Making Learning Quick and Easy Series: Basics of Learning to Learn
Are you tired of learning? Are there things you want to learn, but learning them intimidates you? Do you want to learn something, but you do not think you have the time? If there are things you would love to learn, but school took all the fun out of your learning, then this series of articles are for you. They are also for those who want to improve their learn ability and have more time for other things.
There are a many ways to learn. In addition it depends on what you are trying to learn. At least some of the techniques, learning approaches, and meta-learning short cuts proposed in this article will help you on your journey to learning quickly and easily.
Learning to learn is a major field of study. In this article, I have collected the most effective techniques and learning strategies that I know of. Please share your “Learning Made Easy” ideas in the comments and/or comment on what has helped you in this article.
Less is more. This is a series of articles because there is so much information. When there is too much information presented at once, the brain switches off. This is the exact opposite of the desired result.
Disclaimer: this article cannot possibly cover all the techniques, learning approaches, and meta-learning short cuts available. It is meant to open your mind to the best learning techniques for your own brain. You are in control and creativity is your greatest asset and friend in learning.
Sensory Learning
There are 3 main modalities, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities. Most people are visual, less are auditory, and then there are even less kinesthetic thinkers. A modality is a fancy term for how your brain thinks about things. There will be a mode that you think in predominantly over most of your learning. However which modality you use first to learn a skill is heavily dependent on what skill you are learning. For instance, a practical skill like learning to ride a bicycle would mostly be kinesthetic thinking and learning. “Muscle memory” is one of the best known terms in kinesthetic learning. More on this later, but for now, when you learn to ride a bicycle, you mainly learn in kinesthetic manner.
So let’s go through each of these modalities. Starting with the most popular manner of thinking and learning, the visual modality and ending with probably the most under-rated kinesthetic thinking and learning.
Tip: if you are not sure of which type of modality you prefer, pay attention to the language you use. Do you find yourself saying, “I see what you mean” and using other sight words often? Or do you usually say, “I hear that” and other similar auditory phrases? Or are you using kinesthetic language like, “I feel you” or “it feels like the right thing to do”? You can also strengthen your modalities through the use of your language by deliberately using sight, auditory, or kinesthetic words when you are thinking or talking about something.
Dreams
Dreams are tricky. Most likely, and predominantly, dreams are visual. However you probably have had very kinesthetic dreams. Where when you wake up and feel tired because you feel like you have physically exerted yourself. Have you ever dreamed about running in a race or had an anxiety dream where you wake up sweating and your heart pounding? Maybe you have had a predominantly auditory dream, especially if you are a musician or are in love with a particular song that you cannot get out of your brain. Typically you wake up from an auditory dream with music or a voice in your head singing, playing, or saying something.
I recommend you record the messages in your dreams, no matter which modality the messages are given in. Paul McCartney is a great example, he wrote the hit song, “Let it Be” after a dream of his mother saying, “Let it be”. Therefore dreaming can be any modality or multi-modal, which merely means: more than 1 mode.
Visual Learning
Whenever you think about an object, you are probably using the visual modality. For example, if you think about an elephant, you are probably visualizing the elephant right now.
When you learn using a visual modality, you see what you are learning in your brain. Imagination is a big part of the visual modality. It is a basic and one of the most effective learning tools in the visual modality.
Mind maps are very effective visual learning aids. This is obviously using visual modality to learn. Visual learning can be very valuable for learning content, for example learning academic type of content or information that you need or want to remember, such as a person’s name and/or address etc. Visual learning is structured and helps you store and retrieve information logically and easily. Note: mind maps are also good for planning and structuring anything you want to write or present.
Color (or colour) is the most effective way of getting information into your visual memory. Here you are taking advantage of both the emotions colors evoke and making the visual material more enjoyable to remember.
Screens are also a great way to use visual learning. You can use a movie screen, computer screen, or white screen used for presentations. One thing you can do is project your work up on the movie or white screens. Alternatively you can use a “computer program” like PowerPoint in your mind to visualize your presentation, information, or work that you have to memorize. Screens are 1 way of storing, viewing, and/or retrieving your visual information.
