The Art of Learning

Lifelong Learning in Programming

Learning by Online Debate and Discussion
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

Education: Curriculum, Syllabus, Teaching Methods.
Learning: Making a Mental Model. Learning Styles, Cognitive Science
Understanding: Seeing the flow
Feeling: Balls to Bones

http://www.klee.ac/en/lsp/science_en_020730.pdf

Motivation/Why I wanna Learn:
---------------------------------
I'm doing it because I know it makes me stronger.
Being truthful. If I don't understand/know something admit it, learn and grow.

What happens when I do this?Where does it end?What makes it tick?How does it work?Why does it work in that way?Is there a better way to do this?Is there any direct way of doing this instead of the complex way?I just want to change this one parts behaviour independant of other parts?I've always wanted to do this. Can it do this?Where can I get to the meat of the matter?What can I use this for?
+ Read about ideas and technologies. Thought and discussed a) concepts, (WHAT) b) reinventing it, (HOW) c) tradeoffs, (WHY) d) applications. (WHERE)
+ Tried out ideas on a bare-bones model. a) Experimented with edge-cases, (what-if) b) Special circumstances, c) Special needs and applications. Didn't want complete it. Too complex.
+ Used libraries/tools. a) Tracing the flow of the system. b) Joining 2 things to create a new thing. Didn't add more things. Too complex. Have to design/create piping between tools/libraries. Piping Code and Processing code should be seperated.

Learning Style Preferences

INTP:

+ Big picture

+ Structure

+ Logic

+ Concepts

+ Model

+ Understanding

+ Simplicity in Complexity

+ Continual Practise

+ Detachment/Objective view

+ Intuitive

+ Perceptive

+ Different points of view/situations

+ Thought processes/Heuristics

+ Clarity of thought

+ Observe

+ Competence

+ Independant thought

+ Knowledge, Meaning

+ Innovative (doing more with what is available by reconfiguring things)

+ Freeform solutions

+ Abstract ideas applied to real life situations/problems.

+ Controlled freedom

+ Library

+ Able to see patterns, relationships between seemingly unconnected data

ENFP:

+ Global Learner (Top-Down approach)

  Learn through many different paths: observing, reading, listening, interacting, debugging, discover, research and explore. Brainstorming with others to develop new ideas.

+ Communication Skills, Seminars, Teaching, Mentoring

+ ideas person

+ Creativity and Insight into situations, problem solving and people.

===========================================================

Learning Style:

INTP:

INTPs learn best by reading, reflecting and conceptualizing.

To them, learning is an ongoing process throughout life, and a way of understanding the universe. They enjoy playing with ideas, experimenting with possibilities and thinking around their subject, and are often absorbed in thought.

They learn particularly well on their own or in small groups and prefer unstructured teaching in which they are free to explore ideas and experiment for themselves. They ask many questions and tend not to accept a teacher’s or a system’s authority at face value. Memorization of facts, sequential exercises and hands-on training are less useful to them than discussion, reflection, analysis and brainstorming. They prefer an intellectually stimulating atmosphere in which open debate or enquiry is encouraged, though they may need encouragement to communicate and explain their ideas in terms that other people can understand. They enjoy amassing knowledge and demonstrating their expertise or competence in their own field, but may need to learn to utilize their knowledge in practical ways.

As learners, INTPs:

·        ask searching questions

·        enjoy systems, theories, concepts and abstract patterns

·        are good at analyzing, conceptualising and theorizing

·        dislike structure, targets and routine

·        are stimulated by ideas and quick to grasp possibilities

·        may need to think about how they can use what they have learnt

·        may need to integrate their ideas into a whole, rather than go from subject to subject

·        are motivated to improve themselves and their understanding

·        may not be thorough and overlook facts and details

INTPs learn best when:

·        encountering new problems or opportunities from which to learn

·        encouraged to read, research and reflect on a subject

·        listening and observing, e.g. watching how other people do things, listening to a lecture or presentation, taking notes

·        allowed to give free reign to their creativity and inspiration

·        allowed to absorb ideas at their own pace and to digest them thoroughly before acting on them or making decisions

·        encouraged to excel and praised for a good job

·        given the opportunity to explore or question assumptions, presuppositions or methodologies

·        being presented with logical, coherent arguments

INTPs learn least well and may be demotivated when:

·        having to take centre stage or being put 'under the spotlight'

