This is the final installment in my 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner series (click the link to access the previous nine). It has taken me a while to post these, partly owing to other obligations, but perhaps even more because I have tried to be very deliberate in thinking through them. Deciding on the last one has been particularly challenging, but I have finally come back to where I started on it: the best learners embrace responsibility. You can spin that a lot of ways, but I have two main points in mind: 1. The best learners recognize that their learning is not purely about themselves - it is an ongoing part of being someone who contributes to the world in positive, productive ways. I don’t mean this in the sense of simply being employable - though certainly continuous, lifelong learning is more important in that arena than ever. I mean it in the sense of having the capacity to engage with and help solve problems, both large and small; to help make the most of opportunities that arise throughout our lives.  To do these things as much for the positive impact they have on others and the world around us as for ourselves. There is no way to do this effectively other than through continuous, lifelong learning. We are, of course, free to do otherwise - that’s why this is a question of embracing responsibility. We must choose which path to take. 2. The best learners go to great lengths to learn well and learn correctly. For this one, I’m borrowing a page from John Dewey (see also his "guest" post here on 4 Essential Attitudes for Effective Lifelong Learners). In Democracy and Education, Dewey writes about responsibility as: …the disposition to consider in advance the probable consequences of any projected step and deliberately to think them through: to accept them in the sense of taking them into account, acknowledging them in action, not yielding a mere verbal assent. In more contemporary speak, you do the work, and you do it because you agree with #1 above and are motivated by it (along with other motivations you may have). Again, there are plenty of shortcuts - and plenty of evidence in the news every day that people are taking them. We are all free to take the shortcuts, but again - that’s why this is a question of embracing responsibility. Those who choose to do the work learn "what is involved in really knowing and believing a thing" - and they revel in it. Jeff P.S. - Again, you can find all of the part of this series by clicking 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner. I welcome your comments on any of the posts, and I encourage you to use the social links (Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, etc) at the bottom and to the left of each post to share them with others. Related posts:15 Ways of the Successful Self-Directed Learner 10 Ways to be a Better Learner: No. 8 - Use Technology Better 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 5 - Set and Manage Goals

I wrapped up my 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner series recently with an exhortation to "Embrace Responsibility." Seth Godin has since published two new posts that I think tie very well into the relationship between learning and responsibility. In the first of these, Marketing of the placebo: Everyone gets their own belief, Seth notes the universal tendency for human beings to believe fervently in the truth of things which actually are not true. Placebos - harmless substances substituted for real medicine in clinical trials and other scientific testing - are a telling example of this phenomenon. While technically of no medical value, countless tests have demonstrated that placebos have power nonetheless simply because people who take them without knowing any better often believe they work. And so it also goes with incorrect and even harmful ideas. The second of these two posts, Run your own race, looks at the issue of influence through the lens of competition. As motivating and seemingly positive as competition can be, it often leads to our actions being based more on the influence of others than our own motivations and ideas. Now, placebos have their place. And certainly, as I have noted before, we do want to seek positive sources of influence. But we need to check the facts. We need to guard against unearned and unproductive influence. As Seth puts it,"everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but they’re not entitled to their own science." Bottom line: We need to act consciously and take responsibility for our learning. Jeff P.S. - Paid for by Jeff Cobb and the Mission to Learn Blog. I take full responsibility for the information and opinions conveyed in this blog post. P.S.S. - I am working on expanding the 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner Series into an eBook. I welcome any thoughts you have on any part of the series. Related posts:10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 10 - Embrace Responsibility May the Learning Force Be With You

I heard recently from the folks over at Online College Classes, and after taking a look at their site, thought it was worth mentioning here. They have done a good job aggregating a lot of open educational resources across the Web - from course materials, to videos, to podcasts, to textbooks. It’s already a very valuable resource for finding free online education and I imagine it will only get better over time. My only quibble is that they are calling this "College Classes." I am sure that is purely for search engine optimization - a lot of people search on the term "online college classes" - but still, there is no reason any of this has to have anything to do with either college or traditional classes. (Go on, take a minute and imagine there’s no classes.) Nonetheless, it’s a great resource worth bookmarking. Jeff Related posts:Getting a First-Rate Business Education Online - Free Top 10 Click Getters from the Free Learning Monitor

No surprise: a lot. In this TEDxBoston talk, Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman Aiden offer an entertaining and insightful overview of the computations they have been running on 5 million books scanned by Google. Those 5 million books offer up more than 500 billion words published over hundreds of years and the patterns they reveal are fascinating. The video is only about 14 minutes long, so I won’t spoil any of the highlights by writing about them here. It’s well worth your time to watch the whole thing. Many thanks to Brain Pickings for pointing this one out. Jeff   Related posts: 7 Secrets of a 9 Billion Dollar Industry

While we’re often urged by wise people to strive for more than mere competence, it’s important to understand the important role that competence plays in learning, growing, and achieving great things - and to value it quite a bit more. "The feeling of competence results" writes psychologist Edward Deci in Why We Do What We Do, "when a person takes on and, in his or her own view, meets optimal challenges." This feeling leads to a sense of satisfaction and fuels our intrinsic motivation - the type of motivation that comes from within.  As Deci explains it, The "rewards" linked to intrinsic motivation are the feelings of enjoyment and accomplishment that accrue spontaneously as a person engages freely in the target activities. Thus, feeling competent at the task is an important aspect of one’s intrinsic satisfaction. The feeling of being effective is satisfying in its own right, and can even represent the primary draw for a lifelong career. People realize that the more they invest in a job, the better they will get at it, and thus the more intrinsic satisfaction they will experience. In our faster, farther, better culture the small steps that contribute to competence are, in fact, the building blocks of greatness. It is, in the right circumstances, admirable to be "passionate, obsessed, provocative, impatient, hungry" and "driven," but we need to get there honestly. Looking around these days, I can’t help but feel that a bit more focus on competence could be a good thing. Jeff No related posts.

