“The only thing you need to feel extremely smart is a lack of curiosity. The perpetually curious will always think they’re dumb.” — Stuart McMillan

Welcome to the first edition of the new decade. A new year always feels optimistic to me. I’m grateful for a boost in that department and I hope you have a source of optimism in your world too. I also hope that 2020 brings you loads of happiness, serenity, success and time with people who love you. Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading!

What I’m Listening to: My son has discovered the classic rock music that I grew up with. It has been super cool getting to share that with him.

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Last week’s most clicked item:
How to take an evidence-informed approach to learning design:
Driving impact informed by science

The Complete Guide to Memory

More like a small book than a blog post, this is a substantial piece by @ScottHYoung on understanding how you remember and forget, with practical tips on how to study and learn better.

The Complete Guide to Memory

How Not to Be Stupid

Stupidity is overlooking or dismissing conspicuously crucial information. Here are seven situational factors that compromise your cognitive ability and result in increased odds of stupidity by @IAmAdamRobinson on the @farnamstreet blog

https://buff.ly/2VsCxcX

How to Turn Off Your Work Thoughts During Your Free Time

Feeling burned out? You may be spending too much time ruminating about your job, says psychologist Guy Winch. Learn how to stop worrying about tomorrow’s tasks or stewing over office tensions with three simple techniques aimed at helping you truly relax and recharge after work.

http://bit.ly/2MWuYZ6

Canadian researchers testing ‘brain hack’ designed to help turn goals into action

The brain hack is called “implementation intentions,” a fancy term for what some also referred to as “if/then” plans or “when/where/how” plans. The idea is that when people mentally hitch their intended behaviours to a very specific situation – for example, “If I’m offered a second helping of Aunt Gloria’s three-cheese macaroni at Sunday dinner, then I will politely decline and reach for the veggies instead” – they can program themselves to carry out their desired behaviour when they encounter that situation.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ottawa-hospital-research-institute-testing-brain-hack-that-could/

Three Top Tools from 2019 You Need to Know

I explore loads and loads of tools. These are the three best ones that I found in 2019 and you should know about all of them. BrightSlide by @BrightCarbon is a “must-have” PowerPoint add-in that you’ll wonder how you lived without, @GlideApps is an amazingly simple yet powerful way to build apps using Google Sheets, and @withsparksapp is a super slick way to craft drip campaigns that tap into the power of spaced repetition for learning.

https://mike-taylor.org/2019/12/31/three-top-tools-from-2019-you-need-to-know/

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Learning, Design & Technology Miscellany

A few other things just because I can.

Tools & Resources

• [tools] Coursly – create and manage online courses
• [tools] VidReader – The very first in-video smart search engine
• [tools] SimpleLogin – Protect your email inbox – Better alternative to temporary email
• [tools] Padloc – A beautifully simple open source password manager.
• [tutotial] The Full Guide to xAPI & Storyline
• [blog] Subscribe to Jane Hart’s new Tools blog

Conferences & Learning Events

• Resources for Humans Virtual Conference: Free Online Conference
• Submit your speaking proposals for the Canadian Elearning Conference by January 10th
• Check out the upcoming conference schedule or the L&D webinars and professional development events calendar by Kari Knisely (@KariKnisely)

Interested in the things that didn’t make the cut here? Follow me on Twitter

I love talking about learning, design, and technology. If you’re looking for a speaker, let’s talk! Speaking and Workshop Information Sheet.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives