The Ostrich and the Trend

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Extraordinary Book Deal

BookBub is running a fantastic deal on the electronic version of A Mind for Numbers (the supplemental course book)  This is a one-time-only offer for $1.99 running only through November 4th.  If you’ve been planning to get an electronic copy of A Mind for Numbers, now is the time!

Tread Carefully When Making Assertions about MOOCs

In this pointed critique in Inside Higher Ed, “The Ostrich and the Trend,” Arshad Ahmad and Barb take on MOOC critic John Warner. Share your thoughts on the debate in the comments section!

How to Improve Your Writing

If you would like to improve your writing, William Zinsser’s On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction is one of Barb’s very favorites. Here’s a terrific “book crunch” by Arthur Worsley that summarizes the ideas.

MOOCWatch #16: MOOC Providers Target Degrees

Class Central is out with an incisive article about how MOOC providers are beginning to offer complete college degrees. We can’t help but think of shopping malls. Ten years ago, no one would have thought there could ever be a challenge to the supremacy of shopping malls.  Nowadays, shopping malls are being boarded up as customers realize how much easier and less expensive it can be to shop online.  Universities pouring tens of millions into new on-campus facilities such as dormitories should beware the portents of empty shopping malls. Smart universities see that investments in online help create the infrastructure of the future.

Memory Champion Nelson Dellis’s Favorite Memory Tools

Here’s another excellent video from Nelson Dellis on his favorite memory tools.  (If you would like to join Nelson in helping to support research on memory, please take the Extreme Memory Challenge.)

Incidentally, here’s the earmuffs that both Nelson and Barb use to help them concentrate.

These 5 Hacks Can Help You Learn Anything, According to a Stanford Professor

Here’s a review of some key insights you’ve already learned in Learning How to Learn about how to learn effectively. [Hat tip Scott Love.]

Taking Coursera MOOCs Offline

Here is a point-by-point article from Coursera about how to take their materials offline, so you can work in deep mineshafts, tunnels, arid deserts or far out at sea.  (Or just if you happen not to have a handy internet connection at the moment!) (Hat tip Pat Bowden of the blog 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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