The Power of Visual Learning

For most people, it becomes easy to remember any information just by visualizing it. When it comes to learning, the sense of vision offers a great advantage. A study shows that around 65 percent of people are visual learners. It is a learning mechanism where a person sees the information in order to interpret it. Visual learning requires various forms, such as diagrams, infographics, videos, and pictures for better interpretation of any data or information. Visual learning aids in critical thinking and develops skills like better understanding and problem-solving.

Benefits of visual learning

• Information retention — Various studies have proved how visuals can have a greater impact on our memory and aid in better learning. Our short-term memory can store a small piece of information only, whereas visuals such as images are stored in our long-term memory. Words are abstract and complex to remember and our brain usually prioritizes visuals for any information retention. For instance, we remember any brand from its logo even before we recall its name.
• Increases student’s interest — Did you ever feel how interesting a lecture becomes when teacher would add any fun visual on the board? Classroom lectures with only text can be quite monotonous at times. Visuals add a fun element to your studies and can be an interesting learning process. Try turning dreary seminars and conferences into engaging lessons by adding visuals in your notes. Adding images, colors, or doodles not only increases our interest but also keeps us more focused.
• Saves learning time — Studies have shown that our brain can process visuals faster than text as our eyes can register 36,000 visual messages per hour. Any information listed in the form of flowcharts, graphs, symbols, etc., is simpler and faster to process.
• Develop higher-order thinking skills — Using diagrams or infographics can simplify hard to understand topics that are text-heavy. It improves our learning skills as the creative part of our brain gets involved when we incorporate visuals in our notes. Also, high-order thinking skills are developed when we focus our brain to convert texts into visuals.

Visual learning strategies

• Use sketchnotes and mindmaps for note-taking — For long seminars and lectures, note-takers prefer visual note-taking methods such as sketchnotes and mindmaps. These strategies are efficient and well-known techniques of taking notes for visual learners.
• Create flashcards for learning — Flashcards are effective tools for learning faster and for quick reviews before exams. This learning technique is beneficial, especially for people who focus more on visuals.
• Use flowcharts and graphs — Representation of the text in the form of flowcharts and graphs can facilitate faster learning and retention. Visual properties of graphs can help in the easy processing of any complicated data. Also, it visualizes the relationship of one type of data to another.
• Incorporate doodles, symbols, and color codes — For people who mostly rely on the visual learning process, doodles and color-coding could be a productive technique. The use of highlighters engages our brain more as colors act as a strong stimulator for the brain. Symbols on the other hand can help make connections between the given information.

How digital note-taking aids in visual learning

Noteshelf is a digital note-taking app that gives you several options to add visual elements of your choice. Whether it’s playing with different highlighters to color code your text, or creating perfect shapes and symbols. In addition to these features, you can insert any image or text, use doodles, create flowcharts, and prepare your visual notes more easily and quickly. Digital note-taking also gives you the added advantage of editing your already prepared notes. These features can save you a lot of time and improve your grasp of what you’re learning.

A quick glance at your visual notes can be effective if you are in a hurry for your class or exam. Incorporating more visuals in your studies or notes if you are a visual learner will definitely make you more productive by more information retention and less learning time.

Happy learning!!