Friday Finds — Tools for Learning, Understanding Forgetting, Memorable Feedback

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“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.” ​

Richard Feynman

Happy Friday! It is football season here and that means that cooler weather and my favorite time of the year is just around the corner.  There is something about the band playing and the crowd cheering that just makes you feel good. I hope you’re feeling good too as you head into your weekend.

Thanks for reading. 

What I’m Listening to: This morning I’m checking out another recommendation from my daughter – The Neighborhood. So far, so good. (If you’re on Spotify, you can follow me here.)

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Last week’s most clicked item:
Swedish Philosophy of ‘Lagom’ (Just Enough)

Jane Hart’s Top Tools for Learning 

The results of Jane Hart’s annual tools for learning survey is in and it looks like the experimentation and influx of new tools from last year has abated with fewer tools being submitted this year. Check out this year’s list and other insights from this year’s data. 

https://www.toptools4learning.com/

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Understanding Forgetting

Forgetting is a necessary part of the brain’s memory management. It is powerful, inevitable and adaptive. Sarah Cottingham reminds us that the best thing we can do is understand it and work with it. 

https://overpractised.wordpress.com/2022/08/29/understanding-forgetting/

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Memorable Feedback: Lessons from Cognitive Psychology in Selective Attention

In order for feedback to even have a chance to improve learning, learners must first selectively attend to that feedback. (Filed under: No duh.) This article by Dr Bethany Brunsman and Dr Rob McEntarffer includes some suggestions for providing feedback to focus selective attention and improve learning.

https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2022/9/1-1

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Dr. Erich Jarvis: The Neuroscience Of Speech, Language & Music

Did you know that as we read, the muscles that generate speech engage. The same phenomenon does not occur when we hear or listen to sentences. In other words, reading is a form of speech practice. Dig into this and more great insights in this conversation with Erich Jarvis. 

https://hubermanlab.com/dr-erich-jarvis-the-neuroscience-of-speech-language-and-music/

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Effective Strategies for Managing Information Overload

Constant access to technology can be overwhelming. And when your work relies on habitual digital consumption, it can easily cause information overload. Tune into this conversation with digital wellness expert Julia Soffa on effective strategies you can adopt to overcome information overload. 

https://iorgforum.org/iorg-info-overload/effective-strategies-for-managing-information-overload/

 


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How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good.

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

Friday Finds — Marketing Skills, NFL Instructional Designers, Just Enough

There’s a reason over 2.6 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be dry and dense…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free.  Check it out!

“The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.”

Chinese proverb

Happy Friday! Today I’m very grateful to be feeling much better after last week’s bout with COVID. We were all fortunate that it came and went pretty quickly and everyone seems to have bounced back rather well. Now let’s hope we can ride that new found immunity for a long time.

Thanks for reading. 

What I’m Listening to: Today I’ve returned to another old favorite, Funkmammoth which is “elevator beat music”. (If you’re on Spotify, you can follow me here.)

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URL

Last week’s most clicked item:
shape.so customizable icons & illustrations

Will Instructional Designers Become The Latest NFL Craze?

NFL teams are always searching for an edge. Though they appear to be quite late to this education innovation. Hopefully if the Denver Broncos go on a winning binge, we’ll see ID job posting throughout the NFL and maybe even other pro sports.

https://defector.com/will-instructional-designers-become-the-latest-nfl-craze/

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Why you should learn to market stuff (including yourself)

A good, fun reminder that even if you’re not a marketer, it is important for you to have marketing skills. https://thewokesalaryman.com/2022/08/19/why-you-should-learn-to-market-stuff-including-yourself/ 

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CompTIA Workforce & Learning Trends 2022

CompTIA’s recent Learning Trends report says “Everyone’s looking for the unicorn. The ask really has not changed significantly over the years. They want agile learners. They want critical thinkers. And they want experience in the technology du jour. But there is more openness to signals of someone’s willingness to learn new technologies and then to support that with L&D.”

https://www.comptia.org/content/research/workforce-and-learning-trends-2022

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The Swedish philosophy of lagom: how “just enough” is all you need

Lagom is the modern, Swedish twist on an ancient idea. It means “just enough,” and it involves finding contentment in satisfaction. It’s an idea that might change how you see your life.

https://bigthink.com/thinking/swedish-philosophy-lagom-just-enough/

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We Need to Talk About How Good AI Is Getting

A lot of noteworthy progress has happened lately in the field of AI and we should be paying attention. This article gives a good overview of where things stand — one of the main things to consider – that we are very bad at grasping exponential change.

