Author: barboakley

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Week

This week, we opted for some light reading with Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey. This is basically a compendium of workaholic work habits of a number of famous writers and artists.  Since we’re sort of workaholics ourselves, it was an intriguing glimpse into the psyches of kindred spirits.  In one way, the book was a little unsatisfying, because most of the descriptions of people work habits were very short.  On the other hand, the brevity of the entries is part of what made it such an intriguing book—Currey breezed through the lives of dozens of creative people in a way that allowed us to quickly glean key ideas from a lot of different people.  It was gratifying to learn, for example, that many writers are bothered by noise, just as we are.  We’ve seen reference to Daily Rituals in so many books that we figured it was time to read the book ourselves, and we’re glad we did.

Audible version available here. (This is a nice book for listening. Two free audiobooks may be possible through this link.)

Can You Lend Us Your Insight Into Future Courses You Might Like to Take?

We are considering the creation of new MOOCs based on a neuroscientific foundation, as with the Learning How to Learn MOOC. If you might like such courses, please take a moment to fill out this short survey and let us know what you think.

What’s Next After Accomplishing a Big Project or Learning Goal?

Scott Young has written an excellent blog post on the strange feelings that can arise with successful completion of a learning goal or project—and how best to move forward.

Universities Must Adapt to a Fast-changing World

This thought-provoking article, “Who are the right partners for professional skills?” by Chris Fellingham, describes Coursera’s shift to encompass more usable skills—and the need for universities to be able to learn to keep up with the changes in today’s fast-paced society.  “Education Bubble” explains why necessary changes are not ooccurring in academia—increasing detrimental effects as the academic bubble pops.

A Library of Free Videos Made by and for Teachers and Students

Next Vista For Learning provides a library of free videos made by and for teachers and students—there are over 2,000 videos on a wide variety of learning-related topics.  Check it out! [Hat tip Mike Petty.]

A Review of Double Your Learning Power

It can provide worthwhile perspectives to look back on the past, at how today’s neuroscientific insights provide solid support for seemingly old-fashioned recommendations for learning.  This nice comparative review by James Bowen of the 1986 book Double Your Learning Power, by Geoffrey A. Dudley, illuminates how much we knew then–and how what we know now helps us understand even better why the recommendations of yore were valuable.

Barb Keynoting in Cortland, New York, May 22-25, 2018

Don’t forget, Barb will be keynoting at the Cortland, New York SUNY Conference on Instruction and Technology May 22 – 25, 2018. She’ll also be giving a workshop on using Camtasia to help move yourself slowly and easily in the online world (just as she did!). She’ll set aside plenty of time during the course of the conference to chat with Learning How to Learners. To get on the conference mailing list, sign up here.  

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

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Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month (Yes, a second one)

We’re embarrassed to admit that, despite all of the hullabaloo over the past decade, we had never previously gotten around to reading The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable—a no-holds-barred vivisection of so-called experts. Taleb doesn’t shy away from naming names, including Nobel Prize winners and the head of the Fed, and describing exactly how their financial guidance is, in some ways, more harmful than that of a cab driver.  

This is one of those books that we love because it confirms our own previous experiences with regards experts, particularly academic experts. As Taleb puts it, “Black Swan events are largely caused by people using measures way over their heads, instilling false confidence based on bogus results.”  Once you’re indoctrinated with a certain methodology, as for example, the value of the Gaussian curve, it’s hard to see when that curve gives dangerously misleading information.

Diversity Training Increases Bias

Which brings us to diversity.  We’re keen proponents of diversity, but we can’t help observing that today’s campus diversity officer seems to be acquiring a role similar to that of the political commissar in the old Soviet Union, (we have had a lot of personal experience with political commissars). We are very aware of how efforts to promote diversity can backfire, promoting rather than reducing racial prejudice and gender biases. And indeed, a recent Harvard study has found exactly that—many diversity programs at both universities and businesses actually lead to increased bias and a reduction in diversity.

