Brain Based Learning

Neuroplasticity is ability of our brain to change and restructure itself which enables us to learn and adapt. This enables our brain to make synapses all through our childhood and adulthood. New synapses are formed when we learn something new.

One of the basic application of Neuroplasticity is disagreement with the practices that involve rote memorization in academics. Research shows rote memorization wont help learners unless they are given an opportunity to actively recognize relationships of the new information with their prior knowledge especially through authentic & personally meaningful activities.

So, what does that mean? This means that when learners are given opportunities to apply learning to new problems and situations, their brain undergoes the cellular changes of neuroplasticity that link them into larger neural circuits of prior information. Learners must be provided formative assessments and immediate feedback so that key concepts move from rote memory & become part of their long term memory.

Some of the activities that help your carving new pathways and strengthening the existing ones and help you move away from rote memorization, bullets points and lecture are-

• ·        Encourage making hypothesis and predictions
• ·        Solve a variety of problems
• ·        Include a lot of What-if scenarios
• ·        Role Play
• ·        Group discussions
• ·        Provide opportunities to solve problems in different ways and then have a discussion around feasibility and
• ·        Self- feedback and self evolutions

Pinel, J. Biopsychology: Hot Topics. Neurogenesis in the Adult Human Brain

Tips for researching for resources on the Internet

 

While researching resources from the internet it is important to develop and evaluate the resources before that can be utilized.

There are seven criteria that should be applied when evaluating any Web resources: 

1. Authority

1. Who has created the content?

2. Is it legitimate?

3. Is there any indication of the author's qualifications

4. Is the source reliable?

2. Authenticity

1. Can information mentioned/listed be verified in another source

2. Is it free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographical errors

3. Neutrality/Fairness

1. Is content free of any bias?

2. Has content  been created by a sponsoring organization/ company/group?

3. Arguments presented are unbiased

4. Relevancy/Currency

1. Is this content relevant to the audience?

2. Is it MUST KNOW, GOOD TO KNOW, NICE TO KNOW information

3. When was the content published first on the internet

4. Has it been revised?

5. Is the information obsolete?

5. Coverage 

1. Content/topics are successfully addressed, 

2. Content is clearly presented 

3. The content update other sources and or substantiate other materials

6. Appearance/Ease of use

1. Do all links work?

2. Is the content organized well and easy to follow

3. Is it appropriate for the audiences

4. Does it use a lot of technical terms/jargon

7. Can we use this resource under Creative commons license

1. Is this proprietary information

2. Do we need permission to re-use this material/media?

3. Do we need to add credits while re-using the material

4. Is the information confidential or violates privacy

How do we learn

“We all learn in different ways, many times on the fly, without even knowing that we’re learning because learning is the essence of life.”

Over the past decades, several attempts have been made by psychologist, neuroscientists and philosophers to explain how people learn. To me, learning is a complex process that involves skills, knowledge, attitude, value system, habits and insights, directly related to natural aptitude, prior knowledge and experience that includes perception of the world and self. People learn and retain information received from people, things and environment/context.  

How to learn rather than what to learn. So, helping people organize and plan their own learning, giving them an opportunity to transfer/apply what has been learnt,  positive reinforcement to achieve standard results and opportunity to share their skills/knowledge with others,  consolidate what they have already learnt from time to time 

 Additionally, I believe that we can learn or get better at almost anything as long as we have the right tools, energy and willingness to invest the necessary time. All we need is the space where they can make mistakes,take risks, experiment and  get opportunities to improve.

I always got the air filters of my car replaced at Jiffy Lubes during regular servicing. One of my friends suggested replacing air filters myself I may save a couple of dollars every time. I have seen technicians at Jiffy Lube replacing air filter 2-3 times so I felt confident that I can do it. I went to Auto Zone to get the  right air filter for my car and I got overwhelmed by the types of various filters for different make/model/year. It took almost 30 minutes for me to find out the right one for my car. After that I  came home and with lots of excitement I tried to opened the car hood to locate the filter box. I tried to open the clamps of the filter box, which seemed pretty obvious at first sight, but it didn’t open after several trials. So, I had to youtube how to open it. It had to be pressed down hard to move the clamp in the opposite direction. After replacing the first filter, I was convinced that I can change the filter underneath the glove box. I found that opening that was a little tricky but with trial and error, I figured it out. After that day, it’s  been 6 years that I have been replacing air filters myself. I’ve taught  my sister to do it as well and she found it economical and easy. Over these years I’ve experimented with different air filter brands(online forums/talking to friends) and found the best one and sticking to it.

What did is the idea behind this story- Learning is a complex process(just by looking at air filter by someone else doesn’t mean you can do it),none of us have an exclusive learning style(visual/experiential/social interaction), motivation to learn(in this case, saving money), spaced out learning opportunities, metacognition and reinforcement improved the learning process, testing the concepts or ideas in new situations help transfer skills and develop problem solving skills(changing air filter under the glove box), learners must be a participant/directly involved to learn effectively.

The APE EATS the CREAM- A Learning and Development model

The APE EATS the CREAM- A Learning and Development model

Radical Dynamism has brought a major shift in how people used to work a few decades back. There is a great emphasis on the ability to adapt, learn and upskill in the era of fast-changing technology. 

Changing nature of skills and work in the modern economy has led to a sharp rise in the demand for more productive and skilled workforce which is ready to compete and succeed in the 21st century. Several million dollars are spent each year by most of the companies to equip their workforce with the foundational set of skills that will allow them to successfully learn, adapt to ever-changing work demands.

Since, its a huge investment in terms of time, money and commitment, companies need to make sure that all learning and development efforts are a worthwhile investment. 

So, I propose APE EATS the CREAM model that summarizes  entire learning lifecycle to ensure more workers possess the skills to succeed in 21st-century jobs.

APE is Access, Process, and Express. It is crucial that the workers have an easy, quick, flexible and adaptive Access to the learning content which can be consumed and Processed  and equips a person to immediately Express(utilize or apply) at the workplace.

Access to the learning content(synchronous and Asynchronous)

Process the information
Express (use as skill, knowledge or ability)

EATS is Efficient, Able, Teamwork and Skilled

The learning content should be designed and developed that helps workers to be Efficient, Able(productive),T….. and Skilled so that the organizations they work for functions smoothly and productively.

Efficient

Able

Team Player

Skilled

CREAM is Comprehend, Retain, Engage, Apply and Motivate.

Workers develop the skills through training (formal or informal) or educational programs. Thus, in order to ensure that the workforce develops the skills they’ll need to compete in the 21st century, learning content must be easy to Comprehend (chunked, just in time, adaptive and to the point), help them Retain (assessments, feedback loops, spaced out learning events), Engage(visually appealing, relevant,gamified ) and Apply(experiential learning, use of AR/VR) at workplace and keep them Motivated to keep learning.

Comprehend

Retain

Engage

Apply

Motivate

Thus, companies need to modernize and improve the ways they train their workforce so that they can leverage the full range of learning environment and help workers to become more dynamic and adaptive.

Not spending a penny for 300 days: An experiment

Control of household and discretionary spending is a crucial step for relationships and lifelong success. I want to share my transformative journey with you. I experienced a paradigm shift after making the decision to buy any non-necessary item for myself for 300 days.  

The idea to start this journey came to me while reading an article on minimalist living by some modern Japanese families. Initially, the journey did not originate from the idea of saving money but rather to learn self-control and appreciation of those things that bring value to my life.  Moreover, I was also moved by another article that addressed over consumption and the pressure placed on the environment. The mountains of trash accumulated in our daily lives and the resources used to produce goods and services have an irreversible impact on earth.

I began by restricting myself from buying shoes and clothes. This step forced me to look for old clothes in my wardrobe where I found many blouses and pants those weren’t worn from a long time. To my surprise that I found myself in a pile of clothes, a few of which I have not worn even once. I became aware of the valuable items that I already possess and was determined to put them to good use. The pile of unused outfits exhibited my insatiable quest for buying things without even knowing the utility of those items.  Next, I decided that I would not buy cosmetics (lipsticks, nail paint, eye liner and toiletries). I had an ample supply of that would last over 300 days without a need to purchase additional shampoos, conditioners, soaps or lotions. This was an example of how consumerism can become addictive.

I admit that I had a strong impulse to buy items that were appealing to my eyes such as a nice looking graphic t-shirt on sale. After starting my journey, I began to ask myself, “Is it a “nice-to-have” thing or a necessary thing?” When the answer was “nice-to-have” I continued along my way without purchasing that item.

I realized that nothing changed when I made the decision not to buy that item. My health, my daily life and above all happiness were not affected by saying no to the purchase.

After practicing this concept for four months, I realized that how consumerism can lead to compulsive shopping where I would purchase of things that I did not need. I found myself driven by the advertisements, coupons and sales to make buying decisions not based on need but a superficial desire.  The compulsory behaviors lead to an accumulation of non-necessary items or junk where I spent an enormous amount of money to follow trends. This was a vicious circle the resulted in an increase desire to purchase more things of the same variety.

 

The sad truth is that consumerism can lead men and women to measure success by the amount of money spent but not the overall value of the purchase. Instead of focusing on usefulness, people may become fixated on having things, whether or not the things contribute to healthy relationships and a stable life.

My goal for this winter holiday season is to use my energy, time and money for the people and causes that are important to me. Furthermore, I will develop a plan to divest myself of the desire of having more and seeking happiness from external things. I have discovered during this journey that happiness is not born from things you buy but those you care about.

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You are what you think about

The way to a healthy life begins with a healthy mind. How we think determines everything in our life. I am going to talk about the things which are not new but, the things that we all tend to forget and ignore altogether. All of us must try to have a control over our thoughts because they play a crucial role in deciding how our life is going to be. Too often we try to get things done in our way, get others to see things as we do them, seek to change the world around us and look to correct situations. We typically see problems and challenges happening to us only. We usually complain " Why do bad things happen to me only?" or "Why its me only who is suffering?". This is because we only tend to focus on what is going around.

We waste our energy in thinking and perceiving things in outside world. Rather than blaming things around us, we need to be more focused on what is going within us. 

Continue reading - http://www.articlegrow.com/You-are-what-you-think-about/a8966_1

Gamification for online Finance course