Author: barboakley

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Books of the Week

Unusually for us, we have several wide-ranging book recommendations this week.

• Laughing out loud: Barb’s aunt was the mail-woman who used to deliver comedian Steve Martin’s mail for him at his home in Hollywood. So that’s how we came to know that in real life, Steve Martin is truly the nice guy he appears to be in his beautifully written, best-selling autobiography Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life.  (Yes, Steve did the Audible narrative, too.) Working as a professional stand up comedian is hard. If you are a teacher or do any kind of public speaking, you’ll find useful nuggets as you learn of Martin’s extraordinary life.
• Kids and neuroscience: If you think your or a relative’s child might be curious about neuroscience, we recommend My First Book About the Brain (Dover Children’s Science Books), by Patricia J. Wynne and Donald M. Silver, 2013. This 32 page long, award-winning coloring-book is actually used in some regular classes and could be a particular boon for the wide-ranging interests of home-schooled kids. Suitable for ages 8–12, but grownups also seem to enjoy the relaxing process of coloring while they learn.
• Curiosity: Right now, we’re just wrapping up Why: What Makes Us Curious, by Mario Livio (Audio version here) This is a very readable account of curiosity that also gives insight into what holds our interest. [Hat tip Jose Fernando Nicholls]

Writing Routines

Have you ever wondered how writers structure their writing routines?  Check out this story, “How This Former Army Captain Turned Bestselling Author Gets Her Writing Done (And What She Learned from Cormac McCarthy).” It’s from the website Writing Routines, which gives a behind-the-scenes look at the daily habits of writers and authors. Can you guess who the interview is with?

Getting in the “Back to School” Mode

There’s a buzz in the air as school beckons for hundreds of millions around the globe. Since we’re speaking of A Mind for Numbers, now is the perfect time to get this international bestseller. You, a relative, or a friend who might be returning to school, will benefit.  (Audio version here. Two free audiobooks may be possible through this link.)

Other back-to-school recommendations include our perennial favorites:

• Palomino Blackwing Pencils
• Staedtler manual pencil sharpener
• Quadrille ruled engineering pads
• Peltor Sport Ultimate 10 Hearing Protector

For more learning-related resources, check out our list of “Recommended books, tools, etc,” which is tucked away in a corner of Learning How to Learn.

Class Central: Learning How to Learn and Mindshift are Tops in the World!

Both Learning How to Learn and Mindshift made Class Central’s Top 50 MOOCs of All Time (2017 edition)!  Barb & Terry are the only instructors to make this list with two MOOCs. Be sure to check out Class Central’s list if you’re trying to find the right MOOC for you.

Getting to Know Your Learning How to Learn Mentors—Lead Mentor Linda Walker
Linda Walker took Learning How to Learn in its very first session, in August, 2014 and was over the moon when invited to mentor the next session of the course.  And we were over the moon when she accepted the offer to become Lead Mentor to our exceptional team of Mentors!  Linda’s professional background is in communications and marketing, but she’s taking an extended career break to spend more time with her young family. Watch for Linda’s posts on the forums, she’s often there helping learners understand and navigate their way through the course.

An Exceptional Final Honors Assignment for Learning How to Learn

Here is a terrific blog post that was written for the Final Honors assignment in our course.  In Barb’s book A Mind for Numbers, (the course recommended text), she touched on Magnus Carlsen and his effective use of diffuse mode. LHTLer Manoel Cortes Mendez goes much deeper in his post “Learning from a Prodigy: The Science Behind the Feats of the Greatest Chess Player of All Time.” This is a fascinating write-up—highly recommended! Let this terrific final honors assignment inspire you in your own assignment.

LHTL has Complete Polish Subtitles!

We’re excited to announce that all videos in Learning How to Learn have been subtitled in Polish!  This is a big advance, and we can’t thank our Polish Lead Krzysztof Adamczyk enough for his great work!  If you speak Polish, (or even if you don’t!), check out the Polish captions on all the videos.

How To: 10 Steps to Learn Any Skill (and Why They Will Change Your Life)

Here’s an excellent guide by Arthur Worsley on how to go about learning pretty much any new skill and why it’s so important.

