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Case studies, articles, and podcasts showcase educator voices and unpack the powerful implications of the learning sciences for education practitioners.

Case studies

Case studies describe how three school districts leveraged their experience with Course of Mind to explore innovative ideas around instructional practice and edtech selection with the learning sciences

Caldwell County Schools is a mid-sized public school district in northwestern North Carolina. Dr. Katrina McEllen, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Program Services, oversees curriculum for a student population of about 10,500. While edtech isn’t explicitly within her purview, she works hand in hand with the district’s technology department because, as she says, “in this day and age, it's hard to do much without some form of technology in the classroom.”

Spread across more than 40 individual buildings, Rockford Public Schools is the third largest school district in Illinois. As Educational Technology Director for the entire district, Susan Uram is responsible for ensuring that roughly 28,000 students and their teachers have access to the most impactful learning technology available.

On a Native American reservation in the southwest corner of New York state sits Salamanca City Central School District. Marcy Brown is the Director of Technology for the small district, tasked with the procurement of all educational software and hardware for a group of roughly 1,400 students and 300 faculty members.

Podcast

Our Course of Mind podcast series explores the ins and outs of learning - from the cognitive to the emotional - with learning sciences experts.

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Learning sciences in practice

Course of Mind articles explore how the learning sciences can help teachers make instruction more effective and efficient - with or without edtech.

Course of Mind: ISTE’s learning sciences initiative

Get answers to your questions.What are the learning sciences? What is the Course of Mind? How do I get involved?

The learning sciences — a toolkit to learn and understand

How can you use the learning sciences to learn, and better yet, to understand your experiences? Read Kripa Sundar’s story on how she did just that.

How do I set my students up for success?

"How do my students learn?" is the question that drove Patrice Bain to the learning sciences. Read her experience of growing from an educator to one empowered by the learning sciences.

How and why Flipgrid and learning sciences work together

Kristin Harrington mixes the new and the old when she develops and tests a lesson using elaboration strategy turbocharged using Flipgrid videos. Curious how? Here is how.

Redefining my classroom with retrieval practice using Quizizz

Holly King redefined her classroom culture to one of success, empowerment and collaboration -- all with retrieval practice. Get her tips on getting started with retrieval practice.

Embed the learning sciences into professional learning

Teacher specialists from Frederick County Public Schools (MD) apply learning sciences in their professional development. How does PD based on learning sciences look? Here is a sneak peek.

Mythology and the magic of dual coding

One teacher almost started not liking her favorite subject. Then she used dual coding. Magic - backed by science.

Level up learning with retrieval practice

Read on to find out how retrieval practice is a frequent occurence in this teacher’s classroom and how it helped with not just students’ learning and their engagement, but the teacher’s disposition too.

I’m a Peace Teacher. Here’s How Brain Science Helps My Kids Handle Conflict.

Peace teacher Linda Ryden helps kids navigate conflict, but too often she noticed students losing their cool and forgetting her lessons in the moment. She’s using brain science to help kids understand what’s happening to them and why so they can have thoughtful discussions and learn calming strategies that really work

My Greatest Teaching Problem Was Feedback. Here’s How Research Helped Me Solve It.

Providing feedback to 100 students has been Elizabeth Matlick’s greatest teaching challenge. Here’s how she’s using academic research on feedback literacy to make the workload more bearable.

How 3 Techniques From Cognitive Psychology Reinvigorated My Math Classroom

High school math teacher Torre’ Mills spent 20 years watching kids struggle, mastering concepts only to forget them before big tests. Here’s how using cognitive psychology techniques to keep concepts fresh in students’ minds has transformed his classroom.

How Brain Research Helped Retool Our School Schedule for Remote Learning

In 2019, a Maryland school revamped its daily schedule to follow best practices from brain science research. Recently, school leaders retooled again to support remote learning.