Posts Tagged ‘learning’

CQ

Monday, July 12th, 2010


What is it: This article summarises a range of studies on creativity, making startling observations about the decline of creativity (in the US), that it can be traced directly back to poor education practices, and its implications on a society’s ability to solve big problems and move forward. The good news is that creativity can be taught, learned and practiced – so we really have no excuse!

Why is it cool: On a practical level, this shows that, whilst creativity is often seen as the domain of artisans, creative thinking is, in fact, useful to most everyone in solving everything from small, everyday problems to dealing with the big stressors of life. On a theoretical level, being able to measure, teach and articulate the benefits of creativity (via the Creativity Quotient), we gain a new understanding of the human mind, and a foil for the much maligned Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and more recent Emotional Quotient (EQ). Finally, perhaps most cool is that the best thing we can all do to encourage creativity is to ask questions, and keep asking questions.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Wrong

Monday, July 5th, 2010


What is it: A new book, titled Wrong, discusses how often experts are wrong – from 90% of doctors’ medical knowledge being substantially wrong, to an average of at least one substantive error in ever newspaper article. Worse, when people are confronted with “experts”, their brains literally shut down (that is, physiologically) – and that’s just when we need our brains the most!

Why is it cool: We’ve seen in a previous SCIO that people are more likely to believe someone that is confident than someone that is correct, even given perfect information. Here we see just how imperfect that information is, and why we are so susceptible. It really suggests that learning when, and how, to critically think about information is a hugely important skill.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Up your nose…

Friday, May 28th, 2010

...with a rubber hose!

What is it: A nasal spray developed by German scientists that improves memory retention! The spray contains interleukin-6 (a molecule from the body’s immune system) and when administered through the nose it helps the brain retain emotional and procedural memories during REM sleep.

Why is it cool: Drugs to make us smarter?! (or at least appear smarter temporarily…) What’s next, surgery to make us prettier?!

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Melissa Yee

When less is more

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Minimalist beauty

What is it: Psychologists managed a live test to answer the question: if you take a group of second graders and teach them arithmetic normally, and take another group but don’t teach them maths until the beginning of sixth grade, how long would it take for the second group to catch up with the first? The surprising answer was, less than a full school year.

Why is it cool: It turns out, that young brains really aren’t ready for the abstract thinking required for understanding arithmetic, and that instead young students learn maths as frustration and boredom and only really pick up rote memorisation of algorithms (eg how to add). By waiting until they’re older, students pick up the abstract side of maths more quickly, and, with superior base skills (eg language, problem solving), can actually do some maths at a higher level from the outset (eg word problems).

Where to find out: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Clever little octopus

Friday, December 18th, 2009

I'd like to be... under the sea...

What is it: Video footage of octopuses (octopi?) grabbing coconut shells from the sea bed and running away with them.

Why is it cool: Its pretty funny to watch but also amazing how they use the shells as shelter and protection from predators. They will even put the 2 shells back together for a little house.

It’s a bit of nature vs nurture, too… Do the little guys know how to do this instinctively or have they learned to use the tools from each other?

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Mandy Ayles

Matching interests with passions

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

What a passionate teacher might look like

What is it: (Un)classes is a website that connects people that want to learn to those that want to teach. It’s a form of community-powered learning, where people that are passionate about something sign up to pass on their knowledge to interested participants. It is a casual form of education that is participant driven. A great way of connecting people with the same interests.

Why is it cool: This form of leaning would seem to offer the best to both the teach and the student. Imagine applying this to a business setting, where employees that are interested in certain areas are matched with other employees that are good at, and passionate about, those areas.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Erin Hearn

Tracking the lifecycle of stories

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

A snapshot of the information super-highway

What is it: Computer scientists from Cornell have started to quantify the way news stories gain momentum, peak and ultimately fade away.  By tracking a total of 90 million news articles they have found there is a consistent rhythm to how news stories rise and fall, and also a consistent ‘heart beat’ between news appearing in mainstream articles and news appearing in blogs. They have found that news in mainstream media tends to rise to prominence relatively slowly and dies quickly. In blogs, stories rise in popularity and then stay around longer as people discuss and chat. Eventually though, every story dies.

Why is it cool: By understanding the lifecycle of news, we understand more about how we communicate and learn. It also shows the amazingly short time frame of relevance new news has to us and how quickly our world moves on.  It also provides brands with the opportunity to capitalise on the news life-cycle; by understanding when a story is going to peak in the mainstream media and the blogosphere, brands have a better chance of delivering clever ‘just in time’ messages and creative synched with the news.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Liz Pridham

The solicitation purr

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

What a cat who is manipulating you might look like

What is it: Previous studies have shown a cat’s cry is incredibly similar to that of a human baby’s (both in terms of irritation and compellingness).  However, researchers have now found that some cats use a special purr which imbeds  their “cry” within their normal purr  when they want to be fed.   The ‘solicitation’ purr is not as irritating as a meow,  but is incredibly hard for a human to ignore. The result is that this special purr is incredibly effective  at compelling humans to feed cats.  The hypothesis is that this special purr is a learnt behaviour by cats to deliberately manipulate humans, and tends to be more prevalent among cats which have a “one on one” relationship with their human (i.e. their human has the time to be taught).

Why is it cool: This offers a new perspective on how we communicate. The solicitation purr is simply a learned behaviour, where cats have determined that their “ad” is not effective in the media they are using (loud meowing).  The message remains the same, they have simply adapted their media to reach us at the right time and with the right “ad” for our mind and mood. Or maybe we should simply appreciate the sheer cunningness of the feline.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Liz Pridham

Degrees! Ugh! What are they good for?!

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Lernin is gud!

What is it: This article observes that university degrees are a short-hand implying educated and skilled individuals, but are no guarantee. Rising uni costs mean degrees (on average) do not pay off in terms of salary in the long run, and, on a societal level, encourage exclusivity of education. In sum, degrees are a bad deal for students, employers, and taxpayers.

Why is it cool: Experts are available on the web, tutors are cheap, and Google is making every book ever published available. As we move to separate learning from proof of learning, there is every possibility of a revolution in higher education. It makes an interesting parallel to the journo/publisher divide and also shows that innovation via the web is far from done.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Teaching online skills

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

What an encyclopedia might look like

What is it: MS announced that this is the last year they will be offering Encarta, their PC Encyclopedia software.

Why is it cool: The product arc of Encarta is a fascinating example of a transitional product: in this case living firmly between the DeadTree Encyclopediae (eg Britannica) and the Web’opedia (eg Wiki, or even just the whole web). Aside from this, the author points out that Encarta has mid-wifed schools out of needing to teach kids proper online research skills. How will schools rise to the emerging challenge? How long will they take?

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka