"They're learning from their failure here - without getting hepatitis"

I am very fond of Cathy Moore's ideas about instruction, e-learning, and learning in general. In fact, I would like to think that I have managed to follow some of them when creating instructional content. (For example, I injected these very basic "you're in such-and-such situation; what will you do next?" exercises/minigames all over a big-ass industrial safety course I helped to make.) So, I was very thrilled to find this video where she explains her stuff via a practice scenario in a group. As one viewer helpfully pointed out, "the audio starts at 1:20".

Some of my favourite points.

- 06:12-13:27. Getting a glimpse of an info dump: ""If we get the correct knowledge into people's brains they will do the right thing." But does knowledge always change behaviour?"... and taking a shot at the instructional fallacy that spawns those: "We have a subject to cover!"
The subject-centered approach has been my pet peeve even before I got involved in e-learning (for adults). In my teaching days I also worked on the curriculum for my school - the subject-centered info-dump was very much a norm there as well and the skill- or behaviour-centered goals were seen as something novel and special ("wow, this activity integrates information from different subjects! So revolutionary it makes me feel dirty!").

- 14:52-18:05. How to outline the goal with the client. (a.k.a. how to fulfil a purpose while constructively dealing with and averting the executive meddling)

- 23:52-25:44. Acknowledging that what the client cares about might necessarily be what the learner cares about. (The tricky part being, how to sift out a measurable goal that the client cares about and then let let that goal steer the design process.)

- 26:57-30:00. working with the Subject Matter Expert to pinpoint what are the common mistakes.

- 32:48. "make the learner make decisions they would in real world". Comparing two sets of simple multiple-choice questions, she sums up the difference between a "vague abstract piece of knowledge" and "a character facing a challenge". (I myself prefer the you-approach too.)

- 35:40. On putting the learner into a fallible position. "You identify the most common mistakes and you practically set it up for the learner to make that mistake - so they can learn from it."

- 36:23. On learner-choice feedback: "you are simply told what happens as a result. And you draw your conclusions."

- 49:09-05:12. On action and information - about setting the learner up to use the information. "If they ... pass the activities, they clearly know what to do. And that's really all we care about - are they doing what they need to do?"

Information stepping stones (3). Doom vs innovation.

When it comes to possibly-problematic-in-a-long-term kind of phenomena and processes, there's nothing I loathe more than the foggy fearmongering, especially if built on ignorance. (Reminds me of an old forum conversation when discussing the ins and outs of climate change, I - feeling as though being on the same page with a then-friend - asked if he'd take the turn to "explain about the important role of ocean acidification". He did, blasting all those culprits left and right... - and from what he wrote it became painfully evident that with all the finger-pointing he wasn't actually familiar what the term stands for. One conversation lead to another and I soon managed to flee from the friendship that in hindsight looked more and more like a narcissist's quest to "recruit" minions and milk their admiration. But that's another story. (Which I'm obviously still bitter about :P)) Kind of like this:

The positive bit of that loathing is that it makes me appreciate well-structured, well-balanced explanations so much more. Add references to the original sources and you've got a semi-literate bugger that I am, reading with gusto.
In other words, IO9 does it again:
http://io9.com/5950630/7-signs-we-are-heading-for-a-mass-extinction.


ED:
The same appreciate-the-well-explained-basics-principle applies to their whole "Secret History" section, especially the stories of stuff past that fulfils similar purposes as the stuff present:
http://io9.com/5950353/the-incredible-devices-that-made-motion-pictures-before-there-were-cameras

Gaming is a serious business. So is having fun.

I've been postponing the obvious for a while and right now seems to be the perfect time to post it. Namely, the two talks that Jane McGonigal has given at TED.

In fact it was that first talk of hers that completed the circuit in my brain that lit up the bulb shining the message "to play = to learn! Eureka!"

Information stepping stones (2)

I'm going to make this a semi-recurrent intro to the posts like this:
In so many fields I am not nearly literate enough to dig into their "raw information ore" and make sense of it (or, indeed, first make sense of what needs to be made sense of) all on my own. So I rely heavily on competent folks communicating their craft. 


I rely on IO9 almost daily to deliver the obscure art, the previously-unknown webcomics, the filth and guts of human history, its physical remains and so much more. And when it comes to scienc-y stuff, especially asking important questions, pointing at plot holes, displaying sheer beauty, and indeed, sparking curiosity, I dig right in.

The latest stepping-stone article is this:
http://io9.com/5934549/how-to-distinguish-crap-denialism-from-legitimate-scientific-debate

Power of remix meets TED

The idea of remixing as means of creativity, learning and information in general, is an ever-fascinating for me. (As seen in this post and this post.) So I was really delighted to find a video notification about Kirby taking his remix-talk to TED.

"Copy, transform, combine." 

A great sum-up that is and I've got only one thought to add to this: "if life spreads through modification by descent then information spreads through remixing."
I'm sure someone must have had said something of the sort before. I might have heard it at some point, then forgot about it and now the thing "bubbles back up to my brain". (See what I did there. Ha.)

