students and teachers need to seize the opportunity to create a new method to teach students. Just as professor said that a better way for schooling is using the computer wich can access Internet to enhance experience of learning and to satisfy each student's need.

Cheating In The Classroom Only Cheats Yourself

A friend slips you a note with the answer for questions 1-5 and tells you that the test coming up in your next class is simple and not even difficult. Now that you have the answers written down by someone who has taken the test, you don't even have to worry about doing well on it.

This may have been a scenario from a school setting back some time ago, when paper and pencil was the prevalent method that students used to help themselves and others to cheat on their studies and classwork. These days, technology has changed all of that and in fact has made it easier for students to take advantage of "alternate" methods to get the right answers on an exam or to write out a lengthy report. An article I came across talks about this issue of students and cheating in the educational setting. There's many different methods covered in the article that range from printing off an already written paper to websites that let users type in the math problems they have and the answer will be given to them without having to do the work. Some students even hide the cheat answers in their graphing or pocket calculators.

So even though there's many "alternate" routes that can be taken to get the correct answers or the perfect paper in a class, are they really worth it? Let's think about this one for a second. Sure, the instant satisfaction of getting an "A" on an exam or a 100% on a math test would be exhilarating, but does it really sustain the feeling? In a sense, a person is only cheating them self when they do these things because let's say in the future if you need to know the material for a surprise quiz or even a position in the field of work that you choose, you won't know how to do it and the lack of knowledge about it will show. Depending on the field, many employers will test your skills on the subject matter of the position that you're trying to get. How can one expect to get the job if they can't pass the initial skills test? On top of that, there's the obvious consequences of being caught. Failed assignments, exams and other types of punishments for cheating. Along with all of that, there's no replacement for the feeling of knowing that you worked hard for what you earned.

The causes for cheating could be numerous. The increased pressure in modern academics, peer pressure to want to get the highest grade possible, family pressure to make them proud, self pressure to get into the best university possible, etc. The reasons are numerous and near limitless, but in my opinion, there's no substitution for putting in the time, effort and hard work to learn the material that's being studied. There's the old saying "you reap what you sow", in this case of doing the right thing and not cheating on education, there couldn't be a better example.

About what?

About what?

Sometimes I find grammar in a foreign language difficult, like what is the perfect past tense and why would I use it? When having questions about French grammar I often turn to a website called French.about.com. It is useful for those little questions. For example I was writing a paper in French and a sentence did not sound right to me. I looked up the verb I used on google, then a link with the website was the second link I clicked on it and it showed me a list of verbs like the one I was using that need a preposition after it. Another time I used about.com was when I was reading for a literature class and I forgot my book, they had the whole story on the web. About.com has other sections like math, science and social studies. I find it useful because the give in depth answers about topics and resources for students and teachers to use. 

Online Classes Are Easier Than Being In The Classroom, Right?

I was recently talking with someone who started their school semester classes again for the Fall semester and we got to talking about what classes exactly that they were taking. They were proud to point out that a couple of the classes that they decided to take were online classes. They proceeded to tell me that they took them because it would make things easier that they can do the work from anywhere there's a computer and internet connection and that they could also do the work anytime they wanted to, day or night. Then, the next thing they decided to relay to me took me a bit by surprise, they told me that also took the classes online because it would be much easier than if they took it in a classroom based setting.

Sure enough, they were pretty disappointed when I told them that regardless if it's in the classroom it self or an online course, the workload and expectancies are not going to be any different. Just the format itself is going to be different. To prove my point to them, I showed them a website that backed up my claims as well.

I was able to speak upon the topic of online classes with them because I also had online classes in the past. I knew from firsthand experience that the classes are (usually) just the same as being physically present in the classroom, but in some ways it's a little more difficult. Some of the things that are different is that you really must be self driven and have the motivation to complete the assignments, collaborations, online meetings, etc. When you don't have anyone in person to push you to make sure the things get done, it's very easy to lapse into a "I'll do it later" mode, which is quickly found out not to get you very far. In my opinion, you also must be very organized and inclined for self learning. You'll be presented with the material for the class and you must organize your time accordingly to accomplish it.

I do believe online courses absolutely have their benefits as well. If you are self driven and you have the inclination to take it upon yourself to learn what's presented in the course, it can work out great in your favor. I also think that it's an amazing thing that with the online courses, they allow a student (and teacher) to hold class no matter where someone is located at. Someone could be out of state on vacation or any other matter and still be able to hold class on schedule.

Keeping all of that in mind, it's important to remember that while online classes can certainly make things easier, the classes themselves are not always easier. Technology has allowed education to be accessed by many more people than without it and that doesn't change what's expected to be learned and taken away from the subject being studied.