Skylab Orbital Workshop Interior, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC. Photo taken in 2008.
As I wrote last week here, I reached out to Steve Lenzen via postal mail about Space Station L-4, the Earth Sciences Educational Program from 1977, after I found his contact information on an archived version of GPN’s website. He worked at GPN from 1976 to 2006, and he co-founded Destination Education. He kindly replied to me via email with important details about the history of GPN and why it might be impossible to find a copy of the series. He explains:
"The series was produced by Children's Television International, which was owned by Ray Gladfelter. When Ray was "winding down" his career, GPN took over distribution because Ray was an old friend of our director at the time. When Ray died, many, many years ago his old friend had also retired and GPN ceased distribution. Actually, GPN had ceased distribution years before that because there was no demand."
"Back when Ray produced the series many or most of the PBS Stations broadcast programs specifically designed for use in the classroom. This mode of getting educational programming into the classroom was started before the age of VHS and Betamax. The introduction of Betamax and then VHS is what led to the "death" of 16mm film and subsequently PBS stations airing a block of programs designed specifically for in classroom use. Starting in the late 80's, teachers were demanding that PBS Stations air only new, up-to-date programs depicting current hair styles, clothes, etc. If a series did not meet this criteria, teachers did not want it."
"Due to the lack of storage space, once a series was pulled from distribution GPN destroyed the submaster it had. The copyright holder/producer usually had a master. Space Station L-4 was pulled out of distribution long before advent of DVD which meant it cost of lot of money to keep old master, usually 2" Quad, 1" Helical, or Betamax in storage. As a result, the copyright owner also destroyed their copy."
"After Ray's death, his son . . . took control of Children's Television International. . . . The company, CTI, was, out of business by then so all he could do was find a place to give the tapes or destroy them."
My next move is to reach out to Ray Gladfelter’s son. I will report back with any developments.
From L to R: V-2 Rocket, WAC Corporal Sounding Rocket, Skylab Orbital Workshop, and V-1 Cruise Missile (hanging), National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, 2008.
My friend Mark and I have been on a decade’s long quest to find copies of Space Station L-4 (1977), an educational Earth Sciences television program produced, written, and directed by Paul Lally, who I interviewed in 2013 about the show, and distributed by Children’s Television International (CTI).
Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to obtain copies of Space Station L-4.
Obvious starting places like Google, YouTube, Bing, Yandex, etc. yield no video, screenshots, or substantive information.
I’ve tried interlibrary loan requests without any success.
Most recently, I discovered video order directories including Bowker’s Complete Video Directory and The Video Source Book in the Internet Archive that list the series and individual episodes, which were available for order from CTI in Virginia (apparently no longer exists and a more recent San Diego address seems defunct but there is a branch of this organization that seems to remain incorporated in Maryland) and GPN in Lincoln, NE (also no longer exists–the owner retired). I am sending letters to the agent listed for the Maryland branch of CTI and Steve Lenzen of GPN in the hope of them having stock available or a reference to who might have tapes for sale.
Below, I’m pasting the series and episode information from Bowker’s Complete Video Directory 1998, pp. 2158-2159 in the hope that it might lead someone with info about how to obtain the series to my website and who would be kind enough to reach out by email to my address in the info box to the right or via my social media links on the About page.
Space Station L-4. 16 cass. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 240 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Viewers imagine themselves on space station L-4, 440 miles above the earth. Their mission: to study & monitor life support systems for planet Earth & share this information with all countries needing assistance. By dramatically demonstrating modern equipment, techniques & methods of scientific investigation this video teaches how we are seeking to safeguard the future of our natural environment & prepare for human survival. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50; VHS, Set (Order #: E374):
$351.20.
