Learning Monitor, October 2009
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Mission to Learn’s Learning Monitor
Volume 2, Issue 7
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Quote of the Month
2. This Month’s Features
3. A Note from the Editor
4. Views, News, and Insights
5. The Learning Smorgasbord
–> Learning Tools & Skills
–> Collections & Teach-Learn-Share Sites
–> Science & Math
–> Computers & the Internet
–> Health
–> Business
–> Language & Culture
–> Art & Art History
–> Literature
–> Music
–> Games
–> Personal Finance
–> Odds & Ends
6. Contact Info
7. Subscription Management
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1. Quote of the Month
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So, let’s sit down as a culture, as a society, and say, “Teachers,
parents, people outside, how do we completely rethink this? We’re
going to create a new system from ground zero, and what new ideas
have you got?” And collect those new ideas. That would be a very
healthy thing for the country to do.
- Alvin Toffler on our public education system
(Quote via Stephen Downes. See below for reference)
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2. This Month’s Features
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100 Open Lectures All About Africa
From Online Colleges – As the world becomes an increasingly
interconnected and truly global marketplace, it becomes ever more
important to learn and understand the history, culture and economic
roles of nations around the world.
***
Cephalopodcast – The Ocean Podcast
The Ocean Podcast: news from the other 71% of our planet plus
topics in science and education. Gelatinous, for the masses.
***
A learning game built around all the decisions required for
successfully running a farm.
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3. A Note from the Editor: TGIF (Almost)
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I usually try to come up with something at least marginally
interesting or entertaining to say in my opening note, but I am
completely tapped out after a string of very long weeks. So, I
figure it’s better just to hit the send button on this edition
rather than wait for my tired muse to shine some light. Thar be
good links here – enjoy them, and share them as you see fit.
All the best,
Jeff Cobb
Mission to Learn
http://www.missiontolearn.com
http://twitter.com/missiontolearn
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4. Views, News, and Insights
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coalition of individuals, education advocates, civil rights groups
and philanthropic organizations, each of whom shares a commitment
to focus the country’s attention on three core pillars of
successful education reform – learning, teaching and fairness. We
do not assume that these three areas are the only things that
matter – just that it is essential to get these areas right when it
comes to improving our public education system.
***
Reshaping Learning from the Ground up
On Edutopia, via Stephen Downes
Forty years after he and his wife, Heidi, set the world alight with
Future Shock, Alvin Toffler remains a tough assessor of our
nation’s social and technological prospects. Though he’s best known
for his work discussing the myriad ramifications of the digital
revolution, he also loves to speak about the education system that
is shaping the hearts and minds of America’s future. We met with
him near his office in Los Angeles, where the celebrated
septuagenarian remains a clear and radical thinker.
***
Do You Have a Personal R&D Budget?
From The Personal MBA (TM) – Research and development isn’t just for
big companies – a self-directed experimentation budget can do
wonders for your life and career as well.
***
of these titles challenged my internal status quo, opening my mind
to new ideas and opportunities. And together, they gave me a basic
framework for living, loving, learning and working successfully.
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5. The Learning Smorgasbord
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An eclectic selection of delectable learning. All of it either free
or at very low cost.
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Learning Tools & Skills
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10 Awesome Tools To Get More Out of Wikipedia
A Dumb Little Man post on just what the title says
***
Memory Improvement and Learning Skills
Memory Improvement and Learning Skills. Articles by famous memory
expert Michael Tipper at Project HappyChild
***
online diary and personal journal with a focus on privacy. Easily
keep a secret diary of thoughts or a journal of notes and ideas
secure and on the web.
Collections & Teach-Learn-Share Sites
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TeachMate.org is a service that helps people who wish to learn
things find others who wish to teach them. You may think of it as
of a dating service in education. We are also very fond of the idea
of teaching for teaching: you can find people who’d love to teach
you something in return for you teaching him another thing.
***
From YES! Magazine – YES! discovers education that can actually prepare us for the
demands of our time. Here’s how we can learn the skills to take on
environmental and economic challenges, build resilient communities,
and create good lives for ourselves and our loved ones.
***
100 Free Ivy-League Lectures You Shouldn’t Miss
From Online Degree Hub – Many top schools across the country are beginning
students to have access to a slice of an Ivy League education
without paying a dime. Many of these courses provide video or audio
lectures just waiting to be seen and heard. Whether you are looking
to supplement your current education or just addicted to knowledge,
these are sure to please.
