Category: Learning
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The Future of Education. Review: Coursera “Greek and Roman Mythology”
I finished my first expedition into the world of MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – this week. I have completed a 10 week course on Coursera run by a team led by Dr. Struck of Penn State University. The course was titled Greek and Roman Mythology. How was the experience? In four words: Hard […]
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Closing Chapters: If you are falling, dive.
When I was 13 years old, American Football became the passion of my group of friends at school in Dublin. We would play our version of touch American Football up on a tarmac area behind school. I remember catching the football and running for the end zone. A member of the other team caught my […]
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Everyone Must Learn to Code
When I was 9 years old, my father brought a Commodore Vic 20 computer home for Christmas. It came with 3k memory. It had a keyboard, a tape drive and it connected to a TV. I still remember sitting in my pyjamas and turning it on. As a child with nobody to tell me how […]
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"You are not doing that right!"
When someone tells me that I am wrong, what do I learn? “You are not doing that right!” “How did you let this happen?” Do I learn what is intended? I don’t think so. I don’t often know what is intended – that I should feel bad or guilty; or that I need to see […]
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The importance of being Bored
I am terrible at being bored. I fill my days with a constant stream of activities. Three days ago, I was with my daughter on a beautiful Costa Brava beach. We were on a journey to explore the ruins of an ancient 6BC Iberian town on the cliffs (located on the head of the peninsula […]
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Teaching Manifesto
“A person cannot teach another person directly; a person can only facilitate another’s learning” Carl Rogers This is how I want to Teach: I create an environment in which participants can learn. I am responsible for setting the mood in the room. I teach leaders. I accept zero excuses. I will never, never, never provide […]
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There is no Freedom without Self Discipline
Freedom is dangerous without self discipline. Few people will get anything important done in life without a boss, a parent, a teacher. It is the removal of freedom that allows creation. Completion requires constraints: deadlines, scope, format… We chaff at the chains, but they serve us. My boss is an idiot, but without her insistance […]
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Free your Mind: Writing a Journal.
Would you like lower stress, increased focus, improved memory, faster learning? Sounds good? There is one simple 5 minute daily habit that can help. It will also make you a better communicator. It might be worth a test? There are 3 major benefits of keeping a written journal. Writing slows down time The past is […]
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Imperfect or Mediocre?
I just spent the last 60 minutes wasting time. I sat down at the computer with a clear intention to write an article. I opened Scrivener, my writing software. I looked at the blank page… and allowed myself to open email… check facebook… Google+, and have just now surfaced from a 60 minute black hole […]
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Deliberate Ignorance
There are two types of ignorance: Deliberate Ignorance and Understandable Ignorance. Understandable Ignorance A non-financial expert is not expected to know how to calculate discounted cash flow valuations for publicly listed firms. A European is not expected to know how baseball scoring works. A non-programmer is not expected to understand the syntax of C++ or php […]