New York Times

 


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How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good.

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

WTF Does Marketing Have to Do With It?

Are you a marketer? Take a few moments to seriously consider your answer. 

If you answered no, I’d like to suggest that, as Seth Godin says “Everybody is a marketer”

We either don’t realize this or equate salespeople with shady characters who try to steal our attention, lie to us, and swindle us into buying things we don’t want. If you’re in that camp, I’d ask you to consider a few things. 

Learning & development professionals want to make change happen, influence culture, and help people succeed, don’t they?

What are the best ways to convince your leaders, your co-workers or your stakeholders to action? What’s the best way to convince them to support your efforts or join your cause?

The answer depends on a lot of factors, but none of them involve elearning tools or learning management systems. If you want to really connect with your people and get better results ,you should seriously consider trying out some marketing tactics.

What are some things good marketers know that many L&D pros don’t? 

  • “The human brain doesn’t run on logic any more than a horse runs on petrol” -Rory Sutherland

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  • First impressions really matter. The first second of your content may matter than all the rest. (If there are any others.)

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  • Anything that doesn’t capture attention doesn’t exist. (See the “Monkey Business Illusion”.)

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Marketing done right changes the game. It can amp up your impact, help you create better designs, and most importantly give you a new perspective. A perspective that can unlock new and exciting new possibilities. 

The best thing about it is that mindsets are free. This doesn’t require any expensive new tools or software. Just using what you have in an innovative new way that helps you:

  • Spread your message in a way that resonates
  • Save time, money and learn to use your tools more effectively

I’ve been a big believer in applying Marketing tools and techniques to L&D for a very long time and have seen the difference it can make first hand. Bianca Baumann and I are running a full-day pre-conference workshop on these topics at DevLearn – “Using the Marketing Playbook to Score Better L&D Results”. 

We think it is a great way to adopt a new “marketing strategy” for your L&D efforts But don’t take my word for it here are what some of the previous participants have to say about it. 

Past feedback: 

  • Terrific class. More than worth the cost of the conference!! So good!
  • This was a great, information filled workshop. Very worth my time. I’ll be taking back a lot of ideas to try out at “home”.
  • Terrific information and tools. You were very generous in the resources shared with us. One of the most valuable aspects was having to work on applying learnings. Thank you!
  • Really great. I enjoyed the fast paced, new information; relevant and actionable for a project back home. Exciting new ways to educate myself and share the knowledge with my company. Great handout and activities. Both of you had great energy and it showed! Thank you for introducing me to these tools. Totally stealing everything!
  • Great session. I appreciated many of the resources and tools the instructors recommended. Gives us a good place to start and I feel our company can immediately apply what was learned today.
  • It was a great workshop. I loved that we covered a variety of topics so that we knew enough about lots of things that we could dig deeper on our own.
  • Excellent ideas and resources that I’ll be able to take back and apply right away.
  • Very helpful! Appreciated the ability to walk through a whole project (in manageable chunks) and also appreciated the wealth of tools we covered both in class and as part of the takeaway package.

Bianca Baumann and I invite you to join us at DevLearn to learn more about that marketing has for L&D pros

Friday Finds — Video for Learning, Async Collaboration, Designing Hybrid Learning

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“For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt of yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.”

Carol Dweck

Happy Friday! COVID has hit our household. We’re all doing ok – just tired and taking lots of naps. My son had it a few months ago, so hopefully his immunity is still strong and he’ll get to skip this round. It stinks for my daughter whose birthday was yesterday. But at least I still got to give her birthday hugs. Hope your week has been great and COVID-free! 

Thanks for reading. 

What I’m Listening to:  This Sunny Day playlist has me thinking about getting outside in the sun again soon! 

(If you’re on Spotify, you can follow me here.)

Last week’s most clicked item:
10 Copywriting Tips Based On Persuasion Science

Creating Better Video For Learning

In this post, Patti Shanks shares what the evidence says about designing good instructional video.  It discusses the attributes of media and technologies for digital or blended instruction, selecting content and social interactions, and the strengths and challenges of video.

https://elearningindustry.com/creating-better-video-for-learning-part-1

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Syncing Fast and Slow: How To Streamline Async Collaboration

This is an interesting article that includes 4 ways async work can streamline collaboration. “When your default is fewer meetings and more deep work, you have the chance to experience a calmer, more productive workday.”

https://www.float.com/blog/streamline-async-collaboration/

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Experts just give more advice, not better

