Latest Lessons
How to Write a Vision and Mission Statement
How to Write a Vision and Mission Statement Do you know where your business is headed? And how it’s going to get there? Do you know where you are going? Do you know when you get there? Clear mission and vision statements will certainly help you focus on your core...
Levels of Communication Goals
Levels of Communications Goals Overview Relative to the broad subject of communication, there seem to be three levels of goals for effective communication. There could be more, perhaps 4 or 5 levels. Could pragmatic also be a level? Thus it seems reasonable...
History of Communication Models
This lesson, “History of Communication Models,” provides the necessary background to help us develop Communication “Best Practices” for our 21st Century Hyper-Connected Digital World.
This lesson provides the support for Fractal Quantum Communication Models. (Updated February 2025)
Shannon Entropy and Information Gain
Humble Inquiry
Humble Inquiry - The best way to learn more. American culture prioritizes action, practicality, and competition over courteousness and respect. But there’s a different way. In his popular book, retired MIT professor Edgar H. Schein encourages openness and curiosity...
The Structure of Virtual Learning Communities
The Structure of Virtual Learning Communities Abstract—Virtual learning communities(VLCs) are an effective way for people to conduct online education. This paper analyzes the basic characteristics of virtual learning community from three dimensions: technology,...
Deep Learning – The Next Big Educational Thing
The Democratization of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning Abstract Deep learning is driving rapid innovations in artificial intelligence and influencing massive disruptions across all industries. This is the beginning of my effort to see if Deep Learning will...
Educational Blockchains are Catching On
Educational Blockchains are Catching On Blockchain is advancing in higher education, as it is in all of society, with some interesting new applications and ramifications. The origins of "Blockchains" stem from the need to track packets as they move through the network...
Politeness Theory
Politeness theory describes how communication is enhanced and goals more likely achieved when “Civility” is a key element in communication. Updated June 2024
Communication with Diplomacy
Communication with Diplomacy and Tact Defined generally as communicating in ways that instill good feelings in others and avoid creating bad feelings, communicating with diplomacy and tact requires specific linguistic and nonlinguistic considerations. This course...
Other Wireless Considerations
OTHER WIRELESS CONSIDERATIONS Installed Life Cycle Costs The cost of a wireless system is a rapidly moving target, and it can’t be said if costs are rising or falling because the equipment is getting more complex. Most people assume that a wireless LAN is less...
Giving Feedback
Providing Feedback is a fundamental force in Communication. This lesson suggests three things to do before giving feedback: assess the quality of your relationship, diagnose the situation and clarify your motives, make sure there is clear agreement about goals, roles, and expectations. Updated Sept. 2023
Avoid the “Messenger Mindset”
Avoid the “Messenger Mindset” So often in preparing to communicate, we make a fundamental mistake: we enter a messenger mindset. Rather than establishing a clear goal and aiming to persuade our audience, we set out to inform, to update, to share. On this path, we end...
Communication Styles to Avoid
Communication Styles to Avoid Very negative. Seeing things in black and white, and blowing things out of proportion. The glass for this person is usually half empty as they dwell heavily on the worst possible outcome. They “should” on others, placing expectations of...
Communication Quotes
Communication Quotes No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. — Mark Twain To effectively communicate, we...
Telecommunication Law Fundamentals
Telecommunication Law Fundamentals The course focuses on the development of telecommunications law and policy as it relates to a variety of telecommunications technologies: broadcast spectrum of radio and television cable and satellite wireline and cellular telephone...
Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence Lessig http://www.lessig.org Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Prior to rejoining the Harvard faculty, Lessig was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he founded the school’s Center for Internet...
Telecommunications Law
Telecommunications Law deals with several themes, which specifically include: The Role of Laws and Regulations in a Community and How to ensure the laws are optimal How Laws affect the integration and convergence of the different telecommunications technologies The...
Paul & Elder Critical Thinking Framework
The Paul Elder Critical thinking Framework is another attempt to help us process information better by providing structure to our thinking. Updated Sept. 2023
2 Elements of Reasoning Well
Reasoning Well is Critical for Effective Decision Making There is much truth to the old saying that life is just one decision after another. That’s why decision-making is one of life’s major preoccupations. "Reasoning well" is an essential ingredient in...
Charlie Munger Teaches Critical Thinking Skills
Who is Charlie Munger? Wit and Wisdom From The World’s Most Irreverent Billionaire Charlie Munger is one of the great minds of the 20th century. Below is an attempt to capture that wisdom in one shareable place. “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you...
Critical Thinking
Being Critical, Not Thinking Critically Too often in practice, people equate critical thinking with merely being skeptical of whatever they hear. Or they will interpret it to mean that, when confronted with someone who says something that they disagree with,...
