Life is short, Break the Rules. Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably And never regret ANYTHING That makes you smile.
Mark Twain
Happy Friday! Fridays are always something to look forward to, especially when there are new Ted Lasso episodes dropping. (“Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.”) I’ve finally convinced my entire family that it is worthy, so we’ve got a great option for Friday Pizza Night – at least for the next few weeks. If you’ve seen it, who is your favorite character? I like Roy Kent. If you haven’t seen it, you should.
Thanks for reading!
What I’m Listening to: You can never go wrong with happy music right? Today I’ve got “Happy Days” rolling along.
Last week’s most clicked item:
Making Learning Objectives Explicit
How Automation Can Streamline the Role of L&D Professionals
L&D’s role is more vital than ever, but menial tasks could be holding you back. Tapping the power of automation and the opportunities #NoCode tools have to offer can help you reclaim time and spend it on more meaningful activities.
https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2021/08/10/how-automation-can-streamline-the-role-of-ld-professionals/
Why Inquiry-based Approaches Harm Students’ Learning
Inquiry learning involves students discovering new information for themselves rather than having the information explicitly presented to them. This paper by John Sweller suggests a causal relation between the emphasis on inquiry learning and reduced academic performance.
Your Brain Does Something Amazing Between Bouts of Intense Learning
A new study shows that the brain takes advantage of the rest periods during practice to review new skills, a mechanism that facilitates learning. Interspersing rest with practice during training is advantageous for learning a new skill. In fact, virtually all early skill learning is evidenced during rest rather than during the actual practice.
The work appears in the journal Cell Reports. [Ethan R. Buch et al., Consolidation of human skill linked to waking hippocampo-neocortical replay]
How to get the most out of an interview with a subject matter expert
Subject Matter Experts are sometimes a rare and valuable resource that can provide you with a ton of knowledge that can help you with a project. But making use of their knowledge requires thinking differently about the interview process.
Access Guide
Access Guide is a playful, simplified guide to digital accessibility – specifically to help understand WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), the official resource for legal compliance. (It’s also a nice example of building a resource with Notion.)
Podcasts
- Evidence-Based Tools for Learning with Myra Rolden, Patti Shank & others on the Leading Learning podcast.
- Creating an organizational learning strategy with Michelle Ockers on the Mind Tools podcast.
- Nontraditional Methods for Learning Reinforcement with Shannon Tipton on the Train Like You Listen podcast.
Tools & Tips
- Nira is a nifty online tool for changing the colors in SVG graphics.
- Meister Note is a great option for creating collaborative documentation,
- How to add Q&A to Microsoft Teams Meetings by Kevin Stratvert
- Shapecatcher is a slick tool for helping you find unicode characters by drawing what you want.
- Design Junction is a resource library for Designers with handpicked resources from around the web.
Where You Can Find Me
- Kansas City ATD – August 17
- Nashville ATD – Using Technology for Training – September 16
- COATD Annual Conference – September 21
- Free Elearning & ID Tools with Tim Slade October 6
- DevLearn October 20-22
- New Jersey ATD – Future of Work – November 10
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Mike Taylor 
Mike, I really love these weekly compilations. They contain some of the best information I receive and most of it is immediately practical. I clicked the link to the PDF on inquiry-based learning and read the blurb. I got to the end and read this, “The cognitive science on learning is settled.” Might I suggest that anyone who suggests that science of any kind, let alone something as ethereal as cognitive neuroscience, is settled may be overstating their case. I get the impression that science may have fallen by the wayside in the interest of a political agenda. I’ll read the article anyway, but just want to let you know I’m going into it with a high degree of skepticism.
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Thanks for your note Rick. I appreciate it. And it is true that sometimes settled things can become unsettled again. Although I’m not sure what the political agenda would be in this case?
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