“Skillful performance and skillful teaching are not always the same thing, so we shouldn’t expect the best performers to necessarily be the best teachers as well,” says lead study author David Levari of Harvard Business School in a media release.

https://www.studyfinds.org/experts-dont-give-better-advice/

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Designing Learning Programs for a Hybrid Workplace

Many leaders are anxious about developing talent in a hybrid work environment. But because virtual learning can be scaled relatively easily; delivered flexibly and in ways that accommodate other ongoing work; and spaced to allow opportunities for learning to be embedded into long-term memory, built upon, and practiced, well-designed virtual learning has been shown to be as effective as in-person learning — and often more so.

https://hbr.org/2022/07/designing-learning-programs-for-a-hybrid-workplace

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  • Drop Deck can help you make beautiful slides super fast
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  • MyBoard is an easy-to-use platform for collaboratively creating and sharing links, notes, and more.
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  • Have you heard that Canva now has whiteboards? Yep, check ‘em out
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  • Shape is a collection of 36,600 fully customizable icons and illustrations
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  • Ava Maker is a fun app for creating avatars

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How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good.

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tmiketaylor

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

Friday Finds — Evidence-based Training Lessons, Signal vs Noise, Persuasive Copywriting

Discover the best independent writers.

Each morning, The Sample sends you one article from a random blog or newsletter that matches up with your interests. When you get one you like, you can subscribe to the writer with one click.

Sign up here.

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets”

Leonardo da Vinci

Happy Friday! We had a lovely evening last night celebrating our neighbor’s wedding. It was the first event like that I’ve been to in years and it reminds me how important it is to be able to celebrate life’s milestones with good people in your community. Thank you for being part of my online community and celebrating together in our own small way every Friday morning.

Thanks for reading. 

What I’m Listening to:  I caught this Herb Alpert song on the radio recently which lead me to this very lovely Herb Alpert Radio playlist that I’m enjoying today.
(If you’re on Spotify, you can follow me here.)

Last week’s most clicked item:
20 Things To Remember About Forgetting

Evidence-Based Training: Lessons Learned in 25 Years

In this ISPI Live recording you will get a bird’s eye view from Ruth Clark of how evidence-based research methods have evolved since her book “e-Learning and the Science of Instruction” first came out 25 years ago and what they have revealed.     

Watch Video

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The Difference Between Gamification & Incentivization

People don’t tend to do learning challenges (or anything really) for fictitious rewards.This article examines the differences between what makes games fun and what we think makes them fun along with some techniques you can use to make your edTech and eLearning more enjoyable.

https://uxdesign.cc/the-difference-between-gamification-and-incentivization-and-how-to-use-them-in-edtech-d5765d17c3e4?gi=1e1a97cde27d

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Evaluating Information: Find the Signal in the Noise

We are drowning in information. Most of that information is irrelevant. If only we could sort what matters from what doesn’t.The good news is that you can train your brain to evaluate the quality of information with Richard Feynman’s 7 “Tricks” for Evaluating Information

https://fs.blog/evaluating-information/

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10 Copywriting Tips Based On Persuasion Science

How can you write persuasive sentences? Here are some clever techniques from Nick Kolenda that can optimize your copywriting. Grab a copy of the PDF guide for safe keeping. 

Watch Video

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The Benefits of Pre-Questioning Before Short Video

Giving learners a list of questions to consider before showing them a short video can enhance their subsequent memory of the topic, but only if they actually answered the questions during the video.

https://www.learningscienceweekly.com/student/page/1195261-issue-99-video-visual-questions

 

  • Slidddo is a nice collection of presentation designs you can use as a swipe file for your slide ideas
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  • DocFly is an online pdf editor
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  • Get Acquainted lets you make free chatbot polls fast
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  • ScreenPal lets you record & share video in any online text box
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  • Freebies by People is a professionally curated selection of commercial use resources and tools for designers and developers.

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How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good.

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tmiketaylor

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

Friday Finds — Top Learning Tools, Learning Paths, Facilitation Resources

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There’s a reason over 2.6 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be dry and dense…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Check it out!

“There are nearly endless opportunities to improve each day and finding them largely boils down to being curious. People who are better in the end are usually curious in the beginning.”

James Clear

Happy Friday! Up here in the northern hemisphere we’re winding down the end of summer and getting ready for school to start back up. I’m busy working on the DevLearn workshops I mentioned last week and eternally grateful that I get to do them with such great people as Bianca Baumann and Mathias Vermeulen.

Thanks for reading.