Whistled Languages help understand Cognitive Processes
Herodotus mentioned whistled languages in the fourth book of his work The Histories, but until recently linguists had done little research on the sounds and meanings of this now endangered form of communication. New investigations have discovered the presence of...
Neuro Linguistic Programing
Neuro Linguistic ProgrammingSkeptics ViewI think the more you want to become more and more creative you have to not only elicit other peoples' (plural) strategies and replicate them yourself, but also modify others' strategies and have a strategy that creates new...
Neural Networks
A Basic Introduction To Neural Networks http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~bolo/shipyard/neural/local.html What Is A Neural Network? The simplest definition of a neural network, more properly referred to as an 'artificial' neural network (ANN), is provided by the inventor of...
How We Think
[ted id=2265]Great Videos of how we think. Specifically the comments about how we can take very little information and create huge conclusions. Here is a Transcript of one of them. 00:12 Imagine that you invented a device that can record my memories, my dreams, my...
Obstacles to Learning
Obstacles to Learning Noise as a Fundamental Obstacle to Learning Let me go on record and acknowledge that I truly understand that while getting good enough information for learning is fairly easy, getting the “BEST” information for learning is not so easy. The reason...
Review: Stanford Media Literacy Study
Most Students Don’t Know When News Is Fake. So a Review of the Stanford Media Literacy Study Finds Teens absorb social media news without considering the source; parents can teach research skills and skepticism Preteens and teens may appear dazzlingly fluent, flitting...
4 Simple Media Literacy Rules
4 Simple Media Literacy Rules I just heard the news: "The top 20 fake stories received more “shares, reactions, and comments” than the 20 top real news stories in the final months of the presidential campaign." It seems fake news is more appealing and, apparently,...
Media Literacy Challenges
Media Literacy Challenges Did media literacy backfire? Anxious about the widespread consumption and spread of propaganda and fake news during this year’s election cycle, many progressives are calling for an increased commitment to media literacy programs. Others are...
How To Improve Media Literacy
Updated March 1, 2023 This Lesson is focused on finding the best ways to promote and support media literacy in the community. Our focus is on helping everyone, young and old, to develop critical thinking and media production skills needed to live fully in the 21st...
List of Fallacious Arguments
Several of these have names in Latin, but I mostly ignored that and used English. If anyone is bothered by my using "he" everywhere, note that "he" is the person arguing fallaciously. Ad Hominem (Argument To The Man) Affirming The Consequent Amazing Familiarity...
How to Translate Conservative Speak
In order to process all the information available, we need to know how to translate conservative speak. In this case we can use GOP Rep Steve King. Steve was on CNN yesterday to explain to us all that Vladimir Putin is no real danger to free speech because, hey, Garry...
Agnotology Described
Agnotology Described In 1979, a secret memo from the tobacco industry was revealed to the public. Called the Smoking and Health Proposal, and written a decade earlier by the Brown & Williamson tobacco company, it revealed many of the tactics employed by big...
Noam Chomsky Interview
Noam Chomsky discusses the evolution of language and lays out the biolinguistic perspective — the idea that a human being’s language represents a state of some component of the mind. The important contribution Chomsky is making here is about “Biolinguistics.” Because there is a genetic “biological” foundation to communication, understanding how our biology influences our language development and use will help us better master communication.
The reason I post it here is for the community to find stuff in this Noam Chomsky Interview that we can use to add to our overall community learning. Updated Feb. 2024.
Understand Bias
Develop the Skills to Understand Bias
How to Use Questions Effectively
How to use Questions Effectively Questions to Consider in Conversations Questions are a great way to start and maintain successful communication. Here are some suggestions of questions to consider in conversations. But, the questions have to be honest and you really...
Communication Skills to Improve Decision Making
The Most Important Communication Skills Needed to Improve your Decision Making And Information Gathering. Becoming a great communicator – what does it mean and what does it take? Communication Styles De-Coded: How to identify and understand the different communication...
Communication Skills
The Most Important Communication Skills Needed to Improve your Decision Making And Information Gathering. Becoming a great communicator – what does it mean and what does it take? Communication Styles De-Coded: How to identify and understand the different communication...
Communicating Ideas
Communicating Ideas At some point in our lives, we all have to communicate an idea or concept to someone or some audience. Sometimes the idea is simple and the communication is simple. Sometimes the idea is complex and that raises the difficulty of communicating...
Asking Why Could be Bad
Asking Why questions can be very bad if you're not carful. “Why? Why not?” These questions seem innocent—even helpful. But they’re quietly killing your business. When someone hears “why” or “why not,” they are primed to justify the current situation. Your team hears...
Communication Careers List
Communication Careers List Last Updated - July 9, 2019 Public Relations Journalism Media Production and Direction Graphic Design and Direction Information Management Network Management Speech/Language Therapy Please note: The communication careers list was...
Reasons to Invest in Communication Training
Communication can be simply defined as, "The act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication...
Goal of Communication is to Get What You Want
Communication is about getting what you want When I go to a restaurant and I give the waiter my order, I am communicating that I want the waiter to tell the Cook to make something and when it is ready to bring it to me. I communicate to get food. Getting what you...
Communication Careers
What career opportunities are with a communication degree? Career Options: There are many career paths that a person with a Communication Major can choose. Here are some job titles that former graduates with Communication Majors hold. Use this as an ideas list,...
Finding the Information Sweet Spot in Any Situation
Good Information is the Foundation of Good Decision Making Some decisions we make are life-changing, like my decision to volunteer for the Army during the Viet Nam war. Other decisions are not life changing at all, as my decision this morning to buy an extra onion...
The Structure of Language
This lesson suggests the more we know about the structure of language the better our communication. And the better our communication the better are our decisions. (Last Updated Sept 2023)
The Functions of Communication
This Lesson describes the basic Functions of Communication: Getting what you want, getting someone else to do something, entertainment, and learning. (Updated Oct 2022)
Communication Frames Analysis
The theory was first put forth by Goffman, under the title of Frame Analysis (link to PDF of article). He put forth that people interpret what is going on around their world through their primary framework. This framework is regarded as primary as it is taken for...
6 Communication Rules to Follow
Before I get into the golden rules of communication, it’s important to understand how our understanding of communication has changed. Yes, plenty has stayed the same – people are still people, after all – but the way that people interact with one another and the...
Communication Models
Foundations of Communication Communication Models Over time, communication scholars have increasingly expanded our understanding of the communication process through the use of three models: 1.Linear Model - The oldest, most simplified model 2.Interactional Model - A...
History of Communication
Communication History The history of communication begins before Humans. But, let's start with humans anyway. Let's just start with the concept of "Symbols." For the purposes of this discussion, communication is defined as the movement of some intent from a sender...
The Transmission Model of Communication
Description of the Transmission Model of Communication, with a focus on Claude Shannon. Discussions of the components, architecture, constraints, and applications of the Transmission Model of Communication. And, how it has led to the development of the Fractal Model of Communication. Updated March 2023.
Commonly Misused Phrases
This lesson describes some of the commonly misused phrases that would improve your communication if you avoided them Updated Oct 2023
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are some things you might be doing to undermine your effectiveness as a communicator, and you may not even know you’re doing them. Over-Communicating You’re not an effective communicator if you just repeat the same message over and over. If you want to remind...
Communication Economics
Communication Economics and Development aims to determine a methodology for integrating communication variables into economic development models. The first five chapters of the book cover the theoretical issues and their conceptualization as the basis for deriving a...
The Neurophysiology of Religion
This lesson on the Neurophysiology of Religion looks at the cognitive science that tries to understand how we process Religious Information.
Neurotheology
Iran J Neurol. 2014; 13(1): 52–55. PMCID: PMC3968360 PMID: 24800050 Neurotheology: The relationship between brain and religion Alireza Sayadmansourcorresponding author Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer This article has been...
What 21st Century Work Requires of 21st Century Education
An Analysis of a 1991 US Labor Dept Report called, “What Work Requires.” This report is evidence to Support my Learning Community Architecture.
How to Encourage Responsible and Meaningful Engagement in Public Discourse
I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of -CLARENCE D ARROW To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know. That is true knowledge. -HENRY DAVID THOREAU We have met the enemy and he is us. -WALT KELLY'S "PoGo"...
Claud Shannon’s Problem Solving Algorithm: Paint the Big Picture First, Then Fill In the Details
I consider Claude Shannon one of my most important influences. Along with Alan Turing and F. A. Hayek. So, when I came across a post about Shannon's Problem Solving Algorithm, I had to read it. The post is Claude Shannon: How a Genius Solves Problems. In the post...
Claud Shannon's Problem Solving Algorithm: Paint the Big Picture First, Then Fill In the Details
I consider Claude Shannon one of my most important influences. Along with Alan Turing and F. A. Hayek. So, when I came across a post about Shannon's Problem Solving Algorithm, I had to read it. The post is Claude Shannon: How a Genius Solves Problems. In the post...
