Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” – Hamilton Wright Mabie

Happy Friday! This week I’m experimenting with a few things and I’d love to hear your opinion. First, you’ll notice I’ve rearranged things a bit this week including “One Big Thing” for anyone who doesn’t have time for everything.

The other thing I’m working on is updating the conference calendar. I’m torn between keeping in AirTable where I started or moving it over to Trello. Take a look and cast your vote for the one you prefer along with a comment about why you like the one you chose.

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Until next time, remember that “It’s all fun and games until Santa checks the naughty list.”

What I’m listening to

• Christmas is coming soon and ¨Coffee House Jazz Christmas¨ will be playing as we open our presents and have our Christmas dinner this year.

One Big Thing

The Spacing Effect: How to Improve Learning and Maximize Retention

We are not taught how to learn in school, we are taught how to pass tests. The spacing effect is a far more effective way to learn and retain information that works with our brain instead of against it. Learn all about it in this post from Farnam Street. (@farnamstreet)

https://fs.blog/2018/12/spacing-effect/

Four More Things

Psychological Safety and Learning Organizations

If you haven´t seen Arun Pradhan´s (@arunzpradhan) ¨Learning Agility¨ series over on the Learning Solutions Magazine site, you should stop what you´re doing and go read it now. Seriously, this is top stuff. In his most recent article, talks about how the knowledge economy and the need for teamwork have increased the need for effective collaboration and psychological safety in learning organizations.

https://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/psychological-safety-and-learning-organizations

Is Listening to a Book the Same Thing as Reading It

Daniel T. Willingham (@DTWillingham) tells us that our richest experiences will come not from treating print and audio interchangeably, but from understanding the differences between them and figuring out how to use them to our advantage.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/08/opinion/sunday/audiobooks-reading-cheating-listening.html

Why the future of work is learning

In this interview with An interview with future of work strategist Heather McGowan (@heathermcgowan), on how organizations can prepare for a future of accelerated change.

https://nexxworks.com/blog/why-the-future-of-work-is-learning

Top 10 Behavioral Scientist Articles of 2018

From practical tips to disconnect, or ways to refocus your attention to advice on optimizing your life, hiring processes at work (and more) these 10 Behavioral Scientist articles have something for everyone.

http://behavioralscientist.org/most-popular-articles-of-2018/

Learning, Design & Technology Miscellany

A few other things just because I can.

Conference News

• If youŕe looking for a design conference here is a nice collection by @nunosans
• Looking for your next conference? I’ve added some new events recently to my global collection of L&D events.

Speaker Proposals:

• HR Tech Conference – open until December 28th. Get the details here.
• The LXD Conference is calling for speakers through January 4th.
• EdMedia + Innovate Learning Call for Presentations and Papers is open through January 30th.

Design Resources

• Ouch.Pics – beautiful, free illustration sets from Icons8
• Gradients Guru – Pick a gradient and add your photo for great-looking, dead-simple results.
• Remove.bg – Super simple AI tool for removing people from backgrounds in 0 clicks.

Apps & Tools

• iSlide – a PowerPoint add-in to help you craft better slides.
• Inspiratio – a simple app for reading all your newsletters & help you find new ones.

Books/Courses/Talks/Podcasts

• 2019 Elearning Predictions
• Amy Herman: A Lesson on Looking – Learn the techniques Herman uses to train Navy SEALs, doctors, and crime scene investigators to convert observable details into actionable knowledge.

Thanks for reading! If you found anything good, forward it to a friend or spread the word with a tweet.

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I enjoy sharing my ideas and experience with corporate professionals via workshops, keynote presentations, podcasts, and webinars. Learn more in my Speaking and Workshop Information Sheet.

You can find me at these UPCOMING EVENTS:

• January 30th: Free Tools for eLearning Spotlight Elearning Guild Online Event
• February 1:  “The Non-Designer’s Guide to Crafting Beautiful Elearning” I4PL webinar with Bianca Baumann
• February 4-6 ATD TechKnowledge, West Palm Beach, FL
• February 13-14 Learning Technologies, London, UK
• March 24-26: Learning Solutions, Orlando, FL

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives