‘Never play when you practice and never practice when you play’. These are the words of a man who likes to hit things (and is very good at it!). No, he’s not a philosopher, nor a scientist, nor a boxer. He’s a drummer: the top drummer, Thomas Lang, who started his professional career with the Austrian band Falco.
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to meet him in Switzerland. I accompanied my son who joined a masterclass ‘The Big Drum Bonanza’ by Mr. Lang. When you see him playing drums in an uber-human way, you want to know: how did he learn this?
Just like he said: ‘never play when you practice and never practice when you play’. Practice is hard; it’s about trying to achieve something you haven’t mastered yet. That’s a frustrating process and for a bit of relief, we tend to stop practicing for a few minutes of play: applying something we have already mastered because that is satisfying. Don’t. Stick with your practice until you reach your goal. That’s what is called ‘deliberate practice’. It’s one of the learning techniques of this edition of the learning notes.
But there’s also ‘reinforcement’ (teaching pigeons how to play ping pong!), ‘chunking’ and ‘pruning’ as interesting learning techniques that you can apply to design great learning.
Now, it’s your turn to apply all these techniques to design great learning journeys!
by Jamer Clear
What’s it about?
Well, that is as straightforward as this title: The Beginner’s Guide to Deliberate Practice!
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by Fast Company
What’s it about?
In general, the central idea of learning is that the number of connections in our brain increases. But getting rid of (pruning) uneffective connections is also important.
Why read it?
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by Patti Shank
What’s it about?
The way learning designers structure content for learners can be of big influence on learning effectivity. Good chunking pays off.
Why read it?
Where to find it?
by B.F. Skinner
What’s it about?
You might have heard of the concept of ‘reinforcement’ as a learning strategy, which can be used to learn pigeons play ping pong!
Why read it?
Where to find it?