***
Free e-learning courses and tutorials available on the Internet.
Categories include instructional design, K-12, science, Art,
computer, archaeology and more.
***
100 Free Tools to Tutor Yourself in Anything
From OnlineClasses.org: Whether you want to learn how to renovate
your kitchen or the intricacies of calculus, you’ll find the
assistance you need through these resources.
Free Internet Libraries provides free books, course notes,
practice problems, test reviews, career advancement materials,
teaching materials, and much more.
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Science & Math
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at Barnard College of Columbia University, narrates this two-minute
video about The Big Bang.
***
We are the world leader in bringing the voices of scientists
directly to you and millions of others across the globe. EarthSky
has brought the words and insights of scientists to you since 1991,
while enjoying the support and partnership of thousands of
scientists and scientific institutions.
facts. History tells us that some of today’s scientific truths will
inevitably turn out to be wrong, or only partially true. Still,
science leads to profound insights about the natural world that are
as true as anything can be here at the beginning of the 21st
century.
Discovered via @tappedinorg
***
Cephalopodcast – The Ocean Podcast
The Ocean Podcast: news from the other 71% of our planet plus
topics in science and education. Gelatinous, for the masses.
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Computers & the Internet
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RosieKnows offers free and easy video lessons on how to use
hundreds of websites. Facebook, Skype, Pandora, Craigslist,
Netflix, Kayak and many more!
***
interactive computer courses online also offer Video Tutorials on
Dreamweaver 8, but the Flash 8 Video Tutorials are the ones that
has extended categories like Flash Effects Video Tutorials, Flash
Banner Video Tutorials, Flash Web Site Video Tutorials, Flash Web
Site Template Video Tutorials and more. The Online Video Tutorials
for Flash extend from the Basic level up to an Advanced level
covering stuff like Actionscripts and creating a fully functional
Flash Web Site from scratch. If you need a special Flash Video
Tutorial that is not present, just Request a Tutorial.
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Health
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Food Safety Knowledge Network calls for OER
The Food Safety Knowledge network is seeking CC licensed open
educational resources in the area of food safety. From their
announcement: “With the increasing demand for safe food and the
growing globalization of food production and manufacturing, there
is a great need for no-cost, accessible training and educational
resources for food safety professionals, especially those working
in developing countries where such access is not readily available.
(This is still in the works, but it is an interesting enough
initiative that I wanted to go ahead and highlight it.)
***
How Your iPod Can Improve Your Health
So, you’ve gone out and gotten yourself a fancy iPod or
iPhone…maybe both. No doubt your social skills have improved,
you’re technically hip, and your music collection seems endless,
but did you know your iPod could also benefit your health?
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Business
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The CEO Game is a massive online browser-based serious game of a
real economic world. In other words, it is a game that will be
played using your own browser and internet connection to compete
against other people around the world in an environment similar to
today’s global economy
***
A learning game built around all the decisions required for
successfully running a farm.
***
***
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Language & Culture
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and cultures. Learn a language from native speakers around the
world for free! Practice with a language exchange. Meet new people
from around the world. Learn about other cultures. Scrabbin is 100%
free. Scrabbin is international and you can connect with native
speakers from all over the world through email, voice chat or in
real live!
***
Learn Language Vocabulary with Mnemonics . Simply put, we’ve built
a revolutionary system to help you learn foreign vocabulary quickly
and easily. We’ve coupled traditional flash card learning with
mnemonics, or memory aids, to help you to memorise each item
quickly and easily, and we’ve surrounded the whole thing with a
system to help your learning progress.
***
15 Web Tools to Enhance Language Learning
From Pick the Brain – With the world becoming more culturally
diverse everyday, it is becoming increasing important for everyone
to learn a new language. Whether you are learning for your career,
education, or just want to increase you knowledge of other
languages, the Internet provides a wide variety of tools that can
enhance your learning experience. Here is a list of 15 free
language learning tools to explore today.
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Art & Art History
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Welcome to my art history blog. The format is simple and the
purpose is to show you a piece of art, give you a little
background, and leave the rest up to you. (This isn’t really daily,
but it’s a good site nonetheless.)
