A recent move by Coursera, one of the largest Online education providers, validates a new online learning model where knowledge is given away for free, but assessment is paid for. The answer is to separate Knowledge acquisition from knowledge assessment. Essentially...
3 Fundmental Functions of Education in the Community
There are 3 fundamental functions of education in every community: 1) Discover new knowledge, 2) Teach skills the community needs to thrive, and 3) Provide an opportunity for personal growth and enrichment. The great thing is that these three functions are intimately...
Solution Aversion – Why people believe what they believe
The Learning Community is always interested in what causes some to refuse to learn. A recent study on this subject by Troy Campbell and Aaron Kay of Duke University adds an intriguing new idea to the mix: “solution aversion.” Motivated Reasoning is something the...
Net Neutrality is the Perfect Vehicle to Explore the Power of a Learning Community
Because of its technical nature Net Neutrality is perfect for a Learning Community. Net Neutrality encompasses: Technical - What is the Optimal Internet Architecture Economic - What should be the drivers of the Telecommunications Industry Political - What role does...
We need to Seek Understanding First in our efforts in finding Common Ground rather than fight
Bill Maher asked this question, "Do you think social media made us bigger assholes, or we were bigger assholes and it just exposed us as being that?" Maher posed the question to Nerdist Industries CEO, and host of @Midnight on Comedy Central, Chris Hardwick, after...
The Difficulty to Building Consensus is on clear display with Religion on Wikipedia. But there are solutions. Like Separating Facts and Conclusions, and transparency to the source.
A interesting post from the Religion New Service (RNS) about the "Edit Wars" on the Religious Pages of Wikipedia clearly demonstrate the difficulty to Building Consensus. But, there is a solution. Clearly identify what are facts and what are conclusions. Then...
A Creationist Cartoon Offers an Opportunity for the Learning Community to Understand Confirmation Bias
Someone, most probably a Creationist, at the Henry Grady High School in Atlanta tried to use a cartoon in a freshman biology class that showed evolution, humanism, homosexuality, pornography, racism, euthanasia, divorce and abortion as the work of Satan and at war...
Story about “Unemployment” Numbers is Opportunity to Find “Actionable” Information
Here is an email I got this morning: Wednesday's ADP number suggested a sub-200K reading for today's May BLS jobs report. That would be a significant disappointment after April's robust 288K. But ADP is far from a flawless indicator. So estimates for today's number...
The Impacts of the Printing Press are: The Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment.
The impacts of the Printing Press are the Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment. In the essay below, Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, presents a thoughtful and I think very important conclusion. As she puts it: The impact of printing, experienced first by literate groups...
Noise is the Fundamental Obstacle to Learning
Let me go on record and acknowledge that I truly understand that while getting good enough information for learning is fairly easy, getting the “BEST” information for learning is not so easy. The reason is "Noise." There are a number of environmental and biological...
It is the Guide on the Side; Not the Sage on the Stage
Giving Constructive Feedback without making people angry
A Leadership IQ study found that 81% of leaders avoid giving tough feedback because they’re afraid the recipient will respond will react badly (with anger, denial, blame or excuses). How do we expect our organizations and employees to improve if we’re afraid to give...
Words to Avoid
There are certain words we hear in conversation that can instantly set us off. They're the kind of words that our brains hear as attacks and thus prompt us to react defensively (and sometimes even aggressively). In a recent study, we discovered a whole slew of...
The 8 Key Elements of Highly Effective Speech
The 8 Key Elements of Highly Effective Speech…and why your words barely matter! Published on July 10, 2012 by Mark Waldman and Andrew Newberg, M.D. in Words Can Change Your Brain I’d like you to take a moment to experience the following sentence, taken from a...
How do you determine if the Story about the Galileo is a “Myth” or not?
I came across the following at http://www.bede.org.uk/sciencehistory.htm written by James Hannam in 2002: The greatest of the secular myths is Galileo Galilei as a martyr for science. The epic battle between the forces of reason and truth and the dark superstitions of...
5 Reasons Why Schools Can be Different Today and Why it is Important
I have been either a student or a teacher for most of my life. The traditional teaching model is for the teacher to stand in front of the class and work their way though a "curriculum." And in most cases, I find it mind-numbingly boring for both the teachers and...
The 15 Lessons Every Entrepreneur Must Learn: Forbes
Forbes | By Steven KotlerPosted: 09/06/2013 3:46 pm EDT In the middle of the economic meltdown that was 2007-2009, James Marshall Reillynoticed a particular new breed of high-minded entrepreneur who, well, didn’t seem to be melting. It was peculiar all right. Not...
10 Skills of Confident People
First things first: Confidence is not bravado, or swagger, or an overt pretense of bravery. Confidence is not some bold or brash air of self-belief directed at others. Confidence is quiet: It’s a natural expression of ability, expertise, and self-regard. 1. They take...
Phil Jackson Uses “Learning Communities!”
In a Review of Phil Jackson's new book, Eleven Rings (for the 11 championship rings won by Jackson), Dave Logan says, "Jackson was successful because he turned the teams he coached into learning communities." They were learning communities because he learning from...
Is the crowd wiser than a lone genius?
Yes! No! A crowd is not always wiser than a long genius. But, since genius is rare a crowd is often better. A crowd working together could be wiser than a crowd led by an individual. A crowd is not a team, but a team could be a crowd. All things being equal, a team is...