What I’m Listening To: Today I’m listening to the low key instrumental of “Mellow Beats“. It is just right for the dog days of summer we are in.

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Last week’s most clicked item:
Slides With Friends

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20 Things to Remember About Forgetting

Learning designers want to increase remembering and prevent forgetting. Here’s what you should know about what causes us to forget from Connie Malamed.

https://theelearningcoach.com/learning/science-of-forgetting/

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How to Use Learning Pathways to Close Skills Gaps

The talent required to take an organization to the next level often already exists in-house, and learning pathways can be an effective tool for unlocking that untapped potential.

https://bigthink.com/plus/learning-pathways/

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Facilitation Resources

Anamaria Dorgo has put together this downloadable resource of 35 methods, tools, and frameworks to help with your facilitation efforts.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/butter-hq_35-facilitation-resources-from-the-butter-ugcPost-6959803019102146560-ctR8/

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The 4 Things You Need to Be An Expert

This video from Veritasium looks at which experts have real expertise.

Watch Video

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My Top Tools For Learning 2022

Time for another roundup of my top learning tools for Jane Hart’s annual survey. Be sure to submit yours by August 25th

https://mike-taylor.org/2022/08/02/2022-top-tools-for-learning/

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  • Nerdbord is a platform for creating engaging, practise driven workshops and courses
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  • Build a personal professional website with Hiya
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  • Videomark is a tool for taking notes on Youtube
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  • Tipstory is an easy to use online microlearning tool
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  • Zencaster is “podcasting made easy”

How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good.

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tmiketaylor

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

2022 Top Tools for Learning

It is time once again for my top 10 list of learning tools for Jane Hart’s Annual Top Tools for Learning roundup. 

Submit your top tools by August 25th

Here is my list for 2022:

1. Feedly

Feedly continues to be my favorite tool for learning. It allows me to keep up with everything I’m interested in efficiently by giving me control over how I consume information. I’m able to organize everything I want to see from websites and Twitter to YouTube channels and email newsletters all in a single place. 

If you’re not using an RSS reader, I really believe you’re missing out on an opportunity to better manage your information diet. 

http://feedly.com 

Addins/Extras: 

  • Buffer – share what you learn via social media
  • Kill the Newsletter – get your email newsletters via RSS/Feedly
  • FetchRSS – create an RSS Feed for sites that don’t provide one

2. WordPress

WordPress has been where I hang my online hat since 2007. Great option for creating a website – it is quick and easy to work with and I’ve never had any issues. 

wordpress.com

3. Twitter

Still one of the best places for me to access the thinking of smart people doing great things. As well as a great place for finding a community of people doing what you do. You never have to send a single tweet to get benefits from Twitter – but I think you’ll get even more if you do! 

twitter.com/tmiket

4. PowerPoint 365

PowerPoint has been adding a lot of new capabilities lately. Which, taken in combination with amazing enhancements like BrightSlide, make it an attractive tool for digital projects including motion graphics, videos, ebooks and more. 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/powerpoint

Addins/Extras: 

5. Bublup

I’ve always valued a better way to manage my bookmarks. Bublup has become a trusted way to save, organize and share just about anything including links, notes, files, etc. It will even generate web pages from the things you want to share – they’re called rolls and they’re pretty cool. Here’s an example.

bublup.com

6. Zapier

When there isn’t an add-in or marketplace available for what you want to do, Zapier let’s you connect thousands of apps with each other yourself. And it couldn’t be easier – no code involved. No matter what your role or industry, you’ll find value in Zapier. 

zapier.com 

7. Google Docs / Workspace 

Docs is my ‘go to’ for writing and sheets for managing data. Lots of helpful, time-saving addins worth checking out depending on what you’re working on. 

workspace.google.com 

8. MailChimp

Mailchimp powers my newstetter and I’ve used it many time as part of learning campaigns. 

mailchimp.co

9. Canva 

It seems I’m doing something in Canva almost every day. I keep discovering useful new things that it can do like editing PDFs, exporting designs to PowerPoint, create & edit videos and more.

Canva.com

10. Xtiles 

This is the only new entry for me this year. xTiles is a visual note-taking application that enables you to replace several tools at once. I’ve been using it for personal notes and curation. I love the flexibility and options for saving/presenting all types of information. Give it a try! Here is one example. 

xtiles.app

Check some other L&D pro’s Top 10 Tools lists:

Friday Finds — Online Training with Email, Does Sequence Matter in Learning, Building a Second Brain,

There’s a reason over 2.6 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be dry and dense…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Check it out!