***
25 Free Art Tutorials and Online Art Courses for Artists
Getting an online art education doesn’t have to cost you thousands
of dollars. Nowadays, there are many free courses and tutorials
from universities and other institutions that can be found online.
***
Human illustration tutorials blog for begginers and professional
artists.
You will learn how to draw human professionally and create great
character illustrations. Also you will be able to create awesome
character illustrations studying our tutorials!
HowToDraw.in is free website where you can learn to draw any thing.
Drawing lessons from beginner to advance level, step by step
tutorials, easy drawing tutorials for kids & lots more . . .
We are a team of enthusiastic artists who want to share their
knowledge about drawing to the world and those people who want to
learn drawing.
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Literature
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DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail or RSS feed. We
currently offer over 1000 classic and contemporary books available
entirely for free or on a Pay-Per-Read basis (with sample
installments available for free). You can read your installments
wherever you receive e-mail/RSS feeds, including on your Blackberry
and iPhone. Installments arrive in your Inbox according to the
schedule you set (e.g. 7:00am every weekday). You can read each
installment in under 5 minutes (most folks finish in 2-3 minutes),
and, if you have more time to read, you can receive additional
installments immediately on demand. Our titles include bestselling
and award winning titles, from literary fiction and romance to
language learning and science fiction. DailyLit features forums
where you can discuss your favorite books and authors.
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Music
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Hear, see and learn with guitar tabs online. Switch instruments,
slow down playback, enjoy realistic guitar sound. You have to pay
a subscription fee ($9.90 per month) to get full access, but this
looks like a very cool tool for anyone learning the guitar.
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Games
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The CEO Game is a massive online browser-based serious game of a
real economic world. In other words, it is a game that will be
played using your own browser and internet connection to compete
against other people around the world in an environment similar to
today’s global economy
***
A learning game built around all the decisions required for
successfully running a farm
***
Real Lives is a unique, interactive life sim that enables you to
live one of billions of lives in any country in the world. Through
statistically accurate events, Real Lives brings to life different
cultures, political systems, economic opportunities, personal
decisions, health issues, family issues, schooling, jobs,
religions, geography, war, peace, and more! (Full access costs $29,
but there’s a free demo version.)
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Personal Finance
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Essential Personal Finance E-Books
Slowly Guide to Roth IRAs as a free e-book. Readers who are
interested in opening a retirement account can download this short
book — which draws from a series of articles I wrote two years ago
– and use it as a reference as they work through the process.
Though this is my first e-book (it won’t be my last), there are a
variety of other great personal-finance e-books available for free
download. You can pick up others for just a couple of bucks — or by
subscribing to an e-mail newsletter. Here’s a quick overview of
some I’ve found lately.
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Odds & Ends
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From AlleyDog.com – Top Psych aggregates the best psychology blogs, stories, and news
from across the web, and delivers them to you 24×7. We hand select
every feed and update them every hour, so the content’s always
fresh.
***
100 Open Lectures All About Africa
From Online Colleges – As the world becomes an increasingly
interconnected and truly global marketplace, it becomes ever more
important to learn and understand the history, culture and economic
roles of nations around the world.
***
“Sure, you use the Internet all the time, but you need to wise up
to the web when you use it for your university or college work. Use
this free Internet tutorial to learn to discern the good, the bad
and the ugly for your online research.” This tutorial is intended
to help college students hone their Internet research skills, but I
think it is equal useful for their parents, friends, and siblings.
(This one was also highlighted in a recent Mission to Learn post on
Critical Thinking.)
***
45 Awesome Free Bag Making Tutorials | frugalandthriving.com.au
have gone a little bit bag crazy. Making a bag is a great way to
learn how to sew. Below is a range of different bag tutorials to
try. They vary from beginner level to the more complex, in no
particular order. There are quite a few sewing and construction techniques
bag design.
***
These courses from Michigan State University are not free, but the
idea of My Horse University was interesting enough for me to decide
to include them.
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6. Contact Information
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I truly welcome your thoughts on how I can make this into a
newsletter that fits your needs in the best possible way. Always
feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] or call me at
919.201.7460 with any comments you have about the content provided
in the newsletter and suggestions for future editions. In
particular, I welcome news of new free learning content and events.
I also encourage you to visit and comment on the Mission to Learn
blog at http://www.missiontolearn.com/blog.
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7. Subscription Management
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