Answer: Best ways to do just-in-time learning. Part 2: conversation with a chatbot

  As mentioned... 

A woman studying a complex anatomy topic. P/C Pexels.com by RF._.studio _

      

There are a huge number of methods to quickly learn something, especially today.  This is the next in a series of posts about methods I've tried.    

Remember the Challenge: 

1. What are the best AI-inspired (or AI-driven) new Micro- and Meso-learning that you've found?  Have you actually tried this method?  How well has it worked out for you? 

Last week I wrote about just searching for pre-existing tutorial content.  That often works quite well and is a good first place to start.  

But sometimes you want something that's bespoke and tailored to you interests at the moment.  Here's a way to use the chatbots to do that.  

You can put both ChatGPT and Gemini (and many others) into chat mode that lets you have a conversation with the AI. Here's my example using Gemini.  To start the conversation, click on the button with the vertical lines (lower right) to get started.  

The key idea here is to ask the chatbot to read you an essay on the topic of interest.  Here, I continue the quest to learn more about kelp with my prompt: 

[Give me a 500 word essay on the natural history of kelp along the California coast]

Note that it reads around 120 words/minute, so I'm asking for a 4-minute reading. Ask for 1000 words if you want a more detailed version. 

Be sure to be as specific as you need.  Note that I wanted info about the "natural history" and specifically to the "coast of California."  (I know that kelp lives in many oceans, but I have a parochial interest in local kelp. See picture at the end of this post.)  

NOTE: As you listen to your topical essays being read aloud, note that you can interrupt it and ask a follow-up question.  (Such as, "what is the role of pollutants in damaging the kelp coverage?")  You don't need a special hot word (like "Hey Google!"), just start speaking when you want to drill into the topic. 

After you've done that,  you can say something like "... let's go back to the previous topic."  It really does feel like a conversation with a subject-matter expert. 

Of course, each of the chatbots will create a somewhat different essay. Here's the one that Gemini created and the essay ChatGPT created.  

Here's a visual for you (typography by me):  

Click to see in full-size

 
Notice that Gemini wrote 407 words, while ChatGPT wrote 530 words.  Gemini neglected to mention bull kelp at all, while ChatGPT gives it a prominent place.  ChatGPT also included information about Seasonal Cycles and the historical Human Use of kelp in California as well.  For my money, a much better job. But some might prefer the lighter touch of Gemini.    

I've found myself asking for short essays on topics that I'd like to know more about, especially when I'm about to do something (visit a museum, attend a seminar, go to a particular part of the city).  

As remmij pointed out, you can even use this chatbot conversational style to ask questions about learning method.  When I asked the bot: 

[tell me about the Feynman technique for effective learning] 

Gemini not only told me what it was, but then jumped into "Feynman teaching mode" on the topic of California kelp.  

But we'll talk more about that next time.  

 

SearchResearch Lessons

This is Part 2 of our "how to learn rapidly" series.  We learned that: 

1. Chatbots can read on-topic essays to you. Use this as a way to delimit what you'd like to learn.  

2. Think of a chatbot as a way to have a conversation with the material. In particular, you can drill down deep into a topic in a very natural, conversational way.  

But AS ALWAYS validate what it tells you.  Thus far, the conversations I've had all seem pretty high quality and accurate.  But that's not a guarantee.  If you have questions or hear something that sounds a bit...pardon me... fishy... be sure to check!  

Diving in the giant kelp in the Channel Island, California. P/C Dan.

Keep searching!  

Answer: Best ways to do just-in-time learning. Part 1 - search for tutorial content

  What's a great way to... 

A woman studying a complex anatomy topic. P/C Pexels.com by RF._.studio _

... learn something relatively quickly?    

As I said in the Challenge last week, in my line of work, I often have to be a fast learner and become an instant expert (or as close as possible within the time I've got).  

This motivates the Challenge: What are some new (largely AI-driven) ways to rapidly learn something?  

So here was the Challenge: 

1. What are the best AI-inspired (or AI-driven) new Micro- and Meso-learning that you've found?  Have you actually tried this method?  How well has it worked out for you? 

There are SO many ways to answer this Challenge that I'm going to give it in parts.  Here's Part 1.  I'll give some more ideas next week (instead of another Challenge).

 I AM mindful that real learning takes work.  As Andrej Karpathy wrote (Feb 10, 2024): 

Learning is not supposed to be fun. It doesn't have to be actively not fun either, but the primary feeling should be that of effort. It should look a lot less like that "10 minute full body" workout from your local digital media creator and a lot more like a serious session at the gym. You want the mental equivalent of sweating. It's not that the quickie doesn't do anything, it's just that it is wildly suboptimal if you actually care to learn.

That's all true.  But there are times when we need to learn something rapidly.  How can we do that?  I'm happy to sweat and do focused work, but sometimes I need a micro-learning or meso-learning experience.  How can we do that? 

Here's my approach.  (Next week we'll talk about other approaches.)  

1. Identify what you're trying to learn. Does it have a name?  Do you have a fairly clear learning goal? Just flailing around watching short videos isn't the same as having a plan.  This is often the hardest part of the learning task--especially if you don't know what you're really trying to learn.  As a way to clarify the task... 

2. Write down your goal. What I do is to write down (usually in pen on paper!) what I'm trying to learn about.  

Example: Last week, after meeting a kelp researcher on the beach in northern California, I wanted to learn about the different kinds of kelp that grow locally. I literally wrote out, "Learn: kinds of kelp in N. California. How many varieties? Ecology. Threats. Current condition."  

