Mission to Learn – Lifelong Learning Blog: Recent Episodes
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Health and learning are closely intertwined. As the saying goes, a healthy body means a healthy mind. But what does the empirical evidence have to say? In recent years, new research has come out on …
Health and Learning: What the Science Says Continue Reading »
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post Health and Learning: What the Science Says appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Tackling controversial topics can be daunting, with biased information and conflicting viewpoints making it challenging to discern the truth. Here we’ll survey strategies inspired by policy wonks skilled in familiarizing themselves with controversial subjects on …
Navigating Controversial Topics: How Policy Wonks Do It Continue Reading »
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post Navigating Controversial Topics: How Policy Wonks Do It appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
It’s easy, particularly for those of us who identify as lifelong learners, to assume that we will gravitate toward learning, that we will welcome learning opportunities as they come our way. But we should question …
Are you truly available to learn? Continue Reading »
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post Are you truly available to learn? appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Mental clarity is a crucial component of our daily lives. Our brains are constantly processing information and performing complex tasks, making it the most energy-intensive organ in our bodies. For lifelong learners, brain health can …
Top Nutrition Habits to Boost Learning Continue Reading »
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post Top Nutrition Habits to Boost Learning appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Staying up-to-date on the latest stories is essential. But with endless platforms competing for your attention, it can be challenging to keep track of everything. This is where news aggregators come in. These websites and …
6 Best News Aggregators for Staying Informed Continue Reading »
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 6 Best News Aggregators for Staying Informed appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
When you search for online courses on any topic, Udemy often features at the top of the results. That’s not a surprise because it is among the largest and oldest online course marketplaces for students and professionals to learn new skills.
But your search for knowledge shouldn’t stop at Udemy.
Several alternatives to Udemy offer superior courses in specialized fields, allowing you to take the next step in your mission to learn.
So, in this article, we’ll share some of our favorite Udemy alternatives where you can find the highest quality online courses taught by experts from around the world.
Let’s dive in.
This article is for people who want to take online courses. Interested in creating online course on Udemy? See this article on Udemy alternatives to sell online courses.
Quick Verdict Let me quickly share my top Udemy alternatives before diving deeper.
Skillshare – Best overall Udemy alternative
CreativeLive – Best for live creative courses
Coursera – Best Udemy alternative for degree programs
DataCamp – Best for AI and machine learning courses
HubSpot Academy – Best for online marketing courses.
How did we reach this conclusion? I’ll explain that in the rest of the article and share several other excellent Udemy alternatives worth trying.
What Is Udemy?With over 210K online courses taught by 70K+ instructors in 75 languages to more than 60 million students worldwide, Udemy is the largest and most active online course marketplace.
No matter what you want to learn, you’ll find a course about it on Udemy, as it lists thousands of video courses in categories like programming, design, business, marketing, psychology, personal development, creative art, and productivity.
Besides offering an unlimited range of online courses, Udemy’s other major strength is its affordability. Most courses on the platform are priced between $13 to $50. However, there are some higher-priced programs as well.
Udemy courses aren’t degree programs to turn you into experts. Instead, they are training programs on very specific topics allowing you to quickly acquire the skills you need to progress in your career or achieve a learning goal.
For example, here’s a photography course tailored for real estate marketers with over 17 hours of video lectures.
So, if you’re new to online education or want to explore the fundamentals of a subject, Udemy is an excellent platform to start your eLearning journey.
Why Should Students Look For Udemy Alternatives?Udemy is hugely popular among online learners and gets over 100 million monthly visitors. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. If I could sum up Udemy’s weaknesses in one word, it would be “inconsistent”.
Here are some reasons to look for Udemy alternatives as your knowledge and experience grow in a particular subject.
Content QualityUdemy has pretty loose instructor recruitment criteria, allowing almost anyone to create and sell online courses as long as they meet the platform’s minimum requirements. As a result, Udemy courses lack consistency in content quality. For example, some Udemy courses are world-class, like Seth Godin’s freelancer course.
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But there are numerous low-quality courses that offer little practical value.
Learning ExperienceUdemy offers standalone courses helpful in getting a mid-level understanding of a topic. But it doesn’t provide learning tracks, like many of its alternatives, that help you achieve bigger learning goals and specialize in your desired skills.
Credibility And AcceptanceUdemy courses are not accredited by any university or professional/academic institution. So, they’re great for learning new skills but might not add too much weight to your professional profile.
CostUdemy courses are cheap. But the costs can quickly add up if you buy multiple courses or regularly enroll in new programs. In comparison, many Udemy alternatives charge a flat monthly subscription fee allowing you to access as many courses as you want.
The Best Udemy Alternatives For Learning New Skills OnlineLet’s now discuss the alternatives to Udemy you can use to enroll in online courses and degree programs.
These aren’t identical Udemy alternatives. But all of them enable you to learn new skills and acquire knowledge through e-learning, which is Udemy’s core offer as well.
Udemy Alternative #1: CourseraIf you want to enroll in online degree programs from Arizona State University, the University Of Oxford, the University Of Illinois, and many other world-class academic institutions, Coursera is an ideal platform.
It offers over 5000 free and paid online courses by Google, IBM, Salesforce, and Meta, along with complete certification and degree programs from some of the world’s top universities.
Unlike Udemy, Coursera allows you to specialize in programming, business management, project management, supply chain, artificial intelligence (AI), psychology, marketing, and numerous other fields.
It offers complete learning tracks designed to help beginners start from scratch and become subject matter experts.
If you only want to acquire skills, you can enroll in most Coursera programs for free. However, you must pay a fee for a course completion certificate or degree. What’s more, it even offers financial assistance for specific programs if you can’t afford the tuition fee.
Udemy Alternative #2: CreativeLiveCreativeLive is a dedicated online learning platform for creative professionals and artists. It contains 2000+ recorded video courses by more than 700 renowned experts like Tim Ferris, Richard Branson, and Daymond John on subjects like photography, music, creative design, productivity, videography, money & finance, and many more.
CreativeLive’s course content is not only superior to Udemy because it is taught by real-world experts but also because of its high production quality. CreativeLive shoots its video courses in-house and creates professional content comparable to Netflix documentaries.
Here’s a quick preview of a CreativeLive course to give you an idea of what I’m saying.
CreativeLive uses a subscription pricing model where you can access its course library for as low as $12.45/month. But you can watch any course for free when it’s broadcast live on the platform.
In short, if you’re a creative professional looking to enhance your skills or a hobbyist wanting to learn from the best in the business, CreativeLive is the perfect platform.
Udemy Alternative #3: MindvalleyMindvalley is one of my favorite online learning platforms because of its unique content. Unlike most other eLearning companies, Mindvalley focuses mainly on mental health, personal well-being, confidence, and spirituality.
Mindvalley calls its courses “Quests,” designed to deliver lessons in small, manageable chunks over a specified period. It helps students form habits and allows them to apply the learnings in their daily lives.
It offers HD video courses carefully designed by some of the world’s best educators, therapists, meditation experts, and consultants. Mindvalley uses group learning in its live courses allowing the students to build relationships, share ideas, and grow together.
But you can also access lecture recordings and on-demand content from 100+ Mindvalley programs by subscribing for $24.9/month.
Udemy Alternative #4: SkillshareSkillshare is probably the closest Udemy alternative for students looking to enhance their skills by taking specific online courses. However, you can consider it a significantly upgraded version of Udemy because the quality of Skillshare’s courses is considerably higher.
Still, it’s among the top online learning marketplaces where you can find courses on coding, productivity, design, architecture, communication, business, marketing, and many other subjects.
Skillshare’s content guidelines are pretty well-defined. So, most of the courses on the platform have excellent production and content quality.
But, Skillshare has an “Originals” series it produces in-house with thought leaders and exceptionally talented creators, which has even better quality.
Apart from standalone courses, Skillshare offers detailed learning tracks allowing you to plan your learning goals and become certified experts in your chosen fields.
And the best part? Skillshare has an affordable annual subscription plan starting from just $24/year. Considering the thousands of high-quality courses on Skillshare, from coding to design, this subscription fee is a steal.
Udemy Alternative #5: LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda)LinkedIn Learning is another excellent Udemy alternative because of the thousands of courses it offers in dozens of different categories, including technology, productivity, management, marketing, eCommerce, digital marketing, and business communication.
LinkedIn Learning, previously Lynda.com, stands out for its high-quality video courses by experts and seasoned professionals in different subjects.
You can access its course library for a monthly subscription or purchase individual courses for a one-time fee, depending on your learning needs.
Since it is connected to your LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn Learning gives you tailored online course recommendations depending on your qualifications and the skills you need to level up your career.
LinkedIn Learning is worth checking out if you’re looking for solid corporate online courses taught by proven experts.
Udemy Alternative #6: DomestikaIf you’re a creative soul and want to polish your skills by learning from the world’s best artists, musicians, photographers, illustrators, and designers, you’ll fall in love with Domestika.
It started in 2011 as a creative online learning platform for the Spanish audience. But over the years, it has evolved into a global eLearning platform with over 10,000 HD video courses in English and Spanish by renowned artists and creative professionals.
Domestika stands out for its content’s production quality and unique course topics. You’ll find brilliant courses about sketching, matte painting, animal photography, visual perception, and numerous other topics by people who’ve been practicing their art for decades.
