Think about a book in which the plot thickens chapter after chapter and you "just can't put it down." Think about Final Jeopardy and waiting to see who will come up with the correct question. Think about pulling for you team to make that last second field goal to win a game. Suspense! It's so much fun, right? Wrong. Your brain hates suspense. Where do you think that the cliché, "The suspense is killing me!!!!" comes from? Okay. Now, think about the kid (back in the day) who was told, "Just wait until your Father comes home!" That's more like it! You can imagine how much that kid wants the hammer...

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Some of the learning or technology related Twitter subscribers we follow include: @nybooks @tom_peters @stephenRCovey @HavardBiz @kenblanchard @zeitz @gtdguy @elupdate @learningpool @lllearning @dogolearning @mslearning @nlearning @pbslearningnow @scobleizer @bshermcincy @newmediacincy @tonykarrer @copyblogger @mzinga @boslearn @trainingcentral @astd @ispi1962 @socialmediacomm @jimkukral @socialnetdaily

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Does an approach to instructional design and technical communication that minimizes the amount of content vs. the usefulness of the content always work better than a more comprehensive or “systems” approach? Well, it depends.  It depends on the user, the medium and/or modes of delivery and, in some cases, who is authoring the content/instruction.  Generally, a minimalist approach to instructional design and end user documentation focuses on the novice user of a technology or tool.  Complex task domains and power users may not be the ideal audience for a minimalist instructional design and documentations...

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From all of us at Tier1, we would like to wish you all a happy Holiday Season. We hope that you get to spend time with family and friends celebrating a season of joy.   Thank you for a wonderful 2009, and we look forward to an even better 2010!   -The TiER1 Team

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If you've received a Google Wave invite, perhaps you were overwhelmed and confused the first time you logged in like I was. Or maybe you've never even heard of Google Wave. Either way, I recently found a great FREE resource to get you up to speed on Google Wave. Appropriately titled "The Complete Guide to Google Wave," this online guide describes everything in simple terms. They start with the basics like what Google Wave is and how to sign up, then build up to Wave-specific terminology, possible use cases, and advanced features. I especially liked this video explaining how Wave is different...

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