An excellent book that describes how broad-ranging and well-meaning, but ultimately harmful, programs can be instituted at great expense is Timothy Wilson’s wonderful Redirect: Changing the Stories We Live By. Of course, many of these types of programs arise from pathologies of altruism.  To learn more about this area, take a look at our book, Pathological Altruism, and our Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences article “Concepts and implications of altruism bias and pathological altruism.” If you really want to help others, it’s important to understand how misdirected helping can hurt.

Getting Your Ham Radio License

Given the fact that black swans are inevitable, it is great for society worldwide to have a reservoir of amateurs who are comfortable working with the world of radios. When disasters happen—and they inevitably will—it’s a good thing to have people who can communicate at a distance.

As it happens, Barb’s younger daughter is currently studying for her Technician Ham Radio licence, and she stumbled across this excellent book by Michael Burnette, (AF7KB): The Fast Track to Your Technician Class Ham Radio License. If you’ve been thinking of taking the plunge into talking to people around the world on amateur radio, get this book to help you get started!

Barb’s Upcoming Talk: Having a Greater Impact

• Rochester, Michigan Jan 24: Barb will be speaking on the vitally important topic of how a professor, and a university, can have greater impact in today’s world. Her talk “Escaping the Ivory Tower: How to Grow Your Public Impact” will be on Wednesday, January 24th from 3:00 pm  to 4:30 p.m., at Oakland University, 242 Elliott Hall in Rochester, Michigan. RSVP to Leanne DeVreugd at ldevreug@oakland.edu.

Barb’s February talks include keynotes at:

• All Hands Meeting, Microsoft Western Europe, Monaco, Feb 6
• Amos Fetzer and Alice Fetzer Memorial Lecture, Nebraska Wesleyan, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb 9
• Middle College National Consortium Annual Conference, Newport, California, Feb 13
• Doha, Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar Feb 19-22

If you happen to be in any of those areas and can make a talk, Barb would love to meet you!

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

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Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month

We’ve long been major fans of Dan Pink. His latest book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing lives up to Dan’s fantastic writing record. Right from the start, we were riveted to read of a ship sunk on a sunny afternoon within sight of shore—with over a thousand lives lost. How did it happen?  You’ll have to read When to see, but the book’s title gives an important clue. We love Dan Pink’s work because he’s one of the best writers around at combining practically useful insights from science with compelling stories that are hard to put down. (And as a result of Dan’s book, Barb plans to take tango lessons with her husband!)

Alzheimer’s Charity Climb for Memory

Our long-time friend 4-time US Memory Champion Nelson Dellis has organized a Kilimanjaro climb  for his Alzheimer’s charity Climb For Memory. He leaves next week with 17 climbers. The charity aims to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s research through organized mountain climbs around the world. If you would  like to support Nelson in his efforts, you can make a tax-deductible donation here. (This is a great cause. We gave $100—please feel free to give whatever you can.)

MOOC of the Week

We’ve been greatly enjoying the MOOC-like videos of “Masterclass.com,” a San Francisco-based online education platform where you can find classes given by some of the world’s leading experts in those topics.  Now, for example, we’ve been watching the videos of film director Ron Howard and photographer Annie Leibovitz. Annie has wonderful suggestions for photography exercises—we’ve found ourselves looking in new ways at what’s happening around us. There are many other classes taught by top-notch talents in topics that can sometimes be hard to find any ordinary nearby university: electronic music production, filmmaking, film scoring, writing for television, comedy (by Steve Martin, whose autobiography we loved!) What’s not to like about learning what Christina Aguilera, for example, has to say about singing, or Stephen Curry talking about basketball?  We find the videos to, in some ways, be more intimate and informative than a television show or a book. Highly recommended.

