The Road Less Travelled

The Road Less Travelled (or The Road Not Taken) - Robert Frost's famous poem has always been one of my favourites. It comes to mind again as I seem to be repeatedly drawn into discussions about education and employability. There is also a project on hand to design resources for young children to learn "work-related skills". And much discussion about learning outcomes. One of the outcomes identified is to help youngsters recognise common stereotypes in their lives and how stereotypes affect and limit their attitudes, choices and opportunities.

There is also an enlightening discussion about the subtle way in which stereotyped thinking and deep rooted assumptions are woven into our lives, and how and why we tend to fall for tall, dark and handsome men in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. To learn more about the implicit associations that underlie our perceptions about life and people and affect all our decisions, try the Implicit Association Test. You may be very surprised at what you learn about your own way of thinking! Definitely a must for those who pride themselves on being open minded!

How do we learn these stereotypes and how can we avoid teaching these same patterns to our children? How do we unlearn these patterns? Can these patterns be unlearned? While our brain needs to classify and categorise information in order to make sense of the world, this process is not always objective or based on evidence. Breaking the mould takes courage and risks isolation as it is based on asking questions about the relevance and integrity of traditional classification systems and rejecting irrelevant data. It's never easy to walk the road less travelled.

I think it all starts with asking questions. Questions such as, Is this the only way? Why this way? Is there another way? Is there a better way? Why not this way? It also means delving into the past to uncover how many of these classification systems have arisen and understanding their dangers and weaknesses. Let's teach our young to explore the roads less travelled. For that, we must first confront our own fears.

Explore the Universe

I'm an unashamed Dr Who fan.

For those of you who may not know, this is a science fiction TV series about the last of the Time Lords (Dr Who of course) travelling through time and space in his amazing Tardis which looks like a small blue box on the outside but hosts unbelievably delicious technologies on the inside. Apart from the multitude of extra-terrestrial beings he introduces us to, I like the series because its underlying ethos is about looking beyond our beliefs and accepting the different worlds "out there" and that it's not very different from "in here". A little mind-bending is always good for the soul.

Now, the Tardis has come to us.

The WorldWide Telescope will give many of us a glimpse of the universe as we sit at our computers. Check out the Web site and free downloadable software at:

Explore and remember to look beyond your beliefs!

Learning Snippets

Take a look at these beautiful samples of effective and engaging learning design! A must see -- not only for the technologically challenged, but for all those interested in creating learning. Racy style, simple, elegant! This is what reuseable learning objects are all about!

Wikis in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english

RSS in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

11 Dimensions

There's an excellent teaching and learning resource that many may find useful - Nova - The Elegant Universe offers amazingly elegant explanations about science, the universe and quantum physics - a must for all those interested in science, teachers, learning designers and everyone in between.

I especially loved the explanations of The String Theory, Resonance in Strings, and the interactive mathematical exercise exploring a world of ten dimensions. The site also offers teachers guides and online viewing of the program The Elegant Universe.

Potential and The Field of Infinite Possibilities

A million ups and downs and detours and retreats and recoupings bring me to this blog. Six Degrees of Potential stems from the idea that human potential is limitless and takes a bit of nurturing in order to translate into six degrees of freedom.

Here, I will explore and park thoughts related to learning, teaching, education systems, and the achievement of human potential. Most people dont even come close to achieving their amazing, innate potential. Environment, education, and mentoring and motivation have a lot to do with it. I'm interested in learning, how it happens, why it doesn't happen, how we inadvertently build and how we can break down barriers to learning. How learning happens all the time, learning without boundaries, and learning in all dimensions.