Space Station L-4, Vol. 1: The Changing Earth; Earth Measurement; Atmosphere; Water. Science—General. B&W and Color. 60 min. Juvenile.Ages: 9-13. G. Made-for-Video Movie. Children’s Television International. VHS (Order #: ST-1): $79.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 1: The Changing Earth. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min, Rights: Group; Broadcast. Develops an awareness within students that the earth is constantly changing. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, Vol. 2: Soil; Earth Limits; Energy; Gravity. Science—General. B&W and Color. 60 min. Juvenile.Ages: 9-13. G. Made-for-Video Movie. Children’s Television International. VHS (Order #: ST-2): $79.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 2: Earth Measurement. (1977). Technology. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Demonstrates how technological advances enable us to increase the accuracy of measurements. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, Vol. 3: Human Life Support; ‘Human Communication; The Order of Nature; Cycles. Science—General. B&W and Color. 60 min. Juvenile Ages: 9-13. G. Made-for-Video Movie. Children's Television International. VHS (Order #: ST-3): $79.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 3: Atmosphere. (1977). ‘Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Helps students understand the effects of the interaction between the earth's surface & living things. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, Vol. 4: Things in Motion; Reach ‘Up; Reach Out; Reach Far Out. Science—General. B&W and Color. 60 min. Juvenile. Ages: 9-13. G. Made-for-Video Movie. Children’s Television International. VHS (Order #: ST-4): $79.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 4: Water. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Presents the interrelationship between water, the earth's surface & living things. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 5: Soil. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Continues to demonstrate the interrelationship to ecology by looking at how soil, water & living things affect each other. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 6: Earth Limits. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Shows students that the earth & its components are finite resources. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 7: Energy. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Reveals that the sun is our energy source. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: £374): $29.95
Space Station L-4, No. 8: Gravity. (1977). Science—General. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Shows students how man & his environment are both affected by gravity. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 9: Human Life Support. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Makes us aware that we all interact with our environment. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 10: Human Communications. (1977). Anthropology. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Develops an awareness of humans as communicators. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50: VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 11: The Order of Nature. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Promotes the observable patterns in nature. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 12: Cycles. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Develops student understanding of physical & biological cycles that naturally occur. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 13: Things in Motion. (1977). Science—-Environmental Studies. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Helps students understand that we increase our use of fuels as we explore space. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 14: Reach Up. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. Exploration. 15 min. Rights: Group, Broadcast. Demonstrates how we have increased our knowledge of the environment through space exploration. GPN. tchr's. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95.
Space Station L-4, No. 15: Reach Out. (1977). Science—Environmental Studies. Space Exploration. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Enables viewers to better understand how our explorations of space have actually changed the dimensions of environmental research. GPN. tchr's guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #: E374): $29.95
Space Station L-4, No. 16: Reach Far Out. (1977). Science—Astronomy. Space Exploration. 15 min. Rights: Group; Broadcast. Takes viewers one step further in the search & inquiry process by showing how we are looking for life in outerspace. GPN. tchr’s. guide: $3.50; VHS (Order #:E374): $29.95.
If you know where I might find a copy of Space Station L-4, please send me an email at my address to the right or via my social media links on the About page. Thank you!
Anthropomorphic cat wearing suit and tie, and standing in front of a chalkboard. Image created with Stable Diffusion.
I’ve been spending a lot of time studying and using generative AI technologies and thinking about their pedagogical implications, and over the summer, I invested more energy into taking intensive online classes relating to generative AI on LinkedIn Learning, which I wrote about here and here. The suggestions below are a distillation of some of the important ideas that I have learned and plan to implement after my sabbatical this year concludes. Readings associated with these points can be found on my extensive generative AI pedagogy bibliography. Maybe you will find some of these helpful to your thinking for your own classes as we make our way into the science fictional future together!
Build ethical and legal issues of generative AI into every discussion and assignment. Of course, a separate module or a whole course can be focused on these topics, but students need to see how ethical and legal issues are tightly woven into how these technologies are developed, the challenges that they present, and how to be prepared to avoid, mitigate, or resolve those challenges. By weaving ethical and legal issues into the quotidian, it helps students think critically about these issues throughout the learning process and it avoids the conclusion that ethics and legal concerns are just an afterthought.
Show students how bias in generative AI is real. Since generative AI is trained on datasets of work created by people, the AI systems will reflect the biases inherent in the content of the dataset and the ways different people might be represented in the dataset (e.g., more books by white male authors and fewer by writers of color or women writers). Bias is unfortunately baked in. Help students explore how these biases reveal themselves insidiously, might be discovered through prompting, and how to mitigate them (if possible) in the way they use generative AI as a part of their workflow.