Learning How to Overcome a Phobia

Nearly 20 million Americans have a phobia, with hundreds of millions more worldwide.  This moving article “A New Yorker Faces His Phobia, One Stroke at a Time,” reporter N. R. Kleinfield describes how, just as you learn to be afraid of the object of your phobia, you can learn new patterns that help you “unlearn” the phobia. Do you have a phobia that’s keeping you from doing what you want to do?  Check out online resources—you’ll be surprised at what’s available to help!

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

Follow LHTL on Facebook | Join the private LHTL Hall of Fame group | Follow LHTL on Twitter

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Week

We received an awesome Christmas gift—How to Traumatize Your Children: 7 Proven Methods to Help You Screw Up Your Kids Deliberately and with Skill. By making fun, (in hilarious fashion) of common parental foibles, it also helps us keep in mind what good parenting really entails.  Barb passed this to her pediatrician daughter—the book is now an even bigger hit, making the rounds with her fellow pediatrician-residents.

Barb Speaking in San Francisco at the World’s Fair Nano!

Barb will be giving a talk about the future of education at World’s Fair Nano on Saturday, March 10th, 2018.  Unlike many upbeat but vague talks about the future of “XXX,” this one will unwrap the specifics of her and Terry’s exciting new project, designed for global impact in many languages.  Register here. (Barb plans to stay after her talk to shake hands and meet you!)

The Peg Method—and The Art of Memory

Our friend, 4-time US Memory Champion Nelson Dellis is back with another great memory tips video, this one on the Peg Method.  (The Peg Method is another way of memorizing that’s quite different from, but complementary to, the Memory Palace Technique.)

You may also wish to check out Nelson’s Art of Memory, a Memory training app that offers Memory tutorials, training tools, system generators, and memory games to help you improve your memory. Pre-orders are still being taken and the final version of the software will be going live very soon.

Data Exchange Network

DataCircle is a data exchange network where you can find, buy, sell and exchange datasets easily. It is great for researchers, educators and students—there are more than 50 dataset categories. To learn more, go to DataCircle.io. It’s worth noting that DataCircle is dedicated to helping the open communities—there is a free tier to use, share, and exchange free data assets.

Before a Test or Interview, Be Sure to Exercise

This article cites a study which has found that just ten minutes of aerobic exercise does a lot to improve cognitive function. So next time you find yourself dragging when you are trying to complete a difficult cognitive task, or you’re about to take a test or meet for an important interview, get some exercise to pep yourself up!

Thirty Years In, the Bennett Hypothesis is More Important than Ever

Jenna Robinson’s cogent article shows that the Bennett hypothesis—that is, that federal aid makes tuition higher—is more important than ever. Oddly enough, federal student aid allows universities to blithely raise prices without feeling the consequences of reduced demand or lower-quality students. “The price of college tuition and fees has risen 1,335 percent since 1978: much faster than inflation and faster even than medical care (704 percent) and housing (511 percent).”  To learn more about this problem, read Benjamin Ginsberg’s important, The Fall of the Faculty: The Rise of the All-Administrative University and Why It Matters.

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

Follow LHTL on Facebook | Join the private LHTL Hall of Fame group | Follow LHTL on Twitter

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Week

We very much enjoyed Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, an eye-opening book on the world of olive oil.  We had a sense that olive oils were often mislabeled, but this book really opened our eyes about how “extra virgin first cold-pressed olive oil” is often anything but—and regulatory bodies worldwide generally avoid doing much about it.  Author Tom Mueller covers far more in his enlightening book—the health benefits of real, fresh olive oil; the growing international marketplace, the history of the oil in athletics, religion, and perfumes; not to mention the sheer beauty of olive trees.

You’ve probably been aware of the importance of both exercise and a healthy diet.  But you may not know that exercise coupled with a healthy diet has a bigger impact on our health, and our ability to learn, than either exercise or a healthy diet alone. But which diet is best? As Extra Virginity describes, the Mediterranean diet, with olive oil as a key component, is an excellent choice for healthy eating. Interestingly, there has long been a “food desert” hypothesis that poor individuals do not have access to reasonably priced healthy food, which is why their diets are so unhealthy.  This hypothesis has been essentially disproven in a recent massive analysis (described here) of 35,000 supermarkets covering 40% of the US.  Unhealthy eating, sad to say, is often a choice. So read this book to help you do your part in making healthier (and tastier!) choices!

