Learning Objectives, Brain, Content, iPod Learning, Training Stats, & Dilbert

Do learners really need learning objectives? - Bottom-Line Performance

Why do we do this? What does it really achieve? Gagne says we should inform learners of the objectives to create a level of expectation for the learning. By using a bulleted list, what level of expectation are we setting? What level of learner engagement are we shooting for?

New Mathematical Model Suggests How The Brain Might Stay In Balance - Science Daily

Magnasco's model differs from traditional models of neural networks, which assume that each time a neuron fires and stimulates an adjoining neuron, the strength of the connection between the two increases. This is called the Hebbian theory of synaptic plasticity and is the classical model for learning. "But our system is anti-Hebbian," Magnasco says. "If the connections among any groups of neurons are strongly oscillating together, they are weakened because they threaten homeostasis. Instead of trying to learn, our neurons are trying to forget."

Content still king on the Net -

Net users still spend 42 percent of their time online using content sites, more than any other category. That figure represents a 24 percent jump from 2003 when Net users spent 34 percent of their time on content sites.

• Content - 42%
• Communications - 27%
• Commerence - 13%
• Community (Social Networks) - 13%
• Search - 5%

Turn on your iPod and learn - The Independent

Dr Dani McKinney, a psychologist at the State University of New York, led a study of two groups of students who were asked to listen to an introductory psychology lecture. One group attended the live class, the other listened via podcast. When given a test on the subject a week later, the podcast group scored 71 per cent while the in-class group scored 62 per cent. Within the podcast group, those who took notes and listened to the lecture more than once came away with an average test score of 77 per cent.

Cream of the Crop - ASTD

• In 2008, BEST Award-winning organizations had an average of 40.6 hours of learning content for each employee.
• Average expenditure per employee among the BEST Award-winning organizations fell from $1,451 in 2007 to $1,303 in 2008, a decrease of 10.2 percent.
• On average, BEST organizations spent $1,633 to make one hour of learning content available in 2008 - a sharp decline from an average of $2,241 in 2007.
• BEST Award winners commit an annual average of 2.33 percent of their organizational payroll to workplace learning and performance expenditure.
• The ratio of learning hours used to learning hours made available was 65.1 in 2008, indicating that on average, each hour of content was accessed more than 65 times.

Dilbert Does Twitter

Oh, yes. Every little thing you do is interesting.