Several years back I started and ran an online learning company with the branding line "Learning to Change the World." I’m not sure if we really managed to change the world much, but the linguist in me always liked that line. That "learning" is a gerund , a word that has characteristics of both noun and verb, just seems so right for its role in that phrase. "Learning," taken independently, suggest an action—and certainly learning happens through action—while the phrase as a whole—"Learning to Change the World"—acts as a thing and suggests an accumulation of a certain type of knowledge. I won’t belabor the analysis. I suspect few of our prospects or customers were conscious of the grammatical drama playing out before them, and yet I could always tell the line had an impact and was effective for us. That was important. We were a small company trying to bootstrap and create a brand for ourselves. We needed a line that would really resonate with our target customer base. Nancy Schwartz over at Getting Attention is also a big believer in the power of taglines, and she is specifically interested in how nonprofits can us them more effectively. As she puts it: In today’s competitive marketing (including fundraising, of course) environment, nonprofit taglines must be strong enough to get attention and provoke questions. Effective taglines complement an org’s name, convey the unique value its delivers to its community and differentiate it from the competition. (Americorps’ "Getting Things Done" is a great example of a tagline that works on all three fronts.) But more often, nonprofit taglines are vague, ambiguous, over-reaching, too abstract or simply non-existent. So, to help pave the way for better nonprofit taglines, Nancy has launched a survey to gather more information about how effective nonprofit taglines are. You can access it at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zjXNjEU9fh1wCcHCZelFYQ_3d_3d It involves only six brief questions and takes just a few minutes to complete. Those who do complete it can request a free copy of the report that will come out of it. The one thought I would add to the work Nancy is doing with this survey is that taglines don’t just apply to overall organizational branding. They can also play an important role in the promotion of specific organizational products and services—like, for instance, an online learning or social media initiative. JTC No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

"Just Because You Have Always Done It That Way Doesn’t Mean You Should" —That was the title of one of the best sessions I attended at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Great Ideas Conference in Orlando. In this posting and the next handful after it I plan to highlight thoughts prompted by this session and other events at the Great Ideas conference. Here’s one: Associations Need to Be Excellent Oysters The "Just Because…" session was led by Mickie Rops and Amy Smith, each co-authors (along with Jeff DeCagna, Jamie Notter, and Dave Gammel) of We Have Always Done It That Way: 101 Things About Associations We Must Change. Rops and Smith took a semi-"un-session" approach and asked attendees to choose from a range of possible topics the three that were of most interest. "Association value proposition is information (pushing out lots of content)" took the top spot. The starting point for the discussion was a recognition that, as a direct result of the Web, people now have access to more information than they can ever put to meaningful use. Associations that see their role as simply pushing out information are not doing their members any favors. Rops argued in the session, as she has before in Knowledgizing Associations, that associations need to filter information and find meaningful ways to add value in the process. Benkler makes a similar point, though in a broader context, in The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom (see, for instance "Relevance/Accreditation" in Peer Production and Sharing). In short, filtering is an essential activity of effective knowledge networks—and certainly most associations would like to see themselves as knowledge networks. Readers familiar with the recent history of the Chesapeake Bay and similar bodies of water may realize why, with all this talk of filtering, my thoughts turn to oysters. Oysters provide tremendous filtration capabilities to the ecosystems in which the live. They are natural masters at removing excess from the environment and preserving ecological balance. As the Chesapeake Bay Foundation sees it "Oysters are a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay, meaning they are one of the key indicators of a healthy Bay."  I don’t want to push the metaphor too far. The filtering that oysters do is valuable but limited and, well, mindless. As Jeff DeCagna rightly suggested during the session, there needs to be an element of choice to effective filtering in a democratic social system. Still, I like the image of associations as a "keystone species" providing filtering within the knowledge ecosystem. One point not raised in the Great Ideas session is that associations are now competing with many other potential filters out on the Web—including, in many cases, their own members acting independently. In other words, keystone species status should not be taken for granted. Back to Rops view that not only does filtering need to happen, it needs to produce value for members. The point is, associations have an important role to play in keeping the knowledge ecosystem in balance—and perhaps producing a pearl or two on occasion. JTC No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

"You are all a lost generation" - Gertrude Stein as quoted by Ernest Hemingway "Generation X is being skipped over" -session attendee at Great Ideas as paraphrased here. The session attendee’s idea was one I had not really heard before, but which rang eerily true once spoken. Generation X had its brief moment in the spotlight—mostly for purposes of being called lazy—but attention has since moved to the Millenials (aka Generation Y). The point of the person who spoke up at Great Ideas is that organizations are pandering to the perceived needs of the Millenials, and are not making sufficient efforts to groom GenX’ers for leadership. Succession problems are sure to follow as Boomer’s retire. Rationally, I know it cannot be true that an entire generation is being overlooked, but the thought did prompt me to do the math. Here are some typical date ranges applied to the generations. (I know people disagree-sometimes vehemently- about the ranges, but these are solid enough for my purposes here.) Boomers: 1946-1964 GenX: 1965-1980Millenials: 1981-2000 So, assuming an average retirement age of 62 (likely low for true retirement), the youngest Boomers will exit the workforce in 2026, at which point the oldest Millenials will be 45—a ripe age for moving into the top levels of organizations. Hmm. Well, like I said, I know it’s not rational to think that an entire generation—my generation, I should add—could be effectively skipped over. Then again, I may just need to find a good café in Paris where I can think it over some more. JTC Postscript, Dec. 13, 2007 This probably belongs in the comments area, in response to Lisa Junker’s comment, but knowing that a lot of people don’t read comments, I’ve decided to update the main post. Lisa points to an excellent posting by Tammy Erickson at Harvard Business. I had not been familiar with Tammy’s blog before Lisa’s comment and was struck by the fact that her (admittedly much more knowledgeable) posting appeared on the same day as mine. Just another instance of the serendipity or collective consciousness I continually see in the blogosphere and have commented on before in Connections and Comparisons: The Wealth of Blogs and Benkler and Hawken Reunited. Photo credit: ferminet under Creative Commons license No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I am glad to say that this posting does actually fit in with my previous two postings about the Great Ideas conference. Part of the reason I was at the conference was to attend a meeting of the professional development section council. During the council meeting, we brainstormed about topics for the next annual meeting, and open education sparked a lot of interest. I hope to see it on the schedule. In the meantime, Yale announced Tuesday that it is joining the ranks of MIT and many other universities worldwide in making some of its most popular course content "freely available to anyone in the world with access to the Internet." Initially this will mean seven courses from the undergraduate curriculum, but Yale promises 30 additional courses over the next several years. I won’t go into all the details here. There is information available on the Open Yale courses site and in the press release. I first came across the news on Open Culture  and later (of course) on Zaid’s blog.  