In the perfect situation you’d have unlimited time and money available when creating a presentation, print document or online learning materials. You’d be able to call in whatever specialist expertise you wanted and have the time to wait while they delivered the goods. When it comes to the sourcing of visual aids, you would not [...]
Back at Online Educa in Berlin last December, I made the decision to undertake a three month trial of Twitter. I must admit I didn’t really get it, but I was encouraged by the enthusiasm of Jane Hart, Josie Fraser and others, and decided to give it a go. Well, the three months are now [...]
John Medina’s excellent book Brain Rules has received quite a bit of attention already (see my original post based on the videos and online information I explored first on John’s website, as well as Donald Clark’s recent review), but I’ve only just got round to reading it properly and I want to take a look [...]
Rule 2: The human brain evolved too
In this chapter, John Medina explains how the brain has evolved over time. Much of this is not particularly relevant to learning, so I’m going to concentrate on one key element in this evolution - the development of symbolic reasoning:
“Symbolic reasoning is a uniquely human talent. It may have [...]
The MASIE Center has just published an interesting survey on the use of social learning in the workplace. I’m not sure I go with the term ’social learning’ because this is incredibly ambiguous - after all, a fair proportion of all learning involves the learner interacting with others - but let’s assume they mean the [...]
In Six Years in the Valley, The Economist describes how Silicon Valley is entering their second ‘nuclear winter’ of the 21st century. After the dotcom bust, we saw a revival centered on Web 2.0 services, typically provided free to the user, with the assumption that online advertising would eventually provide the revenue stream to ‘monetize’ [...]
I have mixed feelings about classroom training. On the one hand, it frustrates me that the classroom is still the default format for a formal learning intervention, often chosen without regard for its suitability to the job in hand. On top of this, so much classroom training is poorly delivered, comprising little more than a [...]
Cathy Moore is a champion of engaging, really effective e-learning. She pleads with us to dump the drone. When Cathy talks about design, you listen, because you know she practises what she preaches. That’s why, when Cathy recently announced the launch of her Elearning Blueprint, a performance support tool for designers, I was determined to [...]
Every brain is wired differently
In this chapter, John Medina explains how every brain is different from every other:
“When you learn something, the wiring in your brain changes.”
“What you do in life physically changes what your brain looks like.”
“Our brains are so sensitive to external inputs that their physical wiring depends upon the culture in which [...]