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“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice”

– Brian Herbert

Happy Friday! I’m excited to be working on not one but TWO DevLearn full day pre-conference workshops this year. On Monday Bianca Baumann and I are bringing back “Using the Marketing Playbook to Score Better L&D Results” which we’ve done a few times before. The next day, I’m teaming up with Mathias Vermeulen for a full day of #NoCode fun in our new workshop “Breaking the Code Barrier: Making Your L&D Ideas Reality with NoCode Tools“. Let me know if you’re curious or if I can answer any questions about either one of them.

What I’m Listening to:  Today is a chilled out “Jazz Vibes” kind of day.
(If you’re on Spotify, you can follow me here.)

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Last week’s most clicked item:
Maximize Your Learning Time with These Seven Habits

How To Do Online Training With Email Marketing Campaigns

Did you know that you can use email marketing tools to create repeatable, consistent, automated, self-service training? It’s true! Learn more about it here. (By the way,  @biancabaumann & I will be covering this strategy in our “Using the Marketing Playbook to Score Better L&D Results” workshop at DevLearn this fall!)  

https://blog.aweber.com/culture/online-training-using-aweber.htm

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Why Fun Is The Secret To A Healthier Life

Do you have enough fun in your life? (Seriously!) Learn more about why fun matters — and how you can have more of it in this great TED Talk by Catherine Price.

https://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_price_why_fun_is_the_secret_to_a_healthier_life

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Building a Second Brain

I am just finishing Tiago Forte’s book “Building a Second Brain” and can personally recommend it as a good way to help you think about improving your ability to capture, remember, and benefit from the unprecedented amount of information all around us. This is his Google Talk on the topic. 

https://fortelabs.co/blog/the-story-behind-building-a-second-brain-google-talk/

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How Do Rocket Scientists Learn? 

(AKA, Knowledge Management Lessons Learned At NASA)

Knowledge Management is “better application of collective knowledge to the individual problem. So we need to develop some systems and do a little more work to share collective knowledge and make us smarter.”

https://www.govloop.com/community/blog/how-do-rocket-scientists-learn-aka-knowledge-management-lessons-learned-at-goddard-nasa/

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Does Sequence Matter in Learning Outcomes? 

The latest edition of Learning Science Weekly takes a look at the impact of sequencing on learning. “Engaging learners in retrieval practice before engaging them in generative learning can be more beneficial than vice versa.”- Roelle et al. (2022)

https://www.learningscienceweekly.com/student/page/1177093-issue-97-sequence-is-significant

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  • Slides With Friends is a ready collection of decks for ice breakers and other interactive activities.
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  • Jackfruit simplifies the Job application process by letting you track your job applications from websites like LinkedIn, Handshake, and Workday with a single click
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  • Screen Pal is a new free tool for video comments and video emails that works in any text field or comment box.
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  • Pabbly is a Zapier alternative for connecting apps and automating tasks
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  • Figma Components is a free library of copy and paste Figma components all in one place.

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How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good.

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tmiketaylor

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

Friday Finds — Learn In Public, PowerPoint & Canva, Maximize Your Learning,

There’s a reason over 2.6 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be dry and dense…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Check it out!

Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.

— Henry James

— Henry James

Happy Friday! You’ll notice something new in this week’s newsletter. This is the first time I’ve ever included any kind of advertising. This, like everything, is an experiment driven by results and feedback. So what do you think? Do you really even notice it? Would you be interested in supporting products and services if they are relevant and helpful? (FYI-I’ll never share your email with anyone!) 

Thanks for reading. 

What I’m Listening to:  I just got back from a great morning run as the sun was coming up along Lake Michigan listening to some of my favorite songs. (If you’re on Spotify, you can follow me here.)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KtjsSufphuJOnGrsZuE0h?si=1a9d85e4b0694ba0

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Last week’s most clicked item:
How to Loop a Sequence of PowerPoint Animations

Working With PowerPoint & PDFs in Canva

I just learned this week that you can drag files into Canva and edit them there. In some limited testing so far, this works as good as any other method I’ve found. It keeps most things just like they are in the source file. I started with PDFs and then discovered that you can also do it with PowerPoint and Word files as well. My mind has been blown! 

https://www.canva.com/features/pdf-editor/

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Maximize Your Learning Time with These Seven Habits

More good stuff from Scott Young as he shares his best tips for maximizing your learning. My favorite is always have at least three books with you. What is yours? How many of these are you already doing? 