One interesting and very important aspect of the whole OER movement that I will note, however, is its global focus. Certainly associations that are focused on going global should bear this in mind. Here’s what Open Yale will be doing globally: In India, Yale is working with the Indo-U.S. Inter-University Collaborative Initiative in Higher Education and Research’s Amrita satellite network to broadcast courses to universities throughout India. In China, China Education Television (CETV) has agreed to broadcast individual lectures on CETV. CETV broadcasts are viewed by millions of Chinese. Individual faculty members at universities around the world will use Open Yale Courses in their classrooms. Faculty at the following universities are participating: University of Bahrain, Instituto de Tecnologia de Buenos Aires — ITBA (Argentina), Fudan University (China), University of Ghana, Jimma University (Ethiopia), Tec de Monterrey (Mexico), University of Mumbai (India), Peking University (China), University of Tokyo (Japan) and Waseda University (Japan). If going global is part of your organization’s strategy, you might consider how opening up some, or possibly even all, of your educational content under a Creative Commons approach might fit in. I know that will sound insane to some, but in the spirit of Bruce Turkel, who keynoted Great Ideas, I’d ask you to drop your bazookas and not shoot down the idea. Yale (or MIT, or Berkeley, or….) are hardly giving away the store after all. The institution’s core business and brand will almost certainly be enhanced rather than damaged by the move. Can you imagine a similar scenario for your organization? JTC Related Posts: OER - Open Educational Resources4.5 Projections for Association E-learning OER Continued No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

"Trying stuff is cheaper than deciding whether to try it." As Stephen Downes noted, this showed up quite a few places yesterday, though I came across it first on Kottke.org. Kottke and others quote from a LinuxWorld posting that suggests knowing when to kill something—in this case, GooglePages—can be as important as trying it in the first place. As it happens, I finished up a brief article earlier in the day that encourages organizations to jump in and try out one or more forms of social media. It’s free in most instances, and the learning curve is not particularly steep. As suggested previously in Just Do It (But Strategically)—and as the LinuxWorld author suggests—don’t get bogged down in lengthy meetings that ultimately cost more than simple experimentation. On the other hand, while I think a lot of learning can be gained from experimenting just for the sake of experimenting, most organizations benefit from having a general strategic framework in which experimentation takes place. Why? Among other benefits, it helps you know when to quit. Organizational cultures being what they are, it can also help to experiment first in a safe sandbox—for instance, inside your organization rather than in front of your customers or members. To that point, Michele Martin has a great post over on The Bamboo Project aptly entitled Don’t Want to Look Stupid in Front of Your Customers? Start Playing with Social Media Inside Your Organization First. One great thing about experimenting with social media internally, of course, is that social media tools provide a platform for conversation among staff and other key stakeholders like board members or volunteers. Conversation can and should drive strategic thinking. Further experimentation can then occur within a more strategic context. It’s a beautiful cycle. Somebody get me a tissue. JTC  No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

"Repetition is the mother of learning" was a phrase often repeated back in my days of learning and teaching Russian. I believe it is true, particularly for learning a language. It is also true that immersion or other forms of learning-by-doing are much more effective than rote learning from a textbook. What has really struck me during the past year, however, is how fundamentally important an individual’s will is to true learning. Neither repetition nor doing culminate in learning if the will to learn is not present. I say this in response to the Big Question for December posed by Tony Karrer on the Learning Circuits blog: What did you learn about learning in 2007? I can’t say I have not considered and valued the role of the individual will in learning prior to the past year, but certain events in 2007 caused me to grasp its importance at a deeper level than ever before. To start with, my wife and I had our first child. I’m old enough at this point to have seen quite a few babies arrive in the world and grow up, but I’ve never been this close to the process before. Cy is now nine months old, and it is amazing to see the native, internal drive he has for learning about the world around him. Nobody is telling him to try things (usually with his mouth), or to repeat the same actions again over and over. To the extent they are, he doesn’t really understand them at this point anyway. It is his own will that is driving him to learn. Toward the other end of the spectrum, my sister graduated from college this year, some 20 years after she took her first college class. In the intervening time, she built a good career for herself. Many, if not most people in her position would not have bothered to go back to complete a degree. But my sister wanted it, and it is clear from watching her over the past few years that "it" meant much more than a set of credentials. Her will to learn was strong. She got her credentials, but more importantly, she learned a great deal and was transformed in the process. I think the biggest challenge faced by institutional learning programs—corporate, governmental, or academic; internally or externally-facing—is that of somehow connecting with the will of individual learners like my sister, and eventually, my son. I also think that institutions have dramatically less control over meeting this challenge than has been assumed (or at least desired) traditionally. Attempts at imposing control have a tendency to sap the individual’s will to learn, resulting in rote rather than real learning. The good news, of course, is that a whole array of new tools have arrived that have the potential to put much more control back in the hands of individual learner. We are at the dawn of an age in which the will to learn has the potential to assert itself in new and powerful ways. I look forward to seeing how things continue to develop in 2008 and beyond. JTC P.S. For a blog called Mission to Learn, this seems like a good post to end the year on. I will be taking next week off and will begin posting again on January 3. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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This post is in the process of being updated after a massive server failure at Bluehost. In the meantime, you can find information about this eBook and download it at Learning 2.0 for Associations Related posts:A Lifelong Learning Guide Post This post is in the process of being restored after...Mission to Learn Site Restoration Owing to a massive server failure at Mission to Learn... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This post is in the process of being restored after a massive server failure at Bluehost. Some of the links in it do not currently work. As I have time, I am continuing to reflect upon two years of Mission to Learn, and part of that reflection is to spend some time going back through old posts to try to understand how the site has evolved, and what I may have learned along the way. It occurred to me in doing this that I should pull together a post that reflects some of the major themes and resources. So, here it is. I’ll keep coming back and revising and adding to this one as I think it will serve as a good guide for new visitors to Mission to Learn. A Definition of Learning This is a very recent post and one that was long overdue: a blog about learning should offer a definition of what learning. I won’t claim there is anything relelationary in this one, but it serves its purpose. A Definition of Learning Perspectives on Learning The following posts offer thoughts on how we learn, how we might learn better, and what has changed about learning in a hyper-conected world. 5 Themes for the Web 2.0 Learner 5 Tips to Lean Towards Lifelong Learning (Guest Post from Katie Wilson) Is Your Brain In a Box? What Have I Learned at Work and the related When’s the last time you asked why? Taking Notes(s) Learning Tools The following posts offer some great tools you can use to enhance your learning efforts. 10 Tools for Tracking a Topic or Issue 7 LinkedIn Tactics for Lifelong Learning 25 Free Online Resources and Web Apps for Lifelong Learners (Guest post from Karen Schweitzer) Learning Experiences The following posts offer a wide range of places to learn on the Web - most of them free. And don’t forget you can follow Mission to Learn on Twitter and subscribe to the Free Learning Monitor to get more resources on a regular basis. 36 Learning Games to Change the World More Than 100 Free Places to Learn Online and Counting 20 Language Links from the Free Learning Monitor 35+ Free Online Business Education Sites (And see also Learning to Do Business - And Other Things: 4 Models) More Than 50 Web Widgets for Your Learning Mix Customer Education: 25 Sampler Sites The Organizational Perspective I don’t write quite as much in this vein here anymore - I tend to do it more over at Hedgehog & Fox to the extent I do it at all. Here, however, are a couple of posts that may be of perennial interest. Learning 2.0 for Associations Learning in Context - From the Bottom Up Well, that’s it for now. Please let me know any comments you have about the items above or about things you might like to see here on Mission to Learn going forward. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn Related posts:5 Tips to Lean Towards Lifelong Learning The following is a guest post from Katie Wilson. It’s... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

In part of a desperate effort to dive back into the blogosphere and try to get caught up on my reading, I came across this interesting little tool recently released to beta by the Open Knowledge Foundation: Weaving History. The gist of the tool is that it enables you to create what the foundation calls ‘factlets‘ that contain "information about historical events, persons, and so on, which you can string together to create historical ‘threads‘. These threads can then be visually represented on maps and timelines." You can only get a partial feel for the result through a still image, but here, for example, is a screen shot of the factlet for Shakespeare’s Works. Weaving History struck a chord with me because it was precisely this sort of activity that, as a teacher of great books of the western world, first opened my eyes to the power of computer-based multimedia as a teaching and learning tool. Of course, back in those days I was using CD-ROMS on my Mac to put together the same sort of ‘factlets’ that Weaving History facilitates and would then use them in conjunction with teaching The Inferno or Madame Bovary to help put the works in context. (Context, of course, is such an important part of learning on so many levels!) If you are trying to get a quick, high-level sense of context and timeline around a person, event, or place about which you are learning, this may be a good tool to have in your learning mix. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. - Follow Mission to Learn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/missiontolearn No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Owing to a massive server failure at Mission to Learn hosting provider Bluehost, all of the files for Mission to Learn have been lost. I am in the process of restoring them, but it’s going to take some time.I’m also going to take this set-back as an opportunity to make some other changes here. Stay tuned. Bluehost, by the way, is now the former hosting provider for Mission to Learn. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn Related posts:Are You a Miner?

This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. The Internet has made the lifelong pursuit of knowledge easier for nearly everyone in the world. There are tons of websites dedicated to providing free courses, reference books, education apps, and other learning materials. Here are 25 stand-out sites that would be useful to almost any lifelong learner. Clusty - This unique search engine sorts results into clusters of related information so that it is easier to sort out the relevant from the irrelevant. Schoolr - Schoolr is a fully-customizable search engine that can be used to search Google, Wikipedia, and other popular sites. It can also be used to translate text, convert units, and cite sources. MyStickies - This site offers an alternative to bookmarking. Instead of saving URLs and page titles, MyStickies allows you to place digital sticky notes with annotations around the web so that you can retrieve previously viewed pages and understand immediately why they are important. Diigo is a handy research tool that can be used to highlight and annotate pages on the web. Anything that is marked with Diigo can be accessed later on from any PC. Hooey - Hooey is a unique tool for people who like to surf the web. It records browser history, measures productivity, and offers tips to help you better understand your browsing habits. Internet Public Library - The IPL is a free public library for the Internet community. Resources include books, magazines, reference materials, subject collections, a physical library locator, and an "Ask the Librarian" section. RefDesk - This award-winning, family-friendly website is a great place to find reference materials online. RefDesk also offers one of the best fact checkers on the Internet. SparkNotes - SparkNotes is an incredibly useful resource. In addition to an enormous literature section, the site also offers study guides and discussion forums for a wide range of academic subjects. Schmoop - This free beta site makes it fun to study literature, poetry, and U.S. history. Schmoop features include easy-to-read study guides, homework helpers, and other educational materials. History.com - The official History Channel website is one of the best places on the web to learn about a broad range of history topics. You can read articles, watch videos, and explore many other resources. Wolfram MathWorld - This extensive math resource contains contributions from all over the world. Entries include information about algebra, geometry, calculus, applied mathematics, discrete mathematics, number theory, statistics, and other math topics. OpenCourseWare (OCW) Consortium - The OCW Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions. The Consortium’s website is an excellent place to find free courses and course materials from some of the world’s best colleges and universities. Lecturefox - Lecturefox is an online directory of free audio, video, and text-based lectures from universities like MIT and Yale. LearnOutLoud - This Internet catalog contains more