·        asked to repeat essentially the same activity over and over again

·        there is more focus on facts and figures than intellectual exploration

·        being taught by 'rote' (i.e. repetition), or when given specific instructions or rigid guidelines

·        involved in situations which require spur-of-the-moment action and decision-making

·        presented with too many distractions or alternatives

Howto create a knowledge base using Wikis

[Howto]
How to start a wiki
Use Google Site's Project Wiki Template to create your wiki in minutes
WikiPatterns wiki for building wikis (patterns, antipatterns, adoption-patterns, adoption-anti-patterns) 
Interview on "Who Writes Wikipedia"

[Softwares]
Pikie - A Blog like wiki
TiddlyWiki

WikiMindMap (converts a wikipedia entry into a freemind mind-map)
MediaWiki Administrators’ Tutorial Guide

[Hosting]
Comparison of Wiki farms

[Books]
Professional Wikis (Wrox)
MediaWiki - Beyond Wikipedia (O'Reilly)
Wikis for Dummies
WikiPatterns - Patterns working For and Against Wiki Adoption

The WikiWay Book wiki by Ward Cunningham

Wikinomics home page
Wikinomics Summary



[See Also]

Howto use Moodle for Creating a Learning Environment

[About]
What is Moodle?
About Moodle (details)
Moodle Demonstration Site
Moodle features course

[Howtos]
Writing Lessons using Moodle's Lesson-Module
Lesson-Module FAQ
Writing Books using Moodle's Book-Module

Books:
Using Moodle (online flash version)
Using Moodle (pdf version),
Using Moodle web-page,


Moodle E-Learning Course Development 
Moodle 1.9 Teaching Techniques
Moodle Teacher Handbook
Moodle 1.9 Multimedia
Using Lessons in Moodle: An Illustrated Guide 
Effective Use of Quizzes in Moodle

Howto Keep Your Brain Flexible, Strong and Active

Brain-Games to help keep it in shape by an expert in learning science click here

TODO:


Kawashima Brain Training Game
Eye-Q Speed Reading Trainer


[ProblemSolving]
Wikipedia on "How to Solve It by George Polya" (Pdf on
How To Solve It, Scanned book"How to Solve It " from Scribd)
How to Solve It: Modern Heuristics
How to Develop a Mindset for Math | BetterExplained,
Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning (Volume I) by George Polya,
Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning: Volume II Patterns and Inference by George Polya,
Mathematical Discovery: On Understanding, Learning and Teaching,
The Language of Mathematics: Making the Invisible Visible by Keith Devlin


[Puzzles]
Puzzles for Programmers and Pros
Solve One Puzzle A Day


[Visual-Spatial]
Xultris (Tetris) for FireFox
Sudoku for FireFox
Sokoban for Windows
Rubiks Cube


[Auditory]
ming-a-ling for FireFox: "Passively" learn words and phrases of a foreign language while you browse the web.
TODO - Podcasts

[Kineaesthetic]
The Mathematical Mechanic: Using Physical Reasoning To Solve Problems
Mathematics and the Physical World,
Mathematics for the Nonmathematician,
Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach (Second Edition)

Teach Yourself Mathematics in an Intuitive, Interesting and Fun Way

The "Head First Series" on Mathematics is a great resource on learning mathematics from the basics.

They're brought out editions on Statistics, Algebra and there's even a Manga Guide to Calculus (though this needs to be imported from US)!!!

The Teaching Company (TTC) have some good videos on learning mathematics (and other subjects too).

Problem Solving approaches to attack a problem from multiple angles

How to Solve It by George Polya
Wikipedia on "How to Solve It by George Polya",
Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning (Volume I) by George Polya,
Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning: Volume II Patterns and Inference by George Polya,
How to Solve It: Modern Heuristics by Michaelwicz and Fogel,

Teaching and Learning

Mathematical Discovery: On Understanding, Learning and Teaching by George Polya,
Teaching Math with Moodle 1.9 (open source free software and book)

Interview of Polya on Mathematical Abilities : http://tme.coe.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/v21n1_Editorial_KilpatrickPolya.pdf

"Mathematician's Mind - The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field" by Jacques Hadamard : http://www.inp.nsk.su/~silagadz/Hadamard_Essay.pdf (later this essay was reissued as the book)

Learning and Understanding Math Intuitively

The Mathematical Mechanic: Using Physical Reasoning To Solve Problems
Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach (Second Edition) by Morris Kline
Mathematics and the Physical World by Morris Kline,
Mathematics for the Non-mathematician,
The Language of Mathematics: Making the Invisible Visible by Keith Devlin
chycho (with Video Series on Mathematics freely available as a torrent)
How to Lie with Statistics


