Cheery Friday Greetings from Learning How to Learn! Apr 29, 2016

Cheery Friday greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Recommended MOOC-of-the-week—Critical Perspectives on Management

If you are interested in how to manage people well, you will want to read this insightful In-Depth Review on the MOOC Critical Perspective On Management by Learning How to Learn’s very own Senior Mentor Cristian Artoni. The more that we learn behind the scenes in Learning How to Learn, the more we realize the importance of good management practices and structure. Cristian has helped us implement better management approaches to give learners a better experience in Learning How to Learn.

Cerchiamo traduttori volontari in lingua Italiana! (Italian-speaking volunteers needed!)

That very same Cristian Artoni, who has long been a Senior Mentor in this course (he handles both Facebook and the archives), has volunteered to become the Lead for the forthcoming completely Italian version of Learning How to Learn. Questo sarà un grande vantaggio in generale per gli italiani e in particolar modo per gli studenti delle scuole medie e superiori al rientro dalle vacanze estive. Cristian dice: “E se gli zombie parlassero anche la lingua di Dante? Se anche tu ami il corso Learning How To Learn e desideri unirti a noi nel lancio del primo corso Coursera completamente tradotto in italiano, compila questo modulo!”

Italy places growing emphasis on MOOCs

Last week Italy officially activated a new MOOC platform, EduOpen, entirely financed by the MIUR, which is the Italian Ministry for Education. As of now, they have 14 Italian universities on the platform. There are nearly 5,000 students enrolled, but the numbers are growing by the minute. As Cristian Artoni observes, “Of note is that there are some very interesting ideas about the recognition of credits.”

Guidance on learning how to play the guitar

It seems this is a week centered on Italy! Italian Learning How to Learner Giancarlo Facoetti has a wonderful blog post on learning how to play the guitar using insights from Learning How to Learn. Check out his post if you want to see how the methods described in Learning How to Learn can improve your abilities in many areas (guitar is just one of them!)

Barb at the University of Michigan on Monday! (Also Bogotá; Medellín; Baltimore; Petersfield, Hampshire UK; and Ottawa, Canada)

As usual, Barb’s traveling widely to promote learning and MOOCs. She’ll be at the University of Michigan on Monday, May 2nd, to help open the Enriching Scholarship Conference. Michigan is Barb’s home “stomping grounds,” so she’d love to see you there! Here’s where else she’ll be, helping learners around the world and hoping to meet you.

• Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia: Talks on learning May 5, 6, 7 and 10, 2016, commemorating the 25th anniversary of COLFUTURO.
• Baltimore: Opening keynote for the Maryland Association for Adult, Community and Continuing Education conference, May 12, 2016.
• Petersfield, Hampshire UK: Keynote on learning, Liberating Leaders Conference, Bedales School, 25 May 2016.
• Ottawa, Canada: Opening keynote speaker, EMBS ISC 2016, Ottawa, May 30th, 2016.

Great books on learning

Since we’re on the topic of learning, here are some great and interesting books we’d like to recommend:

• The Art of Changing the Brain, by James Zull. This book, recommended by Coursera’s “course success” polymath Alex Sarlin, is timeless, and a great complement to the neuroscientific ideas presented in Learning How to Learn. You’ll definitely learn some new and useful ideas from this book. We plan to keep this on our shelves as one of the all time great books on learning.

Each of the following two books provides thoughtful insights into where MOOCs and distance learning may lead us. Well worth reading even if some of the conclusions are hypothetical:

• The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere, Kevin Carey.
• Revolution in Higher Education: How a Small Band of Innovators Will Make College Accessible and Affordable, by Richard DeMillo.

We’re sometimes asked whether Asian approaches to testing should be emulated in the West. This thoughtful, brilliant book gives insight in that area:

• Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World, by Yong Zhao.

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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