than 20,000 free educational materials, including books, videos, audio lectures, and podcasts. The Online Books Page - The University of Pennsylvania’s Online Books Page is one of the best places to find free unabridged books online. The site lists more than 35,000 books that can be downloaded or viewed at no cost. The Free Library - Farlex’s Free Library contains more than five million books and articles that can be viewed online for free. The site also allows you to create your own home page with your favorite bookmarks and RSS feeds. BookMooch - This book swapping site makes it easy to get rid of the books you don’t need and get books you want in exchange. Membership is free and books can be exchanged worldwide. wePapers - This site is geared toward college students, but it is also an excellent resource for lifelong learners. At wePapers, you can find academic papers, study groups, and a venue to share your knowledge. Livemocha - Livemocha is an international community of foreign language learners. You can use it to study almost any world language at your own pace. VerbaLearn - VerbaLearn is a good place to practice English vocabulary. You can review words, make flashcards, and customize the way you learn. Class Marker - At ClassMarker, you can create online quizzes that test your knowledge on any subject. No software or download required. Mikogo - This free screen sharing tool makes it easy to share your computer screen with other people who are online. Mikogo works well for online meetings, presentations, and collaborative learning. Bloglines - This web-based tool makes your home page look like a newspaper. It allows you to assemble all of your favorite sites and blogs amidst information like local weather, sports, and other items of your choosing. ThinkFree - ThinkFree offers Internet-based file sharing and storage as well as a Microsoft Office compatible application suite that allows you to access documents without opening the necessary application. Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online colleges for OnlineCollege.org. P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. Related posts:35+ Free Online Business Education Sites My previous post, To Learn, To Lead, highlighted McGill professor... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The following is a guest post from Katie Wilson. It’s an understatement to say that the human brain is a complicated mass of neurons and connections that is hard to comprehend. What we can understand though is the concept of plasticity, the fact that the brain can be taught nearly anything with the right amount of effort and the right kind of motivation. Your brain changes its wiring to adapt to new situations, new knowledge and new information. This makes learning a pretty easy concept. And since the brain retains plasticity even as we age, here’s how you can use it to enhance your lifelong learning practices: Work at learning A job that requires you to keep updating your knowledge may sound like a lot of work, but it is a huge blessing in disguise. For one, it keeps you from becoming bored with a mundane routine; and for another, you’re forced to keep pushing your brain and challenging it by learning new things and understanding new concepts. Make a conscious decision to learn Don’t be content with what you know; use any time that you have on your hands to expand your skills - learn a new language, play an instrument, take up music or dance or painting lessons. Reading, from varied sources, keeps you informed and in touch with all that is going on in the world. So read as much as you can if you want to stay current and relevant. Make learning your best friend The best way to motivate yourself to learn is to surround yourself with people who are intellectuals. I don’t mean they must be Einsteins or Edisons, just that they must have a thirst for knowledge that refuses to be slaked. When you hang around such people, their motivation is bound to be contagious and push you to explore your interests and realize your ambitions. Expand your learning interests You can connect learning to other things that you love to do or things that affect you deeply. For example, if you’re a fitness freak, you could learn more about the human body and health by reading up on it. If you have a friend or a relative with a chronic illness (or you suffer from one), you could search for more information on it and become a sort of pseudo-expert. If you love sports, learn more about the rules and origins of the game to enhance your brain’s database. Grow with learning The more you learn, the more mature you become. Learning need not come just from books and other sources; it could come through experience too. When you go through various experiences, you learn more, about yourself, and about the people you interact with. You may forget the experiences in time, but it’s important that you remember the lessons that they taught you. Learning helps you grow, both mentally and emotionally. Continuous and lifelong learning helps you remain young and may help keep mental disorders like Alzheimer’s and dementia away. And as long as you keep pushing on with the learning process, you can keep pushing away boredom, illness and stagnation. This post was contributed by Katie Wilson, who writes about the universities online. She welcomes your feedback at KatieWilson06 at gmail.com Related posts:A Lifelong Learning Guide Post This post is in the process of being restored after... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Over the weekend, Mission to Learn quietly slipped into its third year. As befits such occasions, I’ve been trying to spend a bit of time reflecting on how the site has changed over time and where I’d like to take it going forward. One thing that occurred to me is that, in spite of this being a site about learning, I’ve never actually offered a definition here of what I mean by "learning." So here’s my definition: Learning is the lifelong process of transforming information and experience into knowledge, skills, and habits. I might add to that: It is not dependent upon classes and courses - though these can be very useful tools for learning It does not require a degree, certificate, or grade to prove its worth - though clearly these have social value that most people would be unwise to ignore It does not always - probably not even most of the time - happen consciously - though I think that those who strive for a more conscious approach to learning throughout their lives - whether at work or otherwise - tend to be more successful in pretty much whatever way they define success. I think that pretty well sums up the view of learning that drives my efforts here at Mission to Learn. What do you think? Does this capture your view of learning? What would you add or take away? Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. - Please join me on the ongoing Mission to Learn. Subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

