ECLO :: E-Learner No 26

The E-Learner
Issue No. 26

April 2002

Published by

Welcome to the twenty-sixth edition of The E-Learner, ECLO's electronic newsletter for members.

The E-Learner complements our existing hardcopy newsletter that will continue to carry articles and information of interest to ECLO members.

As always, we welcome contributions from members, as it is impossible to keep on top of the wealth of information on the World Wide Web on topics of interest to you all.

For your ongoing reference The E-Learner will be archived in the members' zone of our web site.

Editor: Brian Taylor

Editorial

The barriers of technology, as perceived by the Editor, are being gradually push back in this issue of E-Learner. You will detect a variety of presentational ‘styles’, by way of experimentation with our Readers and to check whether you are all still alive and paying attention !

The Amsterdam Conference is nearly upon us, with the possibility of one more issue of the E-Learner, prior to the event.

Items on ‘Out of Box’ thinking, ‘Appropriate’ Technologies for Learning, What makes for a ‘Brain-Rich’ Environment, Psychology in the Workplace, a host of ‘links’ on KM Learning, together with connections to our Conference Partners are all included to ensure that your brains are truly ‘scrambled’ and opening to new possibility on your arrival in Amsterdam.

It’s a time to celebrate your New Year in Organisational Learning, at the ECLO 9^th International Conference – Amsterdam – Starts 16 May - see you all there !!

ECLO Amsterdam Conference - May 16-18, 2002.

You now know what is different about this conference so no need to repeat it - it's all on the website (www.eclo.org) !!!!!

If you haven't enrolled yet, you should do and if you can't send someone you know who can !

We look forward to welcoming you in Amsterdam on May 16 for an innovative learning experience and share something DIFFERENT !

Five more ways to reach 'Out of Box' thinking

by Howard Eisner

Howard suggests five ways of approaching this issue and indicated that there are another five lurking in the shadows. To Howard’s surprise, lots people sent e-mails asking him the missing five, so if you are curious, give a call at the end of this piece.

Here are the original five:

Generalising and broadening
Crossing over,
Questioning conventional wisdom
Lateral thinking
Systems thinking.

Here are the next five:-

Remove constraint approach. When you are faced wi />
Back of the envelope. This means sketching your thoughts and solutions in a limited space, a "trick" to try to puzzle your way through very complicated problems. It forces one to simplify and follow the k.i.s.s. (keep it simple, stupid..) principle. It tends to lead to a better understanding of the most significant factors and how they might interact.
Obversity. This peculiar word actually means the negative counterpart of an affirmative proposition.

Want to more on ……..……> Click on

or email Howard on > heisner@seas.gwu.edu

Appropriate Technology for Learning ?

The University of Wisconsin suggests

Learning @ "The Speed of Light"

What do you think ?

Email 'Brain-Rich' Environments

What does the Brain Need ?

How does consciousness arise ?

What causes mind ?

What are the unique neurological processes of the human brain ?

Consider DNA, transactions, biochemistry, neurology, higher cortex, stimulus and response, reflex, sensation, receptors and hence >>>>> Learning.

Mind, Brain, and Consciousness

"These are the central questions that the great philosopher David Hume said are of unspeakable importance: How does the mind work, and beyond that why does it work in such a way and not another, and from these two considerations together what is man's ultimate nature?" E O Wilson
- "What in the soul is a passion in the body commonly speaking an action; so that there is no better means of arriving at a knowledge of our passions than to examine the difference which exists between soul and body in order to know to which of the two we must attribute each one of the functions within us." Descartes

"It follows that our mental conditions are simply the symbols in consciousness of the changes which take place automatically in the organism; and that, to take an extreme illustration, the feeling we call volition is not the cause of a voluntary act, but the symbol of that state of the brain which is the immediate cause of this act." T H Huxley

"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." Dan Quayle

How does the Brain work ? Find out Click on >>>>

More on ……….………>

Taster

Stress in the Workplace

In today's economic upheavals, downsizing, layoff, merger, and bankruptcies have cost hundreds of thousands of workers their jobs. Millions more have been shifted to unfamiliar tasks within their companies and wonder how much longer they will be employed. Adding to the pressures that workers face are new bosses, computer surveillance of production, fewer health and retirement benefits, and the feeling they have to work longer and harder just to maintain their current economic status. Workers at every level are experiencing increased tension and uncertainty, and are updating their resumes.

The loss of a job can be devastating, putting unemployed workers at risk for physical illness, marital strain, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Loss of a job affects every part of life, from what time you get up in the morning, to whom you see and what you can afford to do. Until the transition is made to a new position, stress is chronic.

A Sense of Powerlessness then, Click on >>>>>

Knowledge Creation

KMLEARNINGS

INTERESTING LINKS