https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2022/07/12/maximize-learning-time/

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Learn in Public: The Fastest Way to Learn

You already know that you will never be done learning. But most people “learn in private”, and lurk. They consume content without creating any themselves. Instead try to “have a habit of creating learning exhaust”.

https://www.swyx.io/learn-in-public/

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Why Tacit Knowledge is More Important Than Deliberate Practice

Tacit knowledge is knowledge that cannot be captured through words alone. Keep an eye out on the Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) branch of psychology, and watch for things that focus on tacit knowledge. They are — in this writer’s opinion — the most interesting, overlooked topic in expertise today.

https://commoncog.com/tacit-knowledge-is-a-real-thing/

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Slow-Paced Learning: The Most Effective Way to Retain 90% of What You Learn

When you slow down, you give yourself enough time to make better connections for faster retrieval later. “..slowing down the pace, even for a few minutes a day, and giving yourself time, decreases the emotional tension and, consequently, improves the “performance”, whether for study or work,” writes Valentina Tobia

https://betterhumans.pub/slow-paced-learning-the-most-effective-way-to-retain-90-of-what-you-learn-bc389e88a764

  • Freebies by People is a collection of freebies for designers and developers
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  • tl;dv is a Zoom recorder that lets you record, timestamp, edit and share Zoom calls
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  • Photosmash by Pixlr is a professional one-click photo studio right in your browser
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  • Bookmarker for Notion lets you save your bookmarks, straight into your Notion workspace.
    .
  • HowToo is a learning content creation tool (with a free option) worth knowing
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How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good.

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

Friday Finds — 85% Rule for Learning, Non-Traditional Learning, Smart Brevity

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s been a beautiful week around here as we head towards some R&R on Michigan’s beautiful beaches next week and a few visits to some college campuses along the way. I hope you’re getting some time for rest and relaxation wherever you are. Thanks for reading!

What I’m Listening To: Gwyn Wansbrough shared this playlist in her newsletter recently to use as intro music for online meetings and webinars. It’s good for working along with today too!

The 85% Rule for Learning

If you’re always successful, it’s hard to know what to improve. If you constantly fail, you won’t learn what works. Only when we have a mixture of success and failure can we draw a contrast between good and bad strategies. Learning, it seems, is optimized for both humans and machines when we succeed around 85% of the time.

https://medium.com/mind-cafe/the-85-rule-for-learning-53aed2e40d60

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How to Make the Case for Non-Traditional Learning Solutions

Nicole Papaioannou Lugara had a couple of great posts this week. This one has advice about pitching non-traditional learning solutions. While you’re there, be sure to check out Doubling Down on Knowledge Sharing Over Training too!

https://www.yourinstructionaldesigner.com/post/how-to-make-the-case-for-non-traditional-learning-solutions

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Smart Brevity®

You may know Axios from their news operations. They have spent years digging into data, science and consumer trends and saw most folks are: Overwhelmed, Under-informed, Frustrated and tight on time. Then they built a format to fix that. The result is Smart Brevity -clearer updates, happier readers. Something we all need more than ever!

https://www.axioshq.com/smart-brevity

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Why Filters Are Important for Knowledge Development

The expectation that we can process 100% of the material from one stage to the next is flawed. We need to adopt the mindset of filtering, not funnelling. Jeffrey Webber says, “It’s time to shift from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance; stop trying to process every idea completely out of fear of losing it.”

https://medium.com/@jeffreywebber_/why-filters-are-important-for-knowledge-development-edb89aa23fc2

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Tips L&D in 2022

Jeffrey Dalto asked learning and development experts from around the world a single, two-part question: “What is something you feel people in L&D might sometimes be able
to improve on, and what tip(s) can you offer to assist with that improvement?” This is all 40 of their answers. Don’t miss it!

https://hpttreasures.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/ld-tips-2022-2.pdf

  • Quicktools is a collection of online tools to design, edit, and convert your digital creations
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  • Openillux is a curated list of collections of the awesome free illustrations from around the web
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  • Auxi is billed as the “smartest PowerPoint add-in” which has some pretty cool looking AI features
    .
  • Flux Forms is a #NoCode form builder for collecting data
    .
  • Meetmonic is a way to create custom, sharable URL’s for your online meetings.

How was this week’s newsletter? Help me improve

It was valuable!  |  Meh. Just ok  |  Not so good

As always, if you’re enjoying this letter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I always love finding new things to read or watch.

Want more? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Looking for a previous edition? Check out the archives 

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