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Blog post by Jeff Cobb, the author of Ten Ways to be a Better Lifelong Learner and Mission to Learn blog, on EvoLLLution (illuminating the lifelong learning movement), 3.26.2012 See excerpt below for obstacles that keep people from lifelong learning: "AA: What are the major gaps keeping today's adults from effectively continuing their education? JC: There are two ways to come at that question, at least. It's high-level at first, to differentiate between education-which I consider to be primarily a formal, structured activity-and learning, the vast majority of which is informal and not necessarily structured. And learning encompasses education, but learning is just so much broader. When it comes to education, there can be any number of barriers that prevent an adult from continuing her education. Time and money tend to be two of the biggest. Those barriers can be overcome; like anything in life it's just often a matter of priorities and planning, both on the part of the individual and the society, but they do have to be overcome. On the other hand with learning, there's really nothing that can prevent an adult from continuing learning if they are in fact dedicated to doing that. We really can't help doing it; we're pretty much hard-wired to be continually learning. But we all know how overwhelming the flow of information can be around us these days; on the one hand it's this sense of being overwhelmed that can hold people back, I think another factor is that we simply don't look at a lot of the amazing new opportunities that we have, primarily through what the web now enables. … We don't necessarily look at these as learning tools and as things that can really help us to engage with and grow in life. Really, once you recognize that and once you start thinking in terms of effective strategies and effective approaches, the sky's the limit."

Interesting and vast website, Next Avenue, sponsored by PBS, that has loads of resources under Technology, Reinvention & Inspiration, Style, Travel, Arts & Entertainment, Passions & Pursuits, etc. Relevant to WLS.

article in Academic Matters, the Journal of Higher Education, by Stephen Carson and Jan Philipp Schmidt, May 2012 issue. Excerpt: "Expertise will be earned and maintained through ongoing lifelong education, not conferred once and good for life. Open learning systems offer the possibility for the kind of continuous lifelong learning that will be necessary as the pace of technological and scientific knowledge development increases. Like athletes, learners will not just learn once, but will maintain a level of performance ability in their chosen field through ongoing study and participation in learning communities."

Facilitating life long learning should be the goal of every teacher. I think that sometimes it is so cumbersome - passing tests, etc., that the fun part of learning is lost.

Helen Barrett's home page on eportfolios for learning. She includes a keynote address she did on portfolios for an educators group in Hamilton, NZ in February 2015. Lots of excellent individual slides on lifelong learning and how the portfolio is a laboratory.

Very nice skill compass for lifelong learning by Online Internet Institute 1. Collaboration/communication--using a variety of technology tools and techniques for organizing people into effective ad hoc teams 2. Exploration/evaluation--making sense of the Internet, by learning how to survey the field and assess what's available 3. Navigation/research--strategies for seeking and finding good data and 4. synthesis/presentation--taking what makes sense and using it to make meaning

This blog post may be a before/after moment for me 5/2018. The question: "Which feeling/experience/state do you look back on fondly? Which one engages you, challenges you, makes you the best version of yourself?"

great article on research showing how mastering a difficult new skill and regular exercise not only delay brain declines but can increase brain volume and its functioning