You can access Domestika’s content in two ways:
- Pay per course (anywhere between $9 to $99)
- Become a member ($6.99/month)
So, if you’re looking for creative online courses, Domestika might be a better option than Udemy.
Udemy Alternative #7: Hubspot AcademyIf you’re an online marketer or want to learn the fundamentals of inbound marketing, HubSpot Academy is the first place you should go.
It contains over 1000 HD video courses by expert content marketers, email marketers, social media strategists, and entrepreneurs to equip you with the skills to grow a business with online marketing.
HubSpot Academy has two course categories – short courses and certification courses.
The certification courses consist of multiple modules, including tests and quizzes, and grant you a completion certificate when you pass the final assessment. These certificates are widely recognized in the online marketing industry and add credibility to your professional profile.
In addition, all certification courses are regularly updated, which is why the certified students must renew their qualifications every year.
Apart from digital marketing courses, HubSpot Academy also offers creative writing, storytelling, customer experience, customer service, and lead generation.
Udemy Alternative #8: Semrush AcademyIf you want to learn Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and digital marketing from the best in the business, Semrush Academy is the perfect place for you.
Semrush is the world’s leading market research, search analysis, and competitor insights tool that recently acquired Backlinko, a leading SEO publication, to revive its online education content.
In partnership with Brian Dean, Backlinko’s founder, Semrush Academy now offers 50+ world-class HD video courses on on-page, off-page, and technical SEO, content marketing strategy, email marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing, brand strategy, online reputation management, and various other digital marketing topics.
The courses on Semrush Academy are taught by marketers at the forefront of everything happening in the SEO industry. This not only makes these courses valuable but ensures that you get to hear the most effective SEO and digital marketing strategies directly from the experts.
Udemy Alternative #9: Shopify LearnThere’s no bigger eCommerce platform than Shopify.
And this makes Shopify Learn a fantastic place for anyone looking to understand the fundamentals of eCommerce, start an online store, and venture into different eCommerce business models like dropshipping and private labeling.
It contains dozens of short and modular courses taught by hugely successful eCommerce marketers, influencers, and entrepreneurs.
For example, the Facebook advertising course on Shopify Learn is taught by Ezra Firestone, a well-known marketer running multiple seven-figure online stores.
All Shopify Learn courses are free, and you only need to create a Shopify account to access them. These courses contain much more valuable, credible, and actionable information about eCommerce and online marketing than most courses on Udemy.
So, if you want to learn eCommerce marketing from scratch, enroll now.
Udemy Alternative #10: CodecademyCodecademy makes coding, programming, and tech education accessible and understandable for beginners and people looking to switch careers.
It contains hundreds of free and premium courses covering every aspect of computer programming and all skill levels. You can find courses on Python, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, SQL, and many other languages and frameworks.
Codecademy not only provides you with learning resources but also guides you toward your ideal career path in tech. If you’re unsure where to start, take Codecademy’s quiz to get tailored recommendations according to your interest and qualification.
While many fundamental programming courses are free on Codecademy, you’ll need to subscribe to a premium plan (starting from $13.99/month) to access the more advanced courses and learning tracks.
Udemy Alternative #11: DataCampDataCamp is a dedicated platform for online courses on AI, machine learning, and everything related to data sciences. With more than 11 million students worldwide, Datacamp is the perfect place for anyone looking to enhance skills and build expertise in Python, SQL, ChatGPT, and anything related to data engineering.
Instead of offering standalone courses, DataCamp has learning tracks designed to help students build specific skill sets or prepare for different career positions. So even if you’ve no clue about data sciences, you can choose the beginner learning track and start from the fundamentals of data sciences all the way to its advanced modules.
Considering we live in the AI age, the skills you get from DataCamp can place you among the top 10% of professionals with the relevant data skills organizations look for worldwide.
The best part? You can access everything DataCamp offers for just $9.11/month.
Udemy Alternative #12: edXedX was founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012 to make modern skills and knowledge accessible to everyone. So, you can be sure about the quality of their content and online courses.
Currently, edX offers over 4000 courses, certifications, and degree programs in various disciplines by the world’s top universities, corporations, and academic institutions.
edX has hundreds of free courses along with premium certifications and degree programs for a certain fee.
If you want to enhance your skills and qualifications in management, marketing, coding, architecture, design, or any other professional field, edX is worth checking out.
Udemy Alternative #13: FutureLearnFutureLearn is another online platform where you can purchase online courses, follow learning tracks, get micro-credentials, or enroll in complete degree programs from some of the world’s most reputable academic institutions.
All courses are taught by professionals and university professors, meaning the content quality is always top-notch.
FutureLearn differs from other online learning platforms because it focuses on group learning. So whether you sign up for a short course or a micro-credential, you’ll have several coursemates and a community group to interact with your peers and share ideas.
You can access FutureLearn for a monthly subscription fee or by purchasing standalone courses or learning programs.
Udemy Alternative #14: Great LearningGreat Learning offers online courses and degree programs in AI, machine learning, coding, design, product development, and management by the world’s leading universities.
Think of it as edX for tech education.
However, Great Learning’s main strength is professional online degree programs spread over 6 months to 2 years in various universities.
These programs are conducted live in a classroom environment with groups of students. They also include regular class assignments, projects, quizzes, and assessments.
Great Learning also has an online course library containing several hundred free online courses. But they’re not as comprehensive as some other options on this list.
Udemy Alternative #15: UdacityUdacity is among the top online learning platforms for tech skills. It offers on-demand courses, nano degree programs, and full-length learning tracks to help you acquire and enhance your skills in digital marketing, AI, cybersecurity, product design, product management, and other tech-related topics.
Udacity was founded by former Google executive Sebastian Thrun. The platform stands out for its latest and frequently updated courses taught by some of the brightest minds in the tech industry.
Most of its courses are designed in-house with specific learning goals for students. So, it’s not as affordable as some of the other options on this list.
However, it does offer different discounts and scholarships for students and professionals meeting their criteria.
Udemy Alternative #16: Google Digital GarageGoogle is synonymous with innovation and is leading the charge everywhere, from AI, online search, advertising, and numerous other areas.
So, what better place to learn new skills than Google’s own academy?
At Google Digital Garage, you can start as a total newbie by learning the fundamentals of online marketing, eCommerce, SEO, and coding. Its courses are intentionally designed for beginners using simple terminologies, low-complexity examples, and a limited learning scope.
It will help you prepare for more advanced courses, and learning tracks that some of the other platforms in this list offer.
Udemy Alternative #17: MasterclassImagine learning how to cook under Gordon Ramsey’s wings or environmental conservation directly from Dr. Jane Goodall.
Masterclass makes this possible by helping you learn from over 180 globally renowned experts in diverse fields like cooking, social sciences, personal branding, media, arts, sports, and wellness.
Shot in-house in the highest production quality, Masterclass courses are bite-sized lessons that deliver specific knowledge directly from the world’s best.
Considering the value Masterclass offers, its monthly subscription fee of $15/month is almost too good to be true.
What Udemy Alternatives Will You Try?Udemy’s biggest strength is that it’s an open marketplace where you can learn from anyone for a small fee. However, that’s also its biggest weakness. This is why almost all the Udemy alternatives we’ve discussed focus on specific fields instead of mastering all subjects. Still, Udemy is a valuable platform for anyone just beginning their online learning journey. But once you know your direction, use one of these alternatives to specialize in your field and become a real expert.
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 17 Udemy Alternatives To Learn New Skills With Online Courses appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
The buzz around ChatGPT has become nearly deafening and, depending on which parts of it you tune into, it’s possible to believe artificial intelligence is on the verge of taking humanity to new heights – or exactly the opposite.
The reality is that the level of learning machines are now able to achieve – and the “intelligence” that learning produces – is going to require a lot more learning by human beings if we want to successfully navigate the uncertainties of an AI-driven future.
Fortunately, AI itself can help turbo charge human learning and ChatGPT is one of the best tools it has offered so far for the average human. So, in this article, we’ll take a look at what ChatGPT is and – with the help of ChatGPT itself – consider some ways it can support lifelong learning.
What is ChatGPT?Let’s start with a look at what ChatGPT is and what it’s not.
Some describe it as artificial intelligence, others as a chatbot. When asked to describe itself, ChatGPT replied that it was “a large language model” that’s been “trained on a vast amount of data using deep learning techniques to understand and generate human-like language.”
But what does this mean?
Without diving too deeply into contemporary computer science, the short answer is that ChatGPT is a set of algorithms, designed by the tech company OpenAI, that analyze a large body of information. Currently, this includes everything on the internet prior to September 2021, or roughly 45 terrabytes.
By doing this, the program assembles a vast trove of information and teaches itself how to generate human-like responses to prompts it is fed. (The “G” in GPT stands for “generative.”) This is possible through a process computer scientists call machine learning , a specific kind of program that continually trains itself on new data, including the kinds of questions it receives from users. In combination with natural languge processing (NLP), machine learning can produce outputs that feel like a response from a human being.
For the average user, this means you can type in questions or ask ChatGPT to perform a specific task – like research or even writing computer code – and the program the program will respond. If the response is not quite you were looking for, you can continue to ask questions or give directions and the program will refine and update its response.
