the head first formula

I’ve been a Head First fan since the very first book in the series came out (from O’Reilly Media). For me, the ideas behind Head First learning books are right on, whether you apply them to books or to any learning situation. The folks over at Head First Labs have posted a new page that lists the simple yet brilliant principles that make up the Head First Formula. This is a keeper, for sure.

Check out the page for the details, it’s a great read. (If you’ve ever opened up a Head First book, you’ll recognize it as the introductory part that explains the book’s approach to the reader.) In short, the goal is to get your brain’s attention. How? Use pictures, people, redundancy, activities, multiple learning styles, stories, challenges, questions, to list just a few.

The Head First Formula page also lists some excellent learning tips, practical stuff like drinking water and not trying to absorb too much new material at one time.

I especially like the brain drawing at the top of their page. It’s message could be my mantra:

I learn, therefore I am. : -)

Manfred Spitzer: keep your kids away from the TV and computer

An interview with Manfred Spitzer appeared in the June 23, 2006 issue of Weltwoche. Spitzer is adamantly against TVs, in particular where your kids and your kids ability to learn are concerned.

Spitzer bases his position on neuroscience research (his fields include psychiatry, medicine, philosophy, and mathematics), citing study after study to back up his points. For example, he cites a long term study in New Zealand that followed over a thousand subjects for thirty years from the time they were babies. The results, corrected for socio-economic level and IQ, show that those who spent more time in front of the TV did not achieve the same academic levels as those with less TV time.

Spitzer states that children need to develop their neural pathways with real, 3 dimensional experiences, whereas TV and computers give only a 2 dimensional image of their environment. In addition, he points to studies that show that our brains are most active when we are dealing with people. So whether or not we are in front of a computer, working with someone else to solve a problem (in a fun way) improves our learning effectiveness much more than trying to work out an assignment on our own.

In the end, his message is clear: toss the TV!

via Der Newsletter E-Learning des Learning Center der Universität St. Gallen

Great dose of Hans Rosling and Manfred Spitzer

Today is my day off. And so far it is proving to be just as inspirational as you would expect the best of Saturdays to be.

If you’re not familiar with cogdogblog I highly recommend it. Alan Levine’s post on the TedTalks includes an embedded video of Hans Rosling talking about world development and statistics and making data available and understandable to the public. To say he was “talking” doesn’t do him justice – he gives an engaging performance, the kind that makes you wish you were a student in his class. Just watch the video and enjoy (seeing him is better, but if audio is your only option do listen).

Another morning diversion was reading an interview with Manfred Spitzer, a cognitive neuroscientist, psychiatrist, professor, plus a dozen other titles, who is adamant about keeping kids and youth away from TVs and computers. As the founder of the Ulm Transfer Center for Neuroscience and Learning and prolific author on the subject, he talks about learning with a passion.

A couple of points he makes definitely make sense to me (aside from the throw-away-your-TV one). For example, the best teachers are the ones that are enthusiastic learners themselves and passionate about what they teach.

Another fascinating fact is about how we learn best. He says that results of studies when they measure brain activity as we are working shows that our brains are most active when we are dealing with people. So doing an assignment all alone is not nearly as effective as when we are working together with other people to come up with a solution to a problem in a fun way. He says that this explains the superior results of Japanese kids versus American kids in a comparison of success with learning fractions, in spite of the fact that the Japanese class were bigger (37 versus 25 students).

And another connection happens: what Spitzer says coincides with Jay Cross‘ view that at work, we learn 80% of what we need to know on the job informally, in conversation with our colleagues. Not that we needed a brain scanner experiment to prove that…