I’m just back from 10 days in Bocas de Toro, Panama, where I spent part of the time studying Spanish by the sea in Bocas Town.  While I have studied Spanish before, I am a bit rusty to say the least. One of my goals was to improve my ability to support (and keep up with!) my pre-schooler son, who seems to be absorbing the language like a sponge at his school. This got me wondering about the claims that adults are at a disadvantage when it comes to learning languages. How true is this? As you might expect, there is some truth to the claims that adults cannot learn new languages as well as children, but in general they seem to be overblown.  If you are past your toddler days, but have your heart set on learning a new language, here are a few points to keep in mind. 1. Yes you can If you think that learning a new language is bound to be difficult, if not impossible, think again. Research suggests that adults do have strong abilities for new languages. In a recent experiment, for example, groups of 8-year olds, 12-year olds, and adults were presented with a new, made-up language rule to learn. The adults turned out to be better than kids in every aspect of learning.  Sara Ferman, one of the linguist involved in the study reported that: When asked to apply the rule to new words, the 8-year-olds performed no better than chance, while most 12-year-olds and adults scored over 90 per cent. Adults fared best, and have great potential for learning new languages implicitly. [Note: the researchers had already established that 5-year olds performed poorly at the task and thus did not include them in the study.] The results seem supportive of an earlier National Teaching and Learning Forum (NTLF) article which argues that: The advantage for adults is that the neural cells responsible for higher-order linguistic processes such as understanding semantic relations and grammatical sensitivity develop with age. Especially in the areas of vocabulary and language structure, adults are actually better language learners than children. Older learners have more highly developed cognitive systems, are able to make higher order associations and generalizations, and can integrate new language input with their already substantial learning experience. They also rely on long-term memory rather than the short-term memory function used by children and younger learners for rote learning. None of this, of course, means that learning a new language is easy, but it does make it clear that adults have solid capabilities when it comes to learning a language. 2. Mindset matters Of course, if you are really convinced that you can’t learn a new language, or if the whole thought of trying makes you anxious, you may wind up with a self-fulfilling prophesy.  The Wikipedia entry on second language acquisition notes that "Anxiety in language-learning situations has been almost unanimously shown to be detrimental to successful learning." Additionally, as the NTLF article quoted above puts it, "The greatest obstacle to older adult language learning is the doubt - in the minds of both learner and teacher - that older adults can learn a new language." Bottom line: you need a growth mindset if you want to learn a new language successfully. 3. "Commitment" can be a drag One of the key ways in which very young children do seem to have a clear advantage over older language learners is that they have not yet fully "committed" to a primary language, and thus their brains remain more accepting of a variety of languages.  As psychologist Aaron Newman puts it, when our brain is first exposed to language, learning occurs by strengthening and weakening connections between neurons. With years of using our first language (or languages), these connections become more hard-wired and therefore harder to change later when learning a new language. Learning new languages essentially competes for some of those same neural pathways, and it’s hard to re-wire the pathways. While certainly not easy to do, there is at least some evidence suggesting it may be possible for adults to "re-tune" their brains significantly and thus overcome some of the challenges of commitment.  But again, even given the issue of commitment, there is clear evidence that adults are capable of learning second languages and learning them well. 4. Practice - but not perfect practice - makes perfect One of the reasons my wife and I were keen to study language in Panama was that, in addition to the instruction we would receive in the classroom (from a native speaker), we would be able to get a great deal of real-life practice out on the streets.  This kind of practice is an area in which kids very often have an advantage. As Aaron Newman puts it, Most often, children are surrounded by people speaking the language they are learning, so they are immersed in it. Adults often try learning in classroom settings, but aren’t using the new language throughout the day. Children are also less inhibited about using the words and sentences they are learning, and less self-conscious about making mistakes. Like most adults, I’m usually reluctant to forefront my ignorance by making mistakes. It helps a great deal to be someplace as easy going as Bocas de Toro. It was helpful that the folks at Spanish By the Sea, where we studied, were really committed to the idea of studying in a fun, relaxing setting while also making sure that they spoke Spanish to us at all times. Of course, if you can’t travel to a Spanish-speaking country, there are now a variety of options for finding native speakers for online conversation and instruction. And if you are particularly uptight about making mistakes, you might try out language games as an approach to learning a new language. 5. Individual results will vary Even for younger learners, the ability to learn multiple languages varies.  Innate ability is a factor, as is personality.  For adult learners, your first language - and how similar it is to any new language - will also be a factor.  ("Commitment" is less of an issue when learning similar languages.) Your motivations for learning the language can also be a big factor. If you are intrinsically motivated by a sincere interest in the language and a desire to learn it you will likely fair much better than if you are extrinsically motivated by things like grades or other forms of recognition. Clearly there are a wide range of factors involved in learning a language, but many of these - like being willing to take risks, finding the time for appropriate practice, and immersing yourself as much as possible in the language - really have little to do with ability. They are more about confronting the challenges of adult life - and this, again, is where motivation can be particularly important. If you want to do it, though, the evidence is clear enough that adults are not inherently bad at learning languages. Jeff No related posts.