Because most users do, in fact, “chat” with ChatGPT, it is fair to call it a chat bot. That said, because of the sophistication of its machine learning and NLP underpinnings, it is much more intelligent than the chat bots any of us have encountered previously. That doesn’t mean it is perfect – there are significant shortcomings, and we’ll cover some of them shortly – but the benefits to anyone on a mission to learn are enormous.
The Benefits of ChatGPT for Lifelong LearningOne of the best ways to understand how ChatGPT can help lifelong learners is to consider the range of tasks and activities where it can play a role. As it turns out, generating that kind of list is exactly the sort of thing that ChatGPT can do well – and that’s exactly what I asked it to do. In the text that follows, the prompts I gave to ChatGPT are in bold, the responses are bulleted and/or in italics. Where relevant, I have hot linked text to resources on Mission to Learn.
(Note: To do this, I actually used the chat function of Jasper.ai, which is ChatGPT-based. I use Jasper because I like having a fuller set of AI tools than ChatGPT alone offers.)
Outline at least five ways in which ChatGPT could be used as a tool for lifelong learning
- It can be used to quickly research topics with accurate and up-to-date information, allowing users to explore various subjects in more depth.
- It can provide guidance and feedback on user projects, allowing them to refine and improve their work.
- It can be used as a language learning tool, allowing users to improve their communication skills by conversing with an AI in the language they are practicing.
- It can act as a study partner, helping users to build better understanding of the material they are learning through interactive dialogue.
- It can help users develop their problem solving abilities by posing challenging questions that require creative solutions.
What are five additional ways ChatGPT might be used for lifelong learning?
- It can be used to facilitate collaboration and discussion with others who are studying similar topics.
- It can provide users with tailored content and recommendations based on their interests and level of knowledge.
- It can provide personalized career guidance to help users identify potential job opportunities and develop their professional skills.
- It can be used as a virtual tutor, allowing users to ask for guidance on difficult concepts and receive prompt feedback.
- It can act as an accountability partner by setting reminders, providing encouragement, and tracking progress towards educational goals.
Are there any other ways that ChatGPT could be used for lifelong learning?
- It can be used to simulate scenarios in order to prepare for real life situations, such as job interviews and public speaking engagements.
- It can be used to monitor user performance and track progress over time.
- It can act as a sounding board for eliciting feedback from peers and mentors on various topics related to personal development and education.
- It can provide users with self-assessment tools to help them identify areas of strength and weaknesses in their knowledge base.
- It can suggest new resources, books, podcasts, articles, etc., that might be helpful in the learning process.
Is that all? Surely there must be other ways that ChatGPT could be useful for lifelong learning. What are some other ways?
- It can be used to customize study plans and strategies based on individual learning goals and preferences.
- It can be used to generate personalized flashcard sets for review and memorization of key concepts.
- It can offer study games or interactive challenges to practice application of knowledge and reinforce comprehension.
- It can provide personalized resources, such as videos and podcasts, tailored to the user’s level of understanding.
- It can suggest tracks or courses of study intended to supplement current studies with additional materials related to the topic.
Thanks. In summary, what is it that makes ChatGPT such a powerful tool for lifelong learning?
ChatGPT is a powerful tool for lifelong learning due to its ability to customize study plans, generate personalized flashcards, offer interactive challenges and review games, provide tailored resources and suggest tracks or courses of study. The AI models behind ChatGPT also allow users to practice scenarios in order to prepare for real life situations, monitor user performance, identify areas of strength and weaknesses in their knowledge base, get feedback from peers and mentors on various topics, and find new resources that can be helpful in the learning process.
Of course, like most humans, ChatGPT is thinking in terms of traditional education and training in many of the responses above when most of the power of GPT is likely to be felt in much less formal activities that support learning in the flow of life and work – with search being the main one. (Which is why Microsoft moved very rapidly to incorporate GPT into Bing.)
Even so, the responses make it clear that ChatGPT can be a very powerful tool for the average lifelong learner. So, what are the downsides?
I actually used Jasper Chat – based on ChatGPT – to generate the responses above. Try it for free.The Downsides of ChatGPTAs powerful as it is, there are still quite a few downsides to ChatGPT. We’ll just cover some of the big ones here.
It doesn’t really know the truth
First, as Ezra Klein and Gary Marcus discuss in this recommended episode of the Ezra Klein show, GPT can’t really determine the truth of content.
More than that, ChatGPT and other forms of AI are prone to “hallucinations” – basically, giving confident but false responses that are not justified by the data it has been trained on. So, you pretty much have to use good critical thinking skills and double check the validity of the output you get when using ChatGPT – and there is no guarantee that the average user will do this.
It could perpetuate biases
Because ChatGPT cannot always determine what is true, because it was created by human beings who inevitably introduce their own biases, and because it is used by human beings who consciously or unconsciously bring their biases to it, ChatGPT is capable of creating highly biased content at scale. Again, critical thinking is, well, critical when using ChatGPT.
It could be used to spread misinformation
While clearly related to the first two items, this one deserves to be called out on its own just given how pervasive misinformation has become in recent years. ChatGPT is a powerful content production engine, and in the wrong hands, can easily be used to generate and disseminate a high volume of content specifically intended to mislead people. The situation has supposedly gotten better with the release of GPT-4, which is less likely to respond to prompts for negative content or provide non-factual responses, but it remains a significant concern.
It may increase social divides
Currently, there is a free version of ChatGPT, but OpenAI has already introduced a paid version that offers more benefits to those who can afford it. Like so many technologies, ChatGPT and other forms of AI are likely to create outsized benefits for those who are in the privileged position of receiving high quality training and getting access to the latest and best applications.
It could negatively disrupt traditional education
While it’s clear (at least to me) that ChatGPT could be a powerful tool for learning, that’s not the same thing as saying it will be positive for traditional education. (After all, learning and education are not the same.)
Don’t get me wrong – it could be, and it’s exciting to see what companies like Khan Academy and Duolingo are starting to do with the technology. But AI seems almost certain to lead to job losses for traditional tutors, coaches, TAs, and most likely even for lead instructors over time. It will change the dynamic of formal education across all sectors – K-12, higher ed, and adult continuing education and professional development. While that’s bound to produce some positive changes, it’s far from clear whether the overall shift will be for the better.
Making the Most of ChatGPTSo, where does that leave us?
Clearly, ChatGPT and other forms of AI are here to stay, and we’ll be dealing with their impact for years to come. For lifelong learners – and, of course, you know I think that should be everyone – I’d argue there is no time to waste in getting familiar with what ChatGPT can do and starting to think about both the short and long-term implications.
Certainly, as a tool to support your learning efforts, the potential for ChatGPT is huge. We need to learn about it, and we need to learn to learn with it.
Whether you use Open AI’s ChatGPT interface or access it through other tools like Jasper.ai, I strongly encourage you to roll up your sleeves and start experimenting as soon as possible. Pick a handful of the uses for lifelong learning that ChatGPT outlined above and start trying them out as part of your own lifelong learning efforts.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post ChatGPT and Lifelong Learning appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
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Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 5 Must-Know Public Access Learning Sites appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
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Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post Ready to jump the curve on your lifelong learning journey? appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
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Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 7 Reasons to Memorize Some Poetry appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
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Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post Is TikTok Education? How the Popular App is Supporting Lifelong Learning appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
These days, many of us operate in parallel with a digital “self.” Be it through avatars, productivity apps, fitness trackers, entertainment systems, or other gadgetry, we each maintain our own little digital microcosm. It should come as no surprise, then, that many of us can get tripped up with so many platforms and devices. In […]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post How to Declutter Your Digital Life appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
I suspect that note-taking – the simple act of writing down and elaborating upon key points from what we experience – is one of the most under-appreciated and under-utilized practices of effective lifelong learning. I don’t have hard research to support this suspicion, but I know that I have looked around the room many times […]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post Note-taking for Lifelong Learning appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Not only is the importance of play for adults often unappreciated, the act of playing often gets a bad rap. Either it’s the stuff of childhood: an activity seen as infantile, meaningless, or even a distraction. Or, it’s compartmentalized as a part of our work-life balance: a routine insuring us against burnout or monotony. And […]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post The Importance of Play for Adults appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
While “Gedankenexperiment” (literally “thought experiment”) was a term initially coined by the 19th century Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted, many claim that the common mental technique can be traced all the way back to Galileo and before that the ancient Greeks. But what explains this long and storied history? Why have thought experiments […]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 3 Famous Thought Experiments, or The Art of Counterfactuals appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Whether for a holiday or a birthday, most of us have to come up with gifts to give at multiple times throughout the year. As you might guess, my bias is to give gifts with some educational value to them. While there are plenty of options out there for kids, you may find that coming […]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 10+ Educational Gift Ideas for the Lifelong Learners in Your Life appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Often one of the main barriers to solving a problem is an inability to see the problem in a way that is likely to spark solutions. A source I return to again and again to help me with creative problem solving is James Adams’ Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas. Here are six blocks […]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post For creative problem solving, bust these 6 perceptual blocks appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Many of us know someone who journals. Maybe we pride ourselves on our own journaling habits. And I’ll bet if you read enough biographies, you’ll find everyone from artists to scientists to executives who prioritize this simple practice. But why? One reason might be that journaling provides a crucial tool for learning. It might also […]
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post How to Journal – and Journaling Ideas – for Learning and Health appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
If you are a dedicated lifelong learner, then not being able to remember things – particularly things you’ve put a lot of effort into learning – can be really frustrating. So often, though, the issue is not that we have a bad memory; it’s that we don’t really know how to remember effectively.
