Simon Strong Provides Half a Semester of Learning in One Hour

🎯 The Ruckus Report

Quick take: What if you could deliver six weeks of learning in a single hour? Simon Strong did exactly that — and the results are challenging everything we think we know about teaching, memory, and curriculum.

🤝 Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker

Simon Strong is the founder of Download Learning, a UK-based company partnering with schools and organizations to dramatically accelerate learning by sequencing information to align with how the brain actually works.

🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules 🧠 Key Insight #1: Speed doesn’t kill learning — distraction does.

• What’s broken: Slow, disjointed lessons overloaded with irrelevant detail.
• The shift: Simon’s team scripts, edits, and delivers content at 220 words per minute —nearly double classroom pace — to keep attention and trigger retention.
• Impact: Students retain foundational knowledge more effectively, especially those with ADHD or learning differences.

🧠 Key Insight #2: One hour, one-half term (seriously).

• What’s broken: Teachers covering complex topics in 6-week units with minimal retention.
• The shift: A single high-impact video lesson designed to fire synapses in precise time intervals.
• Impact: One hour of Simon’s approach produced equivalent learning outcomes to an entire half term of traditional instruction. Add teacher support, and outcomes doubled.

🧠 Key Insight #3: Flipping modes ≠ mastery.

• What’s broken: Constantly switching between direct instruction, stories, and activities in class.
• The shift: Presenting one “mode” at a time to avoid cognitive overload.
• Impact: Improved comprehension, less classroom disruption, and deeper long-term understanding.

💬 Quotable Ruckus

“Education doesn’t build character—it reveals it. Our job is to help students discover who they are and become the best version of themselves.”

– Simon Strong

🚀 Your Do School Different Challenge Ready to implement these ideas? **Start here**:

• Tomorrow: Audit your next lesson for unnecessary mode-switching. Stick with one mode longer.
• This Month: Try introducing a complex topic through a story, not a slide deck.
• This Semester: Partner with a colleague to design a one-hour “burst” lesson using Simon’s three-mode model.

🔗 Connect & Continue

🎯 Get the full episode transcript here.

🔗 Learn more about Simon’s work: https://downloadlearning.co.uk

• 🌐 Website
• 🔗 LinkedIn
• 📄 Peer-Reviewed Research

📌 Ruckus Makers Don’t Just Listen — They Act

If education ain’t a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning?

This show isn’t about doing school better.

It’s about Do School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what’s possible.

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The podcast is your starting point. The movement is just getting started.

🎙 Today’s RUCKUScast in Partnership With: ODP Business Solutions®

• Looking to create the kind of campus experience students never forget? ODP Business Solutions® transforms ordinary spaces into extraordinary learning environments.

🔍 Learn more: odpbusiness.com/education

IXL

• Over 1 million teachers rely on IXL because it empowers educators with real-time data and adaptive instruction.

🔍 Learn more: ixl.com/leaders

PLAY PIPER

• Play Piper bridges gaming and STEM with hands-on kits that turn curiosity into confidence—and students into makers.

🔍 Learn more: playpiper.com

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