GCT Reload

[March 28 Update: Lisa Thumann has written perhaps the best post about this day. She did a massive amount of organizing to make the day a success, and this morning I found my way to her post: My Aha! Moment of the Day February 27, 2009.] 

The building on the left may look rather nondescript, but inside it is anything but plain. This is 76 Ninth Avenue, home of the New York City offices of Google. Today marked my second time inside these hallowed halls. Alas, picture taking was not allowed, but Information Week was able to get a set of pictures for their article Googleplex East: Search And The City, so you can check here to see how employees travel from one end of the block long building to the other and how they keep themselves nourished in the process. 

Just what brought me to Google the first time, and back this second time? The Google Teacher Academy, the first time (February 2007), and the GCT (Google Certified Teacher) Reload the second time. 

More about this over the next few days. Meanwhile, time to hit the sack after an energizing day at Google and an evening at opening night of our annual student-faculty musical, tapping in this year with Anything Goes. (For those of you who have been readers for awhile, this year I laughed and applauded from the audience, unlike last year when I participated onstage. Who knows what next year will bring!)

Sir Ken in his element

Being “in your element” is an idiom that UsingEnglish.com defines as feeling “happy and relaxed because you are doing something that you like doing and are good at.” In his latest book, Sir Ken Robinson describes “the Element” (which is also the name of the book) as “the place where the things we love to do and the things we are good at come together.”

An earlier post describes the book, but how much better if you can hear Sir Ken talk about it in his own words. Here is his February talk at the RSA, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

On Brain Fitness Programs – from someone in the field

The following is a guest post by Martin Walker of Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro. About a month ago he and I exchanged comments, and I am delighted that he was amenable to writing this post discussing some of the research behind his company’s brain fitness program.

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” – Socrates

Anyone who has read Plato’s Socratic dialogues, by choice or otherwise, knows that puzzles and mind-twisters are nothing new. Thousands of years ago, Socrates encouraged his fellow Greeks to think more logically by coaxing and goading them along elegant spirals of reasoning. I would imagine that the modern concept of neuroplasticity would confirm in Socrates the belief that the mind is malleable and trainable.

Philosophy led me to brain training. As I culled the news for interesting subjects for my philosophy blog I kept bumping up against the new science of the brain. Study after study seemed to confirm that scientists had been wrong in their model of an adult brain that didn’t change. Here were rodents learning to use rakes, and monkeys controlling robotic arms with their minds. And fMRI scans showed that these neat tricks were accompanied by changes in the animals’ brains.

But the report that converted me from an interested bystander to an active participant in what I can only describe as a revolution came from a joint study by scientists from the Universities of Michigan and Bern. With a rigorous nineteen day program of brain exercise the team showed that training one executive function – working memory – transferred to improvements in another executive function – fluid intelligence, or problem-solving ability.

These improvements weren’t just statistically interesting; the fluid intelligence of the study participants (measured by administering timed IQ test questions) increased by a whopping 40% more than that of a control group. Imagine, a training method that can make someone smarter. Less than two months later my newly formed company had a faithful version of the study’s “dual n-back” training protocol available for sale to the general public. [For more on "dual n-back" see the bottom of this page.]

Why and how does such training work? How can we be sure that the results aren’t an illusion or a temporary boost? And what can other brain training products do for us?

There’s currently a bit of a backlash against brain training from within the scientific community, attempting to mute the hubbub of enthusiasm. This is natural. There will always be inertia against radical innovations. Many scientists are habitually and commendably cautious. Skeptics tried to stop the first polio vaccine from being introduced in a national program, for instance; but the risk proved well-worth taking, saving thousands of lives while the ’safer’ vaccine was under development.

It’s long been known that working memory capacity in particular – how many things we can hold in our mind at once – plays a key role in executive function. Working memory has been correlated to IQ and academic success. Studies have also shown that a powerful working memory helps us with impulse control. The Michigan / Bern study proposed that strengthening working memory capacity may leave the brain with more processing power. This theory was borne out by the study’s results.

Although the Michigan / Bern team didn’t perform brain scans on the participants before and after working memory training, a more recent study at the Swedish Karolinska Institutet has done just that, showing that intensive working memory training increases the number of dopamine receptors in the trainee. In simpler terms, it changes the brain. The results are long lasting, and can be sustained or increased by further training.

Prior efforts to show increased intelligence with training had been unsuccessful. The “dual n-back” approach works because it’s deliberately tough on working memory, demands incredible focus, and trains two working memory functions simultaneously (visual and aural).

Not that other brain training programs don’t have merit. Offerings by the well-respected Posit Science, for instance, have been endorsed by the Australian Alzheimer’s Association, and are being used by tens of thousands of people in therapeutic and preventive programs.

Potential consumers of brain training software must keep in mind several critical aspects of a worthwhile brain training program: It should be founded on good science. It should demand focus and attention (if it’s too easy, it won’t do anything). And it should be rewarding. A sense of achievement or satisfaction will help stimulate the brain to produce new nerve cells.

