Tis the season for favorite things parties, so we're sharing a learning designer's favorite things from 2023 to bring the party straight to you!
To kick off our list of favorites, we wanted to gift you a holiday playlist curated by our music master, Kassina, with some of our favorite go-to deep thinking songs to help you power through the last couple weeks of December.
Now that you've got the Desklight soundtrack going, here are some snippets of what lit us up this year.
📖 Favorite Book or Podcast
Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World
The IDEO U Creative Confidence Podcast
The Art of Noticing: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday
📈 Favorite Learning Trend
Lifelong Learning: It's critical for career progression and also for healthy aging. It goes beyond professional development and extends to personal growth, health, safety, and staying connected to others.
Microlearning: We're seeing an increased interest in short, focused learning experiences for skill development and knowledge retention.
AI in Learning: Sal Khan, CEO of Khan Academy believes AI could catalyze the most positive transformation in education, and we're excited to see how this trend scales in 2024!
💼 Favorite Workday Product
Moleskin Notebook: Erin cherishes the lightweight and soft design of her moleskin notebook which she keeps on-hand for notetaking, list tracking, and sketching.
Time Block Planner: Cal Newport's philosophy on time blocking, has worked wonders for Ellen and she loves using the planner for efficient work organization.
Sparrow Coffee: Kassina's preferred way to get her workday up and running is with a cup of Sparrow Coffee.
🤖 Favorite New Learning Tech
MyMind: A helpful app for communication, organization, and capturing thoughts and questions.
ChatTube: An AI-powered app facilitating conversations with YouTube videos to enhance learner engagement.
Notion: We love Notion for its versatility in communication and information consolidation.
🔮 A Learning Designer's Hopes for 2024
Impact: Continuing impactful work, discovering strong client partners, and advancing the mission for equitable, learner-centered learning strategies.
Joy and Connection: Hoping AI evolves to enable deeper connection and collaboration in learning, preserving the messy and fun aspects of the learning experience.
Learner-Driven Learning: Advocating for more learner-driven learning with increased choices and opportunities for exploration.
💗 Do Something Good!
As part of our 2023 Desklight Retreat, we were given the opportunity to visit Cara Collective and learn more about the inspirational work they do to break the cycle of poverty through the power and purpose of employment.
Additionally, Erin has made it a yearly tradition to pick an organization to provide service to as part of her family's holiday party. This year they helped pack meals at Feed My Starving Children.
With gratitude in our hearts for our clients, we have given a donation to Cara Collective and Feed My Starving Children. In past years, we have supported Embarc and Marwen, and we encourage you to find an organization you can donate to or provide service for this holiday season.
What's Your Curiosity for 2024?
Desklight Team is picking one word to represent their goals for 2024. At our last Inspiration Hour, we were able to hear from Andrew Clark, the Head of Design at H&R Block, who shared how he picks one curiosity for the year.
As you have time over the holidays to think, reflect, and recenter, we invite you to think about your goals and curiosities for 2024 and find new ways to invite learning and growth into your life.
We wish you the happiest of holidays and are grateful for your friendship and support as you've helped us make 2023 one of Desklight's best years yet. Here's to continued learning in 2024!
"Often when you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else."
Fred Rogers
