Cheery Friday Greetings from Learning How to Learn! Jul 15, 2016

Cheery Friday greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Virtual Reality

Barb was fortunate enough to be able to visit the Google Virtual Reality Labs last week. Some of the capabilities of the medium are expensive, but really quite extraordinary—she felt like she was on the holodeck in Star Trek. There is a rumble in the air—educators are beginning to realize that their might be value in the new medium. Here’s a balanced article by Carl Straumsheim, “Virtual Reality on the Horizon,” that describes how higher academia is beginning to grapple with this different way of framing the world. (And if you’re looking for an interesting take on the Pokémon Go phenomenon and education, here it is.)

Becoming a Self-Motivated Learner

Here’s a terrific article, “The Golden Age of Autodidacts,” by one of our favorite authors, Carlin Flora, in Psychology Today. We love Carlin’s thinking—here’s her introduction to the article: “It’s never been easier, or more important, to grow your own knowledge base. Here’s what the science of self-directed learning can teach you.” Carlin wrote the terrific book Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are. If you value your friends (which you should), you’ll value this book. Highly recommended!

Is Solitude the Secret to Unlocking Our Creativity?

Here’s another excellent article in the Observer by Jory Mackay about the value of solitude, walks, daydreaming, and being alone in nature in helping us to be more creative.

Book Recommendation for the Month: Grit

This month’s big book recommendation is Angela Duckworth’s Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. If you’re a parent, you will find plenty of fantastic ideas to help you raise your children with spunk, verve, and yes, grit. If you’re just looking for new ideas about how to get along better in the world, even as you achieve what you want to achieve, Grit’s for you. Highly recommended!

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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