Globe of History

The Globe of History is an innovative 3D interactive mapping tool designed to transform how students and educators engage with the vast timeline of human civilization. Spanning over 6,000 years of global history, the platform functions as a "digital time machine" that allows users to navigate the world through a temporal slider, revealing how civilizations, conflicts, and cultures have shifted across the planet. Unlike static maps, this resource uses a custom AI-driven "data factory" to synthesize information from various historical databases, presenting it as structured, readable narratives pinned to specific geographic coordinates. For educators, the benefits of the Globe of History are particularly significant in fostering spatial and temporal literacy. By visually anchoring historical events to their actual locations, it helps students overcome the common struggle of disconnecting "when" something happened from "where" it occurred. 

The tool provides several key pedagogical advantages: 

- Contextualization and comparison: Teachers can use the filtering system to isolate specific themes—such as battles, inventions, or the roles of famous women—allowing classes to analyze patterns and correlations across different eras and continents simultaneously. 

- Active inquiry: The platform serves as a powerful "questioning medium." Educators can prompt students to investigate why certain regions become hotspots for innovation or conflict during specific decades, encouraging them to think like historians by exploring the "why" behind the data points. 

- High student engagement: The immersive 3D interface and the inclusion of multimedia links (such as Wikipedia and YouTube) for each entry provide a "trigger" for deeper research. It is an ideal resource for the beginning of a lesson to hook students' interest or for mini-survey activities where small groups verify and expand upon a specific event found on the globe. 

- Critical thinking: By showing the interconnectedness of global cultures, the tool challenges the Eurocentric or isolated views often found in traditional textbooks, helping students develop a more holistic and global understanding of history.

https://www.globeofhistory.com/

What are the likely impacts of rising temperatures on students and how are countries adapting?

This OECD policy brief examines the growing challenges that rising global temperatures pose to education systems, spcifically focusing on how extreme heat affects students' health, cognitive performance, and overall learning outcomes. 

The report highlights that by 2050, a significantly higher number of students in OECD countries will be exposed to extreme heat during school days, which directly undermines academic achievement and well-being. To mitigate these risks, the document outlines various adaptation strategies currently being implemented or considered by different nations, such as modifying school calendars and timetables, investing in sustainable cooling infrastructure, and redesigning outdoor school environments. 

It also emphasizes the importance of balancing these interventions, noting that while infrastructure upgrades are effective but costly, administrative changes like adjusting schedules must be carefully managed to prevent a loss of total instruction time.

https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/03/what-are-the-likely-impacts-of-rising-temperatures-on-students-and-how-are-countries-adapting_c75d6817/960244d5-en.pdf

The Learning Corner. Learn about the European Union

The Learning Corner is an educational platform created by the European Commission to help children, teenagers, and teachers learn about the European Union in an interactive and engaging way. The website offers free educational materials in all 24 official EU languages, making it accessible to schools across Europe.

The platform is organised by age groups and topics, allowing users to explore subjects such as EU history, climate and environment, culture, European institutions, citizenship, and digital safety. It includes quizzes, games, competitions, videos, activity books, timelines, and teaching resources designed both for classroom use and independent learning at home.

One of its main goals is to make learning about the European Union more accessible and enjoyable. Instead of presenting information only through traditional texts, the site uses interactive activities and multimedia content to encourage participation and curiosity. Students can test their knowledge through games and quizzes, while teachers can access ready-to-use lesson materials and ideas for classroom activities.

The Learning Corner is also especially useful for teachers because it provides educational resources for different educational levels, from primary school to upper secondary education. In addition, it helps schools connect with other teachers and institutions across Europe, promoting collaboration and international projects.

https://learning-corner.learning.europa.eu/index_en

A brief history of melancholy

The TED-Ed lesson A brief history of melancholy, created by Courtney Stephens and directed by Sharon Colman Graham, explores how the idea of sadness and melancholy has changed throughout history. Through an animated and accessible format, the lesson explains that melancholy has been understood in many different ways over time: as a medical condition, a philosophical state, a creative force, or simply part of the human experience.

The resource examines historical beliefs such as the ancient theory of the “four humors,” where melancholy was linked to an excess of black bile, and later cultural ideas that connected sadness with wisdom, creativity, or artistic sensitivity. It also reflects on modern views of depression and emotional well-being, encouraging viewers to think critically about how societies interpret emotions.

One of the main strengths of this resource is that it combines history, psychology, philosophy, and culture in a short and engaging lesson. The TED-Ed format also includes discussion questions and additional materials, making it especially useful for educational contexts. Teachers can use it to promote conversations about emotions, mental health, and the historical evolution of ideas related to sadness and human behaviour.

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-melancholy-courtney-stephens

OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026

The OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026, Exploring Effective Uses of Generative AI in Education," is a flagship report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.  

It serves as a comprehensive guide for policymakers and educators on how to integrate Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) into education systems without compromising the quality of learning. Its central argument is that while AI can improve task performance (e.g., writing a better essay), it does not automatically lead to better learning. 

The OECD warns of "metacognitive laziness," where students offload cognitive tasks to AI. Studies cited in the report show that while students using AI produce higher-quality work, their performance often drops or reverses during exams when the AI is removed. 

A major focus is on ensuring that AI augments rather than replaces teachers. In 2024, approximately 37% of lower secondary teachers were already using AI, and the report emphasizes that involving teachers in the "co-design" of these tools is essential for success.  

Beyond the classroom, the 2026 Outlook explores how AI can streamline school administration, curriculum alignment, and educational research.  

This resource is significant because it is the first major OECD publication to provide a "state-of-the-art" overview of GenAI since the technology became widely accessible. It establishes design principles to ensure that digital transformation in schools supports human growth, critical thinking, and equity, rather than just technical efficiency.

https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/01/oecd-digital-education-outlook-2026_940e0dd8/062a7394-en.pdf

Why is grammar so confusing?

Grammar rules have sparked strong debates across different languages and cultures for centuries. While it is clear that people care deeply about using language “correctly,” it is not always obvious why these rules exist or where they come from. Many of them seem arbitrary, raising questions about whether they truly matter or are simply conventions that have developed over time.

In the video, Arika Okrent explores this issue by examining several well-known examples from English that have generated ongoing disagreement among speakers and writers. Through these cases, the video shows how grammar is not fixed, but shaped by history, usage, and changing attitudes, encouraging viewers to rethink what “correct” language really means.