MOOC of the Week

There’s a new MOOC starting September 11th  for those of you who are looking to get either hired or promoted. Job Success: Get Hired or Promoted in 3 Steps was designed and is taught by Dr. Christine Kroll, Anne Reed, and Amber Winters of State University of New York. This course will prepare you to stand out in a crowded applicant pool so that you can get hired.  You’ll create:

• An upgraded social media presence (one that you can be proud of)
• A visual, infographic resume that will get you noticed
• A professional pitch that highlights your strengths and skills

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month

Today’s book is a little different from usual.  It is The Hidden Life of TREES: What They Feel, How They Communicate, by Peter Wohlleben (Audio book here).  We LOVE this best-selling book, which has been optioned for translation into 19 different languages!  The New York Times review of the article summed up some of the book’s intriguing insights about how forest trees are social beings: “They can count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors; warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the ‘Wood Wide Web’; and, for reasons unknown, keep the ancient stumps of long-felled companions alive for centuries by feeding them a sugar solution through their roots.”

Wohlleben’s use of analogy and metaphor to convey fascinating science is masterful. This is of the best books we’ve read on nature in the last few decades.

MOOC of the Week

This week, we’re featuring a new MOOC related to intellectual humility from The University of Edinburgh, Philosophy and Religion.  It will begin on August 28th. This MOOC deals with vitally important topics of excessive certainty.  (A fascinating book on that topic, incidentally, is On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not, by Robert Burton.)

We can’t resist also pointing out the MOOC “Chicken Behaviour and Welfare,” also from the University of Edinburgh. It just started on August 21st.  If you’re into chickens, this MOOC looks like a classic.

Barb’s Most Extensive Interview

TheBestSchools.org is a leading education resource that covers online and on-campus colleges & universities that include undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and post-doc programs. In addition, they cover K–12 and select alternative education programs. Take a look here for TheBestSchools.org’s interview with Barb Oakley—the most extensive interview Barb has ever given.

The Complete Guide to Not Going to College

We’re always liked the online magazine Quartz, and now we like it even more.  Here’s a great guide to how to learn and be successful without going to college. The article also features quotes from our very own Barb about the value of MOOCs from online providers like Coursera.

The Single Easiest Way to Get Unstuck

Here’s a one minute video clip from Barb when she was at Inc. headquarters in New York City about the best way to get unstuck in thinking about a problem.  (Can you tell it was a hot day in New York?)  

“T” versus “Π” Approaches to Career Building

Here’s a discussion of the traditional “T”-shaped approach, versus the more modern “Π”-shaped approach to career success, in Training Magazine.  It’s all in how you approach your learning!

The Diffuse Mode–How It Helps in Problem-Solving

If you’re into financial market analysis, you may enjoy this article “The next crash risk is hiding in plain sight,” on how the diffuse mode can help you better understand risk. [Hat tip, LHTLer Jim Embury.]

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Week

Our book of the week this week is Robert Cialdini’s recent book Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade (Audio book here), which has come a decade after his masterpiece Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Audio version here.  As we mentioned in an early “Cheery Friday,” we actually listened to the audio version of Influence—narrator George Newbern is terrific!)

Pre-Suasion is a “big” book, meaning it is a best seller, and we can see why. Cialdini is a wizard at understanding human nature and the pressure points that lead us to take certain actions.

One disappointment with the book is that Cialdini didn’t follow his own advice in acknowledging potential weaknesses in the field in order to build our trust in his reliability. In other words, he didn’t discuss the very real problems with the field of social priming. Indeed, some of the studies Cialdini cites seem to be one-off, non-replicated studies. They’re precisely the type of studies Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman alludes to as being problematic.

In any case, we still think Pre-Suasion is a worthwhile book that will give you insight into how to avoid being manipulated even as you learn how to better convey your own messages.

The Advantages of Being a Slow Learner

This video, “Learning Speeds and Styles: Is Your Mind a Hiker or a Race Car Driver?” from Big Think, features Barb’s encouraging thoughts on the value of being a slow learner.  These thoughts grow from Barb’s best-seller Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential, (Audio version, which Barb read in an icy studio in the middle of the Michigan winter, is here.) The Mindshift MOOC—which is the follow on to Learning How to Learn—is here!

How to Memorize Speeches and Text

Here’s a great video from 4-time US Memory Champion Nelson Dellis on a VERY important topic—how to memorize speeches and texts.  (If you would like to join Nelson in helping to support research on memory, please take the Extreme Memory Challenge.)  

Interview with Skip Downing on College Success

Barb’s friend Skip Downing is the author of the college textbook On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life—a book which does just what the subtitle says.