Not that brain training holds the franchise on cognitive improvement and neurogenesis. Physical exercise is essential to maintaining good brain health. Regular social interaction and involvement in life-long learning help, too. And the usual advice on a healthy diet and avoidance of narcotics applies. But I firmly believe that brain training should be and will be better understood and more widely used in the future. It can help people stay mentally alert in middle and later life. It can be used to correct or mitigate learning dysfunctions. And it can improve people’s quality of life at any age by allowing them the pleasure of increased brain power.

The practical advantages that customers report from using our training program give me the most pleasure and satisfaction – the man who can spend more time with his kids because he’s more focused on his work, for instance, the high school student who is excited to take his college entrance exam because he’s feeling more confident doing the practice tests, the elderly woman who has restored her self-confidence after feeling that her memory had started to fail her. These are the kinds of benefits that change people’s lives.

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Martin Walker is a member of The British Neuroscience Association, Learning and The Brain, and MENSA. His company, Mind Evolve, LLC, publishes free information on the field of neuroscience and brain fitness, as well as one of the most effective, affordable brain training software programs available — Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro.

Editor’s Note:
You can learn more about the “dual n-back” process at these sites:
New Zealand’s Science Learning Hub – Student Activity – n-Back test 
Soak Your Head online open source Dual NBack Application

The Creativity World Forum

Thanks to Ken from New Zealand, an insightful blogger and commentator, for highlighting John Cleese’s November 2008 talk at the Creativity World Forum, which took place in Belgium. Cleese’s talk is succinct and informative, providing a look into the processes of creativity and innovation. 

I was struck by the audience reaction to the talk; they barely made a sound! I laughed aloud multiple times. Was the audience hoping to catch every word so not wanting to interrupt? Were they simply a very serious group? Was language an issue? Was their silence a reflection of the cultural mores of their jobs or countries? 

I don’t know the answers to my questions, but did later discover that the talk is a video synopsis of a more in-depth  presentation. Perhaps the audience was more animated in the non-posted segments. Meanwhile, I hope you find John Cleese  stimulating and thought-provoking.

By the way, I found two other talks of particular interest. One is by Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO, talking about Helping organizations to innovate through design. In a part of his talk that was not in the video synopsis, Tom asks “What does the front door of your house not currently do that you would like it to do?” The other talk is by Dan Heath, author of the book by the same name as his presentation, Made to Stick. 

John Cleese on The Importance of Creativity

You can get an additional perspective about John Cleese’s presentation in this pdf synopsis of his talk.

And of course, Happy 18th Birthday R!

Mostly in Ratey’s Words

In his book SPARK, John Ratey presents the biology of what happens in the brain as a result of exercise. He described the process so clearly that I wanted to sit down and draw pictures of the brain to represent his words. (Ah, perhaps an exercise for March vacation…) He begins by stating the “the brain is flexible, or plastic in the parlance of neuroscientists–more Play-Doh than porcelain.” If you have been reading Neurons Firing, you already know this, as I’ve written extensively about brain plasticity. Play-Doh seems the perfect analogy, as it is malleable but not without initial effort at kneading and working the dough.

Ratey describes three benefits of exercise on learning.

1. Exercise “optimizes your mind-set to improve alertness, attention, and motivation.”
2. Exercise “prepares and encourages nerve cells to bind to one another, which is the cellular basis for logging in new information.”
3. Exercise “spurs the development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus.”

He goes on to clue us in that “you can’t learn difficult material while you’re exercising at high intensity because blood is shunted away from the prefrontal cortex, and this hampers your executive function. … However, blood flow shifts back almost immediately after you finish exercising, and this is the perfect time to focus on a project that demands sharp thinking and complex analysis.”  (Stationary cyclist sculpture, Nassau Country Museum of Art)

There are chapters specific to a number of issues, including stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficit, addiction, hormonal changes, and aging. But before any of these are discussed, Ratey talks about learning. It is in this chapter that he both explains what happens in the brain as we learn and provides study after study to support what he shares. I leave you with a paragraph from the learning chapter. Please note that the links below take you to posts I’ve written about specific parts of the brain. The two prefrontal cortex links will take you to two different posts.

A lot of the research I’ve mentioned in this chapter revolves around exercise’s effect on the hippocampus, because its role in forming memories makes it vital to learning. But the hippocampus isn’t off by itself somewhere, stamping out new circuits on its own accord. The learning process calls on a lot of areas, under the direction of the prefrontal cortex. The brain has to be aware of the incoming stimulus, hold it in working memory, give it emotional weight, associate it with past experience, and relate all this back to the hippocampus. The prefrontal cortex analyses the information, sequences it, and ties everything together. It works with the cerebellum and the basal ganglia, which keep these functions on track by maintaining rhythm for the back-and-forth of information. Improving plasticity in the hippocampus strengthens a crucial link in the chain, but learning creates bushier, healthier, better connected neurons throughout the brain. The more we build these networks and enrich our stores of memory and experience, the easier it is to learn, because what we already know serves as a foundation for forming increasingly complex thoughts.

