For those of you who haven’t yet decided to follow Mission to Learn on Twitter (You know who you are.), here’s a round up of some exquisite links I’ve tweeted lately on the general topic of brain science and the human mind:

• A Brief Guide to Neuroscience (The Guardian)
  Just  what it says it is – a quick run down on one of the trendiest of sciences these days.

• What is Working Memory and Why Does it Matter? (National Center for Learning Disabilities)
  I mention working memory frequently here on Mission to Learn. This post gives you some of the essentials in the context of learning disabilities.

• Matters of the Brain: Why Men and Women Are So Different (Live Science)
  It’s not because men’s brains are from Mars and women’s are from Venus. Read this post to get some of the real reasons.

• Student’s brain flatlined during classes (Boing Boing)
  Well, we’ve all had those kinds of class experiences, eh?

• Maintain your brain: The secrets to aging success (Science Daily)
  It’s not all about genetics and fate. This brief review of a journal article suggests the path research on brain aging may take.

• What Eating Too Much Sugar Does to Your Brain (Psychology Today)
  Hint: it’s not good. And when you consider that “the average American consumes 156 pounds of added sugar per year…”

• Overeating may harm memory (Andrew Weil)
  Remember: you really need to watch what you eat. Dr. Weil explains why.

• Good list of Ideas and Resources for Keeping Your Brain Sharp (The New York Times)
  A good list that hits on many of the themes I cover regularly here on Mission to Learn. Being an active, conscious, healthy learner pays off.

• The brain… it makes you think. Doesn’t it? (The Guardian)
  An interesting dialogue between two experts on the unconscious brain.

• You brain is not as rational as you may think it is (The Daily Beast)
  An article focused on Leonard Mlodinow’s very interesting book Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior.

Enjoy – and I hope to see you over on Twitter.

Jeff

Related posts:

1. Prepare to Be Assimilated – The Summer of the Big Brain
2. Always Be Learnin’ – 4 Links of Value

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:

1. 10 Ways to Be a Better Leaner: No. 9 – Mind Your Body

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

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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

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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

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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:

1. Can you learn to save the world by playing games?
2. Game Mechanics, Bwah Hah Hah!
3. Think you could never be homeless?

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:

1. Can you learn to save the world by playing games?
2. The “Adults are Bad at Language Learning” Myth Explored

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:

1. 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 1 – Growth Mindset
2. 10 Excellent iPad Apps for the Lifelong Learner
3. 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 10 – Embrace Responsibility

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

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A while back I noted that working memory may, it turns out, be a more important factor than deliberate practice in achieving greatness (or at least as important a factor). More recently I came across this addictive little test of working memory capacity on the GoCognitive Web site. While there is currently no information on how to use the feedback you receive from the test, I found going through it several times to be enlightening nonetheless – if only because it breeds humility! (Apparently a manual for this and other tests on the site are on the way.)

I haven’t played much yet with the other tests on the site, but they cover areas like:

• Memory for lists
• Selective attention
• Change blindness
• Implicit memory

Have fun. And if you pick up any insights from these cognitive tests, please share them here in the comments.

Jeff

P.S. – Have you told your colleagues and friends about Mission to Learn? I’d be grateful if you did and asked them to subscribe by RSS feed or e-mail.

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