In an interview on TLCI radio, Dr. Skip Downing discusses how his On Course program empowers and engages students, improving both academic success and retention.

For better learning in college lectures, lay down the laptop and pick up a pen

Here’s the key graf of this worthwhile article: “In a series of laboratory experiments, researchers at Princeton and the University of California, Los Angeles had students watch a lecture, randomly assigning them either laptops or pen and paper for their note-taking. Understanding of the lecture, measured by a standardized test, was substantially worse for those who had used laptops.” [Hat tip: Scott Love]

One more reason to get a good night’s sleep

This TED Talk by neuroscientist Jeff Iliff has some stunning imagery of what happens in your brain when you fall asleep. [Hat tip, Pat Peterson.]

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Learning How to Learn in the New York Times!

Here’s a wonderful article by John Schwartz in the New York Times about our Learning How to Learn and Mindshift MOOCs! You’ll learn insights about Barb’s basement and the making of the courses that no one else has ever unearthed. (Although Barb is mortified about the references to her and Phil’s very old, somewhat incontinent kitty.)  

Books of the Week

In keeping with the New York Times education section, which was published today, we’d like to point you towards several interesting educational books.  The first is From the Laboratory to the Classroom: Translating Science of Learning for Teachers, edited by Jared Cooney Horvath, et al.  This book provides a first-rate overview of what we know from research about how to teach so that university as well as K-12 level students really learn. If you’re doing research in the area, you’ll find hundreds of great recent references on topics ranging from the benefits of interleaving and memory consolidation to the effective use of imagery.

Also of interest is MOOCs Now: Everything You Need to Know to Design, Set Up, and Run a Massive Open Online Course, edited by Susan Webreck and Jennifer Jumba.  We hadn’t realized the importance or power of MOOCs for libraries. So this book, written generally from a librarian’s perspective, provides an unusual perspective on MOOCs that we hadn’t realized before.

MOOC of the Week

We’d like to give a shout out about the great course that is beginning on August 7th: Synapses, Neurons and Brains, taught by Professor Idan Segev of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  This course cuts right to what’s most interesting about the brain, and Prof. Segev has a charismatic way of making everything fascinating.  

How the science of learning can get the best out of edtech

Here’s a deeply insightful article from the Economist on how edtech is democratizing education. The closing sentence provides a useful summary: “In 1984 Skinner called opposition to technology the ‘shame’ of education. Given what edtech promises today, closed-mindedness has no place in the classroom.” [Hat tip, Arshad Ahmad,Director, McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching & Learning ]

Mentor Showcase

We have a very special community here in Learning How to Learn. Today, we’d like to showcase one of our longtime mentors, Senior Mentor Steven Cooke.  Steven first took LHTL in 2014—he joined us as a mentor in 2015.  Steven’s background helps lend insight to his responses on the forums: he is the Founder and Principal of Process Systems Consulting, a small, hard-working consulting firm now based in the Philippines. Steven has an extraordinary 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, including risk assessment, quality management, process design, analytical specifications, process analysis and control, and gas purification.  (If you need such consulting, we can vouch for the fact that Steven is a wise choice!) Keep an eye out for Steven’s friendly, informative posts on the forums!

Random Memory Tips—How to Memorize Your Flight Code

Here’s another interesting video from 4-time US Memory Champion Nelson Dellis on how to memorize alphanumeric codes. Enjoy!  (If you would like to join Nelson in helping to support research on memory, please take the Extreme Memory Challenge.)  

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Week

Our book recommendation this week is The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. (The Audible version seems to be on sale now. Two free audiobooks may be possible through this link.)  The ONE Thing has  been a monster best-seller, with  more than 350 appearances on national bestseller lists, including #1 Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today. We read this book when it first came out in 2013, and then reread it again recently. What’s surprised us is how much of its message we’ve internalized into our approach to our work. This has clearly been beneficial!  Highly recommended if you’re trying to improve your productivity in your work—and your happiness in family life.

Barb speaking at the Smithsonian in Washington DC

Barb’s talk at the Smithsonian is featured on the cover of the latest version of the Smithsonian’s magazine.  (Okay, it’s in small print, but still!) If you’re anywhere in the DC area, Barb would love to see you—she’ll plan to be at the Ripley Center early to mingle, chat, and say hello.  The talk will be  Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 6:45 p.m. in the  Ripley Center. Register here.