Barb Speaking on “Escaping the Ivory Tower: How to Grow Your Public Impact” January 24th, 2018

Barb will be giving a rare speech on a vitally important topic—how a professor, and a university, can have a greater impact in today’s world. Her talk “Escaping the Ivory Tower: How to Grow Your Public Impact” will cover how to break into popular book publishing (writing a proposal, getting a literary agent, what to focus on); outreach to and the impact of media such as newspapers, radio, television, and blogs; the pluses and minuses of using social media; getting into MOOC-making; and the career and institutional impact of MOOCs and online videos.  There will be plenty of time after the presentation for discussion. If you are a professor or doctoral student looking to have a greater public impact, or if you work with an academic institution that is looking to further its outreach, it’s worth flying to Michigan for this one-of-a-kind, career-changing event. (If you already live in Michigan, you’re in luck!)  The talk will be at Oakland University, 242 Elliott Hall in Rochester, Michigan on Wed Jan 24, 2018, from 3:00 pm to 4:30 p.m. RSVP to Leanne DeVreugd at ldevreug@oakland.edu.  

Finding Your First Coding Job—If You Come from a Zero Coding Background

LaunchCode is a nonprofit that educates people who come from diverse, non-computer science backgrounds and helps them find their first coding job. If you’re peeking in the career window, wondering what coders do and whether it’s something you could also do, check out LaunchCode’s “Hello Coding!” course.

The Age of Outrage: What the current political climate is doing to our country and our universities

This deeply insightful essay is an edited version of Jonathan Haidt’s Wriston Lecture for the Manhattan Institute.  Universities play an unbelievably important role in introducing students to new, often uncomfortable, ideas.  Haidt’s essay describes how universities (MOOCs play a role in this as well), are failing in their civic duties—and how universities can get back on track. We’ve pre-ordered The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, which will explore these vital ideas in greater depth.

Study of 10th Grade Biology in India

Inspired by our book A Mind for Numbers, Tanvi Jagtap has come up with a great website set of flashcard tools to make studying easy for 10th-grade biology students in India. Tanvi is now working on raising crowdfunding for the website to increase its scope. You can contribute to the funding for this innovative new website here.

The 15 best books these popular authors read in 2017

Here’s a listing from LinkedIn of top books read by some of LinkedIn’s top essayists and authors (including Barb). If you’re looking for a variety of reading ideas, check it out!

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

Follow LHTL on Facebook | Join the private LHTL Hall of Fame group | Follow LHTL on Twitter

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Books of the Week

As LHTLers know, we love biographies!  This week, we reread Jack Weatherford’s monumental Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, which is one of our top two biographies of all time (our other top favorite biography is Robert Massie’s Peter the Great: His Life and World).  Coupled with the Genghis Khan biography, we read Weatherford’s sister volume, The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire, which gave great insight into how the Great Khan’s children and descendants affected his legacy. If you like either history or biography–or would like to give these types of books a try, you couldn’t do better than to dig into these titles!

Hit Lit! Top Ten Books & Learning Tools of 2017 for Learning How to Learners!

Here are the books and tools that LHTLers have found to be most useful this year (not counting our own A Mind for Numbers and Mindshift, which of course ranked at the top!)

• TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking

• The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

• My First Book About the Brain (Dover Children’s Science Books)

• 3M Peltor Optime 105 Over the Head Earmuff, Ear Protectors

• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

• Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life

• Ego Is the Enemy

• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

Schools that Don’t Teach

Here’s a disquieting article from the New York Times about the shocking percentages of children in California who lack even the most basic literacy skills. It’s all too easy to focus on the most interesting aspects of what’s folding in education, particularly higher education, while neglecting the vital fact that basic literacy is of paramount importance. (If you’re able to read books and do the assignments on MOOCs, count yourself lucky with your education, and take advantage of it!)

