I find random learning a lot of fun. I love it when I’m presented with something to learn that I might not have otherwise sought out on my own. If you don’t engage in any conscious random learning, I encourage you to do so. There are a few ways I engage in random learning on […]
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Yesterday I overheard someone at my local coffee shop talking about his education. He began to rattle off the schools he attended and the degree and certifications he holds. Never did he actually mention what he knew, what skills he possessed or what experience he had with any particular domain of knowledge. No, he made […]
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Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Here’s a cartoon lifted from the I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists Facebook page. I’m not even going to comment except to say that it is a humorous explanation of one of the reasons why standardized testing so often fails to contribute to the goal of effective education.
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A study (here is a nice Learning Solutions Magazine article about it) by Jeffrey D. Karpicke and Janell R. Blunt suggests that what is often referred to as retrieval practice may be one of the superior ways to retain what you learn. This validates a technique my father taught me at a very young age when I […]
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This TED talk about self-teaching illustrates the power of self-education and how its proper deployment can change the way we educate our children for the better. At the same time, the findings of the research discussed in this talk have application to adult learning as well. We must move away from the concept that only […]
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In Daniel H. Pink’s book, Drive, one of the main points he emphasizes is that true motivation comes from an individual feeling they have three elements present during their efforts: Autonomy – the ability to control their destiny to the greatest extent possible. Mastery – the opportunity to truly master one or more domains of […]
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Some time ago I posed this question to my network of Facebook friends: If you were asked to share with others one gem of wisdom or knowledge you possess, what would it be? Here are their responses. In the interest of not attributing the quotes to anyone who might not want their names published here, […]
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Recently I was reading Richard Dowis’ excellent book, The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One – How to Deliver It, and I read something very wise that pertains directly to self-education and learning. In a section of the book that discusses researching when writing speeches, he bolsters an assertion I’ve made […]
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There was a time when I was quite the exercise and fitness aficionado. I worked out a lot and had a rockin’ body. Unfortunately, I fell into a rather long period of apathy regarding my exercise and have recently decided to again embrace a more fitness oriented lifestyle. I plan to document some of the […]
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This video utilizing a recording of the late Alan Watts is brilliant. It highlights something that I’ve been talking and writing about for quite some time. Our entire educational system is based on the constant grading (ranking) of individuals while at the same time dangling the carrot of supposed “success” in front of the students as […]
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