Curated Industry Content for the Week of 03/07/16

Every Monday we curate a number of articles and blog posts that have relevance to members of the eLearning Guild Community, and to the learning and performance field as a whole. Each piece of content that we share includes a brief introduction from the member of the Guild Community sharing why they think the content is important.

Here’s the content for this week:

Curiosity Depends on What You Already Know by Zach St. George
Curiosity is a powerful driver of learning. But what is it that drives curiosity? This fascinating artucle explores research related to that question, and poses the possibility that curiosity is based more on what we do know than what we don’t. -David Kelly

9 Interesting Things Explained Visually in Under a Minute (GIFs) by Chris Han
In a world of lengthly educational courses, we sometimes forget how powerful a simple image or animation can be for learning. This post highlights 9 simple GIF files that not only share interesting bits of information, but are also excellent examples of how you use visuals to quickly explain concepts and ideas. -David Kelly

Six Flags, Samsung team up to give you VR roller coasters by Alexandra Gibbs
Virtual reality is fast becoming mainstream in consumer culture. The lastest example of this comes from the theme park industry, as Six Flags has teamed with Samsung to introduce Virtual Reality experiences on select theme park rides. It’s another example of Virtual Reality in consumer use, which brings VR still closer to mainstream useage for learning and performance. -David Kelly

13 Must-Haves to Bring to Every Conference You Attend by Author
With the Learning Solutions Conference and Expo taking place next week, this post is especially timely. Any time you go to a conference, you should plan ahead to make sure you get the most value from the experience. This post shares a number of tips that can help you do just that. -David Kelly

What Happens When Video Games Can Read Your Face by Elizabeth Segran
Facial recognition software is a touchy subject, as it can be used for interesting positive applications, or for uses of questionable ethics. In a world where games can recognize our facial expressions and respond accordingly, can a common practice of learning programs that recognize our facial cues be that far behind? More importantly, should it be?. -David Kelly

McDonald’s transforms Happy Meal boxes into VR goggles by Ian Paul
In another example of virtual reality approaching the mainstream, McDonalds is testing a new Happy Meal box that can be converted into a Google Cardboard-like VR device. It’s yet another example of VR appraching the mainstream. With plenty of examples in the consumer place ranging from Oculous Rift to Happy Meals, VR for learning is coming faster than you may think. -David Kelly

What are you reading?

If you have an article, blog post, or other resource that you think we should consider sharing in a future Curated Industry Content post, please feel free to send a link to the resource to David Kelly along with a few sentences describing why you think the resource is valuable.