My previous post, To Learn, To Lead, highlighted McGill professor Henry Mintzberg’s criticism of traditional MBA programs. That inspired me to go through the archives of the Free Learning Monitor to dig up all of the free self-learning options for business education that I have published in the past year. So, here they are. I may come back and add to them, as they don’t currently include selections from the Human Resources and some other categories in the Monitor. Comment or contact me to let me know if there are others you would like to see here. Categories here include (anchored links coming soon!): General Collections and Libraries Planning & Starting Nonprofit Sector Marketing Green Business Strategy Accounting & Finance Odds & Ends General Collections & Libraries Small Business Administration - New Courses New courses include:* Finance Primer: Guide to SBA’s Guaranty Programs * Technology 101: A Small Business Guide * Marketing 101: A Guide to Winning Customers * Global Enterprise: A Primer on Exporting * How to Prepare a Business Plan * How to Prepare a Loan Proposal *** OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN A wealth of resources for business owners — videos, articles, blogs, and expert advice to boost your business, sponsored by American Express OPEN. *** Management Methods | Management Models | Management Theories Management portal explaining 250+ methods, models and theories on strategy, performance management, finance, valuation, change, corporate governance, communication, marketing, leadership and responsibility. Value Based Management. *** Free Management Library The Library provides easy-to-access, clutter-free, comprehensive resources regarding the leadership and management of yourself, other individuals, groups and organizations. Content is relevant to the vast majority of people, whether they are in large or small for-profit or nonprofit organizations. Over the past 10 years, the Library has grown to be one of the world’s largest well-organized collections of these types of resources. *** American Management Association Free Learning Resources *** IRS Small Business Video and Audio Presentations These short presentations are dedicated to helping your small business. In addition to these video and audio presentations, please visit the Small Business Tax Workshop Video page for instructional lessons. *** Free Business Training Keep your employees up to date on today’s important skills & requirements.Test out the best business training system available online by taking one of our free business training courses. Simple course authoring, student administration & branded for your company. *** Businessballs Free online learning for careers, work, management, business training and education. **** How to Get a Valuable Education Without Mortgaging Your Life From The Personal MBA - Skip business school: get a world-class business education by reading the 77 best business books available. (Visit your local library to make this one free!) *** read it for (dot) me A growing collection of business book video summaries. *** Brain Trust: 100 Ivy League Business & Entrepreneurship Courses You Can Take for Free *** 5 Minute Management Course 6 lessons with morals. Tongue-in-cheek, but with a dose of wisdom as well. Planning & Starting Free Business Plan - Start a Business Free business plan to download. Read basic core knowledge about how to start business and how to run a business. Be an entrepreneur. *** Learn Online | SCORE Learn your way. Take these courses anytime. Try these useful & interesting courses to help your business get started and grow. *** Learn how to Start A Business, how to Write A Business Plan, and all about Business Start Up The Internets Top Free Start A Business Course. Learn how to write a business plan, pick a business, sign a lease, do small business accounting and much much more! Nonprofit Sector Wild Apricot Blog : Social Media for Non-Profits: 26 Great Slideshare Presentations You Can Use Great new presentations on social media are coming out almost daily, and many are directed specifically to the needs of non-profits. But it can be time-consuming to search out those that are up-to-date, actionable, and appropriate to nonprofits. Here’s a list. *** The Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA Free Management Library’s Free, Online Nonprofit Organization and Management Development Program Marketing Free Marketing Courses | IttyBiz Starting a Home Business | Home Business Ideas | Work From Home, Starting a home business? Legitimate home based business advice, tips, and ways to work from home. (Note: Some readers may take offense at Naomi’s language, but she knows what she’s talking about!) *** ShoeMoney Xtreme Internet Marketing Guides (Registration Required.) I’m Jeremy "ShoeMoney" Schoemaker and for 13 years I’ve been building successful online businesses. For the past five years I’ve been working hard writing a book to help others get started online. I recently decided that there is just too much great information in my book to exclude people from reading it. I have now backed out of my major book deal and turned it into a completely FREE 12 week guide to Internet marketing. No strings attached. Enter your email and start receiving the weekly guides directly in your inbox! *** The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II (eBook) The creator of BzzAgent, co-founder of WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) and author of THE GRAPEVINE, Dave has a new book out. It is entitled THE WORD OF MOUTH MANUAL: VOLUME II, and in an rather unorthodox move, he has decided to self-publish it. The physical edition costs $45.00, but he is offering a digital edition to you free of charge. *** System Seminar TV: Internet Marketing Education (Videos) The world’s greatest Internet marketing seminar presents the world’s greatest TV channel for entrepreneurs *** Marketing Webinars from HubSpot Download free on-demand Internet marketing webinars / videos about blogging, SEO, social media and more. *** J.S. Gilbert : Referral Marketing Tips for Voice Actors Join Voice Over Expert J.S. Gilbert in his lecture, "Referral Marketing Tips for Voice Actors". J.S. discusses the importance of referral marketing and how some strategic planning can prepare you for success, both in the realm of business and artistry. Learn how to get business and referrals from people you already know, develop an elevator pitch and get in touch with your prospects. (Podcast) Green Business EcoSector Method: Free Online Course for Green Startups Steps to a successful green enterprise - a short online course! Strategy Corporate Strategy A video lecture of corporate strategy from the Life ning. Accounting & Finance Simple Studies - Best Free Online Accounting Lessons Free online accounting lessons on simplestudies.com explain accounting principles in a simple way. They include accounting tutorials on introduction to accounting and accounting exercises with solutions. Intro to accounting is presented in simple accounting terms! *** Free Accounting Course - Bean Counting 101 Bean Counting 101 is a free accounting course for non-accountants that covers debits, credits, general ledger, payroll, inventory, depreciation, accrual accounting, double-entry bookkeeping, etc. *** SMExcellence :: OFFICIAL WEBSITE SMExcellence is a free online learning system that helps you improve your small business and financial management skills. *** Financial Management Training Center "Fast Free Learning in Business Finance" Odds & Ends Trump University (The Donald throws a bone to free learning with this one promo course.) Real Estate Investment Strategies, Foreclosures Investing and How to Buy and Sell Investment Properties - Learn from Donald Trump’s experts. *** Improve your personal networking skills This basic networking tutorial will show you the advantages of networking, how adult social networking can help your business and how to use social networking sites to your advantage. *** IRS Small Business Video and Audio Presentations These short presentations are dedicated to helping your small business. In addition to these video and audio presentations, please visit the Small Business Tax Workshop Video page for instructional lessons. *** Free Business Training Keep your employees up to date on today’s important skills & requirements.Test out the best business training system available online by taking one of our free business training courses. Simple course authoring, student administration & branded for your company. *** Business Change Management Library Check out our sample video covering The Change Agent. You’ll find it to be a lively presentation that gives cutting-edge insight, and pragmatic tools - all proven methods that have produced world class results in organizations all over the planet. *** Play Kebab Van Online Kebab Van Sim Game Review Hints Play Kebab Van sim game free online. No download. Serve kebabs in busy area make big profit. Kebab Van game review hints. tips, cheats. *** Free Online Courses Open to Business Professionals Affected by Down Economy SmartDraw.com, maker of SmartDraw, the software that helps you work smarter by communicating visually, has announced a free, three-part series of e-Courses entitled, "Recession Proof Your Business." This timely series, accessible through SmartDraw’s Working Smarter blog at http://blog.smartdraw.com/ or through the series overview at http://www.smartdraw.com/Recession-Proof-Overview-PDF, is divided into three 20-minute online e-Courses that include printed materials and video instruction. *** Strictly Business The American Society of Media Photographers provides this forum to encourage the development of critical skills and to foster new ideas. Our goal is an informed and savvy professional photography community. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. Related posts:Customer Education: 25 Sampler Sites Being a learner and being a consumer often go hand...25 Free Online Resources and Web Apps for Lifelong Learners This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. The Internet... 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This is a guest post by Caitlin Smith Learning a language on your own can be done, but it’s much more fun and potentially easier to learn through communicating with others. The Web provides a great forum for this, with tools of all kinds that let language learners talk to one another and learn from direct, immersive communication. Here are a few collaborative language learning tools you may want to try: LiveMocha: LiveMocha offers a wide ranfe of self-paced language lessons, but the real power of the site is in its focus on social language learning. The site features real-time text and audio chat tools that let users converse with native speakers to build skills and confidence in the oral and written practice of the language. Babbel: Many people learn well with the aid of flashcards. This site lets users create and share their own flash cards through a slick and user-friendly interface. That isn’t all that the site has to offer, though. Users can also chat with others in the language that they’re learning and take advantage of a  host of other useful tools. Right now the site is limited to English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. italki: If you’ve got Skype you can take advantage of this great language learning add-on. Through the italki interface you can find other users to talk to, chat with them using Skype or a host of other online chat tools, find language resources, and communicate with other learners through the online language forums. Busuu: Busuu features language tools at all levels that incorporate both writing and speaking practice. Once users have completed a few lessons and built up a general knowledge, the site offers video chat as well so learners can test out their new skills with someone who speaks the language. LingoPass: LingoPass is like a bartering system for those willing teach their language to another person while also having the opportunity to learn a new language of their choice. Everytime you lead a one-hour discussion class in your language of expertise, you earn credits to participate in all other language discussions on the site for a week. If you want to keep learning for free, you have to keep teaching! This post was contributed by Caitlin Smith, who writes about associates degree programs. She welcomes your feedback at CaitlinSmith1117 at gmail.com. Interested in writing a guest post? Contact Mission to Learn. Related posts:20 Language Links from the Free Learning Monitor I just pressed "Publish" on a new edition of the...Free Language Learning Resources - The Master List Open Culture highlighted this one a couple of weeks ago,...25 Sites and Tools to Exercise Your Brain This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. Finding ways... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Open Culture highlighted this one a couple of weeks ago, but having since spent some time on it, I wanted to make sure to point it out to Mission to Learn readers. UniversitiesandColleges.org’s Master List of Free Language Learning Resources is indeed an impressive list of courses, podcasts, and iPhone applications covering a wide range of languages. If you are out to pick up or brush up on a language, it is a great starting place. One of the things I like about the list - and a large part of the reason that I mention it here - is that the author has done a good job of organizing the resources. Too often these kinds of lists are purely about quantity in an effort to attract links. In this case, however, an initial table of contents is provided along with additional navigational tools for locating the language and resource of interest. Here’s a screen shot from the courses section to give you an idea of what I mean: If learning a language online, on you iPod, or on your iPhone is part of your summer learning plan, definitely take a look at this list. And also check out the range of language learning resources here on Mission to Learn. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn Related posts:20 Language Links from the Free Learning Monitor I just pressed "Publish" on a new edition of the...5 Free Web Tools for Learning a Language Collaboratively This is a guest post by Caitlin Smith Learning a...Free Learning Resources and other Edutweets Free Online Learning Resources It’s been a while since the... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. Finding ways to stretch and exercise your brain is important for a long happy life. Fortunately, the Internet is flush with games, tools, and web apps that will boost your mental power and leave your brain sweating. Here are 25 sites to try today: Brain Games BrainBashers - BrainBashers are a collection of brain teasers, riddles, games, puzzles, and optical illusions. This impressive brain game site updates games and puzzles regularly. BrainDen.com - This brain teaser site provides a variety of games and trivia to challenge your mind. BrainDen.com offers jokes, puzzles, trivia, riddles, games, and optical illusions-all designed to exercise your brain. Sharp Brains - Sharp Brains provides 50 top brain teasers and games everyone will enjoy. These games help to work your language, logic, math, memory, and attention skills. Braingle - With over 17,000 user-rated brain games, Braingle is the perfect place to boost your brain power. As an added bonus, this site also offers exercises to increase memory, vocabulary, creativity, and stress management. Brain Metrix - Brain Metrix is designed to build brain fitness. The site can increase your memory, reflex, and concentration through a collection of activities. Brain Teaser Central - Brain Teaser Central is a good place to stretch your brain with logic, math, illusions, games, puzzles, trivia, and more. Fit Brains - Fit Brains is a site with fun, free games that exercise five key cognitive brain areas: memory, executive, visual-spatial, concentration, and language. Brain Teasers Network - With daily brain teasers and an assortment of popular and challenging games, Brain Teaser Network is a handy site for building mental capacity. Oxbrain - Oxbrain offers lateral thinking puzzles and crossword puzzles. These custom-made crossword puzzles are entertaining and educational. Thinks.com - Thinks.com offers several fun games to challenge your brain, including crosswords, word searches, jigsaw puzzles, chess, and brain teasers. Brain Boosting Techniques Speed Reading - Speed reading is a great way to boost your brain power for sales, education, and careers. This free speed reading course builds memory and comprehension. Increase Brain Power - Increase Brain Power offers five simple and easy-to-use techniques for increasing your comprehension and memory. About.com - This site features 10 useful strategies for improving your memory. These techniques are simple to incorporate into everyday life. Illumine Training - Illumine Training offers workshops to increase creativity, mental agility, and concentration. The workshop on mind mapping is an excellent way to expand your mind and organize ideas. Fun-with-words.com - This mnemonics page from Fun-with-words.com offers