I put the following together as a sidebar for the eBook I am creating from the How to Be a Better Learner series. Thought I’d go ahead and share it here. Feedback welcome. - JTC The range of technology tools you can use to support and enhance your learning is truly amazing. The following list covers some of my favorites along with brief notes on how I use them. Nearly all of these are available across multiple platforms - i.e., PC/Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, etc. 1. RSS Reader The free Google reader (http://www.google.com/reader) is probably the most important tool in my learning mix. I use it to subscribe to and organize information from a wide variety of blogs and Twitter feeds, with a heavy emphasis on tracking the writings of "curators." 2. Blog(s) I read a lot of blogs, but I also consider writing blog posts on a regular basis to be a key part of my lifelong learning.  To write about something, you have to understand it well enough to put it into your own words - a sure fire way to learn. I use free (and amazing!) WordPress software (http://wordpress.org) for most of my blogging, but a much more streamlined option I have also used lately is Tumblr (http://tumblr.com). 3. Twitter While some people think of Twitter as "noise," I see it as valuable stream of real-time information and links to valuable resources. It’s also a great tool for building your learning network. Free tools like Hootsuite (http://hootsuite.com) and Tweetdeck (http://tweetdeck.com)  can help you better organize the people you follow into groups, track hashtags (keywords that begin with a "#" symbol). 4. iTunes I’m a podcast junkie, and I find iTunes to be the easiest place to find and subscribe to podcasts. Also, Apple offers the amazing iTunes University, where you can find great free content on nearly any topic from top flight universities. Finally, if you create podcasts - which I also do as part of my learning activities - you can easily publish them to iTunes. (See my free Podcasting Guide for more information on how to create podcasts.) 5. Delicious The Delicious (http://delicious.com) social bookmarking service enables you to save links so that they are accessible through any Web browser and can be shared with others. It’s a great place to keep track of resources you find on the Web and also to find resources that others have saved and tagged. You can find mine at http://delicious.com/jcobbm2l/ 6. Evernote Evernote (http://www.evernote.com) provides digital note-taking software in both a free and a premium version. It makes it easy to capture, save, and share notes - both written and audio - and, most important for me, to sync them across multiple devices. 7. LinkedIn I use search and the Groups functionality on LinkedIn a great deal when I am trying to find expertise in specific areas related to my work. You can use Facebook in a similar way, I just happen to find LinkedIn more useful in my line of work. For a fuller discussion of how LinkedIn can be used for learning, see 7 LinkedIn Tactics for Lifelong Learning. 8. Zite Zite (http://www.zite.com) is an iPad application that leverages your Google Reader and Twitter accounts to create a personalized "magazine." The magazine becomes even more personalized over time as you indicate whether or not you like the articles it serves up. I’ve found it to be a great tool for continually narrowing in on the best sources for a small set of topics of most interest to me.  Every time I launch Zite, the range of resources it presents becomes more and more relevant. 9. Instapaper Often when I am reading through blog posts or Web pages I come across great resources that are too lengthy to read right way. Instapaper (http://www.instapaper.com) gives me a great way to save them for later, when I have more time. Another option is the appropriately named Read It Later. 10. Slideshare Often the people who speak at meetings, seminars, and other events are a great source for information about particular topics. More and more, these people post their PowerPoint slides to SlideShare (http://slideshare.net), a site where you can easily upload, share, search, and comment on slides. 11. YouTube YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) is now the second largest search engine behind Google (which owns it), and for good reason - it is home not only to many highly entertaining but also many highly educational videos.  Sifting through them to find the gems can be a bit daunting, but if you want a great starting point, check out Open Culture’s Smart YouTube Channels and Intelligent Video collections. 12. Kindle I don’t actually own a Kindle (yet), but I am nonetheless an avid user of Kindle software on my iPad. The ability to carry around and reference an entire library of books in a single, small device is of inestimable value to me. My hope is that over time Amazon improves up the already helpful capabilities for highlighting, taking notes, and sharing. If these become more flexible, Kindle has the potential for being a truly revolutionary learning platform. So what are your favorite tools and how do you use them? JTC Related posts: By The Numbers: 5 Favorite Learning Habits List Posts You May Have Missed 10 Ways to be a Better Learner: No. 8 - Use Technology Better

I wrote a while back about the concept of deliberate practice, which is basically the idea that if you want to achieve mastery of something you need to (a) practice a lot, and (b) practice well. A study I came across recently, however, suggests that practice may not be the key to greatness that writers like Malcolm Gladwell have made it out to be. While there is little doubt that continuous deliberate practice does improve performance, it may still not be enough to enable the leap from good to great. Recent research suggests that the capacity of your working memory - the part of memory that actively process new information as we encounter it - may be a more important factor. Dr. Zach Hambrick, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, says that "While the specialized knowledge that accumulates through practice is the most important ingredient to reach a very high level of skill, it’s not always sufficient."  Intellectual ability matters, and "the jury’s still out" on exactly how much control we have when it comes to enhancing our natural intellectual abilities. This may feel like bad news to some learners, but it is important to remember that practice does lead to improvement, regardless of intellectual ability. So, while some may be satisfied with nothing less than greatness, there is much to be said for a life of continuous growth and improvement. Deliberate practice can certainly contribute significantly to that goal. Jeff P.S. - Serendipitously, the day after I published this, the New York Times published an editorial by Zach Hambrick: Sorry, Strivers: Talent Matters Related posts: How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? 8 Keys to Deliberate Practice. 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 6 - Practice, Deliberately Nobody tells this to people

