Author: barboakley

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Books of the Week

This past week, we read two contrasting books on the impact of artificial intelligence and the digital world.

• World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech, by Franklin Foer. The central idea of this book is that Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple have become pernicious monopolies.  One result, according to Foer, is that the writing world has changed dramatically, and not for the better.  Foer has personally experienced this upheaval. The magazine he edited, the New Republic, ran roughshod over his career. Franklin makes some important points, even as it’s amusing to see him show the same “we know best” bias he’s accusing others of. Franklin, incidentally, is the brother of Learning How to Learn author fave Joshua Foer, who described how he became an unlikely memory champion in Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. (Audible version here.)
• Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins, by Garry Kasparov. (Audible version here.) What a contrast with Foer’s book!  Although Kasparov acknowledges the same seductive, monopolistic problems that Foer alludes to, Kasparov’s overall assessment is upbeat. This is a surprise, given that Kasparov will go down in history as the first world chess champion to be felled by artificial intelligence.  Lots of readable insights about how AI experts went about tackling strategy in the games of chess and go. The gripping description of the final battle with Deep Blue will keep you up at night. We love Kasparov’s quote of Coursera’s co-founder, Andrew Ng, “who has said that worrying about super-intelligent and evil AI today is like worrying about ‘the problem of overcrowding on Mars.’”

Sometimes Conversations are Especially Fun

Barb spoke with  Kevin Kruse for his The LEADx Show. Kevin was especially interested in the behind-the-scenes development of Learning How to Learn.  We also had a fun time discussing failure (of which Barb has plenty of examples!).  Click here to listen to the podcast, or click here to read the article.”

At MIT and Georgia Tech, on-campus students can earn credit from a MOOC

Class Central is hot on the reporting scene, describing how MOOCs are starting to be used on campus for credit at major institutions.  This important development in providing high quality teaching for very large groups of students. A key question is, will the economies of scale of MOOCs reduce soaring tuition costs for students? Or are not-for-profit public institutions still de facto for-profit?

Florence Nightingale saved more lives with her grasp of numbers than she did with her gift for nursing

We had no idea of Florence Nightingale’s skill with numbers, and what a life-saver those math skills were in reducing soldier mortality rates.  This fantastic article by Alan Finkel in Cosmos Magazine is well worth reading. [Hat tip Nicole Charest.]

Lifelong Education Delivers Confidence, Joy and Hope

This extensive article on lifelong education in Livehappy by Jennifer Wheary features a lot of intriguing discussion and insights from our very own Learning How to Learn.

Scott Young’s “Rapid Learner” Course

We’re fans of Scott Young and his perceptive forays into effective learning.  This is the last day to enroll in Scott’s six week “Rapid Learner” course—enrollment ends at midnight Pacific Time tonight (Friday). If you’re looking for ways to learn more quickly, we highly recommend Scott’s course.

The New York Times Got It Wrong

This insightful article by Josh Kim at Inside Higher Education really nails it.  Kim begins: “Earlier this month The New York Times ran a great article on Coursera’s Learning How to Learn open online course. The article pointed out all the wonderful things about the course, including how the MOOC had been taken by 1.8 million students in 200 countries. What the New York Times story did not cover, and what those writing about higher education from outside the academy consistently miss, is why a MOOC like Learning How to Learn is so important.”

Read the whole thing.

Don’t Forget, Barb in Madrid speaking at the IE University with legendary neuroscientist Prof. Javier de Felipe

If you are going to be anywhere near Madrid, don’t miss Barb’s open-to-the-public event in Madrid on the 27th of September at 18:30 pm at IE University.  You can register here. This event will be extraordinary, because Barb will be sharing the stage with legendary Spanish neuroscientist Javier de Felipe, who is also one of the world’s greatest experts on Santiago Ramón y Cajal.  Barb will be there early to say hello!