Number Memory Strategy
When you want to remember names, lists, or directions, the number memory strategy can be quite helpful. This is the use of pegging names, lists, or directions to well remembered pictures of numbers. Yes, this means you first have to remember the pictures that go with the numbers. However after that it is a quick, effective way of learning multiple items in a specific order. There is lots of material on number memory strategy on-line. This will suffice as an introduction.
Auditory Learning
You are not psychotic if you hear voices in your head as long as you are in control of them. Whenever you remember listening to a lecture, podcast, or music you are using your auditory modality. If you are trying to remember audio material, then you are probably primarily using auditory learning. Can you remember conversations or lessons you had in the past and “replay them” in your mind with the original voices? Are you good at remembering lectures? Do you recognize someone’s voice on the phone? These are examples of auditory learning.
Kinesthetic Learning
A very under-rated, but powerful type of learning is kinesthetic learning that you use more often than you are aware of. Everyone learns kinesthetically whenever they are learning a practical skill. Anyone who has every taken part in a sport or learned to play an instrument has taken advantage of a very important learning strategy, namely, committing that skill to muscle memory. All this means is that you are able to perform the action or skill without thinking about the steps in your head. Learning to knit or sew are also common examples. The most obvious examples are learning to walk, write, type, ride a bicycle, and drive a car.
Learning in Action
In reality whenever you learn a skill or information, you use multiple modalities. However there tends to be a predominant modality. After the major modality the other 2 are usually in used in a specific order. You switch back and forth between modalities creating a learning strategy made up of steps. Tip: analyzing your learning strategy for a specific thing you want to learn is 1 way to decrease your learning time and make your learning easier and more enjoyable.
An illustration would be learning to drive a car. First you need to learn visually where and what everything is, namely, the accelerator, the breaks, the clutch (in a gearshift car) or the automatic gear controls (in an automatic car), the mirrors, the seat-belt, the indicators, the lights ect. Then you will have to learn to use your feet, hands, body, head, and eyes, which are all kinesthetic learning modalities. Then you will go back to your visual learning as you will have to learn where everything is again. Then you will move back to your kinesthetic modalities and practice getting each skill, such as steering into muscle memory. You might have some auditory learning when you speak yourself through turning for instance: “first I need to put on my indicators, now I have to look in my mirrors, now I have to turn my head and maybe my body and check my blind spot, all’s clear, now I have to turn the steering wheel gently and gradually until I have finished the turn and finally I have to return my steering wheel back to moving straight ahead again”. This might seem like a lengthy illustration, but you can clearly follow the modality strategy for this person, namely visual, kinesthetic, back to visual, back to kinesthetic and then to auditory and so on. Now you have an idea of the strategy this person uses or the sequence of modalities he or she calls upon to learn a skill like driving.
Summary
When you first start learning about a topic, it is very useful to be aware of what you are learning, how best to learn it, and which modalities you prefer in which sequence. There is also mulit-modal learning which takes advantage of as using as many modalities to learn quicker or more effectively.
The most popular and most used modality is the visual modality. You mostly use visual learning for academic purposes and everyday interactions, for instance learning someone’s name who you meet. Mind maps, imagination, screens, and number memory strategy are all part of the tools in your visual memory tool kit.
Auditory learning is when you think in speech, hearing something in your mind and it can talk you through learning a skill. Recalling a song in your head is an example of auditory learning you have done. Auditory learning is useful when you are trying to remember a speech, presentation, or lecture that you are listening to.
Kinesthetic learning happens quite naturally when you are trying to learn something practical that involves the movement of your body. This is probably the most under-rated modality. It is also sometimes a good way to take a break from the learning in the other 2 modalities.
These modalities can be used very consciously to improve your learning and make it fun. So take advantage of your strongest modality, but also pay attention to what you are trying to learn. Enjoy the process of learning how you learn and what modality and strategies you use most often and how you can improve them.
