Literature

What is ESD and Why is it Valuable Education? The idea of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) surrounds the emphasis of environmental and sustainability learning within classrooms. In placing importance on these subjects, students are able to better advocate for their environment and be driving forces in the push towards future sustainable development. There are key components to ESD that serve as the [...]

Why the boom? Homeschooling has only been around (legally) for about 30 years or so in the states and has steadily increased in use—though after 2020 and a pandemic that forced traditional schools to close their doors, a boom occurred.[1] The percentage of homeschooled students nearly doubled, from being only about 2.5%-3% of school-age children to almost 6%.[2] But what has spurred such rapid [...]

What Factors Influence This Decline? Schools are seeing a continuous decrease in positive mental health attributes in their K-12 students, an issue that affects their well-being in the classroom and negatively impacts their personal and academic growth. As detailed within the American Psychological Association digital magazine - Monitor on Psychology, author Zara Abrams explains the various difficulties faced by students currently that contribute [...]

What is Microlearning? Technology has evolved rather rapidly in the last five years or so, and with these advancements, new helpful tools have emerged for education. One such “tool” is microlearning. Microlearning is a teaching and studying method that encompasses a variety of effective short-form mediums used at the learner's convenience that takes into account short attention spans.[1] These bursts of information tend to [...]

Introduction As the world grows increasingly interconnected and interdependent, many educators are calling to strengthen the global citizenship education of K-12 students. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines global citizenship education, or GCED, as “a framing paradigm which encapsulates how education can develop the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes learners need for securing a world which is more just, [...]

Introduction Extended reality, commonly abbreviated as XR, is an umbrella term that refers to three main technologies that combine the physical world with created digital worlds: virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). While all three technologies fall under the XR term, they differ in the extent to which they immerse their user; VR is a completely immersive experience, typically [...]

Introduction “Learning styles” is a pedagogical term that encompasses the many theories of how learners take in information, especially in the classroom. A foundational concept for learning styles theories is that individuals have different, and preferred, ways of learning. Many theories go further and posit that an individual’s learning can be optimized by customizing their education to fit their preferred style[1]. Specifically, we [...]