[tweetmeme] With the holidays approaching I’m guessing there are a few readers out there like me looking for gifts with some educational value to them. Here are some gifts - in the form of learning activities - you may want to consider for the lifelong learners in your life. Most of them are digital, so you don’t have to worry about getting them shipped some place on time. 1. Learn to Save the World $25 at a Time I thought I’d start with one that might not seem obvious. Kiva is a nonprofit that facilitates micro-lending to entrepreneurs across the world. By lending as little as US $25, you can help a shop owner in Ghana increase her inventory or a small farmer in Costa Rica build a greenhouse. (Examples of projects I have helped fund through my Kiva account.) Naturally, you can’t help but learn a lot along the way. US $25 gets you a downloadable Kiva gift card to fund a friend or family member’s account. 2. Monkey Around at a Zoo or Museum I’m lucky to live not too far from the North Carolina Zoo and we also have fantastic museums in our area. Just do a quick Google search and you will almost certainly come up with great museum or zoo annual membership options in the vicinity of someone on your list. 3. Take Note Readers here know I am an advocate of taking and reviewing notes, and I’m slowly becoming addicted to Evernote, the note-taking application that syncs your notes across the Web, your desktop, your iPad, and your mobile phone. For US $5 a month, or $45 a year, you can snag a premium subscription that offers some great extra features (and a T-Shirt) for the avid learners in your life. 4. Experiment The array of gadgets, gizmos, and kits that the amateur scientist now has access to is really quite astounding. Check out the wide selection at Edmunds Scientific. 5. Get Lectured on the Go Anybody who says the lecture is dead hasn’t experienced the great content available from the Teaching Company or LearnOutLoud. I’d call it brain candy, but it is far too nutritious for that metaphor. One of my favorite learning activities this year has been Robert Greenberg’s How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, but there are selections to cover all interests available from both sites. Pick a topic, and grab a gift certificate. 6. Try some APPlied Learing My iPhone and my iPad have become two of my key learning devices. While a lot of the available apps for these devices are free, some come with a small price tag - and 99 cents many times over adds up! Help the lifelong learner in your life stay on budget by giving an iTunes gift certificate. This will cover not only apps, but also anything else available from the iTunes store. And be sure to point your recipient to 10 Excellent iPad Apps for the Lifelong Learner. (Note: you can also get Android app gift cards at Amazon.com 7. Train the Brain Lifelong learners are always looking for ways to beef up the ‘ol gray matter. Give the learner in your life a boost with Lumosity Brain Games. 8. Learn a Language Ah, a mainstay of New Year’s resolutions: "This year I am going to learn to speak ___________." Help the learner in your life keep that resolution with some great language learning options like those from Transparent.com and Visual Spanish (FREE Spanish Lessons!). 9. Give to Learn There are so many ways in which nonprofits support our learning and the learning of others, but they can’t do their work without adequate funding. You can hardly go wrong in choosing an organization to contribute to, but if you are looking for ideas, one of my favorites is Heifer International. 10. Read …wait for it… a book Yes, that’s right. The good ‘ol book, in paper form, is still one of the greatest gifts there is. If you aren’t sure what a good book might be, check out the New York Times list of 100 Notable Books of 2011 or its Modern Library selection of Top 100 Novels. Whatever you choose, my recommendation for buying is to find a local independent bookstore, if one still exists in your area. We’re lucky here in my area to have the great Flyleaf Books. Got other ideas? Please share them in the comments. Happy Holidays, Jeff Related posts: 10 Last Minute Gifts for Lifelong Learners 20 Social Networks for Lifelong Learners 4 Essential Attitudes for Successful Lifelong Learners

Interested in getting a free book in exchange for your thoughts? I’ve been working on converting my "10 Ways to Be a Better Learner" series into a brief book. After a good bit of updating, rewriting, and editing, I now have what is very close to a final draft. Before I send it off to be converted into various formats, I am hoping to get a few kind folks to take a look at it and, if they like it, offer some words of praise that I can include on the back cover, etc. So, here’s the deal: You can either comment here or contact me using the Mission to Learn Web form. I’ll send you a PDF of the book as it currently stands. Read it, and if you like it, please send back a few words that reflect what you liked about it, your feelings about the book, etc. You know, "This book rocked my world and changed my life" - that sort of thing. If you don’t like it, that’s okay too - you are under no obligation to say anything positive about it. (Though, I am also under no obligation to print anything negative you say about it Either way, you get to keep the draft and I will also send you a signed copy of the final book (assuming you want it!) That’s it. Thanks. Jeff No related posts.

One of my mentors is fond of pointing out that, just like money in a savings account, the "returns" from learning tend to compound over time. As a result, if we make the effort to improve by just one percent each day, in seventy days we will be twice as good.* As we turn the corner to a new year, this is a perspective that every dedicated lifelong learner would do well to adopt both for looking back and for looking forward. First, look back on your efforts in 2011. If you made some big leaps, congratulations. But also consider where you have made smaller, incremental progress. Have you done it steadily over time? If so, congratulate yourself on that as well. Have you got the start of something you can carry forward into the new year? Are there areas where you can re-apply yourself? Now, look forward to 2012. Where will you focus your efforts? If you have some big goals in mind, how can you break these down in to manageable objectives with small, daily steps to carry you forward on your journey? Even with a lifetime of effort, true mastery of anything is an elusive goal, but bit by bit, with conscious, consistent effort, we can improve dramatically. And each improvement makes the next one just a little easier. Jeff * The mentor I have in mind is Alan Weiss. I don’t know whether the "1% solution" is original to him, but I have heard him reference it many times in various seminars. If you don’t believe the math, I encourage you to use a simple interest calculator like the one at MoneyChimp.  Put in "1″ for "Current Principle," nothing for "Annual Addition," "70″ for "Years to Grow," and "1″ for "Interest Rate." Leave the rate of compounding as it is, and then hit calculate. As shown below, the result is just a bit more than "2." Note: It doesn’t matter that "years" rather than "days" are the unit of measure here. The point is that the original amount is compounded 70 times. Related posts: 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 1 - Growth Mindset

