David Kelly’s Curated L&D Content for the Week of 09/11/17

This week’s curated content includes links exploring the following:

• what role technology plays in human learning
• a look at Apple’s new ARKit
• examples of simple graphics that convey complex ideas
• free manager training resources from Google
• research on the expected growth in game-based immersive learning
• what we can learn from a meteorologist who went viral

Here’s the content for this week:

More Or Less Technology In The Classroom? We’re Asking The Wrong Question by Cathy N Davidson
There’s a common debate that exists related to technology and learning. Simply put, this debate could be described as “Does technology help or hinder our ability to learn?” As this article explores, that’s the wrong question. Technology is increasingly part of how we live, and those changes should be reflected in the ways that we educate and train. While the context of this post is classroom-based instruction, the lessons explored extend well outside those walls.

Can The iPhone Change The Way We Live Again? by Mark Wilson
This week Apple is expected to release a new set of iPhones and potentially some other exciting technologies. But the true upgrade that Apple has planned that could be the next huge leap in terms of how technology affects our everyday lives may not be hardware; it may just be a software called ARKit, which is being released in iOS11. ARKit may be what truly pushes augmented reality into the mainstream, bringing with it a normalcy that could boost the use of AR for learning and training. This article provides some interesting perspectives on the potential, and limitations, of ARKit.

The cultural differences between East and West, according to one artist by Annalisa Merelli
Visuals continue to be a major tool to convey information and ideas. Where visuals are often used to help support written words, they are also used on their own to convey stories and data,
as evident by the increased use of infographics in recent years. Creating visuals like infographics isn’t easy, and is a skill that may be best learned by learning from examples. This post doesn’t explore complex infographics – it’s quite the opposite. This post explores a number of pieces of art that, despite their simplicity, do an incredible job of conveying a complex thought.

Google Is Giving Away Its Best Tools for Managers Absolutely Free by Jessica Stillman
I share this post for two reasons. First, the tools referenced in this post can be very helpful to new (or even experienced) managers. More importantly, this post is another great example of resources that can be used to curate content for learning and development programs rather than assuming that everything needs to be created.

Trends: STEM Game-based Learning to See Surge in Immersive Tech by Sri Ravipati
This post explores the intersection of two major trends within the learning technology space: Game-Based Learning and AR/VR. The growth in augmented reality and virtual technology technologies are enabling a parallel growth to immersive learning experiences including game-based experiences. While this post explores the topic and research within the K-12 sector, the trends and technologies being mentioned have applications to higher-education and corporate learning environments as well.

Why 1 Meteorologist’s Hurricane Irma Coverage Landed Him a “Best Weatherman Ever” Trophy by Perri Konecky
There’s been plenty of news coverage of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in recent weeks. We’ve all seen countless images of reporters and meteorologists out in the storm, covering its development. But one meteorologist’s reports stood above the rest and went viral. This post shares the video as well as some of the responses from people praising it. As you watch the video, consider how the information is being conveyed and structured in a way that calms and educates those in a highly stressful life-and-death situation. There’s plenty to learn about how we shape educational narratives from this video.

Help Those Affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

As I write this post Hurricane Irma is making its way across Florida, the second devastating hurricane to hit the US and Caribbean in recent weeks. These areas need our help. Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross or to another organization that is providing much-needed aid to affected areas. Accuweather has a very useful post that lists a number of reputable charities you can support, as well as providing links to tools you can use to vet any charity before you support it.

If we all do a little, we can help those affected a great deal.