Also, the Smithsonian is launching their new science literacy initiative in September, and Barb’ talk will be part of it.  The initiative is called “Inside Science,” and you can check it out here.

Modern Casting—A Wonderful Review of A Mind for Numbers

We can’t help but recommend this terrific review in the magazine Modern Casting about our course supplemental text, A Mind for Numbers.  Learning how to learn is vitally important for widely different fields, from casting metal to, well, you name it!

Efficiency is Everything

Have you ever thought about applying principles of productivity to your everyday life?  Engineer Michael Kirk has done exactly that—he’s devised a number of engineering-driven life hacks that are quick to learn and easy to apply. They can help you avoid blindly going through life, wasting time on non-value added tasks and needless expenses.  Michael has been collecting data for years on real-world applications you can use daily.  Barb notes that Michael’s insights are great—and not just because he’s the friend of one of her former students! Check out Efficiency Is Everything.

MOOCs of the Week

Our friends at the  Santa Fe Institute have two MOOCs currently open for enrollment. [Hat tip, Gabby Beans and Julia Heusinkveld, Santa Fe Institute.]

1) Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Chaos. This is the #1 rated math and science MOOC on Class Central, which is a fantastic testament to the course! Here’s the kind of praise Dave has earned:

• “I must say that if Prof Feldman decided to give a course about the California Sewage system I would definitely enlisted myself on the course :)”
• “The explanations and the level of math were just perfect so that I could grasp the concepts without getting lost in the math. Dave did a wonderful job in making the information clear without dumbing it down.”

2) Similarly, Liz Bradley’s Nonlinear Dynamics: Mathematical and Computational Approaches is similarly acclaimed. This course is taught at a higher level and assumes some coding experience, so it’s a natural follow up to Dave’s class. Here’s what students say about Liz’s class:

• “I liked best about the course the profound experience of Liz and her deep commitment with learners. The general approach, enthusiasm from the Complexity Explorer team, the perspective of the Santa Fe Institute, the TOPICS and the way they were explained, the “engineer-like” structure of the course videos and quizzes.”

Incidentally, a great introduction to chaos and dynamical systems is James Gleick’s classic Chaos: Making a New Science, (Audible version here.) This has long been one of our favorite scientific “biographies,” although it’s much broader than any one person. It’s the story, after all,  of the birth of a whole new discipline!

How to Build a Better Memory

Here’s an insightful article by Tyler Daswick here with Men’s Health about building a better memory.  What we particularly like about this article is that it gives a great feel for the strange and even bizarre imagery that can be most helpful in building your memory.  

A Crunch of The Power of Habit

Arthur Worsley has just finished crunching Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, (Audible version here) which is one of our favorite books about how to enhance your productivity and your life. Arthur’s crunches are great reminders of key points!

How Video Games Affect the Brain

Here is an excellent article in Medical News Today that reviews findings related to how video games can affect your brain.  [Hat tip LHTLer Brandonrox10.]

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month

Many of us have pondered our own mortality and the meaning of our lives. Along those lines, we recently finished neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air.  (Audible version here.) This extraordinary book, written as Paul was in the final stages of his terminal illness at age 36,  will resonate with us always.  

Years ago, Barb’s favorite aunt was diagnosed with terminal illness.  When Barb arrived to spend the day together, her aunt looked up, obviously near death (she would die the next day).  Not knowing what else to say, Barb ventured “How are you doing?”  Her aunt smiled and answered “Oh, I have my moments of bliss.”  Reading When Breath Becomes Air gives a sense of that bliss.   

What if MOOCs Revolutionize Education After All?

Here is Barb’s interview with Jeff Young of EdSurge about the power and future of MOOCs.  EdSurge and Class Central’s Dhawal Shah are doing great reporting on the world of MOOCs. ( Barb is becoming convinced that lawn mowers lurk near her house, waiting for her to do a podcast before gunning their engines and leaping into distracting gear.)

MOOC-making in Indonesia

Our friend Rainer Heufers in Indonesia has a big interest in lowering the extremely high Indonesian food prices. To this end, he and others in Indonesia worked assiduously to launch a MOOC, “Food Trade in Indonesia.” (See this related article “High food prices lead to ‘chickens dying in a rice barn,’” by Julia Suryakusuma)  Educating people, and providing a forum to intelligently discuss these kinds of issues are the kinds of important new “micro-education” revolutions that MOOCs are beginning to provide.  