Help students become responsible generative AI users. Students need to be taught how to document, cite, and acknowledge the use of AI in their work at school and later in the workplace. This can refute earlier use of ChatGPT and similar sites that fueled what some might consider plagiarism or cheating. Helping students see how it’s okay to use these tools when allowed and properly documented helps them see how they are a tool to support their work rather than a way to avoid working.
Reveal how generative AI technologies are designed, developed, and operated. By learning how generative AI is built and deployed, students get to see how the sausage is made. They will learn that generative AI isn’t magical or all knowing or perfect. Instead, they will realize that years of research and development in mathematics and computer science led to the current state of the art with these technologies, which is still lacking. They will discover the limitations of what these technologies offer (e.g., text generating AI primarily performs sentence completion and has no understanding of what it is doing, or its training data has gaps, deficiencies, biases, etc. that directly affect the text generated). This can be paired with lessons on how large language models are trained, how they are a black box in terms of how they work, and initiatives to build explainable artificial intelligence (XAI).
Approach generative AI as another layer for students’ digital literacy development. Considering AI’s biases, falsehoods, so-called hallucinations, and off-topic responses, pairing generative AI with instruction on vetting information, using research tools (online and off), and applying one’s own skepticism will combat the notion of AI’s trustworthiness, expertise, and authoritativeness. Also, it gives students another source for comparing, contrasting, and verifying when checking facts and establishing reliability of various sources of information.
Introduce generative AI as a new tool for students to add to writing and creative workflows. Some students might like to think that generative AI is a one-stop shop, but we can reveal to them how it can support different elements within a larger creative framework that depends on their cognition, imagination, and effort to produce deliverables. It can aid with ideation, brainstorming, planning, and outlining, as well as handling less important writing tasks, such as replying to an email or DM. An important corollary to this is the fact that prompt engineering is a skill unto itself that students have to learn and develop. In some cases, figuring out the best prompt might require more time, energy, and collaboration with others to accomplish than had the students done the writing output themselves.
Refocus on editing, revision, and the writing process to incorporate generative AI text into student work. One way to accomplish this is teaching students higher level editing and revision tasks using AI generated text as the material for editing. Another way is to teach students how to use editing tools, such as those built into Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and LibreOffice, to work with the text generated by AI.
Harness generative AI as a learning tool to support student experimentation and discovery by example. Students can ask the generative AI to summarize their writing, rewrite their writing for different audiences, turn outlines into paragraphs, etc. However, for students to gain some benefit from this, there needs to be a reflective writing exercise that gives the student an opportunity to dissect what the AI did to the student’s original composition and then based on what the student learns in reflection, they attempt their own new composition with the same goal as that given to the generative AI. The AI’s output can be combined with the student’s reflection and composition for evaluation by peers or the instructor, depending on how you are providing feedback to students on their work.
Recognize writing students as technical communicators, because they use generative AI technology in their writing processes. I am thinking of part of the Society for Technical Communication’s definition of tech comm: “Communicating by using technology, such as web pages, help files, or social media sites.” Using AI to create outputs or as a part of the writing process means that students are using technology to communicate in a deeper way than how we might have thought of this before. Acknowledging this with students might make more of them aware of this as a career path or how they might leverage their communication skills as they transition into the workplace.
Warn students about the possible jeopardy they face by providing their writing, prompts, questions, and personal identifying information to online-based generative AI tools like ChatGPT. Anything you type into the system is saved and associated with you. This means that your inputs might be used to train and fine tune future versions of the generative AI system, and the data collected about you based on what you type and how you use the system might be utilized by the system provider or sold to third parties (e.g., for advertising, adjusting insurance rates, making loan decisions, etc.). This can be connected to a larger discussion of how to protect one’s self online, practice privacy best practices, employ obfuscation techniques, etc. Teaching students how to use their own locally hosted LLMs, such as Meta’s LLaMA and its derivatives. This gives them more control over how their data, and it gives them the option to fine tune their local model to better fit their needs.
