The learning process is as varied and complex as the many minds that make up a K-12 classroom. Unpacking the science behind how learners acquire knowledge can go a long way toward helping educators refine their instructional strategies to motivate the best possible learning outcomes.
ISTE's Course of Mind initiative shares key principles of the learning sciences with educators, aiming to improve the ways in which they find, select and implement learning technologies in their schools and modify instructional practices to make teaching more effective, efficient and inclusive.
From spring 2021 through spring 2022, leaders and teachers from over a dozen school districts across the country engaged with Course of Mind by completing ISTE's learning sciences course and providing feedback on new edtech selection resources. They also received coaching about the learning sciences and edtech evaluation. The following case studies explore the experiences of three program participants—administrators representing a small, mid-sized and large K-12 school district. Read on to discover why they signed up, what they learned and how the experience might change their respective districts’ approach to edtech procurement going forward.