So, how can you improve your ability to remember?
While there are plenty of tips and tricks out there to help you improve your memory, one of the most time-tested – one that every lifelong learner should have in their toolbox – is the method of loci.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at what the method of loci is and how to use it as a lifelong learner.
What is the Method of Loci? Also called a memory palace or mind palace, the method of loci technique is often traced to the fictional brilliance of Sherlock Holmes and his ability to recall a superhuman amount of information. In reality, however, the true origin story of this memory technique is far older.
Dating back almost 2,500 years to around 477 B.C., the method of loci is said to have come from Simonides, a poet of ancient Greece. Legend has it, Simonides watched the roof of a building cave in and crush everyone inside, leaving him as the only one left to remember all the different people who had died. While a tragic event, the experience is said to have inspired the poet to devise a new spatial visualization technique called the method of loci.
Today, this technique is recognized as one of the most effective and powerful ways to strengthen memory. It’s been used by world record breakers reciting tens of thousands of digits of pi and even a champion chess player playing 47 opponents at once while blindfolded.
So how does the method of loci work? And what specific value does it hold for lifelong learners?
How the Method of Loci Works The reason this particular memorization trick works so well can be found in its name. “Loci” is the plural of locus, which is just fancy Latin for “a particular position, point, or place” (Oxford Dictionary via Google). It was to do with pairing bite-size pieces of information to a set of locations within a physical space you visualize in your head.
To get a bit more technical, researchers at the University of Westminster, London were able to break down the psychology behind the method: “By converting textual and numerical information into visual, experiential, and spatial information, we can learn, retain, and use that information faster than through other methods, including rote memorization, and pure drilling.” In other words, when we build mental associations with visual and spatial cues, our ability to remember and organize complex information increases exponentially.
Needless to say, this kind of memorization technique can become an extraordinary tool when put into the hands of a lifelong learner.
The Method of Loci and Lifelong Learners Anyone hopping between many topics of interest will find that being better able to remember what you hear or see brings myriad rewards.
Far beyond merely developing the ability to “store more data,” using a method of loci paves the way to more integrative learning, where knowledge is assembled and recombined to build new mental connections and grow intellectually.
Sometimes this kind of growth takes place indirectly. According to research conducted by several cognitive psychologists, the method of loci plays a central role in developing “self-learning skills.” These skills emerge when the memorization of new information simultaneously helps learners understand and refine their personal learning habits. The natural result being that we learn to iterate on our own learning process, improving how we learn slowly but surely.
Similarly, the method of loci has been proven to strengthen knowledge about the operations of our own memory, leading to what some psychologists have termed “metacognitive sophistication.” This is again crucial for lifelong learners who hope to gain a birds-eye-view of their own learning process—what works, what doesn’t, and how to adjust accordingly.
Another benefit to consider is that the method of loci has been used to prove that strengthening our memory is accessible to everyone, even the elderly! As three Belgian developmental psychologists found back in 1992, the average elderly person could be expected to get their memory capabilities as high as the 77th percentile with simple short-term mnemonic exercises like building a memory palace. “From our results,” they wrote, “it is obvious that even in old age memory remains plastic.”
And, finally, if you’re still not convinced of the value of the method of loci technique, consider the growing body of research being done combining the mnemonic exercise with virtual reality—sometimes even to streamline workplace productivity! Just in the last few years it’s caught the attention of everyone from business professors to computer scientists to med school instructors.
So how do you start making use of the method of loci? Let’s try a simple exercise.
Building Your Memory Palace The Art of Memory has a concise how-to guide for anyone looking to take a stab at their first memory palace – again, another name for the method of loci. Below is an abridged version to jumpstart the process, but here’s the general idea according to the site’s wiki entry:
“The most common type of memory palace involves making a journey through a place you know well, like a building or town. Along that journey there are specific locations that you always visit in the same order.”
So, first things first: choose a place you feel well acquainted with. It could be your home, office space, maybe the street you live on.
Next, plan a specific route through the space. To illustrate, let’s take the example of your home. You start at the door mat, then move up to the coat hanger, then down to your shoe rack, then into the house toward the doorway in your kitchen, then the sink, then the dishwasher next to it, etc. Visualize as many items as you’ll need to memorize.
Now decide what you want to memorize. It’s easiest to try something simple, like a grocery list. Lettuce, apples, coffee, butter, bread, etc. Starting with 20 items or less is a good rule of thumb.
From here, it’s about building the associations between the items and each location. Try making it comical or eccentric—anything that will help you pair the two together. For example, visualize a head of lettuce bouncing on your floor mat like a leafy soccer ball, then imagine the coat hanger growing an apple like a tree branch, then pretend all the shoes on your shoe rack are full of coffee grounds, and on and on. You can create all sorts of fantastical imagery, so long as it’s memorable.
It’s important to remember that this last step of building the associations is where the majority of the work happens. It’s up to you to cement in your head something that connects the location to the item—and this can be done any number of ways, so don’t be afraid to get creative. Visualizing scenes that draw on emotions, senses, wordplay, and rhymes are all helpful.
Just don’t forget to practice! And don’t worry if you need to swap one location out for another or revise your list of items. You’ll always be able to “re-experience” the memory palace you’ve created through more visualizing.
P.S. — If you want to learn more about the science behind human memory and why it operates the way it does, I recommend taking a look at Memory and the Human Lifespan from Wondrium (formerly The Great Courses).
By Gabe Kaplan for Mission to Learn
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post How to Use the Method of Loci – The 2500-Year-Old Memory Hack appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
Did you know that several research studies have found a clear connection between collaborative learning and improved student performance?
On top of that, the vast majority of our learning – whether at work or in our personal lives – happens informally, outside of a classroom or course, and much of that learning is socially driven. In other words, you do some of your best and most important learning through interacting with others.
So, whether you’re trying to acquire professional skills or achieve common organizational goals, you’ll accomplish a lot more in a collaborative environment where everyone freely shares ideas. And you’ll greatly boost the amount of learning that goes on in your business and personal life if you start to think of online collaboration tools not just as productivity boosters but also as environments for learning.
With the best online collaboration tools and software, group learning has never been more accessible. You can easily share ideas and learn from a diverse group of people working within collaborative tools such as project boards, co-editing documents, calendars, timelines, and whiteboards.
In this article, I’ll share some of the most popular and feature-rich online collaboration tools that will help you learn new skills, acquire practical knowledge, and increase your productivity.
Let’s dive in.
The Best Collaboration Tools and Software | Our Top Picks Don’t have time to read the complete article? Here are my top picks for the best collaboration software.
Monday.com – The most complete online collaboration tool for combining productivity and learning.
ClickUp – The best free collaboration tool
Google Workspace – The most reliable collaboration features.
Trello – The most straightforward free collaboration tool for startups and online learners.
Confluence -The best document management tool for collaborative learning
The Best Collaboration Tools for Learning And Knowledge Sharing Let’s take a detailed look at the main features and pricing of the best collaboration software for online learning professionals.
Monday.com
Most people won’t think of a project management and productivity tool as a place for learning, but that’s just because the typical understanding of learning is too limited. Monday.com is, of course, among the best collaboration tools designed to help remote and distributed teams get things done faster. It also happens to be an ideal platform for collaborative learning where users can acquire new skills and increase their subject knowledge both through informal interactions and through more structured learning.
Monday.com is primarily a work management product with advanced project management, task designation, and corporate planning features.
But thanks to its flexibility, Monday.com can be used for all kinds of projects, including collaborative online learning.
For example, you can use its Kanban boards to create learning workflows for your team members. Each board has multiple sections, and every section has various cards.
Each card can be used for a dedicated topic where students can chat, share files, apply tags, set deadlines, and assign tasks.
Similarly, you can use multiple project views like calendar, Gantt, or list view to structure your learning and achieve group goals by scheduling tasks and projects.
And, of course, from a productivity perspective, you can use features like time tracking, daily team tasks, and instant notifications to track your team’s activities and ensure that everything gets done in time.
Monday.com also integrates with hundreds of different third-party applications to help you bring on all the critical information on one platform.
Ultimately, Monday.com facilitates collaborative learning by organizing your communication around topics and extracting actionable insights in a highlight intuitive user interface.
For these reasons and many more that I couldn’t cover, Monday.com is my number one recommendation for the best collaborative learning software.
Monday.com Pricing and Free Plan Monday.com offers a free plan along with three paid subscriptions for different business types. But since we’re primarily interested in collaborative features, even its free plan is good enough because it offers unlimited Kanban boards, 200+ templates, chat & notifications, and tons of other collaboration features.
If you’re looking for more advanced collaboration features like time tracking, Gantt and calendar views, timelines, and detailed analytics, you can go for its Standard or Pro plans that cost $10/user per month and $16/user per month, respectively.
In my opinion, though, their free plan is sufficient for most collaborative learning needs.
ClickUp
ClickUp is among the most powerful work management and online collaboration tools in the world. It’s a feature-rich product that comes with all kinds of tools to help you enhance group learning through idea sharing and collaborative work.
For example, it offers multiple task views like lists, Kanban boards, timelines, and calendars to organize tasks and collaborate with team members. In addition, its drag & drop interface is ideal for beginners and non-technical users focused on learning new skills.
