Things I Learned This Week – #32

Offline this week I learned that games-based learning is the future for my son, Ben (he loves Big Brain Academy on the Wii!), that nothing beats a whiteboard and coloured pens for mindmaps, and that there are, apparently, spouse-imposed laws about what you can and can’t do in en-suites between certain hours of the day… :-p

http://delicious.com/dajbelshaw/TILTW32

Tech.

• I’ve been fascinated during this mobile and wireless technologies review I’m doing just how much the social and behavioural aspects of technology affect adoption. I found 10 Rules of Tech-etiquette, therefore, equally fascinating!
• Adobe’s awesome kuler web app has already been mentioned in a previous TILTW, but I got the heads-up this week on Mondrianum, a (free) Mac OSX app that taps into the power of kuler on your desktop.
• Skobbler is a free app for iPhone/Android that provides sat-nav functionality via OpenStreetMap. Uniquely, it relies upon wiki-like editing for users to make it more effective! 😀
• Google’s got a cheat sheet for search. Handiness!
• So GeekDad’s worrying about the future of the human race because of Twitter addiction. I’m afraid that’s a personal habit problem, not a technology problem…

Productivity & Inspiration

• At its essence, a lot of productivity has to do with capacity. Which is why the Life Optimizer post on 8 Tips to Expand Your Personal Capacity is so handy.
• Another cornerstone of productivity is staying organized. Which is why these 8 tips are useful! (the last tip is really important…)
• I tweeted yesterday morning my disappointment at how slow I ran my usual 3-mile route. I was rallied by several people using the #temt hashtag which, upon further investigation, turned out to be the Twitter Exercise Motivation Team. What a great idea! 🙂
• Here’s a conversation not to miss between Daniel Pink and Clay Shirky about best use of spare time.
• Had to deal with some stinging criticism recently? Here’s how to deal with it better next time.

Education & Academic

• Merlin John wrote up Google Teacher Academy UK, featuring some quotations from me. I’ve learned to always include a picture along with any corrections to quoted transcripts… 😮
• Want to create an e-book? Try the Anthologize WordPress plugin. Easy! 🙂
• OAIster allows you to search across libraries worldwide. It’s strapline is ‘find the pearls’ which, despite its spartan interface, it certainly delivers upon!
• Bill Gates reckons the future of education is online. It’s crunch time for universities, that’s for sure…
• ‘Best blog post title’ this week has got to go to Mark Allen for How do we teach lemmings to fly? The content – about enthusing those scared of using technology – isn’t half bad either!

Data, Design & Infographics

• I don’t usually believe in this stuff, but I had a dream this week that I had a migraine and then had one that very next morning. Anyway, here’s an infographic on what your dreams mean:

• Infographic videos are the future of online learning. Take this one, for instance. A really concise and well-thought-out explanation of how a diet soda (with 0 calories) can still cause weight gain:

• This infographic about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs made me laugh! (click through for full version)

• Everyone seems to (still) be raving about Flipboard for the iPad. If swissmiss recommends it, then it must be good!
• Timelines of Back To The Future I, II and III, you say? All mashed up together? Yes please! (click through for full version)

Misc.

• The Oxford English Dictionary apparently rejects doesn’t choose for inclusion a whole host of words in each iteration. Some of my favourites? ‘Dringle’ (the mark left by a glass of water) and ‘nonversation’ (a pointless chat).
• Wikipedia is a goldmine. Not only for academic stuff but for deadpan, literal explanations of hip-hop classics.
• Here’s how to be the perfect host, 21st century-style.
• Painfully bored? Try cows & cows & cows. It will at least make you smile!

• This indexed graphic made me chuckle:

Quotations

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. (William James)

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now. (Alan Lakein)

We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all. (The Breakfast Club)

In response to those who say to stop dreaming and face reality, I say keep dreaming and make reality. (Kristian Kan)

Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother. (Moorish Proverb)

Main image CC BY-NC-SA Stéfan