Education trends are a fascinating and ever-changing entity. Seeing where things are going in your chosen field is always interesting. However, how are popular education trends measured? Also, once you've got them, how do you merge them into your practice?
Here are a few ideas that may help. For starters, TeachThought has posted an article entitled 30 Of The Most Popular Trends In Education. Here's how they gathered them together:
"We basically took four quantifiable data points and combined them with fallible but hopefully useful good old-fashioned human awareness and recognition. The result is four objective measures and one subjective ‘sense of things.’ We then combined them to create a ‘score,’ quantified on a scale of 1 through 10 where 10 is the highest."
What's great about this post is the clear picture it gives of what fields these popular education trends include and where they are going. It's a highly informative read if you want to know what to look forward to. We've taken it one step further as well. Borrowing the top 7 trends from their post, we've offered up a few resources to help you experience them.
7 Resources for 7 Popular Education Trends
When exploring popular education trends, it's helpful to have teaching resources to assist along the way. The top trends below are listed as they appear in TeachThought's helpful article. Additionally, we've suggested a free resource for dabbling in each one. Check out what's on offer below and enjoy your journey with these most popular education trends.
1. Growth Mindset
- Score: 10
- Trending: Up
- Related Topics: Maker Education, Student-Centered Learning, Habits of Mind, Emotion in Learning, Empathy
Our Free Resource
This 11x17 infographic poster comparing fixed and growth mindsets has simple questions for sparking lively discussion with learners. Download it at the link or by clicking on the image below. In addition, check out this list of self-assessment questions for encouraging a growth mindset.
2. Maker Learning
- Score: 9.7
- Trending: Up
- Related Topics: Failing Forward, Robotics in the Classroom, Coding, Self-Directed Learning
Our Free Resource
Enjoy these 12 fun projects for teaching STEM subjects. Inside are 12 awesome projects for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to choose from. You've got selections for primary, middle, and senior grades and they're also customizable for other grade levels.
3. Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Score: 9.7
- Trending: Neutral
- Related Topics: Critical Thinking, Curriculum Mapping, Self-Directed Learning, Inquiry
Our Free Resource
Actually, for this one we have two resources and you'll enjoy them both. As popular education trends go, Bloom's Taxonomy represents a world of possibilities for the spectrum of learning. First, we're offering our popular poster of Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs. Next, check out this cool Bloom's Interactive Periodic Table of project ideas. Click on each image and get these terrific free Bloom's Taxonomy resources.
4. Digital Citizenship/Literacy
- Score: 9.4
- Trending: Down
- Related Topics: Big data, Data Privacy, Digital Footprint, Mobile Learning
Our Free Resource
Once again, we've got two to choose from here. For digital citizenship, we suggest the Digital Citizenship Agreements. These simple agreements are for primary, middle, and senior grades and they're being used in thousands of school all over the world. They also contain a Global Digital Citizen Code of Honour to share with your learners.
Along with these you can benefit from this Global Digital Citizenship skills guide for incorporating in your classroom. This free guide explores the skills and practices that make an exemplary Global Digital Citizen. Your learners can discover and use these practices in a fun exploratory way with this useful guide.
5. Personalized Learning
- Score: 9
- Trending: Neutral
- Related Topics: Adaptive Learning Algorithms, Mobile Learning, BYOD, Blended Learning
Our Free Resource
For this trend, try out the Critical Thinking Workbook which is one of our most popular free guides. It helps you and your students develop mindful communication and problem-solving skills using exciting games and activities. Inside are challenging projects that are adaptable to any grade level you want.
6. Project-Based Learning
- Score: 8.8
- Trending: Up
- Related Topics: Inquiry in the classroom, Scenario-Based Learning, Place-Based Education
Our Free Resource
For this education trend we recommend trying out the PBL Ideas Book. Real-world scenarios in project-based learning engage students and provide rich problem-solving opportunities, and this guide features 9 of them to explore. Additionally, these scenarios are all customizable for any grade level and for multiple subjects.
7. Team-Building For Learning
- Score: 8.6
- Trending: Neutral
- Related Topics: Emotion in Learning, Teaching Empathy, Citizenship, Whole Child Learning, Sociocultural/Socioeconomic Equity
Our Free Resource
Collaboration is one of the hallmarks of Future-Focused Learning, and it's also one of the Essential Fluencies. To guide your learners in team building, use the Collaboration Fluency skills guide. This guide explores the skills students will hone by practicing the 5Es of Collaboration Fluency. Discover the power of true teamwork, and see why collaboration is so vital to living and learning in the digital age.
Enjoy these resources for helping you explore popular education trends. If you want to know about other trends, read the full article on TeachThought.