three different mnemonics to retain important information like words, numbers, and names. Web Apps Flash Card Machine - Flash cards are a super way to study and retain important information. Flash Card Machine features a free web app for creating and sharing your own flash cards. OuTWIT me - This free Twitter app contains games for improving and exercising your mind. OuTWIT me features games like Code cracker, Tweet word, Tweet quiz, and Story teller. Imagination Cubed - Looking for a way to exercise your creative side? Check out this free app from GE. It allows you to illustrate and share your ideas with free drawing tools. Mindmeister - Mindmeister is a brainstorming app that increases your brain power through creative thinking. The app allows you to organize and visualize your ideas through mind mapping. Twivia - Twivia is a Twitter app that exercises your memory through daily trivia questions. Misc Tools LibriVox - Books are an excellent way to keep your brain fit and active. LibriVox offers lots of free audio books to keep your mind moving. Visuwords - Visuwords creates a visual neural network to demonstrate how words associate with one another-a great way to exercise your memory and build your vocabulary. Creative Writing Prompts - Creative writing makes connections with your thoughts, ideas, and the world around you. This site of writing prompts will give your creative side a major workout. Popling - Popling is a desktop app for people who want to learn without studying. It regularly displays small windows with questions on your computer screen so that you can learn languages, chemistry, geography, and more without really trying. WebMD - Exercise is the best way to keep your body and mind healthy. WebMD illustrates how exercise can make you think clearly and perform better. Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes for OnlineCollege.org an online college resource. P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A while back I highlighted a visual explanation of the global financial crisis created by Say It Visually! The company has recently released a "visual explanation" of Skype, the popular Internet telephony application, that also seems worth highlighting. Here it is. (Click through to the post if you don’t see it.) Popout Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. Related posts:The Financial Crisis: A Visual Explanation Popout After my posting  yesterday on 12 learning resources... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I’ve become increasingly fond of Twitter as a tool in my learning mix. I use it as one way of making notes on my travels across the Web and sharing them with others. I also use the hashtag functionality as one of the ways to track various topics of interest or to "channel" topics or issues I am finding into a single stream. For example, I have created #learningmonitor to tag items that I am considering for the monthly Learning Monitor newsletter. Not sure what a hashtag is, or for that matter, how to send out a "tweet"? Check out the excellent presentation below from Jane Hart. And when you are done, consider adding Twitter to your learning mix. (If you don’t see the presentation, click through to the original post. I also recommend clicking the "full" icon toward the lower left of the Slideshare box to view the presentation in full-screen mode.) (Note: Jane has embedded video from Commoncraft in this and Slideshare seems to set it autoplay - at least in Safari.) Click forward a few screens until you get to the video and hit "pause" to stop the audio. A pain, but worth it for the content.) Twitter Workshop View more presentations from Jane Hart. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. Follow Mission to Learn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/missiontolearn Related posts:Where Leaders Go to Learn (This I Believe) I was at a monthly gathering of local business colleagues... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I don’t have any data on overall effectiveness, but englishcafe.com’s approach to teaching English can certainly be quite entertaining. Here’s the start of a new series that leverages the legacy of King of Pop Michael Jackson to expand the English learner’s vocabulary. It’s a thriller. (Click through if you don’t see the video.) Popout Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. Related posts:Facing Up to All There Is to Learn I had the pleasure recently of seeing Dan Roam speak...All There is to Learn, Cont. Several posts back, under the influence of having seen Dan...Skype: A Visual Explanation A while back I highlighted a visual explanation of the... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I watched the excellent Century of the Self series some time ago (I think at the suggestion of Maki), but recent ponderings and events have brought it back to mind (more on those at a later time). If you aren’t familiar with it, Century of the Self is a fascinating four-part documentary series that explores the influence of Sigmund Freud and his nephew, Edward Bernays, on modern life, particularly in the areas of public relations, advertising, and politics. Really, it is a must see if you want to have a better grasp of the types of influence at play in all parts of our lives. And yes, that certainly includes learning! Below is the first installment of the series. And here are the links to all four parts: Century of the Self, Part I, Happiness Machines Century of the Self, Part II, The Engineering of Consent Century of the Self, Part III, There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Century of the Self, Part IV, Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering It’s a bit of a time commitment to watch all of these, but I think you will find it is time well spent. Trust me Popout Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This is a guest post from Dena White. Open courseware collections focusing on health and medicine assist students and healthcare professionals learn more about their particular field, further their careers, and increase their learning potential without enrolling in and commuting to expensive continuing education organizations or colleges. Health and medical open courseware collections are available free of charge and are accessible any time and any place, as long as you have a connection to the Internet. Counseling Counseling professionals and psychology students can find training guides and other educational resources on the Internet via open courseware classes. These courses provide students with a broad-based perception of all of the different kinds of counseling. In addition, they also help students determine which sector of the field they would most like to pursue. These courses also provide working counselors and psychologists with access to cutting-edge theories and practices within the field. Anyone taking these courses will be able to build strong interpersonal, communication and decision-making skills as well as a firm understanding of the social and scientific issues that surround the field of health and medicine. Classes in the counseling open course collection are provided by several fine schools such as the University of Massachusetts Boston, Utah State University, The Open University, the University of Michigan and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. Dental Hygiene For a basic background on dentistry and human biology, in addition to specific training in public health, denture care, and geriatric dentistry, students can use open courseware classes to build on their education and dentistry skills. Tufts University School of Dental Medicine offers classes in this collection covering topics such as cancer, dentures, elderly patients, public healthcare and water fluoridation. The open courseware classes related to dental medicine and dental hygiene is effective in preparing students of advanced programs in the dental field as well as help professionals learn even more about the dental industry. Emergency Management Disaster relief, emergency management, and terrorism