Nearly 5 Million Americans Default on Student Loans

This perceptive Wall Street Journal article by Josh Mitchell shows the increasing personal costs of largely face-to-face education. Sadly, while most universities embrace exorbitant infrastructure spending, few are willing to invest in low cost, high value online learning.   

MOOC of the Week

And on a happier note, we’ve heard great things about The Modern and the Postmodern, by Professor Michael Roth of Wesleyan University.  This course examines how the idea of “the modern” develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change.

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

Follow LHTL on Facebook | Join the private LHTL Hall of Fame group | Follow LHTL on Twitter

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Year

[EMBARRASSING REVELATION (added August 21, 2021):

Walker’s book, as it turns out, is riddled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations, as described in this outstanding analysis by Alexey Guzey (himself an early student of Learning How to Learn). As Wikipedia notes: “Walker failed to disclose that numerous meta-analyses involving over 4 million adults found the lowest mortality was associated with 7 hours of sleep, and that the increased risk of death associated with sleeping more than 7 hours was significantly greater than the risk of sleeping less than 7 hours as defined by a J-shaped curve.” As Guzey concludes: “…imagine that a 20-year-old who naturally needs to sleep for 7 hours a night, reads Why We Sleep, gets scared, and decides to spend the full 8 hours in bed every day. Then, assuming that they live until 75, they will waste more than 20,000 hours or more than 2 years of their life, with uncertain long-term side-effects.”  But there’s far, far more, including evidence for misrepresentation of the institution where Walker received his doctorate (the institution Walker had claimed apparently doesn’t issue doctorates), plagiarism, and, well, just making stuff up if it supports what Walker wants to say.  (Here is Walker’s response to some of the criticism.)

And we were also sad to learn of retraction and problematic research by Dan Ariely, who has studied, of all things, honesty.  Many companies (including some online learning platforms), ask students to sign integrity statements before beginning quizzes.  This approach has often arisen due to Ariely’s research.  Unfortunately, there’s good evidence that Ariely’s data for this research was cooked.  

Now if only Jo Boaler’s problematic research involving mathematics education—which is being used as the shaky foundation that underpins reform mathematics approaches—would be held by Stanford, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and other educational organizations to the level of scrutiny and consequent opprobrium that Walker and Ariely have received.

And we were also sad to learn of retraction and problematic research by Dan Ariely, who has studied, of all things, honesty.  Many companies (including some online learning platforms), ask students to sign integrity statements before beginning quizzes.  This approach has often arisen due to Ariely’s research.  Unfortunately, there’s good evidence that Ariely’s data for this research was cooked.  

Now if only Jo Boaler’s problematic research involving mathematics education—which is being used as the shaky foundation that underpins reform mathematics approaches—would be held by Stanford, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and other educational organizations to the level of scrutiny and consequent opprobrium that Walker and Ariely have received.]

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams,  is one of the most important books we have ever read.  If you read one book to help you with your learning (and life) this year, we think it should be Why We Sleep.

It seems that every question we’ve ever wondered about related to sleep is covered by author Matthew Walker’s masterful discussion of sleep. Walker is the Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, so he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to snoozing.  Yet Walker is also a masterful writer, full of witty, insightful metaphors that give an in-depth understanding of how and why we need to sleep.  We’d always known that sleep was a vital part of learning–Walker’s book tells why sleep is so important.  Walker shares sleep-related insights by the dozen along the way, such as tips and tricks to help you fall asleep more quickly, why sleeping pills are much less innocuous than you think, and why a tiny percentage of the population needs only 4 hours or so of sleep a night–(and why you’re probably not one of those people). Do not miss this book.  [Hat tip, super-MOOCer Ronny De Winter.]