In 2011, more than a quarter million unique visitors landed here on Mission to Learn. I’d like to thank everyone of them, and also highlight some of the resources that were most popular among them. Here’s the top 10 for 2011 based on unique page visits: 10. 15 Language Learning Tools for Lifelong Learners (2,991 unique views) Ready to get started on that New Year’s resolution to learn another language? 9. 25 Free Online Resources and Web Apps for Lifelong Learners (3,181 unique views) Great stuff to support your lifelong learning habit in 2012 and beyond. 8. How to Improve Concentration and Focus: 7 Tips (3,474 unique views) Hard to learn if you can’t focus, eh? 7. 50 Web Widgets for Your Learning Mix (4,579 unique views) Note: This one has recently been updated. 6. 26 Learning Games to Change the World (6,149 unique views) Also recently updated. 5. More Than 100 Free Places to Learn Online - and Counting (7,025 unique views) And yes, this one has been updated too! 4. How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? 8 Keys to Deliberate Practice (10,055 unique views) Don’t just put in the hours - practice deliberately. 3. 25 Sites and Tools to Exercise Your Brain (13,899 unique views) You didn’t think exercise is just for your body, did you? 2. 15 Free Online Collaboration Tools and Apps (28,896 unique views) Check out the comments on this - a long list of other tools and apps are mentioned. 1. A Definition of Learning (38,150 unique views) Who knew so many people were looking for a definition of learning? So that’s the Top 10 based on unique page views. Now, here are several of my personal favorites that were actually authored in 2011. As it happens, these have no overlap with the posts above other than the one on deliberate practice (which I won’t list here, since it is already listed above): 15 Ways of the Successful Self-Directed Learner A helpful list, I think, for any dedicated lifelong learner. In Defense of Competence This one didn’t get much reaction, but for me, it was one of the most important concepts I encountered in 2011. How Language Is Lost A reading from my favorite poet. (And it’s not too late to get her book for someone as a holiday gift.) Think you could never be homeless? This is a post about a "serious game" that I found very effective - and it touches on an issue that is impacting all too many people in the current economy. 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner Okay, cheating a bit here as this is the tag for the whole series. Given that this series took up a good bit of my posting time in 2011, it seems only right to include it. That’s all for my posts in 2011. I’ll be back in early 2012. In the meantime, I wish you very happy holidays and an excellent start to 2012. Jeff P.S. - If you like what you read here on Mission to Learn, I’d really appreciate it if you would subscribe by RSS feed or by e-mail. Related posts: By The Numbers: 5 Favorite Learning Habits List Posts You May Have Missed Mission to Learn on Facebook

Ever wonder what it takes to make a samurai sword? Or what the heck the Salton Sea is? Or what it might take to end poverty? Check out Documentary.net for a wealth of documentary footage on these and a wide range of other topics. And for you audiophiles in the Mission to Learn readership, here’s a short documentary on how vinyl records are made (click through if you don’t see it): No related posts.

I’ve mentioned Stanford Professor Carol Dweck before here on Mission to Learn. I think her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is a must-read for every serious lifelong learner. Last week, Dweck was interviewed for an HBR Ideacast episode, and I was struck by a segment early in the interview when Dweck highlights a trap I think we can all fall into if we aren’t careful. In case you are not familiar with Mindset, the core point of the book is that consistently successful people embrace a growth mindset - a belief that they can always learn, grow, and become better at whatever they set their sites on. This is in contrast to the fixed mindset that holds back so many people - a belief that whatever talents or abilities you have are basically innate and not changeable to any significant degree. As I wrote in an earlier post, I find that it is possible to have a growth mindset in some, even most aspects of life, and yet allow a fixed mindset to insinuate itself into others. In the HBR podcast, interviewer Sarah Green raises the possibility - which Dweck affirms - that we might also slip into a fixed mindset even in areas of our life where a growth mindset has traditionally held sway. As Dweck puts it (at around minute 3:16), we may achieve great success only to feel that "Now I have to have all the answers. Now my period of growth is over. I have to be a fully mature person who knows everything. So, yes, at any point you can fall into that trap." So, be aware of the trap. Embrace the growth mindset - and don’t let it slip away. Jeff Related posts: 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 1 - Growth Mindset What’s wrong with this statement? 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 3 - Ask Questions