Photo of a business cat taking notes in his office. Image created with Stable Diffusion.
As I wrote at the beginning of July here, I planned to take advantage of LinkedIn Learning’s free one-month trial. I wanted to report back on my experience of taking LinkedIn Learning courses and provide more details about some of my tips that might help you be more successful with LinkedIn Learning.
Breakdown of the Courses and Learning Paths
I created the spreadsheet above in LibreOffice Calc as a list of all of the courses I had completed between June 29 and August 3 (I’m including the end of June courses in the free Career Essentials in Generative AI by Microsoft and LinkedIn that gave me the idea to continue with the free one month trial period). I included the instruction time for each course. This allowed me to calculate that I had completed 43 hours 11 minutes of course instruction across 39 courses during my LinkedIn Learning trial period.
I regret not keeping track of how long I spent on each course, which was far longer due to pausing the video to write notes, studying notes, taking quizzes, writing assignments, and taking exams. I believe the 50% extra time per course that I wrote about in July holds true.
I focused on two main areas: Generative AI, which I am building into my workflows and maintaining a pedagogical bibliography for here; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Communication Best Practices, which I wanted to use to improve my teaching practices by structuring my classroom as supportive and welcoming to all students.
In the Generative AI courses, I learned about machine learning, different forms of generative AI, how generative AI is integrated (or being integrated) into local and server software, and frameworks for critique of AI systems in terms of ethics, bias, and legality. Also, I took some courses on Python to get an inkling of the code underpinning many AI initiatives today.
In the DEI Communication Best Practices cluster of courses, I learned helpful terminology, techniques for engagement, what to do to support and include others, and how to be an ally (mostly with an emphasis on the workplace, but thinking about how to leverage these lessons in the classroom). These courses covered combating discrimination, planning accessibility from the beginning and benefit of all, and supporting neurodivergence.
Overall, each learning experience was beneficial to my understanding of the topic. However, some instructors delivered better courses–for my way of learning–by employing repetition, anchoring key topics with words and definitions on the video (which you can pause and write down), giving more quizzes over shorter amounts of material (instead of fewer quizzes over longer time spans of material), and giving students mini projects or assignments to reinforce the lesson (e..g, pause and write about this, or pause the video, solve this problem, and “report back”–the course isn’t interactive but the “report back” idea is to compare your solution to the instructor’s after the video is played again).
All of the courses provide a lot of information in a very short amount of time. In some cases, the information compression is Latvian repack level. Even taking notes in shorthand, I could not keep up in some instances. To capture all of the information, I had to pause videos repeatedly, repeat (using the 10 second reply often) and read the transcript.
While I enjoyed the standalone courses, the Learning Paths provided a sequence and overlap in material that helped reinforce what was being taught. Also, Learning Paths helped me see connections between the broader implications of the topic (e.g., DEI, accessibility, neurodiversity, etc.) as well as explore certain aspects of the topic in more depth (e.g., how to approach conversations on uncomfortable topics or how to ask for permission to be an ally in a given situation).
Each instructor has a unique way of speaking and engaging the learner. I really enjoyed the diversity of the instructors across all topics.
The accessibility features built into LinkedIn Learning helped me follow along and make accurate notes. In particular, I always turned on closed captioning and clicked the “Transcript” tab beneath the video so that I could easily follow along and pause the video when there was a keyword or definition or illustration that I wanted to capture in my notes.
I added the course instruction time for those courses completed on the same day to generate the chart above that illustrates the ebb and flow of my course completion across the month. In some cases, I spread out the instruction across days to give myself enough time to learn and practice the topics being discussed (e.g., Python programming or Stable Diffusion image generation). There were other days that I paused my learning to work on my research or simply to take a break from learning.
