“With so many good teachers out there, it’s fortunate they can share their knowledge via video on the Internet. From the funny to the poignant, these glimpses into the lives of teachers and their students will keep you entertained while learning a little something as well. Whether you are a new teacher storing up tips and tricks or an experienced teacher who could just use a fresh perspective, you are sure to find something helpful among these videos.”
XPLANE workshops in London and Geneva: Thinking visually to tackle business challenges
A creative and innovative approach to problem solving: Statistical surveys have shown that design and visualisation have a verifiable impact on business performance. Visual articulation is important when solving a problem that involves strategic goals and initiatives. At its core, it helps bridge the problem or opportunity with the solution. That is why helping decision makers to think and express themselves visually gives organisations a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Facilitators for the September 30, 2008 London workshop include Pablo M. Ramírez, Client Services Director of XPLANE EMEA and Martin Hill, VP Marketing EMEA for Lawson Software.
- Understand the meaning and value of visual thinking
- Use a creative and innovative method to solve business challenges
- Use visual tools to help you generate, evaluate and organise ideas
- Learn how to use them to contextualise, prioritise and harness change
- Extend these new techniques and methodology to your team
Go to www.xplane.com/events to download the registration forms and get more info.
Scrnshots
“Scrnshots.com is a community for designers to share screenshots of interesting and beautiful design.” (Thanks Jon!)
Reading Process Is Surprisingly Different That Previously Thought, Technology Shows
“Scientists have been interested in the movements of our eyes while reading for forty years. However, until now most assumed that when we read both eyes look at the same letter of a word concurrently.
Now ground-breaking research by cognitive psychologist Professor Simon Liversedge and his team at the University of Southampton has shown that this is not actually the case. They found that our eyes are actually up to something much more exciting when we read — our eyes look at different letters in the same word and then combine the different images through a process known as fusion.”
Yes, Stop Taking Advice and Start Learning on Your Own
“At first I wasn’t too sure how to take the post from Slant Six Creative’s blog post stop taking advice. In the post it suggests that reading too many blogs will drive you crazy, and within that context DesignNotes is mentioned along with a couple others. There’s one maxim where no press is bad press, but I also was wondering after reading it if that means that there’s one less person about to read about my observations. So I deferred to a friend to find out what she thought. Thankfully she thought it was actually quite a good post. The thing that surprised me about the original post was the premise that I’m giving advice.”
SVA MFA IN DESIGN CRITICISM OPENS FALL 2008
“The new MFA in Design Criticism at the School of Visual Arts is now accepting applications for Fall 2008. This innovative two-year program trains students to research, analyze, and evaluate design and its social and environmental implications. Study with some of the best design writers and thinkers of our time, including: ‘Studio 360′ host and author Kurt Andersen; MoMA’s design curator Paola Antonelli; Pentagram partner and co-founder of Design Observer, Michael Bierut; former editor of I.D. Magazine Ralph Caplan; Metropolis contributing editor Karrie Jacobs; and architecture critic Philip Nobel.”
Free webinar: Visual Thinking in E-Learning
“Tony Karrer wrote a post VizThink and Visual Thinking and Learning: Still not sure last week. It’s in reference to a conversation he was having with Tom Crawford, the CEO of VizThink about whether it would be valuable for e-learning professionals to attend the conference he is organizing in January.
Several of us who are facilitating at the conference responded, and a very interesting conversation developed… Dave Gray has been a leader in this field for many years, and his company Xplane has opened an office here in Portland. Dave joined in the conversation with Tony, and since he is a featured facilitator at the VizThink conference, Tom Crawford arranged for Dave and Tony to have an expanded discussion in a free webinar.”
- Topic: How is Visual Thinking Related to eLearning?
- Guests: Tony Karrer & Dave Gray
- Date: Thursday, December 20th, 2008
- Time: 8am Pacific, 10am Central, 4pm GMT
- Cost: FREE
Productivity and Fascination
“I’d like to think that any effort we put into learning something is because there was some level of awe and wonder when we first discovered it. Especially something we have enough interest in to develop a career, or an education, around it.”
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Question: How do I start researching?
“Answer: Treat research as a lifestyle not an assignment… Whether you are conducting research along scientific, literary, or historical principles, these steps, known as the Invisible College, will help develop passions and interests.” (Thanks Rebecca’s Pocket!)
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Design students/professors: How do you critique?
“Question for everyone: How extensive/thought filled are your critiques that are conducted in class? Two parts to this question: …The reason why i ask this: In my classes, i’ve heard a lot of students unable to speak their mind. I hear a lot of ‘cool’ ‘i like it’ ‘i don’t like it’ all mixed in with the word ‘like’ about 20 times in a sentence. The critiques are often lacking substance, and teh students don’t back up their opinion.”