Head First Series:

1. Head First 2D Geometry,
2. Head First Algebra,
3. Head First Statistics,
4. Manga Guide to Calculus,
5. Mathematica Cookbook,
6. Statistics Hacks, Statistics in a Nutshell

Links

How to Develop a Mindset for Math | BetterExplained,
Excellent article on Math Notation (Semiotics),
(Cut-The-Knot.org) Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles, Index,
According to the Rules (Rete AI algorithm in easy english)
Math Better Explained : Downloadable ebook with slides ($$)
Blog on Setting up Moodle for Mathematics
Teach College Math Resources (presentations etc) 


========

George Polya’s 10 commandments for teachers:

1. Be interested in your subject. Convince the kids that mathematics is amusing.
 

2. Know your subject.

3. Know about the ways of learning: The best way to learn anything is to discover it by yourself.

4. Try to read the faces of your students, try to see their expectations and difficulties, put yourself in their place.

5. Give them not only information, but “know-how”, attitudes of mind, the habit of methodical work.

6. Let them learn guessing.

7. Let them learn proving.

8. Look out for such features of the problem at hand as may be useful in solving the problems to come – try to disclose the general pattern that lies behind the present concrete situation.

9. Do not give away your whole secret at once—let the students guess before you tell it—let them find out by themselves as much as feasible.

10. Suggest it, do not force it down your throats.

==============

Fun Maths:

Arvind Gupta Math Toys and Books,
"e": The Story of a Number,
An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i"

The Teaching Company (Videos/Audios) on Learning Different Subjects:

[Mathematics]

• TTC - Joy of Mathematics
• TTC - High School Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Chemistry
• TTC - Calculus Made Clear
• TTC - Understanding Calculus - Problems, Solutions and Tips
• TTC - Physics in Your Life
• TTC - Meaning From Data - Statistics Made Clear
• TTC -  An Introduction to Number Theory
• TTC - What Are The Chances - Probability Made Clear
• TTC - Understanding Complexity
• TTC - Great Scientific Ideas That Changed the World
• TTC - Zero to Infinity - A History of NumbersTTC - Albert Einstein

[Thinking & Communication]

• TTC - How to become a Superstar Student 
  
• TTC - The Art and Craft of Mathematical Problem Solving
• TTC - The Art of Critical Decision Making
• TTC - Tools of Thinking - Understanding the World Through Experience and Reason 
• TTC - Joy of Thinking
• TTC - Argumentation - The Study of Effective Reasoning
• TTC - Building Great Sentences
• TTC - Psychology of Human Behaviour 

 [Other]

• TTC - Understanding Genetics
• TTC - Understanding the Brain
• TTC -  Eckhart Tolle - In the Presence of a Great Mystery
• TTC - Nutrition Made Clear
• TTC - Biology And Human Behaviour
• TTC - Understanding the Fundamentals of Music
• TTC -  Art of Teaching (Audio)
• TTC - Questions of Value

Transceiving - Increasing Knowledge by Exchanging Ideas

The Transceiver Project - For Transmission and Reception of Knowledge and Ideas.

Key idea is to transmit and receive ideas to build up a knowledge base.
Idea is to avoid static nature of knowledge bases.
This can be done by using podcasts, streaming and social networking channels to increase the connectivity to people's ideas and minds.

[Thoughts]
a) Fun: The most viral things on the web are Cutesy pictures of babies and babes and funny videos and mails.We should try to emulate this popular channel by mimicking its properties.
b) Memorable:
http://www.headfirstlabs.com/readme.php
http://www.headfirstlabs.com/about.php
Recommended Reading: http://www.headfirstlabs.com/bookstore.php

c) Infectious: This allows the self-propagation by chain-mail/forwarding/retweeting mechanisms.
http://www.copyblogger.com/go-viral-on-twitter/
http://www.copyblogger.com/viral-copy/


[Transception]
Social-Network-ing
PodCast-ing
VideoStream-ing:

ShowMeDo site teach you how to produce your own screencasts
Howto instructions and a video on using CamStudio (GPL)
Demo-ing
WebAnnotate-ing
Presentation-ing
RSS-Feed-ing
Debate/Discuss-ing;
Learning by Online Debate and Discussion

[Knowledge-Base-ing]
Forum-ing
Research-ing

Wiki-ing
Blog-ing
BookMark-ing
Website-ing
MindMap-ing,

• SemanticWeb-ing, 
• TopicMap-ing, 
• ConceptMap-ing

ContentCreation-ing ( http://moodle.org/about/, http://sakaiproject.org/ )

• Content Management Systems (CMS)
• Learning Management Systems (LMS)
• Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)

Augmented Reality (AR):
            Pragmatic Programmer BookShelf: Augmented Reality A Practical Guide

East meets West - Interesting Remix of Cultural Choices

How do different people from Different Cultures make their Choice?
Why do they make the choices they do?