The courage to step outside the comfort zone

Once again I have stumbled upon a TED talk that requires an update in a "mental folder" I've jokingly labelled as "my heroes".

"The fact is that most of the biggest catastrophies that we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and out there but that we are willfully blind to because we can't handle, don't want to handle the conflict that it provokes. But when we dare to break that silence and when we dare to see and we create conflict, we enable ourselves and the people around us to do our very best thinking."

One important idea that she doesn't explicitly say but that I feel belongs to the related mental territories is that in order to "do your very best of thinking" and in order to have the courage to stand up for your ideas, you don't necessarily have to be right. Quite contrary, in order to do your very best of thinking [here starts the new thought that I'm adding to hers], you also need to have the courage to be wrong, the courage to make mistakes.

Often the dirtiest mouths tell the greatest tales

Case point: Apocalypse lane. I've been looking for an excuse to bring them up from the very first day I set up shop in this corner. There might have been some vague point attached to their reference which I've forgotten by now. Anyway ... I don't feel too verbal today, so I'll let them do the talking.
Here's one of my favourite episodes.

And here is the playlist starting from the very beginning.

Cocks and the counter-learning

Confession time: I often read and enjoy the Cracked. Namely, I regularly read and enjoy some favourite Cracked authors. In the process I have learned a whole lot of useful. (Ish.) Since their works often combine some of my most cherished Elements of Life (namely - obscure fun, random tidbits of information and the less glamorous bodily functions), I intend to make frequent proud references of that reading material over here.


So, this is what I'm reading today: www.cracked.com/article_19886_the-17-most-hilariously-ineffective-propaganda-posters.html. (I'm leaving the long link because it conveniently displays the title.)
There is so much educational going on in these posters that I don't even know where to start. But basically, this:

"What makes a good learning video," the Minute Physics Guy explains

The question about what kind of digital learning material makes a good digital learning material, is one I have been faced with many times in my line of work. Spoiler: I don't know the answer to this. But I enjoy picking up brumbs [<<- cool typo :) meant "crumbs"] of information that indicate the goodness and usefulness of some particular method, tool, toy, approach, paradigm, theoty, etc.

 In this lecture, the creator of Minute Physics video series is speaking of his own experience and preferences with the matter.

I remember him making a point about using written formulas, visualizations and analogies for explaining purposes that sounded something like "we don't have to explain/ teach science the same way it was first written down when discovered". For me, it resonated as a very important, fundamental idea about teaching/ learning in general. Now i can't remember if that was during this lecture or did he have a separate video about it. I'll look it up and add it as a separate link later.

Games, adults, life and everything

My Mondays just wouldn't be the same without Jimquisition. I draw lots of parallels between the world of gaming and the world of e-learning. This means whenever some nifty game mechanic or especially ingenious goalstetting or obscurely cool and functional interface tidbit is being discussed, I'm having my little private "aha!" moments and might let out a giggle (or two) of sheer joy. And when when Jim tears apart some heinous publisher sin or faulty business practice, i'm often feeling that different species of joy of recognition. (Those are the moments when i find myself mumbling under breath: "see, you fuckers? Not only is this idea of yours lame, it is also bad for business!")

And then there are episodes like this - that tackle why it all matters in the first place.

 

(Here's a link to the episode as well, in case embedding won't work as intended.)

knowledge vs. understanding ...

... or how "knowing" can get in the way of learning.
It's another of those vague ideas that has fascinated - and frustrated - me throughout most of my life. In long run, I'd like it to become one of the underlying grand themes of this place. I also don't have a clue how to begin tackling it. So instead I'll throw in another of my favourite Ted videos that takes a peek into a similar matter.

ED: 

Also, this recent post from IO9 about how science works and how it doesn't tickles the same nerve [<<- metaphor, duh]. 

Being a crafty bugger (2nd ed.)

My perpetual source of inspiration is the There, I Fixed It blog.
It holds such gems as the Origami Christmas tree ball; The DIY Poop Joke; the heroic stool; some more poop; the endless possibilities of future poop;  ...

Poop jokes aside, it has also been rather useful for my work. I have helped to put together numerous courses about the health and safety stuff in the industrial setting. And more than once when I have had to figure out an illustration or an animation, I have finalized my desctiption by saying: "I'd like you to draw something like this". It has happened with electrical works; it has happened with heights.


On a few occasions I have even considered submitting my own fixes there, but then shied away. Here, in the safety of my own space however...

It's a lamp, btw. Having been born as a wall lamp, it didn't quite suit my needs for a desk/ worktable lamp. So, hammer and nails to the rescue. We happened to have these nice-looking wooden blocks amongst our firewood. After conducting a quick beauty pageant amongst them, I hammered these three pieces together. Now having a solid sturdy stand for the lamp, I simply screwed it on top. (No hammering there. I may be crafty but I'm not a barbarian.)
Of course, there at the 'Fixedit they've seen it all anyway.