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Comment on QantasFail by Vilu

Vilu — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:10:00 +0000

Sorry to hear about your (especially children’s) suffering, and thanks for letting us know ab the great service we can expect from Qantas. I and my family are not (maybe never) going to pay our money to them.
All the best,

Comment on 12 ideas for using brain-based learning by David

David — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:26:05 +0000

RE: Stella, A great point, I address it in this post: http://www.elearningconsultant.com.au/wordpress/?p=58, but I guess the key thing is that the Amygdala is involved in any strong emotion and emotional state, so it doesnt have to be fear. I suppose my ethical position is that to really take advanatage of the Amygdalas ability to encode memories really strongly, a very strong fear would be needed, and yes in many circumstances this would be ethically questionable.

RE: Chris: Great paper thanks mate! Will give it a read, may even blog about it:)

Comment on 12 ideas for using brain-based learning by Chris Van Wingerden

Chris Van Wingerden — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:49:55 +0000

On avatars/empathy, I recently came across this research paper on peer learning agents, where an avatar is not only used for a ‘teacher’ role within e-learning but also as a co-learner. Interesting results. A pdf can be found here: http://www.stanford.edu/~kiky/CSCL2005Maldonado.pdf

Comment on 12 ideas for using brain-based learning by Stella Collins

Stella Collins — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:10:57 +0000

hi David
I saw your posting on TJ so came to have a look. You have an impressive set of postings that I will revisit.

One thought springs to mind – if I understand it correctly the amygdala is particularly responsive to fear stimuli so is it something you want to stimulate particularly? I know fear is a great learning tool but what are the ethics in a managed learning situation?

I look forward to being in touch.
Stella

Comment on 3 ways to use neurotransmitters to enhance learning by David

David — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:53:36 +0000

ha ha I love it wwwwwd is perfect, if we can capture the wonderment of children, so we judgemental adults can experience it, then surely we have suceeded.

Comment on 3 ways to use neurotransmitters to enhance learning by Steve Cherches

Steve Cherches — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:22:14 +0000

Cool. With that in mind, I think I’ll use scented markers in my programs from now on Maybe “scratch & sniff” workbooks should be used as well. We might have discovered the Willy Wonka teaching method…!

And I think I might have a new blog post…! WWWWD (What Would Willy Wonka Do?)

Comment on 3 ways to use neurotransmitters to enhance learning by David

David — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:54:46 +0000

Thanks Steve. Scent is the most primitive sensory channel humans possess. When smelling occurs the information is sent not only for sensory processing and interpretation by higher functions, but also to the limbic system, which like the other items discussed is involved with emotions and reward. A Professor Engen recons that we ‘learn’ strong assoctations between smells and the circumstances in which we first experience them, creating ‘index keys’ to experiences. If he’s right then by uncovering a learners index key smells and tying them to specific learning material, times or approaches, you may be able to trigger enhanced recall and frame learning experiences with a specific emotion associated with a ‘key’ Interesting point thank you!

Comment on 3 ways to use neurotransmitters to enhance learning by Steve Cherches

Steve Cherches — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:42:53 +0000

Excellent post…! I use these techniques but had not fully realized what might be going on from a Neurological standpoint. Great stuff…!

I’m curious about toys as well (I use them constantly). What if they have a scent? What might be going on in our brains when we get a whiff of Play Doh…?

Comment on 3 ways to use neurotransmitters to enhance learning by David

David — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:24:13 +0000

Spot on Maureen, the use of simple games as rewards for assessment activities has been used extensively in eLearning. Now its easier than ever, so many of the ‘old school’ games are freely available as code engines that can be modified and intergeated into eLearning.

It has typically been used in 2 ways. Passing score gives x minutes of playtime and passing a quiz gives you access to the next level.

Comment on 3 ways to use neurotransmitters to enhance learning by Maureen Barlow

Maureen Barlow — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:05:00 +0000

I have a thought on how this could apply to eLearning: Have periodic quizzes throughout the eLearning module, and if the learner passes the quiz (or gets the question right if it’s a simple one-question brain-teaser quiz), he/she goes on to play a fun little game that doesn’t take too much time.