If you are reading this blog post, there is a good chance you are someone who likes to learn. Probably even someone who is hungry to learn and would like to learn more than you ever seem to be able to manage. But what can you do about that? Is there really any way to speed up your learning while not damaging the possibilities for retaining what you learn? Well, yes and no. Most learning of any substance involves at least some level of repeated exposure to whatever it is you are trying to learn. Whether this takes the form of practice, immersion in the right environment, testing yourself, or other techniques, it takes time. There’s just no way around it. But, you can certainly stack the deck in your favor. Here are a few tips: Sleep On It First, sleep well both before and after your learning experiences. With a well-rested brain, you are better able to focus and process new information. And during sleep following a learning experience your brain solidifies connections it formed while learning. Activity in the brain during sleep actually mirrors activity during learning - particularly learning of new motor skills. In other words, you pretty much practice in your sleep! Finally, sleeping between sessions of learning helps to space the learning out. Even if you are bent on learning fast, this spacing will ultimately help ensure better and faster learning. Connect the Dots Make the effort to draw connections between what you are learning and other things. In learning-theory speak this is know as "elaborative encoding." The use of mnemonics, is one strategy you may already be familiar with for making encoding easier. Like many musicians, for example, I used the phrase "Every Good Boy Does Fine" to help me learn the lined notes on the treble clef (E-G-B-D-F).  Similarly, if I am taught about a new concept and then spend time reflecting upon and visualizing how I might apply it in my day-to-day work, this also is a form of encoding. In this case, I connect new information to knowledge I already have (prior knowledge), and in the process strengthen my grasp on both the new and the old. Test Yourself If you want to move something into long-term memory, few methods are more straightforward and effective than testing yourself regularly as part of the learning process. Occasionally, for example, I like to memorize poems. When I am trying to memorize a new poem, I read it through a few times, set it aside, and a little while later make myself try to repeat as much of it as possible from memory. Repeated attempts at retrieving what I have learned help to cement it in my memory. Immerse Yourself As much as possible, immerse yourself in the environments where your learning will ultimately apply. This is a well-known approach for language learning - living in a country or visiting it for an extended period of time can provide a big boost for learning its language - but it also works well in many other learning situations. Putting your learning efforts as much in context as possible can provide for a powerful combination of application and unconscious exposure to supplement your conscious efforts.  These days, putting yourself in context may not even require leaving your house - role-playing games and other technology-enhanced learning experiences can bring immersive environments right to your living room. (For more on the power of games, check out Jane McGonigal’s TED Talk.) Don’t Stuff Your Brain Okay, this may qualify as an "anti-tip," but be sure to resist cramming - especially when learning anything complex. While cramming may get you through an exam, if that is your goal, it doesn’t help much with real mastery and long-term retention. You do, of course, need to repeat, review, and test yourself, but try to do this at spaced intervals. Study or practice for a bit, stop, and come back to it later (perhaps, as suggested above, with some sleep in between). Yes, this takes time, but learning fast isn’t of much value if you don’t retain what you learn. (Stay tuned: I’ll pick back up on "spaced learning" in an upcoming post) *** So, those are my suggestions. In spite of what numerous self help gurus may claim, I don’t think there are any miracle approaches to accelerated learning. Nonetheless, I know from my own experiences (in addition to having reviewed a great deal of research) that the approaches indicated here can really make a difference. What about you? What approaches have you found effective for accelerated learning? Please comment and share. Jeff No related posts.

I was reviewing some old notes recently when I came across a quote I jotted down last summer from Yochai Benkler’s The Wealth of Networks. Benkler argues that in a networked economy, …the diversity of perspectives on the way the world is and the way it could be for any given individual is qualitatively increased. This gives individuals a significantly greater role in authoring their own lives, by enabling them to perceive a broader range of possibilities, and by providing them a richer baseline against which to measure the choices they in fact make. [9] This, I feel, is the flip side of what I’ve referred to elsewhere as the learning economy. On the one hand, the demands upon all of us to keep learning, growing, and acquiring new skills and knowledge are greater than they have ever been before. It can be daunting at times. Frightening, even. On the other hand, the opportunities are enormous. It’s worth stopping occasionally to ask: Given the range of opportunities available, what  steps am I taking to author my own life? Benkler’s book is several years old, by the way. I wrote about it at least a couple of times in the early days of Mission to Learn, but I return to it often and am always amazed as the prescience of his thinking. Well worth the read - and it is available for free in a variety of formats. Jeff Related posts: 10 Gift Ideas for the Lifelong Learners in Your Life

Think about your life in the future. Imagine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard and succeeded at accomplishing all of your life goals. Think of this as the realization of all of your life dreams.  Now, write about what you imagined. These are the directions that professor Laura King and her colleagues gave to a group of undergraduates in a controlled experiment conducted in 2000 ("The Health Benefits of Writing About Life Goals," 801) The students were then asked to write for 20 minutes each day for four consecutive days. This is just one of many experiments King has conducted over more than a decade to explore the beneficial effects of writing about both our past and our future. In this particular scenario, the students who wrote about their "best possible selves" experienced "a significant increase in subjective well-being" when assessed three weeks later. Five months later, it turned out they were also sick significantly less often than the control group. Timothy Wilson, a professor of psychology at the University of Virgina, references King’s work in his recent Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change and adds the following advice, which I find helpful to anyone who is embraces "best possible self" writing as a goal-oriented learning exercise: Don’t just think about what you have achieved (e.g., getting your dream job), but be sure to write about how you got there (e.g., doing an internship, going to graduate school). By so doing you might become more optimistic about your future and cope better with any obstacles you encounter. (Kindle Edition, 73) This is in line with what I wrote about goals in an earlier post. We’re more likely to realize our goals if we clearly see the contrast between a positive future and our current reality and then consciously embrace the work that it will take to move from the present to the future. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at the University of California - Riverside, also writes about King’s work in The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want.  She has conducted her own experiments with "best possible self" and found positive results similar to King’s. She notes, however, that "the biggest boosts in happy mood were observed among those participants who believed that the exercise "fitted" them best (i.e., who found it interesting, challenging, and meaningful) and practiced it with sustained effort." (Kindle Edition, 104) Like Wilson, Lyubomirsky suggests that "the exercise wasn’t just about imagining a model future for them; it was also about building a best possible self today that can make that future come true." (Kindle Edition, 105) It’s not a magic bullet, but clearly writing that is focused on a "best possible self" had tremendous potential. The key is in fully engaging with it and comprehending the steps that will take you from where you are now to where you want to be. So, give King’s directions a shot: Think about your life in the future. Imagine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard and succeeded at accomplishing all of your life goals. Think of this as the realization of all of your life dreams. Now, write about what you imagined. Jeff No related posts.