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, we recommend Robert Sutton’s new book The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt.  (Sutton did his own Audible version.) Everyone will encounter, or even occasionally themselves become, a toxic person sooner or later. Sutton provides excellent guidance about how to get past it: there is hope.  This book is a good follow-up to Sutton’s The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t, which we read and admired when first came out a decade ago.

Barb’s first neuro-based book, incidentally, was the critically-acclaimed, tongue-in-cheek titled Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend.  She’s done her homework on nasty people!

This leads us to:

The Dark Side of Empathy

In this Inc. interview, Barb discusses how empathy can be a double-edged sword.  It’s certainly not the uniformly benign emotion we often imagine it to be.  Also, see Barb’s books Pathological Altruism (a heavy academic tome from Oxford University Press that earned a great write-up in the New York Times), and Cold-Blooded Kindness (a popular “killer thriller”).

Barb in Madrid speaking at the IE University with legendary neuroscientist Prof. Javier de Felipe

If you are going to be anywhere near Madrid near the end of this month, don’t miss Barb’s open-to-the-public event in Madrid on the 27th of September at 18:30 pm at IE University.  You can register here. This event will be extraordinary because Barb will also be handing the stage over to legendary Spanish neuroscientist Javier de Felipe, who is also one of the world’s greatest experts on Santiago Ramón y Cajal.  Come early—Barb would love to meet you!

The college lecture is dying. Good riddance.

You will enjoy this outstanding article by Amy Wang and Allison Schrager in Quartz about the latest trends in MOOCs and how they are shifting the academic paradigm.  It’s a statistical truism to say that half of all professors are below average, and sometimes even average isn’t that good.  As the article describes, a well-designed MOOC with a great instructor gives students a personalized learning experience that is in many ways far better than they would receive in a typical overcrowded college setting. As this article reveals, there are a lot of positives ahead for students due to online advancements!

For Online College Programs, Google Is Kingmaker

This well-researched article by Jeffrey Young in EdSurge provides insight into a little-known aspect of the online world: advertising costs.  Southern New Hampshire University, for example, spent nearly $40 million in 2015 to promote their programs.  Google is a big beneficiary of monies spent to advertise online programs; prestigious universities have a natural leg up on the search rankings. (Now this is great ed-tech journalism!)

Turning Student Groups into Effective Teams

This paper on turning student groups into effective teams is one of Barb’s most popular.  Part of the reason, as explained in this article by Anne Jolly about effective team building in middle school, is that the ideas are useful in a K-12 setting as well as at a university.  Incidentally, Barb’s co-authors on the paper, Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent, wrote the outstanding book: Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide.  Richard and Rebecca have had more influence than any other educators on Barb’s ability to teach.  If you want to learn more about teaching effectively and efficiently in STEM, you couldn’t do better than to buy this great book.

A Surprise Viral Video—Because of Learning How to Learn!

Here is a terrific article by journalist Martha Perkins of the Vancouver Courier. Martha started her career on a manual typewriter.  But inspired by Learning How to Learn, at age 54, she decided to learn how to produce video—her resulting “Blob of Lost Lagoon” went viral. 

Unconventional Thinkers

Kulwant Saluja runs an interesting podcast with unconventional thinkers. Once Kulwant and Barb got to talking, they quickly veered off in unconventional directions.  Enjoy!

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!

Books of the Week

Maybe it’s just the excitement of fall that has our literary enthusiasm going, but this week we bounced back and forth between two dramatically different books just for the fun of it.

• The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness, by Sy Montgomery.  (Sy also read the Audible version of her book.) This National Book Award Finalist caught our attention because we had no idea that octopuses are so smart and so filled with personality.  Montgomery is an infectiously enthusiastic writer who could get you excited about anything.  The book also gives great insight into the behind-the-scenes work needed to run a world-class aquarium, and the magic of diving on coral reefs in search of wild octopuses. Have you always wondered how an utterly alien intelligence might think? Read on!
• Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, by James Lang.  We wanted to brush up on our face-to-face teaching skills, what with it being back-to-school time and all.  Lang’s book was just the easy-to-read and perceptive ticket. Insights on issues such as how to incorporate retrieval practice, the value of having students make predictions, and why partial are better than perfect PowerPoints. Although James is a professor of English literature, his advice is often ideal for teaching STEM subjects.  Highly recommended!

