Weekend Building Blocks - 29 SEPT 2017


There's no value in collecting blocks unless you're connecting them to build something awesome!
Changing people's minds. Learning Management Systems. Mount Stupid. Machine learning. Athletes and Navy SEALs.
  1. Why You Should Stop Trying to Change People's Minds. David Marcus talks about engaging with people who hold opinions that are different than our own. In age of social media (and anonymity within it), we need not look far for differing perspectives...and the anger and disrespect that comes with it. What benefit is there to these engagements? 
  2. LMS Features: What To Look For In a Learning Management System. Dr. Ayesha Habeeb Omer talks about ten features that a learning management system should have. As e-learning, distance learning, blended learning (...or any of the other of the "______ learning" buzzwords) grow in popularity, LMS will equally growing in demand. I've been lucky to be using an LMS that is responsive to the instructional designers' ideas. How about you? 
  3. Living on the Peak of Mount Stupid. Ken Murray uses the Dunning-Kruger Effect to explain injurious (and fatal!) accidents in police training. With the increase in desire for reality-based training simulations, we have an increase in the number of ill-prepared instructors designing, running, and evaluating these exercises. As such....
  4. Will Machines Ever Truly Understand Us? This is a podcast on the future of artificial intelligence and machine learning. How will humans interact with computers and data? What are the limitations of tech? Jessica Love interviews Brian Uzzi, David Ferrucci, and Sandra Waxman. 
  5. Your players are not Navy SEALs.  Rusty Whitt talks about the differences between sports athletes and special forces personnel. This piece connected with me. I used to teach various modules of a 2-week police SWAT school. I was always frustrated by the coordinators' over-emphasis on boot camp style physical "conditioning." Students inevitably got hurt; many not wanting to report injuries for a variety of reasons.  
I appreciate you allowing me to make these recommendations to you each Friday.
    Lou Hayes, Jr.
    thinking & adapting like a Tactical Philosopher
    at The Illinois Model in Chicago.

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