I’ve taken a shot before at defining learning as I see it, but I’ve always felt the definition alone falls short of capturing what it means to be a lifelong learner. As I have considered the question more, it seems to me that the following five habits are essential: Consciousness I mention consciousness often on Mission to Learn. Certainly not all learning happens consciously, but I think dyed-in-the-wool lifelong learners are always attuned to opportunities to learn. They are aware. They are curious. The ask questions. As a side benefit, their conscious devotion to learning often puts them into situations where they learn a great deal unconsciously. Faith Bona fide lifelong learners truly believe that time spent learning is time well spent. They a have mindset that tells them learning is always possible regardless of age, current abilities, criticism or other factors that may hold us back. Engagement Lifelong learners don’t just sit there passively and let the world flow past. They take action. They try things. They get their hands dirty. They fail - usually often. Reflection Lifelong learners pause. They close the door and turn off the TV. They review what they have learned and think it over. They connect new knowledge to things they already know. They do this regularly. Humility Lifelong learners are optimist. They know great change is possible. They know they and others are capable of great things. But they also know there are things we will never know. Mysteries we will never solve. Things that are beyond our control. They are humble. Having written this out quickly, it now strikes me as almost a mini manifesto for lifelong learning. What do you think? How well does this capture the ways of the true lifelong learner? How well does it reflect your practices? Jeff P.S. - If you like this post, I’d be grateful if you would give it a tweet, like, or +. Related posts: 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 1 - Adopt the Right Mindset 10 Excellent iPad Apps for the Lifelong Learner 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 10 - Embrace Responsibility

I noted in a post late last year that I’d had the opportunity for a brief "immersion" experience to jump start my Spanish. In an ideal world, all language learners would would have the opportunity to spend a big chunk of time in a country that speaks the language they are trying to learn. Of course, we don’t live in an ideal world - but at least there is Skype. I’ve come across a number of companies that tout Skype for language learning specifically because it enables exposure to native speakers. This week an e-mail from Mission to Learn reader Dr. Tobias Lorenz highlighted the fact that Skype for language may also be a tool for changing the world. Lorenz’s organization, Glovico, bills itself as a "fair trade" solution for language learning. Its mission is "to offer entrepreneurs from developing countries the opportunity to earn additional income through teaching their mother tongues." In the process, Glovico aims to "promote intercultural dialogue." I have a soft spot for any initiative that combines learning with a social mission. If you are looking for a good way to learn a new language or get better at one you already know, check out Glovico - the first lesson is actually free. Jeff P.S. - If you have tried Glovico or have other language learning solutions you like, please comment and share your experiences. Related posts: Can you learn to save the world by playing games? The "Adults are Bad at Language Learning" Myth Explored

Complex systems like the global economy have leverage points where a little insight, action, or power can be amplified to make an outsized difference. These are catalysts for change. That’s the set up from a new massive multi-player game, Catalysts for Change, that will be launched by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Institute for the Future on April 3. By inviting large scale collaboration through "tweet-like" playing cards that help innovative ideas spread, the game aims to generate some serious insights into global poverty - and maybe even some real solutions - in a period of 48 hours. I write about serious games from time to time here on Mission to Learn and, in general, am fascinated by the potential for learning they represent. The Institute for the Future’s Jane McGonigal, who has architected numerous other large-scale, multi-player games, believes that games  may be the key to tackling the really big problems that plague the world. Others are skeptical of McGonigal’s arguments, but regardless, I think this is a phenomenon for serious lifelong learners to watch - and perhaps join. You can find out more and sign up to participate at http://searchlightcatalysts.org/. There’s also a Facebook page and a Twitter handle. Jeff Related posts: Can you learn to save the world by playing games? Game Mechanics, Bwah Hah Hah! Think you could never be homeless?

I did a brief interview with Chris Hutton over at Liter8 Ideas recently, and one of the questions Chris asked was "What have been obstacles that you’ve had to overcome when it relates to your educational journey?" There have been many - as I am sure there have been for you - but one that came to mind immediately was a "tendency to avoid risk." Now, don’t get me wrong - I’ve done some reasonably adventurous things in my life, and I have also been an entrepreneur for most of my career. So, I am hardly what might typically be thought of as "risk averse." Nonetheless, most adults like to feel safe in learning situations. As a result, I am like most people in that I don’t always embrace discomfort, much less danger, when it comes my personal and professional development. So, that got me thinking: what are some ways to take reasonably safe "risks" that lead to learning? Here are five that came to mind: Publish This may be among the easiest "risks"now available to us. Anyone can start a blog quickly on WordPress.com or Tumblr. Or, any number of blogs, small journals, and other publications are always looking for guest writers. Even a substantial post on Facebook or a LinkedIn group may do the trick. Having to write in a clear, cogent way about a topic or theme you care about is a sure fire way to solidify and deepen your knowledge. Teach Teaching takes things just a bit further. Whether you actually stand in front of a classroom, lead a live Webcast or Webinar, or record an instructional video or audio session, you put your knowledge on the line in a way that makes it hard to hide from questions, comments, and yes, criticism. Scary, perhaps, but doable, and now available to pretty much anyone with a Webcam and a YouTube, Mindbites, or WizIQ account (just to name a few options). Or, if you prefer live venues, propose a session for at Rotary Club, a professional or trade association conference, or any of thousands of other places that are continually in search of content. Perform Performing and teaching have a lot in common, but I think they deserve separate treatment. While teaching is primarily about instruction, performance is primarily about expression. And let’s face it - expressing yourself in from of others can be downright frightening. But again, it’s entirely doable. Just recently, for example, I was at an open mic night in Charleston, SC, where poets and musicians stood up in front of the room and shared their stuff. This sort of thing happens every night all over the world. If you want to find an open mic night in your area, just check out http://openmikes.org/ Interview I’ve found that one of the best ways for me to improve my own knowledge is to ask others about their knowledge. The process of preparing for an interview and then engaging in meaningful discussion requires you to do things like repeat, review, formulate questions, and put things in your own words - all activities that contribute to learning. While I haven’t done a lot of it lately, I’ve historically been a big fan of podcasting as a way to get into a rhythm of regular interviewing. If you are interested in that approach, you may want to check out my free mini-guide to podcasting. (I plan to update this soon, but the info in it is still good.) Sell This last one may raise an eyebrow or two, but there are few things I have learned more from in my life than having to sell, whether that means selling a product, a service, or - perhaps most difficult - an idea. To sell effectively, you have to learn how to convey ideas and value clearly and concisely. You have to develop an understanding of how others might perceive your offerings. You have to be believable - which almost always means you have to have true command of your material. It’s very true that teaching sells, but it is equally true that selling teaches. You may have noticed by this point that all of these suggestions are related by a common element: action. In most cases, the avoidance of risk is the avoidance of action. But without action, there is no way to build competence, and if we are not steadily building competence, we will severely limit our learning and growth potential. So, consider taking one of these suggestions for a spin. While they do involve a bit of risk, the downside for any of them is pretty minimal. The upside could be a significant leap forward in your learning. Jeff No related posts.