9 Traits of Emerging Disruptors
9 Traits of Emerging Disruptors Disruption causes quantum shifts in industries and societal behavior by digitizing the analog, upending economic models and otherwise challenging the status quo. The disruptors think differently and act differently than the incumbents....
Trump Twitter Taxonomy: How Trump is using Twitter to manipulate the country
President Trump on Twitter behavior: ‘I’m a very stable genius’ When asked during a NATO press conference if President Trump will tweet differently once departing on Air Force One, the president said he will not because he is a "stable genius." President Donald...
Ira Gorelick Model
Fractal Thinking Perfectly Fits Communication Theory. The Three Ages of the History of Communication Models The history of communication models can be divided into three "Ages:" Age 1 - Linear Communication ModelsIt starts with Aristotle and goes through...
The mathematical theory of Communication – Claude Shannon
The mathematical theory of communication mathematical theory of communication
Learning Is Not a Spectator Sport
I came across a old presentation with the title, "Learning Is Not a Spectator Sport." So a brief search provided a lot of great information. This is particularly important as I am building a Learning Management System LMS. Here are some of the things I found out: Free...
Talking to Conservatives
This is how we process information today. Dan Adams+1 Obama, the Democrats and Trump Derangement Syndrome Liberals are completely f***ed up in the head. Frank Roberts Brad, Clearly you miss the point of Fascism. Jews can be just as Fascistic as non-Jews. Trump...
Atlantis Learning Community Executive Summary
Atlantis Learning Community Executive Summary Initiative Provide the best flexible, lifelong learning platform through the use of 21st Century technologies. Mission Encourage collaboration Facilitate interoperability Promote best practices for using distributed...
My Definition of Fake News
On Sunday Dec. 4, 2016, Edgar Welch, 28, fired a real gun inside a real Washington, D.C., pizzeria filled with real people. When The New York Times asked Welch what he thought when he realized there were no child slaves inside the restaurant, as one fake news story...
Applying Alan Turing’s Universal Computing Machine to Media Literacy
I think it is possible to create a "Universal Media Literacy Machine" in the same way Alan Turing created a "Universal Computing Machine." Alan Turning, the fundamentally complicated and brilliant mathematician, suggested, in his groundbreaking 1936 paper, that a...
Applying Alan Turing's Universal Computing Machine to Media Literacy
I think it is possible to create a "Universal Media Literacy Machine" in the same way Alan Turing created a "Universal Computing Machine." Alan Turning, the fundamentally complicated and brilliant mathematician, suggested, in his groundbreaking 1936 paper, that a...
Media literacy Is Critical For Reasoned Discussion
Without Media Literacy Our Future is Bleak. And without Media Literacy we cannot have any chance for reasoned discussion. “At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish. … If...
Why the Confederate flag started trending after the Charleston shooting – BBC News
Why the Confederate flag started trending after the Charleston shooting It was reported later that suspect Dylann Roof drove a car with Confederate flag licence plates. In the wake of the mass shooting in South Carolina, the image of the Confederate flag started...
Why and How to Develop a Skills Learning Plan
Lesson on developing a Skills Learning Plan. And suggestions on what factors you need to consider in developing your Skills Learning Plan. (Updated Jan 26, 2023)
3 Ways Learning will Change
3 Ways Learning Will Change This is my periodic visit to the the question: What will learning look like in the future. We will continue to see big changes in both learners and learning environments. The key driver, The Digital Revolution. With omnipresent internet...
5 Things About How We Learn That You Have to Unlearn to Succeed
In order to succeed in the 21st Century there are some important things you need to understand about how we learn. Throughout history, education has been about teaching the next generation to do what the previous generation wants them to do. Here are 5 things you have...
Learning Community Learning Platform
Learning Community Learning Platform Key Drivers: Personalized Learning Plans and Micro-Learning!
Giving Away Knowledge for Free and Only Charging for Knowledge Assessment Is An Online Learning Model Validated by Latest Coursera Moves
A recent move by Coursera, one of the largest Online education providers, validates a new online learning model where knowledge is given away for free, but assessment is paid for. The answer is to separate Knowledge acquisition from knowledge assessment. Essentially...
5 Things We Should Do in 2016 to Make Our Community Better!
There are 5 things we should do in 2016 to make our community better! We should listen more and preach less. We should build more opportunities to learn from each other,. We should tap into our seniors to provide them an opportunity to be more productive. We should...
5 Keys to Effective Communication
As we move through life, how we communicate is one of the most important skills for success. However, while many recognize the importance of communications, few spend any time understanding what makes a good communicator. Here are 5 keys to Effective...
The 2 Most Important Things we Always Need to Learn to Be Successful
The two most important things we always need to learn to be successful are: 1) how to use the tools available to us, and 2) how to use our minds to best use the tools. And the important reality is that while the tools we need to learn to be successful change all the...