Read Like a CEO

If you’re looking to read more, but feel pressed for time—you have got to try MentorBox. Each week Mentorbox sits down “60 Minutes” like with bestselling authors and industry disruptors to explore their expertise. You can be confident they have great taste because they selected A Mind for Numbers as their paperback pick! Barb confides that this was the most extensive, insight-filled interview she has ever done. Watch Barb’s lesson shot from her very own living room here!

Don’t have time to read two books a month? Count on Mentorbox’s cheat sheets, audio summaries, workbooks, and videos to teach you what you need to know efficiently. The educational platform doubles as a monthly subscription service—curating a box that is designed for busy, ambitious professionals.

If you like to be on the cutting edge with new technological trends, sign up for Mentorbox.  They are creating a fantastic new online niche for top authors so you can easily be in touch with the buzz.

Barb’s Smithsonian Event Has Sold Out—But a Bigger Venue Has Opened! Get Tickets Now!

Barb’s talk at the Smithsonian has been moved to the Baird Auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History to accommodate the crowds. If you’re anywhere in the DC area, Barb would love to see you—she’ll plan to be at the Auditorium early to mingle, chat, and say hello.  The talk will be on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 6:45 p.m. Register here. Bring friends and family for a fantastic overview of the key ideas of Learning How to Learn. And while you’re at it, learn fun-behind-the-scenes insights on how the course was created, and why it’s become the two-million-strong leviathan it is today!

Nelson Dellis’s BEST Video on Memory!

We’ve talked before about 4-time US Memory Champion Nelson Dellis and his great memory tips. Here’s his BEST video so far:  “5 Memory Tips when You’re Just Getting Started.” If you’re looking to improve your memory, don’t miss this one!  (If you would like to join Nelson in helping to support research on memory, please take the Extreme Memory Challenge.)

5 Online Business Courses That Will Make You Much Smarter (for Free)

Here’s a link from Inc. on the 5 top online business courses.  Guess which two courses are #1 and #2?

The Fragile Generation

Here is a perceptive article by Jonathan Haidt on the crisis of resilience on campus. Haidt, incidentally, is the author of the fantastic best-selling book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. (Audible version here.) We’ve read it, and agree with the New York Times’ conclusion that Haidt’s book is “A landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself.”
Science of Sport

We recently learned about a non-profit, Science of Sport, that uses sports to teach K-12 students math and science.  They partner with professional baseball, soccer, basketball, and football teams to demonstrate real-life examples of math and science.  Check out their video and Twitter feed.  Since Science of Sport targets kids who struggle with math and science, they are using concepts from A Mind for Numbers in their curriculum, including focused and diffuse thinking as well as chunking.  What better way to learn math and science than from sports!  See also this article (page 40) about engineering professor Ricardo Valerdi, who conceptualized this highly effective approach.

Incidentally, here’s a MOOC on exercise by Robert Mazzeo from the University of Colorado – Coursera that started on September 4th.

Creativity

Curiosity and creativity are intimately related.  If you’re curious about creativity, check out this worthwhile blog post on the creative process, “Master Creativity” by Ellen Twomey.  Ellen’s thoughts echo excellent ideas we’ve heard from Terry about how to be creative.

Navigating the Shoals of Policy and Politics in Education

“Lost in translation: the policy and politics of Australian classroom practice,” by David Threlfall of  the University of Melbourne (written for npj Science of Learning), describes some of the difficulties in making truly effective educational reform.

Teaching Basic Study Skills

Professor Kim-Leiloni Nguyen at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California, took Learning How to Learn two years ago.  With this and other information, she created a series of five-minute animated videos to teach students basic study skills. Check them out 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
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!

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