I’ve been a fan of The Great Courses from The Teaching Company for quite some time. In fact, I mentioned to my wife just recently that it would be interesting to put together some sort of discussion group around the courses I’ve taken so far. Then, serendipitously, I received an e-mail from Mission to Learn reader Dan Egbert about a new site he has started to help Great Courses students connect. TTC University is a fledgling effort, so you won’t find it overflowing with discussion just yet. But hey, that’s why I’m writing this post - you have to start somewhere, and I figured if I am looking for this sort of thing then there are probably readers out there looking for it as well. If you are a Great Courses fan, I encourage you to visit TTC University. It’s free, and from what I have seen so far, it seems to be very nicely done. If you aren’t familiar with the Great Courses, they are well worth checking out. I recently completed How We Learn, which was excellent, and am currently working my way through Memory and the Human Lifespan and  How to Listen to and Understand Great Music. Are you a Great Courses fan (or not)? Got any favorites? Please comment and share. Jeff No related posts.

A student at Brigham Young University e-mailed to alert me to an event her Digital Civilization class will be presenting on Wednesday, April 11, 2012, from 7-8:30 PM MDT. The event will feature students delivering TEDx-style presentations on "how to be more engaged in our digital world." You can catch the live stream or tune into the recording later at http://digiciv.byu.edu/. This seems like a great event - kudos to professors Gideon Burton and Daniel Zappala for making it a part of their class. The class, too, sounds fantastic. Here’s the description: Western civilization has been greatly influenced by how we produce and share knowledge. Since the development of the printing press in the 15th century, the printed word has dominated religion, philosophy, science, economics, politics, and education. We are now in the midst of the digital revolution, with online media such as blogs, wikis, social networking, and the web shaping our civilization. In this course we will view western civilization through the lens of the digital revolution, learning both what the past has to say about how we produce and share knowledge, and what our experiences with modern technology lead us to discover about the past. Our readings will pair great works of western civilization with current texts and tools, exploring common themes that include the structure of knowledge, principles of openness and participation, authenticity, identity, privacy, and copyright. Students will become fluent with the concepts and tools needed to be lifelong learners and active participants in a world where technological innovations change rapidly. Be sure to check out Digital Civilization and spread the word. Jeff No related posts.

I noted in an earlier post that as powerful as deliberate practice can be for mastering particular skills or knowledge, recent research suggests that we eventually run up against the limits of our intellectual capabilities. In particular, the capacity of our working memory seems to have significant impact on what we can ultimately achieve. So, are there ways to improve our overall intellectual capacity? It was with this question in mind that a handful of recent articles in The New York Times caught my eye. In the first, Dan Hurley asks Can You Make Yourself Smarter? The answer is not an unequivocal "yes," but the research that has been done so far certainly offers hope. Hurley’s article focuses on "crystallized" intelligence - basically, the stuff we store up over time - versus "fluid" intelligence, which is the domain of working memory. In particular, he discusses the work of psychologists Susanne Jaeggi and Martin Buschkuehl, whose experiments suggest that working memory can indeed be enhanced through certain types of brain training. There are doubters, to be sure, but there are also other studies that seem to support Jaeggi and Buschkuehl’s conclusions. Of course, as Gretchen Reynolds argues, we already know about one straightforward way to improve brain function: exercise.(I also touch on the power of exercise in earlier posts on improving memory and being a better learner.) In her article How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain, Reynolds notes that "scientists in just the past few months have discovered that exercise appears to build a brain that resists physical shrinkage and enhance cognitive flexibility." In particular, exercise seems to promote the formation of new neurons in the hippocampus (a key area for learning and memory) and - just as importantly - helps these neurons form connections with other neurons, an essential step for the neurons actually becoming useful to us. In an earlier article, How Exercise Can Prime the Brain for Addiction, Reynolds draws on the same research to highlight how people who exercise regularly may have a harder time breaking addictions than those who don’t. But the real headline in this story, in my opinion, is researcher Justin Rhodes’ point that "what the study shows is how profoundly exercise affects learning." Basically, exercise seems to make it harder to forget what we have learned - which may, unfortunately, include learned behavior like an addiction. Bottom line: The research showing that regular physical exercise can enhance our learning abilities and improve memory continues to mount. At the same time, there is quite a bit of evidence suggesting that exercising the brain through cognitive training may, in fact, have significant impact on working memory. Given all of the other benefits of regular exercise, it seems like a no-brainer (;-)) to make it a part of your lifelong learning habits. And personally, I’m becoming sold enough on the concept of brain training to at least take it for a spin. How about you? P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I’d be grateful if you would consider subscribing to the RSS feed or subscribing by e-mail. Related posts: 10 Ways to Be a Better Leaner: No. 9 - Mind Your Body