2020 — Personal Learning Report
It’s officially a tradition! I present my 2nd annual personal learning report. 2020 will be remembered for many reasons, but I hope most of all for what we have learned. Let’s dive in.
Articles
According to Pocket, I read 25 “books-worth” of internet articles this year. I rarely read while I browse the internet. Instead, I use Pocket to save interesting articles to read at a later time.
Recommended Articles
Here are a few of my favorite reads this year:
Books 📚
I completed 54 books this year. Far more than ever before. The experience was significant enough to warrant its own blogpost:
Here are some additional details about the books I completed:
Books VS Articles
Last year, I decided I wanted to prioritize longform content over internet articles and podcasts. As measured by Pocket and Goodreads data, I succeeded! In fact, there was almost a perfect flip between 2019 and 2020.
2020 Book Recommendation — Failure to Disrupt
Billions of dollars and countless hours would be saved if investors, entrepreneurs, designers, teachers, administrators and others were familiar with the concepts in this book.
Earlier this year, I wrote a simple post about EdTech Hype Cycles….this book is the much more informed, comprehensive, and detailed explanation of why education technology consistently fails to rise to our expectations. Read this book!
Podcasts
- The Building a Second Brain Podcast — Tiago Forte’s ideas have significantly impacted my approach to lifelong learning. This 11 episode podcast provides an overview of his ideas. Each episode is about 10 minutes long.
- Learning Experience Leader Podcast — This is my most listened to podcast. The conversations represent a wide variety of subdomains relevant to working in education, learning design, and EdTech.
- Robinhood Snacks— Throughout a crazy year, this podcast was a breath of fresh air. The hosts detail how current events impact specific industries in a way that is as entertaining as it is informational.
Flashcards
Flashcards are an extension of my brain. I review them daily. For those interested, I describe my process here.
Some users create dozens of cards per day. I average about 1 new card a day.
I used to wake up and check my email. Nowadays, I often wake up and complete my flashcards within the 6 o’clock hour.
Apps/Tools
Medito — Nonprofit free meditation app. Too many meditation apps are filled with ads, payment options, and social media-like feeds. Medito has none of that. Their simple interface and excellent content are free forever.
Obsidian — Note taking app. Building a personal knowledge graph is my latest lifelong learning obsession. What Obsidian lacks in note-taking features it makes up for in the ability to link my learning between books, articles, and other topics.
Loop Habit Tracker — This is the best habit tracker I have found for Android. The ability to create widgets and export my data are especially helpful for tracking my goals.
Writing
Blogging is my networking. Thank you to everyone who has reached out as a result of what I share here! Here are a few of my favorite posts this year:
2020 Personal Learning Influencers
When it comes to lifelong learning, relationships contribute far more than any of the statistics I have shared. Here are a few people that had a significant impact on my learning this year:
Melissa Clements (Wife/Friend/Co-Parent). Melissa Clements is undeniably the person who impacts my learning the most. Her sacrifice, love, and support enables me to be a better learner. She is a constant source of great discussion and an avid reader. Being around her keeps my priorities in check, and supporting her is a primary motivator behind all that I do.
Angela Payne (Mentor/Friend). When Angela passed away earlier this year, I knew I had lost a friend and mentor. What I didn’t realize is how many others felt the same way. Angela constantly gave of her time to serve others, give advice, and provide meaningful feedback. Losing her sparked a desire in me to be that kind of influence for members of my own network and community.
WGU Labs Team. I ended my year of learning with mixed emotions as I formally left my team at WGU Labs. This team has had a huge impact on my personal development the last few years. They bring to their work a passion for equity, accessibility, high-quality research, learning science, and cats. I highly recommend taking the chance to work with them if given the opportunity.
2020 Most Memorable Learning Experience
COVID-19 Global Pandemic
As I think about what I have learned this year, it is difficult to separate the pandemic from other tragedies like the murder of George Floyd and a divisive election season. Here are some topics these events have caused me to reflect on:
- The need to actively strengthen relationships with friends and family.
- The crucial role of digital literacy and fact checking in sustaining modern society.
- Increased awareness of the many unearned privileges that are mine due to my race, gender, parent’s economic status, work-industry, etc.
- The fragility of our global economy and other supply chains.
- The disconnect between the stock market and the economy’s actual status.
- The ever-growing absurdity of partisan divides in our political system.
- The moral dilemmas when pursuits of life and liberty conflict.
- The need to prioritize personal mental health.
- The futility of one-size-fits-all policy making.
2021 Learning Forecast
These are major themes I expect to develop skills and expertise around as we head into 2021:
Childhood education. After nearly a decade of creating experiences for adult learners, I recently joined Prenda as a Product Manager. My own children are just starting their formal education years, and I frequently find myself exploring how I can enable them to love learning like I do.
Improved posture. I slouch all the time and working from home hasn’t helped that. The more I learn about how to improve posture the more I am convinced the solution is as much a learning issue as a health/wellness issue.
Self-regulated learning. This subject is always on my mind. In 2021, however, I am hoping to share more of my ideas related to developing your personal learning ecosystem. Please reach out if this is a topic you are interested in discussing!
So long 2020!
Two years into this personal learning experiment and I continue to discover new insights into what makes lifelong learning successful. I look forward to another year, and I hope you will continue to learn with me!
What were the highlights of your learning last year? Comment below or connect via Linkedin to continue the conversation.