Non-Sequitur

For awhile we were hooked on watching the “cooking shows” on PBS. Every Sunday, for several winters in a row, we’d curl up in the late afternoon or early evening and watch Lydia and Ming on their separate shows. About four years ago, to celebrate my husband’s birthday, we hightailed it into New York City to eat at one of Lidia’s restaurants, Felidia. I do not recall the food (with apologies to the chef), but do vividly recall that as we were leaving, Lidia was entering! Of course, I had to go over to her and tell her how much we enjoyed her show.

This past November, while in Cambridge to attend the Learning & the Brain conference, we had the pleasure of eating at Ming’s Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA. In addition to the food being mouth watering delicious, the evening was special because we were with our younger son, my husband’s sister and her husband and son, and one of my husband’s brothers and his wife. Oh yes, and there was one more piece that made it special – Ming was there! So of course, I had to go over and introduce myself and tell him how much we enjoyed both his show and his restaurant.

It’s taken me this long to document the visits in a post because I’ve been waiting for my brother-in-law’s wife to email me the picture she took on her cell phone. So, with thanks to Pat, here we are! (By the way, Ming was most gracious, and considering I probably wasn’t the only one who had something to say that night, he was quite generous with his time.)

Exercise Lights A Spark

I recently finished reading John Ratey’s SPARK The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. 

I suppose one mark of a well-written book is how powerful an impression it makes on the reader. The premise behind SPARK was not a surprise – I’ve heard John Ratey make his case at last Fall’s Learning & the Brain conference, and my years of dedicated swimming have already proved the points first hand. Rather, it was Ratey’s earnest discussion of how exercise boosts the brain, and his explanation of the biology, coupled with chapters covering everything from learning to stress to depression to attention deficit to hormones to aging, all the time with his practically begging us to take notice and don’t just sit there but DO SOMETHING about it, which got me all fired up in a good way!

Ratey begins by sharing the story of Naperville Central High School in Chicago, Illinois, which implemented a phys ed program based upon PE4Life that completely changed the dynamics of school gym class. Instead of a focus on sports teams, the focus became Getting & Staying Fit. A major component of the program was the use of heart rate monitors so students could exercise at the intensity level best for their individual health. This program wasn’t about competition or comparison, but simply about what was best for each student.

Two other important pieces of the program afforded students the opportunity for choice and control over their gym classes. There are close to twenty different activities from which students can choose as they build their fitness plan to cover four years of high school. Some of the activities have always been part of phys ed programs, such as basketball and volleyball, but a climbing wall and kayaking surely weren’t options when I went to high school. The activity that makes me smile widest is their use of DDR, which stands for Dance Dance Revolution.

When our oldest son was in high school, he and two friends had jobs at New Roc City demonstrating and teaching how to use the DDR machines. Of his four years in high school, he was the most fit during the time he worked at New Roc. With his friends, they tried to convince the director of their school’s athletic center to include DDR as one of the activities, but to no avail. They participated in contests, taking bus and trains (and cajoling parents to drive them) to areas in Queens, NY, that were known to have the best DDR machines, and shared video of their routines with other DDR aficionados.

Phil Lawler, the Director of PE4life Instruction and Outreach, testified before the United States House Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Community in May, 2007. You can read his testimony here. I am going to share this pdf with faculty at my school – not because I question our phys ed program, but because I think the adults in my school community could benefit from understanding the brain~body connection, and perhaps apply this to their own lives.

Advice from NYC

Spent the day catching up with a young “old friend”  in New York City. My visit began with a brisk walk from Grand Central Station, at 42nd Street, heading north to 92nd Street and Madison Avenue. Looking around, the city was giving advice left and right.

School Design

Design has a huge impact on function. This morning my husband sent me a link from DesignShare about the Ordrup School in Denmark. A Case Study of Ordrup School, Gentofte, Denmark discusses the process involved in creating “spaces for differentiated teaching and creating thinking.” Additional photos of the school can be seen on the designer’s site.

A search for Ordrup School turned up the ordrup-gym blog, which appears to be entries by older students in the Ordrup School. They write about the Danish school system, and Danish society.

I am intrigued that the students were included in the design process, along with faculty and parents. Furthermore, the designers actually moved into the school to see how everyone interacts, both with one another and with the space. 

My husband has explored school design in a series of School 2.0 Design SketchUp movies . To fully appreciate these models they should be viewed within SketchUp, where they can be seen as movie walkthroughs. The free Google SketchUp 7 can be downloaded from here.

[UPDATE February 12, 2009 – Another interesting place to hear about school design is in this Phorecast Podcast with Randall Fielding of Fielding Nair International, "Architects and Change Agents for Education" and DesignShare.]