See these different videos from Ted.com and "Make your Own Choice"!! :-)

1) Western/American Way (by Kevin Kelly):  
Summary: 
More (choice) is better. Technology is life's way of accelerating more choices/options.
With "Exceptions to every Rule". 
Note: The presenter acknowledges that there are 6 basic choices in the form of types of life.
But seems like his American Perspective forces him to note the rare exceptions are pointed out as significant.


2) Eastern Way (by Sheena Iyengar)
Summary: 
Where Less is More. The Eastern Way is to be happy with a few options that have been chosen by respected persons of the group (parents, experts etc).


Conclusion:
Seems like Americans excel at what they prefer - innovation/individualism.
And Easterners excel at what they prefer - tradition/groupism.

Both walking on the path(s) laid out for them by their respective societies.

Question for the Reader:
So, What happens when East meets West?!!

What do you think of the Videos?
Do you have a totally new viewpoint on the whole cultural thing?

Use the buttons below to share this article and leave your comments.


P.S:
Personally I feel.... 
What happens when East meets West?!!
Well we already know the answer to that - Renaissance.
Or is that from the Western perspective?!!
What was the effect of the "Renaissance" on the East? Interesting question to follow.
Only time will tell.
As Russell Peters said "One day the whole world is gonna be Beige!!!"

Learning, Evolution, Life and Civilization with Genes, Memes and Temes

Susan Blackmore on TED.com uses the basic law of "Natural Selection" and Units of Replication to explain Learning, Evolution and "Life"(sic). She explains how units of replication - Genes (physical), Memes (mental) and Temes (technological) are the driving forces for replicating information or "Life".

Memes use up nearly 20% of our energy and are indiscriminate in their propagation.
She seems to suggest that these memes need to be filtered to avoid ending our "civilization-as-we-know-it" from an untimely end.

She actually uses an old idea used to statistically calculate number of intelligent AND communicating ALIEN  civilizations which made it through the dangerous parts of their history. These would be the civilizations which could possibly contact us if at all. She then modifies this equation to reflect Replicator Generations instead of  Technology Revolutions.

Imagine an internet where both "good", "bad" and "ugly"  ideas are roaming about cross-pollinating each other without any filteration device except for "Natural Selection" i.e. the meme which replicates most "wins".

Where humans/intelligent data mining bots are taken over by causes and holy-wars but now with much better equipment to carry out a solitary madmans delusions ("virulent/mad/bad" memes??)

As Susan says we don't know if our civilization will make it through the Temes Replication.
Further she proposes (in effect) that the internet is a VAST collection of Temes (good, bad and ugly) which replicates on its own.

Visions of Terminator 2 and RepRap and maybe WallE come alive in the above talks.

What is the "viewpoint" of a bacterium with respect to a human being and vice-versa.
After all we're relatives but with maybe better replicating capability (at least as far as ideas/memes are concerned).

We consider them life-forms of no great importance unless they're useful/harmful to us as in say
a) Yeast for yoghurt and other such uses - grow them and even sell them in sachets for baking cakes.
b) Disease causing bacteria- just wipe them out.

Maybe more "advanced" memes will view humans with the same angle - utility. Makes sense!!

There was a Doctor-Who episode called "Full Circle" with around the same premise as the storyline.

Maybe best taken with a pinch of salt... as evolutionary processes can be slow (or fast depending on the circumstance). Still thought-provoking as to why life is getting so complex.
Blame it on the Memes/Temes!! :-)


On a more "positive" side of the story on Memes and Temes.
Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from | Video on TED.com
Steve Johnson describes "The Liquid Network" of Britain (coffee-houses) which allowed people gather and talk and bounce ideas off each other.

Essentially allowed these coffee-houses allowed ideas/memes to "have sex" and "create little hybrid ideas" i.e. convergence and emergence of new and more powerful memes.