On LinkedIn Learning, some of the courses are grouped together into what are called Learning Paths, which yield a separate certificate of completion from the certificates that you earn for each individual course. In some cases, as in the Career Essentials in Generative AI by Microsoft and LinkedIn also includes an exam with a time limit (1.5 hours) that must be passed before the Learning Path certificate is given. About 50% or 21 hours 45 minutes of the 43 hour 11 minute course instruction time applied to five earned Learning Paths for me:
Career Essentials in Generative AI by Microsoft and LinkedIn, 3h 49m
Accessibility and Inclusion Advocates, 3h 18m
Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging for All, 6h 16m
Responsible AI Foundations, 4h 15m
LinkedIn’s AI Academy, 3h 54m
LinkedIn Learning Success Tips
Overall, I want to reiterate the tips that I wrote about here for being successful at LinkedIn Learning–both in terms of how you learn and how you demonstrate what you have learned. Below are some reiterated tips with details based on my experience this past month.
Be an Active Learner: Take Notes, Do the Exercises, and Complete the Quizzes
The one thing that I would like to stress above all others is how important it is to treat a LinkedIn Learning course like a classroom learning experience. What I mean by that is that you need to set aside quality time for learning, free from distraction, where you can take notes and complete the exercises, and study what you’ve learned before taking quizzes or exams. Employing your undivided attention, writing your notes by hand in a notebook, and completing quizzes, exams, and assignments all contribute to your learning, integrating what you’ve learned with your other knowledge, and preparing yourself to recall and apply what you’ve learned in other contexts, such as in a class or the workplace.
Unless you have eidetic memory, the fact is that you won’t learn a lot by passively watching or listening to courses. And even if you have photographic memory, all you will gain are facts and not the integration, connections, and recall that comes from using and reflecting on what you have learned.
Remember to Add Certifications to Your LinkedIn Profile
Remember to add each completed LinkedIn Course and Learning Path certification to your profile. They will appear in their own section as they do on mine shown above.
Completed Courses and Learning Paths do not automatically appear on your profile (consider: someone might not want all of their training to appear on their LinkedIn Profile for a variety of reasons).
To add a Course or Learning Path to your LinkedIn Profile, go to LinkedIn Learning > click “My Learning” in the upper right corner > click “Learning History” under “My Library” on the left > click the “. . .” to the right of the Course or Learning Path > click “Add to Profile” and follow the prompts.
LinkedIn also gives you the option to create post on your Profile about your accomplishment, which you should opt to do. When you do this, it auto suggests skills that it will add to your Skills section of your Profile. You can have up to 50 skills on your profile, so keep track of what’s there and prune/edit the list as needed to highlight your capabilities for the kinds of jobs that you are looking for. More on Skills further down the page.
Add Certifications to Your Resume or CV
As shown above and viewable on my CV here, I added links to my LinkedIn Course and Learning Path certifications in a dedicated section of my CV. In addition to the unique link to my certifications, I included the organization that issued it (i.e., LinkedIn), and the date of completion. You can do the same on your CV or resume.
To get the link to a Course or Learning Path completion certificate, go to LinkedIn Learning > click “My Learning” in the upper right corner > click “Learning History” under “My Library” on the left > click the “. . .” to the right of the Course or Learning Path > click “Download certificate” > click “LinkedIn Learning Certificate” > toggle “On” under the top section titled “Create certificate link” > Click “Copy” on the far right.
While you are here, you can download a PDF of your certificate for safe keeping at the bottom left of this last screen. You can add these PDFs to a professional portfolio or alongside a deliverable that you create based on the skills that you gained from that course to demonstrate your learning and mastery.
Demonstrate Your Skills
As I mentioned above, when you post about completing a course, LinkedIn Learning can autogenerate relevant skill terms to add to the Skills section on your Profile (as shown above on my Profile). When you have the spare time and focus, you should occasionally click on “Demonstrate skills” (you can do this without a LinkedIn Learning subscription). This gives you options for taking exams related to different skills that you’ve added to your Skills section of your Profile. If you pass, it provides some proof that you know something about that particular skill. Beware though: these exams can be tough. When I took the HTML exam, I discovered big gaps in what I knew from learning HTML years before without keeping up with changes to HTML in the intervening years. While I passed the exam, I made notes about those questions that I got wrong so that I knew what to learn more about to fill in those gaps.
Also, some skills don’t have exams associated with them. In those cases, you may submit a video or essay to demonstrate your experience to potential recruiters or hiring managers. If you do this, you should plan it out, shoot and edit your video to give the best visual and auditory impression, or write and revise your essay so that it is of the highest professional quality.