Every feature in ClickUp is designed to simplify collaboration. For example, you can directly chat with your team members and tag them in tasks to quickly notify them. Similarly, you can track individual and group tasks and measure them against your common goals.
ClickUp also comes with robust document management and collaboration features very similar to Google Docs. ClickUp Docs allows you to co-edit documents with your team, brainstorm new ideas, and share feedback on shared projects.
It also allows you to tag users, import documents from other platforms, and share your docs using public or private links so that the relevant persons can access your document and share feedback when necessary.
In short, ClickUp is an all-in-one collaboration tool that helps you and your team learn new things and get things done more efficiently.
ClickUp Pricing and Free Plan ClickUp has a simple pricing model. It offers a free subscription plan that includes many valuable collaboration features like boards, charts, integrations, templates, etc.
But if you’re looking for more advanced features like time tracking, document management, automation, etc., you can sign up for their Unlimited plan for just $5/user per month.
It’s hard to think of any other product that offers so many features at such an affordable price.
Confluence
Confluence is an ideal platform for collaboration, document management, and brainstorming. Most organizations use Confluence as a knowledge base for different projects and organizational functions. It helps you create document trees with well-defined user permissions and sharing rights.
But Confluence can do a lot more.
It provides you dozens of templates for various organizational documents like marketing plans, resource planning, project plans, etc. Using these templates, you can create essential documents in collaboration with your team members.
You can add different users to a document, invite them to share feedback, mention users for assigning tasks, or comment on a document when there’s a need.
Confluence integrates with different project management tools and allows you to collaborate with your technical teams to create project-specific documentation.
It is also an equally effective platform for collaborative learning. Instructors and trainers can create Confluence documents and invite their students and learning partners to work together in different ways.
Overall, Confluence is a robust document collaboration product that helps remote teams work together more effectively.
Confluence Pricing and Free Plan Confluence offers a free plan for up to ten users with all the essential document management and collaboration features. So if you’re looking for a robust collaboration tool without spending money, Confluence’s free plan can be an excellent choice.
But if you want features such as advanced analytics, user permission management, external collaboration, and automation, you can choose from its paid plans starting from $5 per user per month.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is an all-in-one collaboration tool for professionals, corporate trainers, remote teams, and students. It is a powerful communication suite that offers everything you need to collaborate with your peers, freely exchange ideas, and extract actionable insights from your team discussions.
Microsoft Teams offers video calling, instant messaging, document sharing, and co-editing features. In addition, it seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoints, and OneDrive, and allows you to work collaboratively on different documents from a single platform.
Teachers and trainers can create a classroom environment using Microsoft Teams through screen sharing, group calls, online presentations, lectures, and interactive Q&A sessions.
You can even host interactive whiteboard sessions where you and your students can discuss topics in a highly engaging environment with features such as hand raising, together mode, and breakout rooms.
In short, Microsoft Teams is an excellent collaborative learning solution for organizations, remote teams, and educational institutions.
Microsoft Teams Pricing and Free Plan Microsoft Teams has a generous free plan that’s sufficient for the learning needs of most small businesses, startups, and online learning professionals. It allows calls of up to 60 minutes with 100 participants. You also get 10GB of cloud storage and features such as collaborative learning whiteboards, document sharing, live chat, guest participants, and numerous integration.
For more cloud storage and security features, you can upgrade to a premium plan as well.
Slack
Slack is among the world’s most popular corporate messaging applications offering numerous features to facilitate collaborative learning and teamwork.
It allows you to create a structured learning environment by creating a dedicated workspace for your students, team members, and training participants. Every workspace can have unlimited channels dedicated to different topics or learning groups.
For example, you can create a channel for brainstorming ideas where the participants share and critique new ideas. Similarly, you can create dedicated channels for beginners, intermediate, and advanced students of a class.
Channel admins have the option to keep them public or limit access to approved users only. Within a channel conversation, users can tag each other, share files, or create message threads.
Slack also offers one-to-one and group video and audio calling features that make it a complete online learning solution for all kinds of students.
Slack can be an addictive application where lengthy group conversations can go into thousands of messages. But channel admins can structure these conversations by encouraging the participants to use relevant tags with their messages.
Tags are search keywords that help you find relevant messages in long conversations. Similarly, Slack’s search features also allow you to look for messages by specific users, channels, tags, or keywords.
In short, Slack is a robust messaging and collaborative learning application ideal for remote teams and online course sellers looking to build a private learning community.
Slack Pricing and Free Plan Slack offers a free plan that’s ideal for small teams and close learning groups. It offers up to 10,000 searchable messages, 10 ap integrations, one-to-one voice and video calling, one workspace, and up to 5GB of storage.
But if you want to manage separate channels in your workspace with advanced user permissions and other collaboration features like screen sharing and group calling, consider choosing from one of Slack’s Pro or Business plans.
Conceptboard
Conceptboard is an intuitive drag & drop whiteboard application with tons of valuable collaboration features for learners, professionals, and remote teams.
It is a sleek product laser-focused on helping remote teams collaborate without losing their creativity. It offers a live collaborative whiteboard where you and your team can discuss ideas and share feedback using sticky notes, markers, text boxes, and graphic elements.
It provides you a chat interface where you can discuss ideas with your team in real-time. Conceptboard also offers robust video calling and screen sharing features for distributed teams to discuss their projects or share ideas in a collaborative learning environment.
You can import your PDF, PowerPoint, Word documents in Conceptboard for presentations or invite your team members to finalize documents before sending them for approval.
Conceptboard also integrates with Google Drive, Trello, and various others cloud storage and project management apps.
Overall, it’s an impressive product for brainstorming and idea-sharing for remote teams and online learning professionals.
Conceptboard Pricing and Free Plan Conceptboard offers a feature-rich free plan designed for individuals and small teams. It includes unlimited boards, 100 objects per board, pre-built board templates, core integrations, and several other valuable features.
For more team members and participants in your account, plus lots of advanced collaboration features, you’ll need to sign up for one of Conceptboard’s paid plans.
Asana
Asana is perhaps the most complete project management in the world right now. But it’s also an excellent online collaboration tool that facilitates group learning and helps teams achieve more together.
Asana offers all the core project management features for agile companies like boards, timelines, calendars, etc. For example, you can use boards for organizing your topics into different cards where your team members can share files, set deadlines, and use instant messaging features for collaboration.
Similarly, Asana offers project conversations, team conversations, and private messaging for users to work together on different projects.
You can assign every Asana task to different team members and add collaborators who are notified of all the updates.
Plus, Asana integrates with hundreds of business, productivity, documentation, marketing, and cloud storage apps so that you can gather all the relevant data on a single platform.
Asana Pricing and Free Plan Asana’s free plan offers all the core project management and collaboration features for small teams of up to 15 members. You also get features like time tracking, messaging, and multiple project views.
For advanced features, more users, and reporting, you can sign up for Asana’s paid plans starting from $10.99 per user per month.
Overall, Asana is a powerful project management solution that offers much more than simple collaboration features. So if you’re only looking for simple collaboration tools, Asana’s features might be a bit of an overkill for your needs.
Basecamp
Basecamp is among the most popular collaboration tools for remote teams and eLearning professionals. However, it is not a complex application full of project management features like Asana.
Instead, its primary focus is on bringing transparency to your communication and ensuring that everyone on your team is on the same page.
Basecamp is an ideal online collaboration tool for online learning professionals. Here’s how it works.
You can organize different projects on your main company dashboard. Each project has its own collaborators and team members. When you open a project, you can see its whole story, including its original objective and vision. Below the story, you can view all the responses from your team members in the form of message threads.
Then you have a document section where all the relevant documents, files, and images are stored. Plus, you get a message board where everyone on your team can directly interact with each other.
Using Basecamp, you can easily organize your learning programs into various topics and ask the relevant team members to chip in.
Thanks to Basecamp’s transparent communication threads, any ideas your team members share will stay there for everyone to see.
Basecamp Pricing and Free Trial Basecamp has a straightforward pricing model. Unlike other products on this list, it doesn’t offer multiple subscription plans based on the number of users.
Instead, it charges a flat $99/month for unlimited everything.
With this pricing structure, Basecamp isn’t ideal for small teams.
However, large teams looking specifically for collaboration features would enjoy Basecamp’s flat pricing structure.
Before you upgrade to its premium plan, you can test its features by signing up for a 30-day free trial.
Trello
Trello is another super simple collaboration tool that doesn’t overwhelm you with features but helps you and your team get things done.
It provides you multiple workspaces and kanban boards to organize your projects, collaborate with your team members, set deadlines, share files, and keep everyone in the team updated on the latest progress.
It’s an ideal collaborative platform for online learning where you can organize your discussions according to topics in different cards. Each card has its own set of users who can interact via text messaging and video calls and share files.
If you’re looking for a simple collaboration tool for any business, Trello can be an excellent choice.
Trello Pricing and Free Plan Trello has a generous free plan for up to 10 active boards at a time. But you get all the core Kanban features managing your projects and conversations. Its paid plans start from $12.5/user per month and offer additional workspaces, larger attachments, and more advanced collaboration features.
Google Workspace
Google Workspace is a collection of multiple collaboration and work management tools by Google. It offers some of the world’s best document management, cloud storage, video calling, and calendar apps under one subscription plan.
