“The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning, you’re not old.” — Rosalyn Yalow
It was back to work time this week even though part of my brain is still floating on a lake in Wisconsin. Lots of uncertainty around here right now. Looks like no fall sports for us and we may be heading for 100% online school to start here. Sometimes I think how nice it would be to have a nice boring, regular routine. Alas, that isn’t going to be an option for quite some time. I hope you’re navigating things in your world successfully and finding some happiness along the way!
What I’m Listening To: Today I’m going old school with a lot of my favorites in this Timeless Soul playlist.
Last week’s most clicked item:
BETTER THAN BULLET POINTS: ALTERNATIVE TEXT SLIDE DESIGNS
Microsoft’s Announcement Changes the Future of Learning — Here’s What You Need to Know
Microsoft has announced a “new learning app for MS Teams”. Does that mean it’s game over for large parts of the learning tech market? Well, not quite. Toby Harris of Filtered breaks it down for you in this post. In short, Toby says this is a big but not particularly bold move by Microsoft. Check it out.
https://learn.filtered.com/thoughts/microsoft-learning-app-teams
How Can We Make the Most of Synchronous and Asynchronous Time in Distance Learning?
Effective distance learning blends both asynchronous and synchronous learning experiences to maximize the time together virtually to build community and learn collaboratively, while also providing autonomy for learners to engage in content, read, investigate and demonstrate mastery at their own pace. See what else Katie Martin has to share on blending distance learning.
Learning Technologies Summer Forum Recordings
A couple of my favorites include sessions by Lori Niles on the Invisible LMS and Mark Britz with James Tyer on Social Organizations and Learning.
https://www.learningtechnologies.co.uk/learning-tech-summer-forum/ltsf-conference/ltsf20-recordings
Conversations with Community Managers – Elizabeth Kohler on Engaging Online Learners
Tune in to this episode with Elizabeth Kohler who shares how to get learners comfortable with using an online learning platform, strategies for pulling engagement in a social learning community into the classroom, and the benefits of using a cloud-based platform for learning and social sharing.
Ten Common but Dubious Reasons to use Multimedia Learning
From the 3 Star Learning blog: Dick Clark and Dave Feldon (D&D for short) raise some questions about ten commonly vented reasons that people give when implementing multimedia in education and what the research says about them.
A few other things just because I can.
Podcasts
Here are three podcast episodes from this week that are worth a listen:
- Amy Balliett of Killer Visual Strategies talks about Killer Visual Content on the UI Breakfast podcast.
- Another great episode in the Learning Uncut Emergent Series: The Social Currency of Communities with Julian Stodd & Rachel Happe
- The Upskilling Imperative with Shelley Osborne of Udemy on the Leading Learning podcast
Tools & Resources
- [PowerPoint] – eBook: Guide to Morph Examples: is an excellent set of slides that demonstrate what can be done with the Morph transition. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to do some pretty impressive things.
. - [Events] – Slick Events lets you create event websites and sell tickets without a fee – all via Google Sheets. Very cool!
. - [Design] – Ten great free sources for character illustrations.
. - [Tools & Apps ] – Creator Stack is a great collection of resources for startups and anyone looking to work smarter.
. - [Design] – The Ultimate Avatar Library is a collection of free avatar illustrations.
. - [Mockups]– Previewed is a great looking free tool for screenshot mockups.
. - [Mockups] – Device Shots is another great option for creating device mockups.
Conferences & Learning Events
Here are a couple of helpful resources if you’re looking for a L&D-related conference or webinar.
- Check out the upcoming conference schedule
- L&D Webinars for this month by Limestone Learning
Where You Can Find Me
The online Learning Development Conference is running now and Bianca Baumann and I will be running an online master class for the VOV Network in Belgium starting in November.
I’m super excited to be participating in The Learning Conference 2020 next week!
Interested in the things that didn’t make the cut here? Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on LinkedIn
I love talking about learning, design, and technology. If you’re looking for a speaker, let’s talk! Speaking and Workshop Information Sheet.
Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives
Mike Taylor 