Barb on Big Think: Brain Bias—Why Not to Emulate Geniuses and Their Rigid Thinking Process

Here’s a discussion about why we don’t necessarily need to emulate genius on one of Barb’s favorite websites—Big Think. Along other learning lines, here’s a podcast Barb did with Billy Atwell on his interesting site, “Fear Not.”

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

Ryan Holiday has been a past popular favorite author of Learning How to Learners.  We’ve just read his new book Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts.  (Audible version, read by Ryan himself, here.) We have to say, we think Ryan’s book is itself a classic.   We’ve never really thought about what sparks a book, movie, or song to stand through time as opposed to soon becoming passé. If you’ve ever wondered about the creative process and wanted to make classic work that is of value to others, this is the book to read.  

Ryan’s past work includes

• The Ego Is the Enemy, (Audible version here)
• The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph (Audible here).
• The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
• Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator (Audible here)
• Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising (Audible here).

Memorizing a Deck of Cards

Here’s a new video from Nelson Dellis, 4 time US memory champion, on how to memorize A FULL deck of cards.  As Nelson reveals, memorizing a deck of card like this is a terrific exercise to help develop your general memorization abilities. (If you would like to join Nelson in helping to support research on memory, please take the Extreme Memory Challenge.)  

Military language training, vodka, and more!

After Barb went on Olly Richards’ podcast I Will Teach You a Language, she became another of Olly’s many fans. After the show, when we read Olly’s enticing description of their discussion, we’ll admit it even made us want to watch!  Here’s part of Olly’s show description:

Have you ever wondered what an intensive language programme is like in the U.S. military?

If you attended the Defense Language Institute…

• How fluent would you be after your 18-month programme?

• What do the classes look like?

• What’s the teaching style?

• All fascinating questions, I’m sure you’ll agree…

And I recently sat down with a very special woman to ask her about her experience learning Russian at the DLI as a teenager.

Dr. Barbara Oakley’s story is quite something… [Barb’s comment here–not really!]

• Her experience on the 18-month intensive DLI Russian programme
• Speaking “real Russian” on trawlers in the Bering Sea (vodka included
• Why she quit the military to take a class in basic algebra
• How she reinvented her career to become a professor of engineering

• What led her to create the most popular online course of all time (with 2 million+ students)

Watch (or listen to) Olly’s conversation with Barb here.

Great Guide to Learning an Additional Language

And speaking of learning languages, Arthur Worsley, who did last week’s excellent “crunch” of A Mind for Numbers, has written a terrific guide to learning another language. Lots of quick but non-obvious tips.

Online Book Club with Scott Young

Many of you are aware of learning adventurer Scott Young from his great bonus interview in Learning How to Learn. Scott has started a Facebook book club.  This month’s reading is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. (Audible version here.) Sapiens was our 2015 pick for Learning How to Learn book-of-the-year, so Scott is starting out strong!

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month (Yes, we’ve got another great one!)

Authors Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman have written a masterpiece with A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age. (Audio version here—two free audiobooks may be possible through this link)  As Shannon himself noted, the great intellectual breakthroughs of science would be meaningless if it weren’t for the intermediate effects of engineers and inventors.  Soni and Goodman have written a not-to-be-missed biography in league with Walter Isaacson’s seminal Einstein: His Life and Universe. Claude Shannon is the father of today’s information age—as quirky, endearing, and yes, as important as Einstein, (although the humble Shannon himself would have denied it).

Incidentally, we know that many Learning How to Learners are interested in creativity and productivity tips. In our opinion, Shannon’s tips on how to attack and solve difficult problems in many different disciplines (page 219 in our early version), are alone worth the price of the book. Soni and Goodman have done an extraordinary job of demystifying Shannon’s work, making it understandable and fascinating for the layperson with no background in science.  Plus—what’s not to love about a juggling unicyclist?   

A Late Blooming Mathematician

Learning How to Learner Kelly Papavlou, a biologist-ecologist in Athens, Greece, has recommended this inspiring story of a late-blooming mathematician. “June Huh thought he had no talent for math until a chance meeting with a legendary mind. A decade later, his unorthodox approach to mathematical thinking has led to major breakthroughs….” We love this inspirational article!

How to Get Excited About Topics That Bore You

Ever struggle with learning subject matter that just doesn’t excite you?  Here’s an article by Barb in the Harvard Business Review on how to overcome your boredom and generate real enthusiasm for what you want or need to learn.  

