The limits of working memory dictate that we can only focus on five to seven separate pieces of information at one time. Beyond that, it all starts turning into a blur.. which is why long strings of apparently unrelated information, or a long to do list, can feel so overwhelming. But we can’t just whack our
Learning means adapting our behavior in ways that promote survival. This past year has been a massive, forced, global learning experience of the most profound, and often heart-wrenching kind. Our literal survival on a personal and societal level has been and continues to be at stake. It’s amazing that in the swirling maelstrom of chaos we’ve all been
The entire planet is in the midst of one of the most globally destabilizing times in history, where the foundations of how we function and interact on every level of our lives have been shaken. We’ve all been pushed out of our comfort zone. That’s a situation that serves as the impetus for tremendous learning and
A funny thing happened on my way to the Learn and Get Smarter Community meeting last Saturday: the electricity in my neighborhood went out. Suddenly, instead of logging into the Zoom meeting ahead of time to to be graciously ready to greet the group, I found myself frantically scrambling to log in on my phone. Logging in
I’m writing this blog post on the eve of one of the most significant days in American history. Whatever their political beliefs, Americans feel that the future of our country depends on what happens on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. And people all over the world are also concerned about the outcome of the 2020 election. The
The pandemic has thrown the importance of learning, and especially online learning, into high relief.Going to school is a privilege that, we are now seeing, we can’t take for granted. The issue of equal access to online education for all, is a profound social issue that lies at the heart of building a society that
I developed the Course Design Formula® to help you optimize the way you teach online, in the courses you create. Learners can also use the formula to enhance the way they learn online, from courses they take. Why is this important? Let’s use an analogy from the world of health and medicine. When you go to the doctor,
We’ve been talking a lot about systems in the Learn and Get Smarter community over the past several months…and at the community meeting this past Saturday we focused in on the systems needed to keep our online businesses operating smoothly.Mary Williams of Sensible Woo gave an enlightening presentation. She used the analogy of working out
Looking at your life as a whole, as an educator and entrepreneur…. where is your zone of genius? And what areas of your life and work need strengthening to support that? What areas of life feel unbalanced for you now, especially in light of the restrictions and changes imposed by the pandemic? And, most interestingly, how has
For the past six months, almost since the pandemic began, a dedicated group of Learn and Get Smarter community members have met every Saturday for two hours or more, to discuss how to survive and thrive during these unprecedented times.We shared our personal reflections and professional expertise to gain deeper insight into what works when
When you teach in a physical classroom, workshop, or lecture space, you are a person interacting directly with other people, in real time.When you teach in an online format, you are a person interacting with other people (either in real time or not) by means of digital media.The word “media” is the Latin plural form
The delightful bus stop cartoon that is this week’s featured image, is the original creation of community member Matt Champlin.Matt is an engineer and cartoonist, and led us in a fascinating group exercise last Saturday called the Lightning Decision Jam.The purpose of the Lightning Decision Jam is to help a group quickly discover the main thing
Teaching, at its highest and best, is a soul-focused activity.To teach effectively is to use your mind to help someone else move their mind from a less conscious point to a more conscious point along a particular path.To teach effectively online we need to fashion forms, learning objects, and materials, that are capable of transmitting
A characteristic that is shared by many members of the Learn and Get Smarter community is that we are ahead-of-the-times, outside-the-box thinkers… what is referred to in the book Play Bigger as “category kings” (or what I also refer to as “category queens”). In other words, we are creative experts and entrepreneurs who have come up
In last week’s blog post, I wrote about the point that occurs about module 3 and 4 of many online courses, where the learner needs to start to actually apply the new material being taught. At that point in the course, far too often, learners find actually applying the teaching too difficult, and just drop
How can you ensure learner success in your online course? Just as in a physical classroom, there is no 100% guaranteed way to be SURE that EVERYONE who signs up for an online course, will complete everything in it and get optimal results. Some of that depends on the learner: their motivation, persistence, level of engagement,
There are two types of alignment that are important to consider in setting up your online course and the business that supports it. It’s critical to be aligned “vertically”, with our higher purpose…our mission, vision, values, and purpose for teaching online.And it’s also critical to be aligned “horizontally”, with our ideal customers… the people we are
The internet has made it possible for anyone to become a producer or publisher..without any gatekeepers. Instead of having to please a gatekeeper, now we have to speak directly to the needs of our target audience. How can we best do that? The role of the teacher is not to pour knowledge into empty vessels, but
The members of the Learn and Get Smarter community who have been coming together on Saturdays since the pandemic began, have been exploring ways to survive and thrive during these challenging times, especially with respect to how our businesses can adapt. Since we are a group of educators and entrepreneurs, our focus is on how
Whether or not you are able to attend the weekly Learn and Get Smarter community meetings in person, I invite you to follow along with our ongoing group process of collaborative discovery as we explore ways to survive and thrive during these challenging times. As a community focused on creating effective and engaging online courses, we
In response to the pandemic, we started having weekly meetings for the Learn and Get Smarter community, to brainstorm and support each other in helping our businesses — and especially our online courses — survive and thrive during these challenging times.Over the past several months during these weekly meetings, we’ve been using the structure of
At the Learn and Get Smarter community meeting on Saturday, July 4th, 2020 we learned from community member Rob Ruder about information systems as they relate to systems thinking in general, and online course creation in particular. Rob is the owner of IDIC Designs and an Adjunct Faculty Member in Gonzaga University’s School of Business
The limits of working memory dictate that we can only focus on
Learning means adapting our behavior in ways that promote survival.This past year
The pandemic has thrown the importance of learning, and especially online learning,
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