The difference between structured and unstructured learning is in intentionality. With the former, the learning path is guided by pre-defined objectives. With the latter, there is generally no such explicit direction and occurs more naturally.

I think about structured learning as having three distinct phases. Discovery of new ideas, sense-making, and experimentation. Cycling through the three can take days or months, time generally doesn’t bound each phase.

Sense-making — the trigger for this phase is identifying a topic from the discovery “list” and deciding that I want to research and go deeper.

Output: a visual knowledge map on Heptabase e.g., map for key consulting skills. In addition, I keep track of all of the major sources of literature I consume e.g., books on Goodreads, written content on Glasp.

Internal motivation would peter out in the absence of formal structure i.e., school had exams and the promise of getting into university or getting a job was a powerful motivator.

My hypothesis is that replacing institutional oversight with the public record of the internet would encourage similar behaviour.

Intentionally sharing my learning and progress in public spaces is my antidote to the post-school learning motivation challenge.

If I read a compelling piece of written content, I’ll annotate and shelve it accordingly with Glasp.

The public record of the internet serves as a strong accountability incentive