(That's Russell-ese for "Learning Goal: To learn about the different kinds of kelp that grow off-shore in California. Learn about the different species of kelp, what kinds of ecosystems do they grow in, what are the current threats to their growth, what's the current condition of kelp beds in 2025?")

In essence, I'm outlining a topic and a few relevant sub-topics. In the past, I would have started classical searching, and pulled together a few articles to read, then spent a happy couple of hours reading them, digging deeper as interest led me.  

Here's my first search.  Note that I've opened the AI Overview as a way to get a first-glance at the topic:   

This quick search tells me a lot. There seem to be only 2 species of kelp along California, NOAA is doing research, there is an effort in kelp forest restoration because of multiple threats.  

3. Do a quick search for pre-existing edu materials.  It's worth doing this first--you never know when someone out there will have already made exactly the right tutorial for you.  No matter how obscure the topic, someone might have already put together a package for you.  As my friend Leigh says, "Dan, it's the internet... there's always someone who is interested in that."  Time has proven him right. 

Point is: Check for pre-existing tutorials (or lectures, or lessons, or lectures) first. 

Looking at the videos, it seems there are a couple of potentially useful ones already.  

To scan a video like this, I'll typically open the video and look at the transcript. (Sometimes the link to the transcript is a little buried. See below for a useful tip.)  

Then, once that panel is open, you can click to open the transcript. 

Then, once that panel is open, you can click to open the transcript. Click on the magnifying glass to search in the transcript.  (Or use Control-F / CMD-F.) 

I then do a few searches inside of the text to make sure that the video really is on-topic and discusses what I want.  (For instance, does the word "ecosystem" appear in the video?)   

Alternatively, you can ask Gemini to summarize the video (again, to see if it's really what you want to learn.. keep in mind that you want to watch the whole video, not just read the summary).  Looking at the summary below, it seems like a great video to watch--it's nearly an hour long, and probably worth the investment of time.  

When you've scrolled down a bit, you might well find the "People Also Ask" section... which is another way to see what relevant topics you might learn.    

Of course educational materials can be more than just YouTube videos.  Using the term "lesson" is often useful, though I've found that they're often oriented for 6-12 grades.  (Which might be what you're looking for.)  

For more advanced learning units, I'd use the terms "university" and "class."  That will often find entire semester-long classes, with a syllabus and everything.  

4. Create a quiz to help test your knowledge. As we know, self-tests are a very useful way to ensure that your studying has paid off.  In a great tip from Ben Gomes at Google, he suggested using Gemini to make a quiz to check.  You can do this with either a video OR a longer text document.  

One of the documents about kelp I read was this one from California State Fish and Game - you can see what I asked Gemini to make a quiz for me (look on the left hand side... I said "Here's a document... <URL> ... create a study quiz from this file." 

You can do the same thing with videos.  Here, I dropped in a link to a YouTube video about kelp.  

SearchResearch Lessons

This is Part 1 of our "how to learn rapidly" series.  We learned that: 

1. Identify your task. Use this as a way to delimit what you'd like to learn.  

2. Write down your learning goals. A great way to do this is to literally write down what you'd like to learn.  As you write, you'll learn what you don't know--identifying knowledge gaps is a great method to figure out how to proceed. 

3. Search for already existing learning materials on your topic. Don't skip this step!  

4. Create self-test quizzes to ensure that you've learned the material. 

Keep searching!  

SearchResearch Challenge (8/6/25): Best ways to do just-in-time learning?

 It happens constantly... 

P/C Pexels.com by RF._.studio _

... maybe it happens constantly to you too.  

I suddenly need to learn something I know little-to-nothing about, and learn it fast.  

In essence, I have to be a fast learner and become an instant expert (or as close as possible within the time I've got).  

That's what this Challenge is all about.  What are some new (largely AI-driven) ways to rapidly learn something?  

I'm curious what you've found are the best ways to pick up a topic quickly.  

In the research world, people have written about "micro-learning," tiny episodes of learning that you fit in between the other moments of your day.  (Example of an academic paper on this topic)

But I also want to know about "meso-learning" (intermediate scale topics), and even if you've found good ways to organize "macro-learning" (that is, big topics that take a long time to acquire).  

Let's divvy it up this way:  

Micro-learning - instruction usually taking 10 minutes or less. (There's even a Wikipedia article on Microlearing.)  

Meso-learning - between 10 minutes and 1 hour.  

Macro-learning - more than an hour, and up to the rest-of-your-life.  

(I also realize that people use Microlearning to do macrolearning--like learning a language or do vocabulary practice. We'll ignore that distinction now and return to it next week.)  

So here's your Challenge: 

1. What are the best AI-inspired (or AI-driven) new Micro- and Meso-learning that you've found?  Have you actually tried this method?  How well has it worked out for you? 

Example:  I'm in the process of brushing up my Spanish (because I live in California, so it's handy) and German (because I go to Switzerland fairly often).  So I've been using Duolingo as a Micro-learning method.  It's not super-AI-ish, but they keep adding AI components to it.  I've also been trying AI-driven language tools (e.g., MakesYouFluent) to exercise my conversational skills.  (I'll give you my thoughts about each next week.)

But YOU might have a few tricks up your sleeve.  For instance, I know of some people who create a Google NotebookLM, drop in a bunch of content, and then have it generate a podcast they can download and listen to as a way of learning something.  Have you tried this?  Did it work well for you? 

What tactics and strategies do you employ to understand a topic area quickly?

Most importantly, what do you do? 

Summary next week, along with some thoughts on my part.  

Keep searching!