Four Stunning Tools for Visual Learning

15 Jul

Learning styles may be a myth, but I will make the unscientific assertion that I am a visual learner.  I need to see things for them to sink in.  In the past month, a handful of stunning visual learning tools have caught my attention.

1.  Take Notes in a New Way
At a leadership retreat I attended last month, the two group facilitators were joined by a silent but powerful partner: Nora Herting, a graphic recorder from ImageThink.  As the retreat unfolded, Nora drew images and highlighted key phrases to capture the spirit and content of what was said.  Posted on the walls, the drawings became a map of our time together and conversation pieces in and of themselves.  Here’s a video of Nora and her colleague at work:

2.  Zoom Past Powerpoint
 A friend introduced me to Prezi, a zooming, nonlinear presentation tool which offers a welcome alternative to Powerpoint.  In Prezi, instead of making sequential slides, you create your presentation on a big blank (electronic) canvas using font size, images and framing of text to create variety and emphasis.  Come presentation time you literally zoom around your canvas, following a path that you set ahead of time or changing course as the mood strikes.  I’ve only played around with Prezi online and have not yet used it for a presentation.  I’d be interested in hearing from folks who’ve tried it out.

3.  Learn from a Whiteboard
A growing YouTube collection of  whiteboard-illustrated presentations by smart thinkers makes for interesting viewing. Think TED talks, with pictures.    This format works for me because I am able to remember the main points of the talks I watch by recalling the words and images drawn on the board.  Check out this talk by Daniel Pink on motivation:

4.  Map Your Mind
Mind maps are hardly new, but they seem to belong on this list.  Anytime I start a project or paper – or when I have a complicated issue to think through – I find myself organizing my thoughts using a mind map.  A mind map is a visual, non-linear way to capture the relationship between thoughts and ideas.  There is a lot of mind mapping software out there, but I prefer the pen and paper method.   Mind map newbies may want to check out Tony Buzan’s book on the topic for inspiration and how-to.

Below is one of my mind maps, one that I drew during a planning meeting for a retreat I was helping to organize.  You’ll get a sense of the organic flow a mind map can capture (spelling mistakes and all).

Has your organization or school made use of any of these learning tools?  Do you think Powerpoint will ever die?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Joan Rivers and Twyla Tharp, Organized Artists

28 Jun

I saw the hilarious and disturbing  Joan Rivers documentary this weekend. One of my favorite parts was seeing Joan’s low-tech joke library. Take a look:

Joan is onto something.  Though artists have a reputation for being messy and spontaneous, many have organized workspaces because their art demands it.

Organization is in part about being prepared for the moment when insight strikes.  It’s about creating the conditions for creativity to flourish, so that when you enter into creation mode, your physical world is set up to support you. Being organized also creates the mental order that many people need to be able to put aside mundane things and enter a creative head-space.

An organized workspace, for artists an non-artists alike, needn’t mean office-standard manilla file folders and labelmakers.  In her book The Creative Habit, choreographer Twyla Tharp describes the  unconventional system she uses to support her creativity*:

Everyone has his or her own organizational system. Mine is a box, the kind you can buy at Office Depot for transferring files. I start every dance with a box. I write the project name on the box, and as the piece progresses I fill it up with every item that went into the making of the dance. This means notebooks, news clippings, CDs, videotapes of me working alone in my studio, videos of the dancers rehearsing, books and photographs and pieces of art that may have inspired me…

The box makes me feel organized, that I have my act together even when I don’t know where I’m going yet… Most important, though, the box means I never have to worry about forgetting. One of the biggest fears for a creative person is that some brilliant idea will get lost because you didn’t write it down and put it in a safe place. I don’t worry about that because I know where to find it. It’s all in the box….

As different as their systems (and their art forms) are, Joan and Twyla’s methods are fundamentally similar.  When they are ready to create, neither the comedian nor the choreographer wants to spend time searching for things — they want to be able to quickly access what they need and get down to creating what they want to create.  Both feel grounded knowing that their creative works-in-progress have a safe home outside of their heads.  That’s one sign of a working system – it makes you feel better.

No matter what form it takes, a good organizational system supports you to do your best work by allowing you to put your brain power where you want and need it to be. For some people that system will be a cardboard box of ideas, and for others a card catalog of naughty jokes.

Do you have an unconventional organizational system?  If you’re an artist, how do you organize your workspace?

*With thanks to Merlin Mann for introducing me to this passage.

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Your Brain on Computers: A Student of Change Roundup

11 Jun

Photo by aranarth on Flickr.

This week the New York Times began a great series on computers and the brain, examining how our thoughts and behaviors (and frighteningly, our very ability to parent) have been altered by the multiple screens and data feeds that divide our attention.

Here at Student of Change, we’ve spent the past 8 months exploring some of the same issues, only with fewer scientists and a smaller team of reporters (okay, it’s just me).

If you’ve been captivated by the Times series, check out this roundup of Student of Change pieces on related topics:

It’s great to see some of these ideas taking hold in the mainstream media.  Have you read the Times series? What most surprised you?  Don’t be shy, jump into the conversation by posting a comment below.

