Engagement, Back Channel, Digital Books, & Note-Taking

"The Happy Employee" Philosophy - Training Magazine

In "Hundred Percenters: Challenge Your Employees to Give it Their All, and They'll Give you Even More," Murphy reveals new research from more than 500,000 employees and leaders about why the "happy employee" philosophy has failed. Culled from the same research, he introduces new techniques to stop making people happy and start making them great. He describes a leadership style intended to inspire employees to give 100 percent of their effort and passion every day (i.e. to become Hundred-Percenters).

• More than 70 percent of employees would rather work for a leader that challenges them with difficult goals and requires them to learn new skills.
• If leaders assign really difficult goals, employees perform better and have more self-confidence.
• "Smart" goals can be dumb, and actually keep employees from pushing themselves and developing new skills.
• Many leaders unknowingly discourage employees from becoming Hundred-Percenters through insufficient recognition and tolerating slackers.
• Hundred-Percenters want a lot of constructive feedback, but you should never deliver it with a "compliment sandwich."
• If you're going to assess your employees with a survey, never ask if they're satisfied (and never use a five-point scale).
• You cannot build an organization of Hundred-Percenters if you tolerate "talented terrors" (people with 100 percent skills but 0 percent attitude).

Capture the Backchannel - eLearn Magazine

After four or five weeks, during which the masters and PhD students became acclimated to the use of Twitter, "conversation became really rich—so much so that it was empowering other forms of conversation in the class."

He's quick to point out that the backchannel is not a tool for every situation. "We've never found it very effective for heavy, focused lecture."

Digital Textbooks and the Snark Syndrome - Net Gen Skeptic

This article from the New York Times provides an example of the Snark Syndrome at work as the move to digital textbooks is justified by one school district official on the grounds that kids today are "wired differently". According to Sheryl R. Abshire, chief technology officer for the Calcasieu Parish school system in Lake Charles, La, "they're digitally nimble. They multitask, transpose and extrapolate. And they think of knowledge as infinite. They don't engage with textbooks that are finite, linear and rote." Really?

Five Classic Ways to Boost Your Note-Taking - lifehacker

Includes the The Cornell method, visual, media, shorthand, and Don't.