Helping students build optimal sleep habits

And this article from always insightful Judy Willis at the npj Science of Learning Community gives some great tips on building good sleep habits in young adults.   
Reading Information Aloud to Yourself Improves Memory

You might think you’re just wasting time if you take the time to read aloud whatever you are trying to learn.  Nope–this worthwhile article relates how reading aloud can help reinforce ideas in memory.

The Latest Survey on MOOC-takers from Class Central

It’s worthwhile to take a step back to try to quantify what typical MOOC users are like.  Class Central does exactly that in their latest survey: “Class Central Learner Survey (2017): MOOC Users Highly Educated, Have Experienced Career Benefits”

Making Prescription Medicines Affordable in the United States

Our friend Guruprasad Madhavan of the US National Academy of Sciences co-authored the nuanced, insightful report Making Medicines Affordable, on the challenge of creating affordable drugs. Guru notes on his blog, The Barefoot Engineer: “At a time when total medical expenditures are rapidly approaching 20 percent of the gross domestic product, our report concluded that ‘consumer access to effective and affordable medicines is an imperative for public health, social equity, and economic development; however, this imperative is not being adequately served by the biopharmaceutical sector.’”

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

Follow LHTL on Facebook | Join the private LHTL Hall of Fame group | Follow LHTL on Twitter

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month

Everyone’s been talking about Walter Isaacson’s latest biography, Leonardo da Vinci, so we had to join the crowd and see what all the hullabaloo was about. (We’ll admit, we’ve previously tackled da Vinci biographies that ended up putting us to sleep, so we were excited to see what master biographer Isaacson would do with Leonardo’s story.)  This is a (More here…)

Barb Keynoting for the SUNY Conference on Instruction and Technology in Cortland, New York, May 22 – 25, 2018

If you’re interested in instruction and technology, you want to set aside the dates of May 22-25 to come to the Elevate Learning: Taking Education Higher conference on Instruction and Technology in beautiful Cortland, New York near the Finger Lakes region of New York State.  (Wine tours, history, and more!)

Barb will be keynoting, and she will also set aside plenty of time during the course of the conference to chat with Learning How to Learners.  Note the sessions related to augmented and virtual reality, the latest trends, apps, and gear for engaging learners, innovation in retention, effectively using data, micro-credentialing, and opening the door to new learners.   Whatever part of the country (or world!) you’re from, whether you’re a professor, a K-12 teacher, or a parent interested in latest insights in instruction and technology, this in-depth conference is for you.  

Are You An Educator Interested in Learning?

You may wish to check out Josh Waitzkin’s The Art of Learning Project, which aims to develop a generation of life-long learners who approach all their endeavors with creativity and passionate resilience. (Waitzkin’s book The Art of Learning, which describes Josh’s path to brilliance in both chess and martial arts, is one of the best books on learning we have ever read.)

What You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s

Lisa Genova’s TED talk on how Alzheimer’s happens, and what you can do to help prevent it (hint–learn!) is well worth watching. [Hat tip, Nichole Charest.] Genova  is the author of the extraordinarily popular national best-seller, Still Alice, about what it is like to live with this devastating disease.

A Perceptive Analysis of the Problem with Learning Styles

“Learning styles” are widely promoted in the educational community–medusa-like, as fast as one set of learning-styles might be discredited, another set seems to arise in its place.  Here’s a readers’-eye view of the problems with learning styles, by the ever-perceptive Pat Bowden of Online Learning Success.

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

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Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Wondering about Green Screen?

Here’s a picture Barb took last week at the great MOOC-making studio at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. It captures the magic of green (and red!) screen in one seamless image.  Notice how the talent in the photograph is standing against a plain green background holding a red placard.  (The person being videotaped is always referred to as the “talent.”) The magic of digital wizardry converts the green background into a bright corridor and the red placard into a picture-filled poster.

Interview with Gayle Allen on Curious Minds

In this interview, Barb has a lot of fun speaking with master interviewer Gayle Allen about a life of learning. (Feel free to rate the interview on iTunes.)

