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

• how to curate content
• a unique article exploring the myths associated with learning styles
• tips on using words within PowerPoint
• why AR ^ VR may evolve into the future of computer interfaces
• why every day needs to be viewed like April Fools’ Day
• A great example of where VR, Marketing, and Learning can intersect

How to Curate Content: The Secret Sauce to Getting Noticed, Becoming an Influencer, and Having Fun Online by Kevan Lee
Curation is a great tool to add to the modern L&D skill set. While there’s a great deal of information available that celebrates the potential applications of curation in L&D, there are considerably fewer that dive into the weeds of how curation works and how curators find, analyze, and share content. This post does a very comprehensive job of accomplishing that goal. While the post is written in the context of marketing, it’s content can still be applied in the context of L&D.

The Myth of ‘Learning Styles’ by Olga Khazan
This is another good article that explores the myth that exists around learning styles. Like other posts I’ve shared on this topic, it provides some background for context, and references (and links) research as part of the narrative. What makes this one of particular interest to me is that it comes from The Atlantic, a publication with much broader reach than typical education/training sites, and that it was written to the average person that may be reading it. That lens gives this piece an accessibility that many other research-based articles miss the mark on.

Words on slides by Seth Godin
Slides, be they in PowerPoint or any other tool, are a common format for content. People often complain about slides (who hasn’t heard the common refrain of “PowerPoint Sucks”?) but most of the issues people have with slide-based content are less about the slides and more about how the slides are used. This brief post explores how words can (and should) be used in your slide decks. I found #5 on this list particularly interesting.

Leap Motion’s “Virtual Wearables” May Be The Future Of Computing by Jesus Diaz
Virtual and augmented reality continue to grow in complexity and adoption. These technologies are opening entirely new types of experiences for the world. However, some companies are looking past the near-term possibilities of AR and VR and are exploring a world where the next generation of these types of technologies transform how we interact with computers and the digital world.

We won’t get fooled again by Steve Wheeler
A few weeks ago was April 1st, also known in many parts of the world as April Fools’ Day. It’s a day full of jokes and pranks, and in an online environment, it’s a day to look at what’s being shared with a skeptical eye and to verify what people are saying before you believe it as truth. The problem is, as this post explores, we need to be doing that every day, now more than ever.

Take A VR Trip Through The Human Digestive System In Gutland by Nikholai Koolonavich
This post exists at an interesting intersection for L&D professionals. At first glance, it might seem like I shared this as an example of VR-based learning, and that is a core element of this post’s value. But the post is also a great example of how different tools and methodologies can be combined when creating experiences. This post explores a VR-based experience that involves not only learning, by edutainment, marketing, health, mixed reality, relationship building, and more.

NEW KEYNOTES ANNOUNCED!

We’ve just announced the full keynote lineup for Realities360, and it’s full of speakers you won’t want to miss, including:

• Jaron Lanier, the father of virtual reality
• Rika Nakazawa, a pioneer in the emerging space of Enterprise VR
• Carter Rogers, a leading researcher with insights into the emerging AR, VR, and Sims market

After selling out in 2017, Realities360 returns to Silicon Valley in June 2018. Everything about the conference is expanded this year while still providing the smaller event feel and an environment where individuals and orgainzations that are early adopters of AR, VR, and simulation technologies can network and collaborate.

Realities360 will be a hands-on event that enables you to experience these technologies for yourself and engage in conversations about the opportunities these technologies open for learning and development. This is the event that enables training and education professionals, and our industry, to put these exciting technologies into context and harness their potential.

Join us in San Jose June 26 – 28 as we create the future together.