Inspiration Through Information
When I first read James Geary’s The World in a Phrase, I knew I had found a kindred spirit. Language has always fascinated me and the types of quotes and aphorisms highlighted in Mr. Geary’s book are particularly fascinating. Amidst such golden language resides the metaphor. Lots of them. Metaphors aren’t just an option in […]
Every so often you read a blog post or article and are moved by the feeling that “wow, this is so chock full of truth and wisdom” that you have to let others know about it. That just happened to me as I read Penelope Trunk’s post on LinkedIn titled The Strongest Careers are Non-Linear. […]
Graham Attwell, an educational technologist, researcher and blogger based in Pontypridd in Wales and Bremen in Germany, has posted a short slideshow that I found interesting. Mr. Attwell’s presentation examines the ways in which people are now using technology for playing, for communication and yes, for learning. He contends also that the education systems are […]
I read a rather interesting book recently, The Education of Millionaires: Everything You Won’t Learn in College About How to Be Successful, by Michael Ellsberg. This book adds to the small but growing collective of books urging us to look at education from a different perspective. That perspective is from one of self-empowerment when it […]
People who work in the instructional design or training field know of the concept of test outs. A test out is a test someone takes to determine if they have the prerequisite knowledge or skill necessary to take a particular course or module of training. In other words, the test out determines if the person […]
A while back I read a great book by Atul Gawande titled The Checklist Manifesto. The message of the book is that in today’s deluge of information and processes that many of us are required to utilize in our daily lives, and in our professional lives in particular, there is no way we can remember […]
Once upon a time, many American companies dedicated a significant amount of their time and resources to training their employees. One standout example, IBM, as far back as the 1930’s, was famous for their employee education programs that were in large part responsible for IBM’s success. Times have changed. Companies today are spending increasingly less […]
This post thread started with my book review of Proving You’re Qualified. In previous posts I discussed some of the elements of an education portfolio – résumés, letters of recommendation, testimonials and work samples. Although what elements go into the making of a good education portfolio varies by individual and job target, a good one might consist […]
Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion Can Lead to a Lifetime of Success By James Marcus Bach Published by Scribner Here’s a great book self-educators will enjoy. Bach employs the “buccaneer” analogy to describe his personal quest for a self-directed and personally meaningful education. Bach never finished high school, yet […]
I was just reading a story in the New York Times about the massive student loan debt being incurred by students. They are deeming it another looming financial crisis and I’m guessing they are correct. Since students are leaving school often with $50,000-$100,000 in debt, I used a student loan interest calculator to crunch some numbers. If […]