Is It Worth It?
Looking back on what I learned, how I learned it, and who I learned it from, I’m glad that I invested the time and energy into a month of LinkedIn Learning. I’ve already started putting some of the lessons into practice (e.g., the generative AI and ethical AI courses), and I’m planning out how I will roll out the DEI approaches in my courses when I return to teaching in Fall 2024 (I am on sabbatical this academic year). In the future, I plan to pay for LinkedIn Learning when additional classes are available and I have the time to immerse myself in learning.
If you’re looking to skill up, I think that LinkedIn Learning can be beneficial if you go into it with a learning and reflective mindset. This means that you are willing to invest your attention, time, energy, and thought to learning the course material, want to reflect on how what you learn connects to other things you’ve already learned through school and work experience, apply what you’ve learned to deliverables that demonstrate you have integrated what you have learned (e.g., a detailed post on your LinkedIn Profile, a blog post, a poster, a video, an addition to your professional portfolio, etc.), and reflect, preferably in writing, on what you’ve learned, how you applied it, what you would like to see yourself accomplish next, and how to take those next steps.
As I said above, you likely won’t gain much by passively listening to LinkedIn Learning Courses while doing other things or being distracted by your environment. Invest in this form of learning and you will add to what you know and can do. In that spirit, it’s like my Grandpa Ellis used to tell me, “Jake, no one can take away your education!”
An anthropomorphic cat taking notes in a lecture hall. Image created with Stable Diffusion.
I tell my students that I don’t ask them to do anything that I haven’t done or will do myself. A case in point is using the summer months for a learning boost. LinkedIn Learning offers new users a free trial month, which I’m taking advantage of right now.
While I’ve recommended students to use LinkedIn Learning for free via the NYPL, completion certificates for courses don’t include your name and they can only be downloaded as PDFs, meaning you can’t easily link course completion to your LinkedIn Profile. Due to the constraints with how library patron access to LinkedIn Learning works, I opted to try out the paid subscription so that it links to my LinkedIn Profile. However, I wouldn’t let these limitations hold you back from using LinkedIn Learning via the NYPL if that is the best option for you–just be aware that you need to download your certificates and plan how to record your efforts on your LinkedIn Profile, your resume, and professional portfolio.
For those new to online learning, I would make the following recommendations for learning success:
Simulate a classroom environment for your learning. This means find a quiet space to watch the lectures while you are watching them. Don’t listen to music. Turn off your phone’s notifications. LinkedIn courses are densely packed with tons of information. Getting distracted for a second can mean you miss out on something vital to the overall lesson.
Have a notebook and pen to take notes. While watching the course, pause it to write down keywords, sketch charts, and commit other important information to your notes. The act of writing notes by hand has been shown to improve your memory and recall of learned information. Don’t keep notes by typing as this is less information rich learning than writing your notes by hand.
Even though a course lists X hours and minutes to completion, you should budget at least 50% more time in addition to that time for note taking, studying, quizzes, and exams (for those courses that have them).
While not all courses require you to complete quizzes and exams for a completion certificate, you should still take all of the included quizzes and exams. Research shows that challenging ourselves to recall and apply what we’ve learned via a test helps us remember that information better.
After completing a course, you should add the course certificate to your LinkedIn Profile, post about completing the course (others will give you encouragement and your success might encourage others to learn from the same course that you just completed), add the course certificate to your resume, and think about how you can apply what you’ve learned to further integrate your learning into your professional identity. On this last point, you want to apply what you’ve learned in order to demonstrate your mastery over the material as well as to fully integrate what you’ve learned into your mind and professional practices. This also serves to show others–managers, colleagues, and hiring personnel–that you know the material and can use it to solve problems. For example, you might write a blog post that connects what you’ve learned to other things that you know, or you might revise a project in your portfolio based on what you’ve learned.
Bring what you’ve learned into your classes (if you’re still working toward your degree) and your professional work (part-time job, internship, full-time job, etc.). Learning matters most when you can use what you’ve learned to make things, solve problems, fulfill professional responsibilities, and help others.