Its hybrid ideas like these that led to Hitech devices made with off-the-shelf low tech parts below.
Hitech incubators for premature babies don't work for long in African countries, as they don't have trouble sourcing spare-parts and finding tools/technicians to maintain them.
Somebody then observed that these countries have enough infrastructure to maintain cars!!
Putting these 2 memes together he thought of using off-the-shelf locally available car parts to build a premature baby incubator for African countries. So now they have car mechanics (not high-tech engineers) maintain these mash-up devices by simply replacing/repairing these worn-out parts.

Come to think of it this blog itself is a mash-up of all the above articles!!
AND
A meme/teme in its own right.

Anybody who reads this blog post replicates these ideas in their own head. Beware!! :-D

Talent vs Genius

Explores the questions:
Why do so many talented people not make it to success?

What differentiates the successful scientists from the good ones?

in reference to:

"``Why do so few scientists make significant contributions and so many are forgotten in the long run?''"
- You and Your Research (view on Google Sidewiki)

Feedback from the world

Feedback from the world is as important as feedback from your work.

See Also:
Steve Johnson on TED.com describes "The Liquid Network" which allows ideas to "have sex" and create "little hybrid ideas" in "coffee-houses" where people gather and talk and bounce ideas off each other.
This seems to be a meme-like behaviour

in reference to:

"He who works with the door open gets all kinds of interruptions, but he also occasionally gets clues as to what the world is and what might be important."
- You and Your Research (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Art of Researching

1. You And Your Research by Richard Hamming
2. How to Do Research (at MIT AI Lab) by many people at MIT
3. Collected Advice on Research And Writing: A collection of advice on researching effective communication (primarily for computer scientists)

Developing Effective Communication skills for Presentations, Negotiation and Cooperation with people

a) [WHY]
It's very important to present your ideas to the stakeholders and people who make the decisions.
This article started out as mail of 2 lines of copy-paste. But its grown into an article so blogging for other people to find and use.

Communication, marketing are some very important skills which are not taught in schools/colleges. But they're essential in day-to-day life.

Most people assume it's some kind of magic/in-born talent for some gifted people. However, like most things with patient practise we can grasp at least 50% of the skills by studying with the Masters in these fields.

I've seen some very hardworking, talented people miss out on what they deserve because they didn't have proper guidance on these very important topics.

b) [WHAT]
These are some good books that I found to be very useful in breaking the communication barrier.

I've personally benefited from reading, understanding and applying the techniques/principles given in them.

These people are gurus in their respective fields i.e.
a) Negotiation [Herb Cohen]
b) Marketing [Dale Carnegie] and
c) Open Source development [Eric S Raymond]

These books are available VERY cheaply on the roadside stalls or you can try for e bo oks also.
If you find reading tiring videos, Audio books, ebooks are also available on these topics.

c) [HOW]
[Communication skills]
1) You can negotiate Anything [Herb Cohen] Rating: (12/10)
This slim booklet is so powerful = power + full !!It helps you understand the games that go on behind the scene in any negotiation.
Whether its bargaining with a salesman or negotiating your salary with your boss.
As they say "You don't get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate"
This book has helped me to confidently negotiate my salary successfully at least 2-3 times.
This guy could negotiate with even ter ror ist s.

2) Art of Public Speaking [Dale Carnegie] Rating: (10/10)
This book is about effectively communicating your ideas.
So that people listen, understand and appreciate them.
"Effective communication" - Presentations, Emails, Phone conversations,
Business case presentations all come under this.

Have you seen a really great idea die just because the innovator could not sell his idea to others?
Have you seen speakers bore people into a coma during a presentation?
Have you seen an expert talk incoherently on a really good topic?

This world famous book teaches how to avoid all these and other basic pitfalls/mistakes people make.
It also teaches you some great methods/principles to follow in any communication scenario.

3) How to Win Friends and Influence People [Dale Carnegie] Rating: (10/10)
How to talk so that people listen to your ideas.
How and Why do people cooperate? Why don't they cooperate even if its in their interest?
How to get past the barriers which prevent people to cooperate for mutual benefit

4) How to ask questions the Smart Way [Eric S Raymond] Rating: (10/10)
http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
This small but powerful howto tells you how you can get people to help you.
All you need is to make it easy for them to help you.
A superb collection of methods to get an answer on a newsgroup/forum.
Helps equally well with team members who can help you but are too busy to sit with you for 30 minutes or more.