Mathematics of opinion formation reveals how moderation trumps extremism
Editor’s note: Academics explore why moderate views tend to be pushed out the way by more extreme views when it comes to the way ideas are shared.
Browsing: Curated
Interview: BJ Fogg on ‘tiny habits’ and learning
Editor’s note: Stanford academic and behaviour change expert shares his thinking on how to change behaviour using tiny steps. This is a 10-minute video that’s well worth a watch.
20 ways augmented reality is being used in education right now
Editor’s note: Following on from Steve Wheeler’s future learning trends, in which he mentions augmented reality, is this useful list of examples of how schools are using the technology.
Employee voice has ‘positive impact on business performance’
Editor’s note: Nothing new in these survey findings but useful when you start to link the need for better employee communication with the benefits of employees being able to better share and collaborate.
Treehouse launches android and iOS courses
Editor’s note: Treehouse aims to help people develop coding skills quickly. An interesting addition to the “learn to code” movement.
Skilled hunters 300,000 years ago
Editor’s notes: The origins of human ingenuity were some 300,000 years ago according to this discovery of spears in Schöningen, Germany. Ties in well with Donald Clark’s recent posts on the origins of learning technology.
The biology of emotions
Editor’s note: It’s fair to say that our emotions affect our behaviour and they certainly affect our capacity to learn and to ‘take things on board’. So, interesting to see that scientists are setting out to understand how emotions are generated in the brain.
Wikipedia gets ebook export feature for offline reading
Editor’s note: A new tool from Wikimedia let’s you export articles from Wikipedia and collate them into an ebook for browsing on your mobile.
Learning Live conference backchannel: curated resources
Editor’s note: Dave Kelly continues to update resources from last week’s Learning Live conference in London. Worth a look to see what you missed and to get an overview of what came out of the event.
Citelighter (the Pinterest for research) launches massive global learning database
Editor’s note: Not all the tech that comes out of the education sector has a direct use in the workplace but kids using this tech will be in your workplace soon enough and these tools are useful. Citelighter lets you bookmark articles and helps create the references for you.
9 ways to understand how ideas spread
Editor’s note: A great book list from Scott Berkun on how ideas spread. And not all the books on the list look at the here and now – it’s an interesting selection.
Technology: from the stone axe to smart phones – another 50 blogs in 50 days
Editor’s note: Following on from his series on 50 learning thinkers, Donald Clark is writing another series, this time 50 posts on learning technologies. Today is day three and we have already looked at the axe and cave paintings.
Corporate elearning market gets a jolt as online universities grow
Editor’s note: Analyst Josh Bersin reflects on the The Skillsoft acquisition of Mindleaders and broader issues around what he calls the ‘red hot’ elearning market.
Sweden’s newest school system has no classrooms
Editor’s note: New thinking in school design aims to help students learn and collaborate more effectively. Time for rethink in the design of the offices these children will end up working in?
Launchpad Toys research study results: app boosts student creativity
Editor’s note: Can apps really make children more creative? This (small) study suggests so. Could apps used in this way be the start of something game-changing in the workplace?