A Great Synthesis of the Key Ideas of Learning How to Learn

Here is a wonderful “crunch” by Authur Worsley of the key ideas of Learning How to Learn and our course recommended text, A Mind for Numbers.  This is one of the best summaries of the key ideas that we’ve ever seen.

Incidentally, you haven’t already read A Mind for Numbers, take a look or a listen on Audible to discover why it’s become, as Publisher’s Weekly says, “a sleeper best-seller.”

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month

One of our long-time favorite books could be a literal life-saver for you.  The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence, by Gavin de Becker, is an outstanding tutorial on how to learn to listen to your own body’s signals, as well as signals from your surroundings, to pick up on and avoid danger.  De Becker grew up in an extremely abusive household—learning to read his environment is what kept him and his little sister alive.  This riveting book will give you the tools you need to stay safe in life. We were reminded of this book when the servers recently began using “forced teaming” as an odd sales gimmick at one of our local restaurants. (Audible version here—you may be able to get two free audiobooks through this link.)

Jet Lag

Barb’s peripatetic schedule frequently finds her in the throes of jet lag. Recently, Barb was sent a device called “HumanCharger” that introduces light into the ear canal to help alleviate jet lag—it may also help with “Winter Blues.”  (Here is some research that appears to show efficacy, at least regarding the jet lag.) Barb has found that the device does seem to help.  Feel free to post in the forum here if you do try the device, or have any other jet-lag-related suggestions.

Barb in Bogotá and Barranquilla

Speaking of Barb’s travels, she’s currently Colombia.  She’ll be speaking at Javeriana University in Bogotá on July 10th and 12th—go here for details.  And she’ll be speaking at Uninorte in Barranquilla giving the closing conference keynote on July 14th.  Contact cedu@uninorte.edu.co for more details.  

MOOCs Find Their Audience

Here is a very perceptive article by our friend Dhawal Shah at Class Central on how MOOCs are finding their audience amongst professional learners and universities. Key graf: “One of the lessons I learned from running Class Central is that to make money, you need to make others money. By targeting professional learners, MOOC providers are trying to exactly do that.”

Music boosts brain connectivity

A recent study has shown that using music to learn a physical task resulted in a significant increase in structural connectivity on the right side of the brain while the non-music group.  Could this be why learning a new language by listening to music in the new language seems to add a special boost?

Interview with Isaac Lidsky, author of Eyes Wide Open

Barb recently spoke with author Isaac Lidsky, and the interview has been written up by our fine friends at Heleo:  “1.6 Million Students and Counting: How Barbara Oakley Cracked the Science of Learning.”  Isaac is the author of Eyes Wide Open: Overcoming Obstacles and Recognizing Opportunities in a World That Can’t See Clearly, a worthwhile book about how Isaac has learned to reframe his blindness as an asset.

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Week

This week’s intriguing read is Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Although a little repetitive in places, we agree with the general assessment that this is a global phenomenon (the book has sold 3.6 million copies worldwide, in a record-breaking 44 languages).  The basic premise of the book is simple—work to move your business from the “red ocean” of bloody competition to the “blue ocean” of low competition. What are especially useful are the practical frameworks the book provides, which serve as virtual templates for thinking creatively in many different fields.  This book has long been referred to as a classic, and we can see why.

How to Appear Both Dazzling and Creative Even If You’re Not

Here’s an article in Training Industry by Barb on precisely that topic.  (Psst—next best thing to reading? MOOC-taking!)

Note-taking—Should You Type or Write by Hand?

William Voss shares his thoughts on the effectiveness of handwritten note-taking in this post. He’s almost tempted us to take try taking notes in Morse code! [Hat tip Lead Mentor Linda Walker.] Research supports the idea that taking notes by hand is more effective than typing, as noted in this excellent NPR article by James Doubek.

Productivity—Seeing Both the Trees AND the Forest

Looking for a (new) way to help manage your productivity? Check out Forest: Stay focused, be present, available as a Chrome extension as well as on iOS and Android, Forest lets you grow a virtual forest as a reward for being productive, and it’s easy. Just plant your seed, stay on track – by not visiting your blacklisted sites or visiting other apps—and watch your forest grow! (Hat tip to Becca Judd, for telling us about it). Forest sponsors Trees for the Future, an organisation that plants real trees in forest garden programs in Sub Saharan Africa! [Hat tip, the indefatigable Linda Walker.]

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

See all book recommendations at cheeryfriday.com