Elo-based learner modeling for the adaptive practice of facts
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11257-016-9185-7 We investigate applications of learner modeling in a computerized adaptive system for practicing factual knowledge. We focus on areas where learners have widely varying degrees of prior knowledge. We propose a modular approach to the development of such adaptive practice systems: dissecting the system design into an estimation of...
The typical path of how people respond to life-changing inventions
https://cdixon.org/2016/05/11/the-typical-path-of-how-people-respond-to-life-changing-inventions I’ve never heard of it. I’ve heard of it but don’t understand it. I understand it, but I don’t see how it’s useful. I see how it could be fun for rich people, but not me. I use it, but it’s just a toy. It’s becoming more useful for...
Why organizations fail
https://erikbern.com/2016/04/18/why-organizations-fail.html Everyone in the team just comes in every morning and asks themselves: what is the highest ROI thing I can do today? And they just do it. Nothing else is needed. Why can’t that just work? It’s of course an incredibly naïve idea – but where does it fail,...
Applications of the Elo rating system in adaptive educational systems
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S036013151630080X https://www.fi.muni.cz/~xpelanek/publications/CAE-elo.pdf The Elo rating system was originally developed for rating chess players, nowadays it is widely used for ranking players of many other games. The system can be used in educational systems when we interpret student’s answer to an item as a match between the student and the item....
The Babe Ruth Effect in venture capital
https://cdixon.org/2015/06/07/the-babe-ruth-effect-in-venture-capital “How to hit home runs: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball… The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I’ve...
The myopia boom
https://www.nature.com/articles/519276a Based on epidemiological studies, Ian Morgan, a myopia researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, estimates that children need to spend around three hours per day under light levels of at least 10,000 lux to be protected against myopia. This is about the level experienced by someone under...
Career development: What it really means to be a manager, director, or VP
https://kellblog.com/2015/03/08/career-development-what-it-really-means-to-be-a-manager-director-or-vp/ I am talking about one of three levels at which people operate: manager, director, and vice president. Here are my definitions: Managers are paid to drive results with some support. They have experience in the function, can take responsibility, but are still learning the job and will have questions...
Come for the tool, stay for the network
https://cdixon.org/2015/01/31/come-for-the-tool-stay-for-the-network The idea is to initially attract users with a single-player tool and then, over time, get them to participate in a network. The tool helps get to initial critical mass. The network creates the long term value for users, and defensibility for the company. Here are two historical examples:...
The never ending road to product market fit
https://brianbalfour.com/essays/product-market-fit 4. The Trifecta An early advisor of SnapChat once told me a story. About a few months after launch SnapChat had about 200K downloads, 100K daily active users, and those 100K DAU’s were sending on average 1 Million pictures a day (10/DAU). Product/market fit? Hell yes!!! Snapchat had the...
What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years
https://cdixon.org/2013/03/02/what-the-smartest-people-do-on-the-weekend-is-what-everyone-else-will-do-during-the-week-in-ten-years Many breakthrough technologies were hatched by hobbyists in garages and dorm rooms. Prominent examples include the PC, the web, blogs, and most open source software. The fact that flip-flop wearing hobbyists spawn large industries is commonly viewed as an amusing eccentricity of the technology industry. But there is a...
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a collection of excerpts from interesting research, blogs, events, etc...