As a Google Workspace user, you get access to Google’s services such as Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Keep, Calendar, and several others.
Each of these apps comes with built-in collaboration features. For example, Google Docs offers document co-editing, sharing, user rights management, and instant messaging all under one platform.
Similarly, Meet allows you to host up to 150 video call participants in a signal session. You can use these calls for hosting large student groups or training programs with ease.
Plus, you get additional cloud storage for storing, sharing, and managing your documents.
Overall, Google Workspace is a brilliant set of tools that covers all your learning and collaboration needs.
Google Workspace Pricing and Free Trial Google Workspace offers four different team plans that all come with a 14-day free trial.
For small teams, the Business Starter plan, priced at $6/user per month, offers 30GB of storage, 100 video call participants, unlimited meeting length, a custom Google-hosted email account, and other features in 15 different Google apps.
For bigger teams, the Business Standard and Plus plans offer additional cloud storage, more video call participants, advanced analytics, and security features.
Notion
Notion is a lightweight project planning, note-taking, and collaboration app for remote teams and startups.
It offers features such as shared Wiki pages, Kanban boards, shareable notes, lists, and docs. You can use it for collaborative learning in several ways.
For example, you can use its docs and notes features to co-edit documents and brainstorm ideas. Similarly, you can seek feedback from your team members on specific project plans and documents. It gives you the option to share documents with particular team members and tag/mention them in your messages.
With Kanban boards, you can create topical cards and start dedicated threads for collaborative learning.
Overall, it’s a pretty useful project management application that’s ideal for online collaboration.
Notion Pricing and Free Plan Notion offers a free plan for individuals in which you can collaborate with up to 5 guest users. It provides unlimited pages & blocks along with several integrations and all the core collaboration features like docs, lists, etc.
However, its Team plan is specifically designed for collaboration and offers unlimited team members, workspaces, boards, and advanced permissions for $8/ user per month.
Which Is the Best Online Collaboration Tool? I’ve shared some of the most popular online collaboration tools in this article that simplify group learning, increase your productivity, and help you achieve more as a team.
But which one of these tools is right for your business? That’s for you to decide, of course.
However, based on research, here are my top picks for the best collaborative learning tools.
Monday.com – The most complete online collaboration tool for combining productivity and learning.
ClickUp – The best free collaboration tool
Google Workspace – The most reliable collaboration features.
Trello – The most straightforward free collaboration tool for startups and online learners.
Confluence -The best document management tool for collaborative learning
This doesn’t mean the other products like Asana and Basecamp are any less effective for online collaboration. On the contrary, they’re all great products, but I chose the top five based on their pricing and ease of use for group learning.
So go ahead and sign up for the free plans of all these online collaboration tools, explore their features, and choose the one that’s most suitable for your business.
Most importantly, don’t forget that collaboration is a powerful catalyst for learning. Courses, classes, and other forms of structured learning are great, but a huge amount of learning goes on in the types online collaboration tools covered here. It’s definitely worth a mindset adjustment to help capitalize on that fact.
Let me know if you have any questions.
I’d love to respond in the comments section.
By Jawad Khan for Mission to Learn
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 11 Best Online Collaboration Tools for Productivity and Learning appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
In an age of YouTube channels, Instagram feeds, podcasts, and livestreams, it’s easy to overlook the benefits of reading or make the time to read more.
But it turns out that devoting significant time to reading can have radical impacts on your physiology, mental health, intelligence, and social skills. What’s more, reading also promises big returns on your ability to navigate uncertainty and strategize in the face of hardship, making it one of the principal pieces of advice from top-ranking entrepreneurs.
In general, the more you read, the more you know. Really, reading – including reading more books – should be one of the top activities of any serious lifelong learner.
So, in this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the benefits of reading, how to read more, and reading strategies for doing it better. Below you’ll find what leading research is saying about e-readers, stress reduction, home libraries, emotional intelligence, and the neuroscience of a good novel!
3 Key Benefits of Reading If “superfoods” designate special high-nutrient comestibles, then reading might be considered a “superskill” for its manifold benefits. As an activity that engages your intellect, emotional awareness, and neural plasticity, it is a one-of-a-kind workout for your body and your wellbeing. Here are some of its research-backed benefits.
- Reading Boosts Your Well Being Forget all the questionable supplements and unproven practices that claim to improve your life and cure what ails you. Reading is a much simpler and more time-tested approach.
According to Dr. Josie Billington of the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Research into Reading, reading is a potent remedy for many of life’s afflictions, including the prevention of stress and depression, and even leading to a decrease in the likelihood of dementia.
Beyond these benefits, Billington emphasizes reading as a resource for “richer, broader, and more complex models of experience, which enable people to view their own lives from a refreshed perspective and with renewed understanding.” Reading more, of course, ups the “dose” on these benefits.
Alongside these findings was the CEO of The Reading Agency, Sue Wilkinson, who echoed Billington’s sentiments by underscoring that those who read regularly “are on average more satisfied with life, happier, and more likely to feel that the things they do in life are worthwhile.”
Finally, Billington highlights reading as a skill that follows you out into the world, impacting your social skills, cultural literacy, and ability to recognize and transcend prejudice:
In addition to enhancing willingness and ability to communicate with others, reading helps promote respect for and tolerance of others’ views. Readers have a stronger and more engaged awareness of social issues and of cultural diversity than non-readers: their template of what the world is, is widened, and their place within it feels more secure.
- Reading Builds Empathy Keeping Billington’s comments in mind, it should not be surprising that reading can function as an exercise in expanding one’s awareness and respect for others—something researchers have described as “embodied semantics.”
In 2013, a team of neuroscientists and public health specialists at Emory University contributed to ongoing research tracing the effects of reading on various brain activity. Their findings connected the act of following a story—in this case, Robert Harris’s Pompeii—with a phenomenon called “embodied semantics” in which neural activity trigged by reading mimics bodily sensations. In their own words:
It is plausible that the act of reading a novel places the reader in the body of the protagonist, which may alter somatosensory and motor cortex connectivity.
The implications of such findings are vast and still being studied, but many seem to be reaching the conclusion that reading significantly contributes to empathizing with another’s experience. And how could any of us disagree? The act of slowing down to track an unfolding story that prioritizes the subjectivity of a specific character has functioned as a powerful tool for broadening one’s worldview and tolerating others since time immemorial. It may be one of the most natural approaches we have for combating the many types of bias that impact our lives.
- Reading Helps You Live Longer To top it all off, reading can even add years onto your life. In 2017 three researchers from Yale University, School of Public Health published a short report entitled “The Survival Advantage of Reading Books,” which garnered attention from the likes of The Guardian and Harvard Medical School.
Observing a sampling of 50+ adults with varying reading habits over a period of 12 years, they were able to determine that—regardless of age, sex, race, education, comorbidities, self-rated health, wealth, marital status, and depression—reading (specifically, reading books, as opposed to newspapers, magazines, etc.) led to a measurable increase in life expectancy and a 20% reduction of morality-related health risks.
So, once again, the benefits of reading are far from trivial – and, as this study suggests, reading more books may offer some of the strongest benefits.
The Science of Reading and Lifelong Learning By now, the benefits of reading should be clear: reading does wonders for us and our goals. So, you may be wondering how to read more. Here are five tips based on what the science of reading has to say about how to best incorporate reading into your life as a rewarding lifelong learning habit.
- Remember the basics Some of the basic strategies for turning literacy into a lifelong passion for learning are forgotten once we leave grade school behind. But many of the methods our teachers used with us at a young age are just as relevant to our reading habits and overall growth as adult learners.
According to the doctoral candidate and certified teacher Sarah Parks Duncan, there are a few key tactics for helping cultivate a love for reading that stands the test of time.
To begin, give yourself choices. Don’t confine yourself to that one 800-page tome you agreed to read as part of your New Year’s resolution. Allow yourself to explore different options and follow what genuinely captures your attention and curiosity. If being forced to read didn’t work for you as a 5th grader, chances are it won’t work now.
From here, consider reading aloud or listening to others read. With reference to studies conducted on middle school and high school students, Duncan stresses this tactic for its positive impact on intrinsic motivation as well as “improved vocabulary, listening comprehension, visualization ability, and syntax and usage understanding.” Of course, many of us don’t have the luxury of joining our peers in a classroom to listen to a teacher read, so something like an audiobook might be a helpful substitute.
Finally, Duncan recommends discussion. If you can socialize with others about what you’re reading, there are plentiful opportunities to build connections between the reading material, your life, and the experiences of others. So, consider joining a book club or attending events at a bookstore. Not only has this been shown to lead to a higher intrinsic motivation to continue reading, but it doubles as a way of building community through shared growth.
- Paper over screens We all have that friend who likes to complain about e-readers and the irreplaceable experience of holding a physical book in your hands. Well, according to research compiled by the Scientific American, this friend of ours may have a point.
Understanding how reading on paper is different from reading on screens requires some explanation of how the brain interprets written language,” writes Ferris Jabr. “We often think of reading as a cerebral activity concerned with the abstract—with thoughts and ideas, tone and themes, metaphors and motifs. As far as our brains are concerned, however, text is a tangible part of the physical world we inhabit.
