Learning Nerd’s Diary #34
Welcome back Learning Nerds!
👀 Sneak peak
Here is what I have in store for you this week -
💭 Learning About Learning: Emotional Building Blocks
🥜 Learning Nugget: 3 Layers of Learning
💥 Coolest Thing I Learnt This Week: Art & Science of Learning
🔦 Spotlight: Creative Types
Let's jump right in!
💭 Emotional Building Blocks
Think about the best learning experience you have had - what words would you use to describe it?
Happy? Safe? Excited?
Now think of the worst learning experience you have had - what worlds would you use to describe it?
Discouraged? Scared? Nervous?
Emotions are the building blocks of learning. We focus on content and facilitation instead of focussing on emotions. Here are 4 emotions that can make your learning experience more engaging -
🤔 Confusion
From a jigsaw puzzle to a crime novel to the latest action movie on Netflix - all use confusion to their advantage!
Confusion is not bad. Confusion in the right doses can peak interest and attention of our learners.
Here is how you can design for confusion:
Start with action instead of theory. Let people do first, get confused and then focus on building clarity
Give different peers parts of a puzzle and get them to build the larger picture together
😱 Surprise
From a magician to birthdays - surprises add delight to our lives like nothing else.
In the learning context, surprises give that dopamine hit that helps learners associate positive emotions with learning.
Here is how you can surprise your learners:
Rewards positive behaviours. Reward doesn’t mean a gift, it could just mean a shoutout or putting the learners in the spotlight for something. Recognition foes a long way
Reveal discreetly. Like any good story, the best part is to see it unravel and not revealing everything upfront is key to it.
🤣 Humour
From memes to reels - humour is increasingly becoming a part of how we communicate today.
Humour does not mean a lack of seriousness - quite the opposite actually. Humour is a great way to talk about serious topics and make them more memorable.
Here is how you can add humour in you learning experiences:
Use memes, reels, TikToks in your content. It helps in communicating so much more than words ever can - plus your learners will never forget it
🥺 Vulnerability
Vulnerability is a slightly tricky one. We are made to believe that vulnerability is a weakness.
Now you might be wondering what role does vulnerability play in learning but it can be a really powerful tool to internalise learning.
Here is how you can make your learning experiences more vulnerable:
Build in moments to pause, reflect and share.
Create spaces to express gratitude
Remember - vulnerability has to start from you!
What other emotions can you think of that we don’t use very often? Tell me, I’d love to hear from you!
🥜 3 Layers of Learning
While learning something new we mostly focus on the ‘what’.
But for learning to make sense, we need to focus on all 3 - ‘what’, ‘so what’ & ‘what now’.
💥 Coolest Thing I Learnt this Week
Learning is Art AND Science
My partner-in-crime at NextLeap, Harsh Doshi & I keep coming back to this statement time and time again. Over the past 6 months, we have expanded from running 2 courses a month to running 6 courses this month!
And while this transition has not been easy, it has definitely been exhilarating to see how far we've come. As we scale, we have tried to build our own structures, templates and frameworks. But with every program we're surprised by the things we can't build frameworks for. As scientific as we try to be about this, there are some things that will be artistic and unpredictable. But then again, that's where the magic happens!
Learning from Conversations
David Perell, in this mini-essay talks Writing from Conversation. I think it holds true for learning as well.
Over the past few weeks, I have been interviewing people for our team at NextLeap. And while the conversations have been focussed on me trying to know more about the people I am speaking with, I find myself leaving with a lot more than that! From getting a new perspective on things we've been doing to finding a new way to articulate it - I am reminded that conversations are such a great way to learn!
🔦 Spotlight
I came across this test over the weekend in the Offbeat newsletter. I am obsessed with the visuals and the way questions are framed! Check it out - trust me it'll be the best 5 mins you'll spend.
Love & Learning
Until we meet next week!
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