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Multitasking is a Myth

4 Jun

As mobile technology has become more portable and more powerful, we are able to do many more things (phone calls, texting, watching movies) in more contexts (driving, walking down the street, waiting in line) than ever before.  Multitasking should be at an all-time high.

But as some recent books about the nature of attention have made clear, multitasking is largely a myth.  When we think we are multitasking, we are not so much doing two things at once as we are rapidly shifting our attention back and forth between those two things.  And all that shifting dramatically depletes our functioning, making it hard to do either thing efficiently or well. Continue reading →

The Regret Minimization Framework

4 May

I’m looking forward to getting back to a regular blogging schedule in a few weeks when my semester ends, but in the meantime this was too good not to share.

In this short video, Jeff Bezos explains how he decided to leave his cush, stable financial-sector job to start this wild dream called Amazon.com. Bezos’ framework is essentially this question: when I’m 80, will I regret not doing this?  He calls it the Regret Minimization Framework.

Continue reading →

Happy National Day of Unplugging!

19 Mar

When was the last time you turned off every beeping personal device  – phone, email, laptop, iPod — and were unreachable and untouched by media for a defined period of time?  Does the mere thought of doing this give you hives?

The Jewish nonprofit organization Reboot is suggesting we endure the hives this weekend, declaring a National Day of Unplugging for 24 hours starting at sundown tonight.  In accordance with the Jewish practice of shabbat, or sabbath, Reboot suggest that Jews and non-Jews alike experience what it is like to disconnect from technology and reconnect with the non-technological aspects of life.

Striking a similar chord, Peter Bregman’s blog this week at Harvard Business Review focused on unplugging during vacation.   He relates what happened when he completely unplugged during a week-long camping trip in the Grand Canyon: Continue reading →

Make a List. Your Brain Will Thank You.

15 Mar

Lists can literally take things off your mind. Image from www.brainexplorer.org
Last month with my birthday approaching, I sat down and made a list.  Not a list of gifts I wanted, but a list of ways I would like to spend my day:
have coffee and an almond croissant
meditate
go to a museum
take a nap
walk around the city
bake something

Though my birthday has passed (I had a great day, and did do a number of things on that list) I’ve kept the list posted up near my desk.  It serves as a reminder of things that make me happy. I feel happy just looking at it.

Lists can be a vehicle for satisfaction and even joy; they can facilitate focus, relief, and clarity.  (Lists can also stress you out, more on that, and the cardinal rule of list-keeping, later.)  Crossing things off a list is one of life’s simple pleasures.

Ever notice how putting something on a list can take it “off your mind”?   There’s a neurological basis for this effect.   Continue reading →

Will You Be Doing What You Love At 99?

16 Feb

Fifteen years ago, my high school photography teacher Mr. Stamoulis — a man of many witty quips — put a saying in my head that I’ve remembered ever since:  “Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Mr. Stamoulis was talking about himself of course, explaining to a room of teenagers why anyone would want to be in his shoes, teaching first-period photography at 7:25 AM to a bunch of teens.

Mr. Stamoulis taught because he loved it.  He retired last year after decades at the school. His perspective on work left a lasting impression on me, and it was on my mind when I saw an article about another long career fueled by enjoyment. Continue reading →

8 Great Uses of a Snow Day (Or Other “Found Time”)

10 Feb

My former boss used to talk about the wonderful feeling brought about by “found time.”  Found time is when you unexpectedly gain free time — because of a cancelled meeting or a postponed lunch date — and get to decide how to use it.   As over-scheduled as most of us are, a few hours of found time can feel pretty luxurious.

Much of the East Coast is getting some found time this week in the form of a snow day (or three).  Why not make the most of it? While I wouldn’t suggest doing ALL of these things in one day — after all, you should relax — I guarantee that taking on two or three of these activities will make you feel more energetic and accomplished than, say, a whole day spent watching HGTV (ahem).

  1. Do one task you’ve been putting off. Crossing something off your list will feel so good, you might even be inspired to do something else. For me, this will be finding out how to change the address on my driver’s license.  I moved two years ago, so I expect that finally doing this will feel pretty good!
  2. Plan your charitable giving for the coming year. Many of us only make donations at the end of the calendar year or when disaster motivates us to give.  But nonprofits need our generosity year-round for the work they do day in and day out.  Think about how much you are able to donate this year, and consider donating now or in installments over the course of the year.
  3. Pick a small area to declutter. What space in your environment aggravates you, embarrasses you, or slows you down? It could be your desk drawer or your sock drawer, the pile on the kitchen table or that black hole where you toss instruction manuals.    Pick a manageable area that you can declutter in an hour or less, and get it done.

    4. Continue reading →

Could You Be Happier If You Tried?

25 Jan

How happy are you?  Could you be happier if you tried?

Is it selfish to want to try?

While on vacation in the happiest country on earth, I read Gretchen Rubin’s thoroughly absorbing (and now bestselling) meditation on these questions, The Happiness Project.
Continue reading →

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