Following this logic, reading that occurs on a digital screen can actually impair comprehension because of the tactile experience and spatial orientation that a physical page provides, Jabr says. While largely subconscious, it turns out we rely on many of the sensory details of reading something that we hold in our hands (the page corners, the margins, the length of a chapter, the spatial mapping of a specific paragraph in relation to the rest of the page or the rest of the book, etc.). Our brain treats all of these things as information-rich guide posts that allow for a crucial visualization process happening just below awareness.
Now, I’m sure you’re thinking: “But my tablet actually resembles a book with its margins, section headings, and page-turning interaction!” Drawing on survey data and input from several experts, Jabr asserts that all this digital mimicry still poses significant cognitive hurdles:
Although e-readers like the Kindle and tablets like the iPad re-create pagination—sometimes complete with page numbers, headers and illustrations—the screen only displays a single virtual page: it is there and then it is gone. Instead of hiking the trail yourself, the trees, rocks and moss move past you in flashes with no trace of what came before and no way to see what lies ahead.
So next time you’re squinting your eyes and craning your neck to power through that next chapter on your Kindle, consider investing in the physical hardcover as a way to get the full benefits of reading. At the very least, this will ensure that the lessons you garner from your reading will take on more personal associations and probably stick with you longer.
- Read more right before bed We see it in movies all the time. It’s late at night and someone is sitting upright in bed with a book in their lap. The implicit message we get is that the opportune time to read is right before we sleep.
As it happens, taking in new information before bed does have concrete benefits when it comes to memory. The psychologist Jessica Payne of the University of Notre Dame conducted a study confirming sleeping immediately after learning new information has a significant impact on the quality of one’s memory. By testing a group of students to retrieve information at different times of the day, Payne found a significant spike in retrieval when subjects were given a full 24 hours between learning the information and being evaluated.
While this corroborates what many of us already know about the impacts of sleep on our learning process, it’s a good tool for going beyond low-stakes pleasure reading and concentrating on long-term retention. Payne relayed this rather succinctly to the Notre Dame News: “In some sense, you may be ‘telling’ the sleeping brain what to consolidate.”
- Keep it informal In 2019, several Finnish researchers found that formal and informal learning has different impacts on our individual growth. They defined the former as the kind of learning that transpires in an institutional setting or under the guise of extreme structure (think school or receiving training for a certification). They defined the latter as the educational ways in which we voluntarily spend our daily leisure time (for example, writing, using technology, and most notably, reading).
Drawing on a sample size of over 61,000 individuals from 16 to 64 years old across 13 European countries, they conducted a survey to gauge correlations between the different kinds of learning-related behaviors, or “learning ecologies,” that the sample population participated in and their problem-solving abilities. What they found was that informal learning was a far better indicator of problem-solving skills, thus shedding light on the importance of the lifelong learning that transpires at home and off the clock.
What readers of all kinds can glean from this researcher is that sometimes the most rewarding and intellectually stimulating learning can happen outside the classroom or other intensely rule-bound environments. Moreover, the research shows that it is far more important that reading be integrated into our life as a general lifestyle rather than a strict routine—something we regularly return to for personal satisfaction, much like going on a hike or catching up with friends.
- Build a personal library This one builds on many of the strategies already covered. It comes from the findings of several sociologists and their recent article, “Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies.” As you might guess, the research pulled on international data to untangle the role of books across diverse cultural contexts.
What the researchers found won’t surprise you: there is ample evidence supporting the benefits of reading when it comes to problem-solving skills and technological savvy.
But how were they able to quantify this kind of behavior at such a macro scale? Well, their research isolated something they termed “book-oriented socialization,” which was really just a fancy way of denoting whether subjects were exposed to a home library or not, especially at a young age. It was this kind of casual “scholarly” environment, especially when meshed with the social dynamics of family life, that they found to be linked with cognitive abilities not easily reducible to educational or occupational training.
While the sociologists themselves admit that there is still much to be investigated before reaching any rigorous conclusions about the psychosocial effects of home libraries, their inferences about the value of a home library is hard to refute. Beyond mere access to a collection of literature, home libraries offer the exact kind of informal learning environment highlighted above, where spontaneously perusing a diverse set of knowledge ignites curiosity and builds new mental connections.
What’s more, home libraries bring reading into a social context, where learning easily segues into discussion and shared meaning-making as touched on above. In all these ways, a library in your home paves the way for many forms of growth, both communal and individual.
Reading as “Self-help in disguise” If all else fails when it comes to forming a reading habit, it may be helpful to remember this bit of wisdom from Shane Snow, an entrepreneur and journalist known for his coverage of business leaders and productivity hacks. Having conducted numerous interviews over the course of his career, he cites reading as paramount to personal and professional success.
More specifically, he points to the unique benefits of reading biographies and autobiographies. They represent a great place for many of us to start, an invitation to learn from someone whose life has gone so poorly or so well that someone decided it was worthy of a whole book. As he puts it, reading biographies tends to be “self-help in disguise.”
So next time you find yourself in a bookstore or staring at that pile of paperbacks you told yourself you were going to read one day, consider picking up a biography first. It may turn out to be enormously relatable, and deserving of a light skim or a reread—preferably before bed.
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post The Benefits of Reading – Why and How to Read More appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.
We all have personal development goals. Some of them are more intentional than others, and only a fraction of which come to fruition. So what separates achieving goals from wishful thinking?
After taking a look at what some of the leading psychologists and behavioral specialists have to say about the way we set and achieve goals, it’s clear that there is such a thing as goal setting theory for those who want to upgrade their personal and professional development.
To some, these tactics may sound pedantic or cliché. But to many lifelong learners, professional trainers, and other polymaths, there are certain truisms that make a world of a difference when put into practice. Just consider your own life. I think we all find that the greatest truths are sometimes quite simple, and the greatest wisdom is merely applying what we know.
So, in this article, we’ll take a look at how to set goals and achieve them – and truly put them into practice – by leveraging the science of goal setting.
Goal Setting Theory Starts with You What you’ll hear from many lifelong learners is that any kind of personal development or training starts from within. The assumptions we carry when setting new goals not only have far-reaching impacts on the quality of our personal growth, but also on our ability to retain and build on what we learn.
To ensure your personal goals have the highest likelihood of long-term success and impact, consider these 3 often overlooked pointers from several experts.
- Locate Your Motivations Begin by asking yourself: who are you doing this for?
According to data gathered by the Midwest Comprehensive Center, a research satellite for the US Department of Education, there is promising evidence that your “learning orientation” (where your motivation to learn is coming from) has a huge impact on the quality of your learning.
The obvious question here is whether learning is motivated by personal reward or external factors, like impressing your peers or proving your worth to an employer. We all know the clout that can sometimes be gained from the nonchalant party trick of speaking Mandarin or playing the ukulele. This “performance” orientation to learning, as described by the studies cited in the report, is linked with dwindling levels of motivation and a lower “self-concept” (our perception of our own abilities, especially when it comes to acquiring new knowledge or building skills).
Opposite this is a “mastery” learning orientation, where our focus is on learning for the sake of learning—when we are present with the personal joys of falling, getting back up, and trying again. The report found that this is where our intrinsic motivation deepens and where we become “more likely to prefer challenging tasks, adopt more effective learning strategies, and possess a growth mindset.”
So, I’ll ask it again, and this time be honest with yourself: who are you doing this for?
- Learn to Say No Very often the first step to accomplishing your goals is saying no to other ones. As the personal growth and habit specialist James Clear has written, clearing away the clutter (mental or physical) is often an important preliminary step to achieving your goals.
We all have our way of navigating a sea of invites, requests, favors, opportunities, and curiosities, but sometimes the best strategy is simply saying no. As Clear puts it, “the truth is that we say yes to many things we don’t actually want to do. There are many meetings held that don’t need to be held. There is a lot of code written that could be deleted.” A huge tip for successful personal growth and professional development is knowing when to prioritize certain commitments by turning down others.
Remembering that time is a finite resource, Clear points us to an important adage by the economist Tim Harford:
Every time we say yes to a request, we are also saying no to anything else we might accomplish with the time.
Tim Harford
- Chuck Your Stereotypes When it comes to achieving your goals, we often unconsciously carry around some image of what it looks like to “learn” or “grow.” Many of us probably envision a child at a desk engrossed in an exam, an extreme athlete gulping down a protein shake before dawn, or a law student feverishly cross-referencing leather-bound tomes in a library.
Since there’s no one “look” to learning, it’s important that we not let our preconceived notions of growth get in the way of our goals, especially if our aim is to become lifelong learners.
To understand why, we would all do well to remember that as our digitally-mediated world continues to evolve, so too do our models for goal setting and personal development. Let’s take a closer look at what I mean here.