response are all rising fields in the healthcare industry. Respected institutions such as Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health allow students to use educational resources online that teach skills in making decisions, responding to terrorist acts, analyzing public health policies, treating mass populations, as well as treatment in a wide variety of conditions and symptoms. Food And Nutrition Science This open course collection features topics such as the basics of human nutrition, bioterrorism, official food policy and agricultural science. Schools such as the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Tufts University and the University of California Berkeley provide a wide range of resources and courses that will assist students in understanding farming and economics, environmental systems, the effects of terrorism and so much more. Students will learn all about crop breeding, biology, plant infestation, healthy living, human metabolism, natural nutrients, as well as poison in public water and food supplies. Relevant classes are available for farmers, nutritionists, agricultural leaders, emergency management professionals, healthcare professionals and scientists to help them stay up to date in their specific fields. Gerontology Healthcare professionals who work with elderly or aging patients are able to increase their educational training with online classes through schools such as MIT and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The topics covered in these courses include Medicare, the aging process, nursing homes, mental disorders, health care policies, and neurological conditions in elderly patients as well as many more helpful subjects. Rounding out the top ten free health and medical open courseware collections are courses in Health Care Administration, Occupational Safety and Health, Pharmacy, Public Health and Radiologic Science. Open courseware collections offer students and professionals with a unique opportunity to learn all kinds of relevant information to help keep them on top of their field. Stay tuned for more on these! DENA WHITE is a freelance writer and covers topics such as nurse assistant and medical careers, health care topics, and more. Related posts:Free, Open Stanford Engineering CoursesOpen Education Marches On At YaleLearn to Save a Life: 10 Free Online First Aid Resources

Free Online Learning Resources It’s been a while since the last collection of Edutweets (from the Mission to Learn twitter stream), so this a pretty healthy collection with some great resources in it. Enjoy! RT @russeltarr: SqoolTube Educational Videos (RT @dianadell): http://tinyurl.com/nhqne2 #learningmonitor # Good resources for learning philosophy from Open Culture: http://bit.ly/8hYrG # 50 Open Courseware classes on fitness and nutrition: http://bit.ly/8n5O5 #learningmonitor # 100 Lectures from the World’s Top Scientists via @openculture http://bit.ly/vfvnJ #learningmonitor # RT @ResearchChannel: Is your food safe? Explore issues surrounding food quality and safety: http://ow.ly/gB7C #learningmonitor # RT with corrected hashtag: Free online writing courses: http://bit.ly/XKNky #learningmonitor # Free audio seminars from the Hadley School for the Blind: http://bit.ly/o9ZsX #learningmonitor # Free couponing 101 course. Save money with coupons: http://www.choystercash.com/ecourse.html #learningmonitor # Science made simple - everything you need for winning science fair projects: http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/ #learningmonitor # Free online math courses for teachers: http://bit.ly/RBIm7 #learningmonitor # How to garden videos from http://www.bewaterwise.com: http://www.bewaterwise.com/video_01.html #learningmonitor # Introduction to Strategic Sustainable Development: http://bit.ly/WV3Tx #learningmonitor # Atlas Obscura: A Compendium of the World’s Wonders, Curiosities, and Esoterica http://atlasobscura.com/ #learningmonitor # 20 Free English Language and Literature Courses from EFL Geek: http://bit.ly/2h1gw #learningmonitor # TechSoup’s Roadmap to Microsoft Training Resources recorded Webcast: http://bit.ly/OL1S5 #learningmonitor # Free online financial education program from the FDIC: http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/mscbi/mscbi.html # 50 Awesome Ivy League Lectures All About the Future: http://bit.ly/1jFCZ #learningmonitor # Surviving the World: Daily Lessons in Science, Literature, Love, and Life: http://survivingtheworld.net/ # 25 Free Online Resources and Web Apps for Lifelong Learners: http://bit.ly/16gUHM # Mission to Learn posts on free and open learning resources >> Languages Learn English with King of Pop Michael Jackson: http://bit.ly/GUg2B # Educational game for Japanese language. Low cost, free trial: http://nihongoup.com/ # Other language resources on Mission to Learn >> Tools & Tips Huge visual list of educational Web apps - http://edu.allmyfaves.com/ - via Downes - http://bit.ly/e6L1b # Twine: free tool for authoring branching stories (viaAldrich): http://bit.ly/14lV5y # A visual explanation of Skype. Nice short video from Say It Visually! : http://bit.ly/tP7WM # RT @rjleaman: Great slideshare presentation from @c4lpt : Twitter Workshop http://tinyurl.com/my58zk #learningmonitor # Just noticed that Evernote has introduced shared notebooks. Good stuff. http://bit.ly/CePEO # From Zaid: Use Google Translator To Translate OER Into 47 Languages! http://bit.ly/E9tUD # Other Tools and Tips on Mission to Learn >> Serious Games New serious game from Gotham Gazette. Getting on the ballot in NYC: http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20090707/200/2961 # Studies suggest video games improve recall, speed: http://bit.ly/CLiwA # 5 Ways Gaming May Transform the Future of Health and Wellness: http://bit.ly/1rfwb9 # New version of Re-Mission Game For Cancer Patients planned: http://bit.ly/FYQ0D # Learning by playing: http://personalmba.com/learning-play/ # Serious Games posts on Mission to Learn >> Brain Science Properly hydrated brains seemingly work better: http://bit.ly/17NjGh # Do Brain Trainer Games and Software Work? Bulk of research "murky" http://bit.ly/FFhl3 # Naps, learning, and REM (not the band   http://bit.ly/lktKK # Free brain fitness Webinar, July 21: http://bit.ly/1a5Key # The Power of Brain Plasticity: http://bit.ly/tkAW8 # Meditate for a bigger brain: http://bit.ly/18JmJh # Brain Scientists Identify Links between Arts, Learning http://bit.ly/uXPXX # Brain Science posts on Mission to Learn >> Learning Habits and Insights Good post by Michele Martin on info literacy and habits of mind: http://bit.ly/xxSbn # Learning via Self-Experimentation: http://bit.ly/JnJnj # 30 Days (is enough time to build a habit): http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/30-days/ # Four intellectual traps for understanding learning: http://bit.ly/eHOpr # 5 Ways You Can Support Self Education on the Web: http://bit.ly/2hrr3 # As Downes suggests, understanding how persuasion/influence works is a critical skill for the 21st century learner: http://bit.ly/73lsl # Write a Life Mission (to Learn?) Statement: http://bit.ly/58hXX # Learning Habits posts on Mission to Learn >> Future of Learning Will Higher Education Be the Next Bubble to Burst? http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i37/37a05601.htm # Seth on textbooks, "more mail about this post than any other post ever" - and a good link for Flatworld Knowledge. http://bit.ly/SwgMg # Wikinomics guy Don Tapscott on the demise of the university: http://bit.ly/4DnbL # UN announces launch of world’s first tuition-free, online university. Via Open Education News: http://bit.ly/Esbkk # Other Learning Resources 25 Edu Blogs Worth Reading: http://bit.ly/DX7De # Brief listing of some nice resources -Digital Literacy and Information: http://bit.ly/E7ctj # If you like what you find here on Mission to Learn, please subscribe! Powered by Twitter Tools. (with a little manual help) Related posts:Best Graduation Advice and Other EdutweetsFree Language Learning Resources - The Master ListSurprise! Assorted Edutweets