4 ms·

If you made this story into a blog post, people would listen. (I'm actually serious, it's an interesting story and a lot of people might benefit from hearing m

If you made this story into a blog post, people would listen. (I'm actually serious, it's an interesting story and a lot of people might benefit from hearing more of the details and the thought process behind it.

btilly 17y ago
I'll think about it. I won't get around to it in the near future though, sorry.
- bjelkeman-again 17y ago
  Please do, as I am sure there are a bunch of us who would love to hear more about it.
  - yummyfajitas 17y ago
    I'd love to hear about it as soon as possible (i.e., early enough in the semester for me to act on it). I'm already updating webassign to follow your suggestion, current material + old stuff each week. Anything else you did (beyond SRS) would also be useful to know.
    - eob 17y ago
      You don't need someone to tell you what to do -- he/she already gave you the general idea. Why can't you be similarly creative with your class and run with it?
      - yummyfajitas 17y ago
        I'm implementing all of btilly's specific suggestions. As for why not "be creative"? I don't see how that suggestion is helpful. Btilly wasn't creative, he implemented proven techniques. I want to do the same, I just don't know what those proven techniques are (beyond the ones he mentioned in his post).
- Goladus 17y ago
  Could you point us at the sources you used to develop the method? You mention the concepts have been around for a long time.
Alex3917 17y ago
"If you made this story into a blog post, people would listen." That's what I hate about people. What makes people pay attention isn't the ideas themselves, but whether it looks like you worked hard in writing it. I've made comments on HN that no one paid any attention to, and then turned them into blog posts and had them get to the top of Reddit or Digg or whatever. Exact same ideas, all I did was visually change the text to make it look more professionally laid out, and carefully rework some of the phrasing to make it sound better to the ear. (Plus add a couple really good first sentences and a good headline.) I've found that if you actually leave a couple minor mistakes in your blog post it gets more votes, because it look like you're thinking at the edge of your intellectual ability, and people like that. It's the exact same thing Seth said in his post about the Chris Bliss Diss video: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/03/its_how_you_tel.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/03/its_how_you_... "Today, I got a video, featuring Jason, who just might be the best juggler I have ever seen. Same music, similar routine. Except... five balls. Not three, five. Infinitely more difficult. And Jason makes it look easy. The thing is, even though I know how much more difficult Jason's routine is and how skilled he is, the very ease of his delivery makes it less likely an audience would give him that same ovation. Interesting how important effort seems to be."
- antipaganda 17y ago
  It's not what you're given, it's what you do with what you've got. http://www.mysongbook.de/msb/songs/w/whatyoud.html http://www.mysongbook.de/msb/songs/w/whatyoud.html
- briancooley 17y ago
  * all I did was visually change the text to make it look more professionally laid out, and carefully rework some of the phrasing to make it sound better to the ear. (Plus add a couple really good first sentences and a good headline.)* Those changes are non-trivial. Layout and writing style are integral components in the user interface for comprehending text.
  - joe_the_user 17y ago
    Yes, There are a lot of hn news posts I've made that I think I could make into blog posts or even articles. But I can't claim they already are in a form people will pay attention to. For example, the posts I'm most proud of generally get few mods whereas simplistic but irrefutable objections to some other story tend to get the highest mods. But that's logical. People just aren't reading the ten or fifty posts on a paper to find the gems. They might read the first that way if you're lucky. Otherwise, they are more likely to skim. Even on the web, the writer has to present their ideas so they are accessible. (And here I go again. This post will get far less mods than statements like "where's your evidence")
gherlein 17y ago
It is a blog post!

btilly 17y ago

I'll think about it. I won't get around to it in the near future though, sorry.

bjelkeman-again 17y ago
Please do, as I am sure there are a bunch of us who would love to hear more about it.
- yummyfajitas 17y ago
  I'd love to hear about it as soon as possible (i.e., early enough in the semester for me to act on it). I'm already updating webassign to follow your suggestion, current material + old stuff each week. Anything else you did (beyond SRS) would also be useful to know.
  - eob 17y ago
    You don't need someone to tell you what to do -- he/she already gave you the general idea. Why can't you be similarly creative with your class and run with it?
    - yummyfajitas 17y ago
      I'm implementing all of btilly's specific suggestions. As for why not "be creative"? I don't see how that suggestion is helpful. Btilly wasn't creative, he implemented proven techniques. I want to do the same, I just don't know what those proven techniques are (beyond the ones he mentioned in his post).
Goladus 17y ago
Could you point us at the sources you used to develop the method? You mention the concepts have been around for a long time.

Alex3917 17y ago

"If you made this story into a blog post, people would listen." That's what I hate about people. What makes people pay attention isn't the ideas themselves, but whether it looks like you worked hard in writing it. I've made comments on HN that no one paid any attention to, and then turned them into blog posts and had them get to the top of Reddit or Digg or whatever. Exact same ideas, all I did was visually change the text to make it look more professionally laid out, and carefully rework some of the phrasing to make it sound better to the ear. (Plus add a couple really good first sentences and a good headline.) I've found that if you actually leave a couple minor mistakes in your blog post it gets more votes, because it look like you're thinking at the edge of your intellectual ability, and people like that. It's the exact same thing Seth said in his post about the Chris Bliss Diss video: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/03/its_how_you_tel.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/03/its_how_you_... "Today, I got a video, featuring Jason, who just might be the best juggler I have ever seen. Same music, similar routine. Except... five balls. Not three, five. Infinitely more difficult. And Jason makes it look easy. The thing is, even though I know how much more difficult Jason's routine is and how skilled he is, the very ease of his delivery makes it less likely an audience would give him that same ovation. Interesting how important effort seems to be."

antipaganda 17y ago
It's not what you're given, it's what you do with what you've got. http://www.mysongbook.de/msb/songs/w/whatyoud.html http://www.mysongbook.de/msb/songs/w/whatyoud.html
briancooley 17y ago
* all I did was visually change the text to make it look more professionally laid out, and carefully rework some of the phrasing to make it sound better to the ear. (Plus add a couple really good first sentences and a good headline.)* Those changes are non-trivial. Layout and writing style are integral components in the user interface for comprehending text.
- joe_the_user 17y ago
  Yes, There are a lot of hn news posts I've made that I think I could make into blog posts or even articles. But I can't claim they already are in a form people will pay attention to. For example, the posts I'm most proud of generally get few mods whereas simplistic but irrefutable objections to some other story tend to get the highest mods. But that's logical. People just aren't reading the ten or fifty posts on a paper to find the gems. They might read the first that way if you're lucky. Otherwise, they are more likely to skim. Even on the web, the writer has to present their ideas so they are accessible. (And here I go again. This post will get far less mods than statements like "where's your evidence")

gherlein 17y ago

It is a blog post!