This Week in Educational Travel – Memory Tricks and Selfie Sticks

TGIF (the 13th!) Here is your weekly round-up of  travel and education news from ACIS, around the country, and around the globe.

— Fast Company recently released a list of the most innovative companies of 2015, ten of which are aiming to drastically impact education. With the likes of Google along side trail-blazing public school systems, EducationWorld selected the five ways education may change by 2020 predicted by these these top education-focused organizations. Do you see the same trends emerging in education? What are your predictions? Tell us in the comments section!

— When students attempt last minute cram sessions for tests the results are often a passing grade, but almost no recollection of the lesson after the fact. Can an effective memory be taught? Napthali Hoff thinks the issue lies within the lack of attention paid to retention as part of the curriculum. Do you schedule time in your lesson plans for episode-based learning? Smarterbrief offers tips to help students retain what they have learned.

“The more that learning can be transformed into “episodes” that demand the engagement of the whole child, the better the child will learn and remember.”

— Note to all first-time tourists: carving your initials into an ancient landmark is never okay. When you then take a selfie of said act, it’s a quick way to get arrested, as two American tourists learned at the Colosseum this week. That’s not the only way the Colosseum is laying down the law: they also just flat-out banned selfie sticks! Our advice: when traveling, of course you’ll take photos, but it’s okay to put your phones away and enjoy the moment every once in a while, too.

—  What do March 14, infinite numbers, and delicious deserts have in common? Why, Pi Day of course! This years date, 3/14/15 has a particularly interesting factor: the next two digits of pi are 15, which of course match up with the current year, 2015. In honor of this historic day, we say: ‘Treat Yo Self’ to an extra piece of pie!

Have a great weekend out there, adventurers!