5 Ways Technology Can and Should Be used to Improve Education
Here are 5 ways Technology Can and Should be used to improve education. Technology has always been a powerful tool in learning. The earliest learning technology, writing, transformed learning from just the memorization of stories told by a few near-by elders, to the...
Micro-Credentials! The 21st Century Educational Goal!
Prior to the domestication of the electron, we had to go to "bricks and mortar" buildings and campuses to learn. But, today, you don't have to leave your desk to have virtually unlimited learning options available to you. Unfortunately, our existing industrialized...
2 Examples of Trump's Racism in One Week that Should Scare Us All!
Two things happened this week that clearly point to Trump's Racism. And it should scare us all. Event 1 - The beating of a Black man at a Trump Rally. This event reminds me of the treatment of Jews prior to WWII. Event 2 - Trump tweeted out a patently false,...
Cognitive Resonance From Communication
[ted id=2265] Great Video of how we think. Specifically the comments about how we can take very little information and create huge conclusions.
3 Fundmental Functions of Education in the Community
There are 3 fundamental functions of education in every community: 1) Discover new knowledge, 2) Teach skills the community needs to thrive, and 3) Provide an opportunity for personal growth and enrichment. The great thing is that these three functions are intimately...
10 Blended Learning Trends
Blended Learning is learning that combines analog and digital, asynchronous and synchronous, mobile and fixed (Physical School), and electronic and human. Blended learning is the 21st Century way to learn!
7 Education Websites that Demonstrate the Power of 21st Century Learning Communities
The instant we domesticated the electron we gave to educators the power to transform 18th Century paper based teacher centered education into 21st Century learning tools. EdTech is what we call this electronic Education Technology. And the world over smart people...
7 Principles of Success from SAP CEO Bill McDermott and What I learned from it!
In his new book Winners Dream: A Journey From Corner Store to Corner Office, SAP CEO Bill McDermott offers his suggestions for 7 Principles of success. (The full post is below). I have my own 7 principles for success. Let me see how well they align. My view is...
Gallup Study found reasons for our failing Education Systems. I Completely Agree with their findings!
A recent Gallup Study gathered some data that pointed to the reasons for our failing Education. Gallup found that those educational institutions that make intentional efforts to embrace the fundamentals of human development will thrive, others will fail badly. While...
5 Reasons Why Schools Can, and should, be different today and why it is Important
I have been either a student or a teacher for most of my life. The way I've taught all my class is with me standing in front of the class and leading the class though a "curriculum." And in most cases, I find it mind-numbingly boring for both the teachers and...
Basic Education Should be Free!
And the Community should be more than happy to pay for it!
Solution Aversion – Why people believe what they believe
The Learning Community is always interested in what causes some to refuse to learn. A recent study on this subject by Troy Campbell and Aaron Kay of Duke University adds an intriguing new idea to the mix: “solution aversion.” Motivated Reasoning is something the...
Net Neutrality is the Perfect Vehicle to Explore the Power of a Learning Community
Because of its technical nature Net Neutrality is perfect for a Learning Community. Net Neutrality encompasses: Technical - What is the Optimal Internet Architecture Economic - What should be the drivers of the Telecommunications Industry Political - What role does...
3 Learning Steps
Step one: gain a complete understanding of the natural laws that govern the thing you are trying to learn. Step two: gain a complete understanding of our own capabilities, aptitudes, skills, and talents for the thing you are trying to learn. Step three: implement...
It is all about Information and our Shared Definitions of That Information
Learning Communication Semantics - Glossary - Definitions Syntactics - Grammar - Pragmatics - Learning Communication Social Rules Prosodic - Meta-Communication, Communication about Communication, Para-communication Idiosyncratic - Using all the above to create...
21st Century “Learning Communication Rules” for Teaching and Learning.
Like all communication, Learning Communication is governed by rules, specific to the context of learning. The more the participants of the learning opportunity understand the rules of Learning Communication the more likely the participants will be able benefit from...
2 Strategies for Improving Educational Performance
Take a look at a photo of a classroom from any time in the past. Compared to a typical classroom today, it's hard to see any substantial differences. The reason for this; the classroom is always going to be a slow adaptor to new ideas. Fortunately there are many...
We need to Seek Understanding First in our efforts in finding Common Ground rather than fight
Bill Maher asked this question, "Do you think social media made us bigger assholes, or we were bigger assholes and it just exposed us as being that?" Maher posed the question to Nerdist Industries CEO, and host of @Midnight on Comedy Central, Chris Hardwick, after...