MOOCs on Personal Development

Class Central has developed a great list of top MOOCs on personal development. Take your pick and enjoy!

Getting to know MiríadaX

If you’re interested in learning about a large Spanish-language MOOC provider, this fascinating article by our very own Orlando Trejo, Lead of the Spanish Learning How to Learn, is just the ticket.

NeuroBytes: Modular electronic neurons designed for ages 12+.

Here’s a really interesting Kickstarter campaign to “build your own brain with NeuroBytes”! This looks like one of the most awesome gifts for a kid (or a grownup!) that we’ve seen in a long time. [Hat tip: Massimo Curatella]

Slow and Steady: The Effects of Teaching a One-Semester Introductory Mechanics Class Over a Year

We’re keen proponents of the idea that if you’re a slower learner, it isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, you can sometimes learn more deeply and see further than “race car brain” type learners. In a related vein, here’s an interesting paper by  Michael Thouless, “Slow and Steady: The Effects of Teaching a One-Semester Introductory Mechanics Class Over a Year.” International Journal of Engineering Education 33, 6 (2017): 1842-1855. Nice work!

For Santiago Ramón y Cajal Fans!

Those who have been with Learning How to Learn for a while realize that we are dyed-in-the-wool Ramón y Cajal fans.  Here’s a fascinating look at the impact that Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the artist-scientist father of modern neuroscience,  has had on one artist’s life and work. [Hat tip, Lynda Hoffmann]

Plagiarism Checkers for Online Platforms

Grammarly is a valuable tool in our writing arsenal–we find the professional version to be well worth the cost). To our surprise, Grammarly has come out with an intriguing new tool for plagiarism checking on online platforms. Here is a short video about how Grammarly integrates with Canvas. [Hat tip Sebastian Koelper.]

Now, if only Grammarly would check our bad links (sorry–the jet lag has obviously left us a bit addled!)  Here’s the right link for last week’s wonderful book of the month The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over!

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

Follow LHTL on Facebook | Join the private LHTL Hall of Fame group | Follow LHTL on Twitter

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month!

We love The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over!  It has made us much more aware of the tiny “tells” that signal whether or not you’ve captured a person’s attention and interest.  Most people naturally give off “friend” or “foe” signals without even being aware of it. With the information in this book, you can find yourself making friends quite literally with the flick of an eyebrow.  You’ll see others–and yourself–with a new perspective. We only wish we’d read this book decades ago!

Class Central’s Competition

Please enter Class Central’s competition to vote for the best MOOC of 2017.  Whatever MOOC gets your vote for best deserves a chance to win–and winning can’t be done without your help!

Learning2learn App

Here is a Learning2learn app (not affiliated with our Learning How to Learn course) that has been built to help with learning.  We haven’t tried it ourselves, but if you do give it a try, you may wish to leave your comments on the discussion forum, here.

Cajal’s Neuronal Forest

Preeminent Spanish neuroscientist Javier DeFelipe has just published an exquisite collection of the illustrations of Santiago Ramón y Cajal: Cajal’s Neuronal Forest: Science and Art.  Click here for more about Dr. DeFelipe’s book and other great books about (and by!) Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the Nobel Prize-winning artist and father of modern neuroscience.  (Yes, combining two completely different career fields is a great path to excellence!)

MOOC of the Week

The new MOOC Intellectual Humility: Practice is starting on Monday, November 27th.  (Here’s the trailer.) The course description is compelling: “Given the widespread tendency to arrogantly dismiss and marginalize dissent, it seems that the world needs more people who are sensitive to reasons both for and against their views, and who are willing to consider the possibility that their political, religious and moral beliefs might be mistaken. In this third course the Intellectual Humility series, we look at how to judge when we should trust what someone says, examine how disagreements can develop between reasonable people, and explore how to weigh the evidence in religious disagreements.”

Sorry for the bad link last week about a Salty Taste from Kissing a Baby Changes an Entire Career

Here’s the right link.  

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

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