The German cognitive scientist Gerhard Fischer, founder of the Center for LifeLong Learning & Design at the University of Colorado, Boulder, published a paper as early as 2000 anticipating the shifts in learning that new forms of technology would bring. Observing how outdated the mechanized, factory-based models of education prescribed by behaviorism and Taylorism were becoming, Fischer foresaw that the way we learned would radically change in our high-tech world.
| B.F. Skinner / F.W. Taylor | Beyond Skinner / Taylor | | --- | --- | | there is a “scientific,” best way to learn and to work (programmed instruction, computer-assisted instruction, production lines, waterfall models) | real problems are ill-defined and wicked; design is argumentative, characterized by a symmetry of ignorance among stakeholders | | separation of thinking, doing, and learning | integrate thinking, doing, learning | | task domains can be completely understood | understanding is partial; coverage impossible | | objective ways to decompose problems into standardizable actions | subjective, situated personal interests; need for iterative explorations | | all relevant knowledge can be explicitly articulated | much knowledge is tacit and relies on tacit skills | | teacher / manager as oracle | teacher / manager as facilitator or coach | | operational environment: mass markets, simple products and processes, slow change, certainty | customer orientation, complex products and processes, rapid and substantial change, uncertainty and conflicts |
(Table adapted from Figure 2 in Fischer’s paper, “Transcending Skinner and Taylor”) It should be easy to see that the stereotypes I mention above line up pretty well with the old Taylorist model: the child with the standardized exam, the athlete with the strict routine, the law student pulling from a static set of knowledge. While these forms of learning aren’t defunct or without value, they’re only the tip of the iceberg.
When it comes to what learning can look like today, it’s important we remind ourselves that no one image of accomplishment can fully capture what our personal or professional growth will look like. As we can see from Fischer’s table, lifelong learning requires a plethora of new strategies and paradigms, sometimes taking place in conventional educational environments, sometimes not.
The crucial piece of advice here: the ways you learned in the past are not necessarily how you best learn now. Sometimes the secret to achieving personal development goals is unlearning old habits as much as it is building new ones.
How to Set Goals: What Works? Anyone who’s done a bit of research into the seemingly perennial question of achieving goals will surely have come across the SMART criteria. Originally developed by the management consultant George T. Doran in 1981, the acronym emphasizes the core components of successfully realizing any aspiration:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Timely
Like I mention above, these goal setting ingredients may seem obvious, but their usefulness for achieving personal development goals can’t be overstated.
Specificity is crucial for moving beyond a fleeting desire to a concrete personal development plan. The same can be said about making a goal measurable, or easily quantifiable. From here we can ask ourselves if our goal is truly achievable: do we have the time, money, or energy it requires? Perhaps we need to adjust our plan in an effort to achieve something more realistic. Finally, we must remember to ensure our goal is timely, or that it follows a definitive schedule.
As the clinical psychologist Ron Breazeale puts it, “hope does not involve just a fantasy or wish. It involves a specific plan for achieving that fantasy or wish.”
Still unsure of how to best achieve your ambitions or tend to those professional goals? Good. While the SMART criteria will be one of the first things you hear from most coaches, advisors, and counselors, it’s equally important we pay attention to our individual psychology.
With this in mind, here are 5 nuggets of wisdom I’ve come across.
- Be Like Goldilocks Returning to the advice of James Clear, we find that the way we structure our feedback system is one of the most important strategies for staying motivated and building on incremental progress. It’s something he calls the “Goldilocks Rule,” a rather clever way of outsmarting ourselves and catalyzing growth in the process. Clear writes,
The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.
James Clear
Think of a barista mastering the art of coffee. Once they’ve conquered a normal latte, it’s time to move on a café au lait. But getting overambitious and taking a stab at an iced cinnamon almond milk macchiato risks major disappointment and dampened spirits. This is why staying close to the current limit of our abilities allows for consistent motivation, long-term perseverance, and the natural high of accomplishment.
One way of understanding why this method is so effective is by remembering the power of receiving quality feedback. If you stay close to the current limit of your abilities, chances are your victories and setbacks will be similar in number. By including immediate evaluations of your progress, your minor victories create the confidence needed to address weaknesses. The key is to ensure your feedback system is consistent and trustworthy.
From here it becomes a process of incremental improvement. With the ability to see ourselves “stick the landing” enough times, we quickly develop the inner fire required to keep at it.
Illustration of James Clear’s Goldilocks Rule from JamesClear.com 5. Practice Deliberately Deliberate practice has gotten some fairly consistent attention on this site. Like the SMART criteria, it’s a tried and true approach to fine-tuning our goal setting in order to excel.
One of the biggest takeaways from the Swedish psychologist K. Anders Ericsson’s research on deliberate practice is its methodology of breaking a goal down into a set of micro-targets.
With these micro-targets, or mini-goals, we have the capacity to devote high-intensity attention, intelligence, and creativity in short bursts. This then allows us to transcend the limitations of mindless repetition and become deeply intentional about what we are learning and how.
Again, continual feedback is vital here. As Ericsson relays in his co-authored book, The Making of an Expert, the most adept practitioners and learners continually seek out feedback, especially if it’s hard to hear.
One way of evaluating our performance is of course through metrics—think strength training reps, your mile time, or how many pages you read. But another far more rich channel for receiving feedback is through a coach or mentor. This kind of one-on-one relationship is how our performance can be evaluated qualitatively, checking for personal hiccups, forgetfulness, comfort zones, or how we’re relating to the learning process.
James Clear synthesizes it all for us as a nice, neat formula:
Deliberate practice always follows the same pattern: break the overall process down into parts, identify your weaknesses, test new strategies for each section, and then integrate your learning into the overall process.
James Clear
- Change Your Environment The environment that we choose to learn in can work both with and against us.
According to research compiled by cognitive psychologists Robert A. Bjork and Elizabeth L. Bjork, accomplishing our goals in one environment can lead to unconsciously associating what we’ve learned with a physical space, internal experience, or other ambient cues. While this can help with simple memorization, it can get in our way when trying to recall information or deploy freshly-learned skills in a new environment.
As a result, the two psychologists recommend the tactic of changing our environment or context, where forgetfulness is actually heightened. “Restudying the material in a different location,” they write “where more of it will have been forgotten at the time of this restudy, rather than the original location, where more of it will still be accessible at the time of this study, actually enhances later recall of that material.”
Similarly, they found that this logic can be applied to the intervals at which something is learned. For example, taking an abnormally long break before returning to the same learning material can strengthen retention.
But keep in mind that these techniques are not isolated to those of us learning a new language or memorizing trig functions. Developing your long-term memory is itself a skill that enhances other forms of learning, including the ability to combine different kinds of knowledge and apply it in diverse settings. The two psychologists continue:
Contextual cues influence not only what is retrievable from memory, but also how information is encoded in the first place. So while a change in environmental context can decrease the likelihood that information studied in a different context can now be recalled, it also increase the likelihood that, when such information is restudied, it will now become associated with a greater range of contextual cues. Thus increased encoding variability can help to sustain access to the to-be-remembered information across a variety of different contexts, especially at a delay and as contextual cues change, which, in turn, can foster transfer of that learning to new situations.
Robert and Elizabeth Bjork
- Be Flexible Behavioral scientist Katy Milkman pinpoints compassion as one of the essential components to healthy and effective personal growth.
More specifically, Milkman advocates for flexibility when turning a goal into a habit. While consistency is crucial to success, a draconian regiment risks creating negative associations when approaching specific objectives, ultimately stifling progress.
Consider one of the studies Milkman completed with some of her colleagues, which focused on Google employees attempting to build a regular workout routine. Milkman relayed her counterintuitive findings to NPR:
The conventional wisdom was that those with a consistent routine form the stickiest habits. They tested this out with two groups. Members of both groups told the researchers they had an ‘ideal’ workout time. One group was encouraged to go to the gym at that set time for each visit, while members of the second group got a reminder to go at their ‘ideal’ time but were encouraged to work out whenever they could fit it in. The results? Members of the group that worked out on a strict schedule simply didn’t go to the gym if they missed that window, while the more flexible group formed a more lasting workout habit.
Katy Milkman
With this in mind, Milkman prescribes flexibility as an undervalued tactic in goal setting psychology. Sometimes a bit of compassion in the midst of our busy lives will give us the space we need to breathe and return to our goals when the time is right.
- Banish Your Ego We all fail. It’s one of the universal laws of learning. That’s why not taking it personally can be a huge asset when approaching our goals.
This was the conclusion recently drawn by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach in their paper, “Not Learning from Failure—The Greatest Failure of All.” As a social psychologist teaming up with a business psychologist, the two found from the several studies they conducted that the more we identify with our mistakes, or view them as an indictment of our character, the harder it is to relate to this kind of feedback as itself valuable information.
In other words, the ability to take your ego out of what happens when you do something wrong opens you up to a huge amount of data on how to improve.
The studies showed that two ways of correcting this natural proclivity was “positioning people as vicarious learners or instructing people to reappraise feedback in less threatening terms.” We of course can imagine how this might be adapted to self-driven learners coaching themselves through their learning process to achieve personal development goals.
So next time you stub your toe, strain your brain, or stumble through that work presentation, give yourself the gift of pausing to reflect from an impartial vantage point. How might you be your own best friend?
- Take What Works and Leave the Rest What remains clear throughout much of the science of goal setting is that almost any form of expertise can be learned, but oftentimes the most effective tactics are as unique as the rest of our lives.
If there’s a single piece of time-tested advice we all can remind one another of, it’s that what works for one person won’t work for another.
This is why the best way to confront stubborn hurdles is to experiment with different strategies. If you find yourself banging your head against the wall, it’s probably a sign that the way you’re approaching your personal development goals needs retooling. Remember to be patient, while not abandoning your ability to think critically about how you learn.
By Gabe Kahan for Mission to Learn
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the lifelong learners in your life? Be sure to also check out 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner from Mission to Learn founder Jeff Cobb. The post 9 Science-Based Strategies for Achieving Personal Development Goals appeared first on Mission to Learn - Lifelong Learning Blog.