Work smarter not harder
By Martin Allen
As time has progressed, the use and integration of study and revision for an educational purpose has been very widely accepted within the education community, however, it has still retained a nationwide state of controversy within student circles as to whether or not revision is as good a way to learn as traditional school-taught learning. In this article, I will try to show you how revision, knowledge and preparation is an extremely versatile and efficient learning tool when used in the right way, and how to utilise its functions as a student in any environment.
Lots of arguments are centred around whether or not the currently taught method of learning is as effective as more specialised and tailored approaches to learning. These arguments are usually revolving around how the teaching is applied to the subject being taught and whether or not the style of learning is suited to each student or not. When students are given work, homework or any sort of learning based activity, we are more than tempted to procrastinate, believe me, I would know, I am a student!
Understanding your own learning process:
The key to training yourself to learn efficiently online is understanding two things, your goal for your time learning, and what type of learner you are, ie, visual, auditory, reading/writing or intrapersonal type of learner. Knowing what type of learner you will let you know what form of study will maximise the amount of comprehension and mastery of the content you are learning, at a lesser price of focus and effort. The resources that are available to students is quite the versatile array of material, the possibilities are endless! And with this in mind, we know that it is entirely possible to cater and create a learning ethic for online study by using the resources most aligned with how you best learn. The second part of learning online is understanding the fundamental goal of your time spent working.
How to get started:
Setting yourself a goal is an extremely common recommended by almost any teacher you can think of and used in almost every form of learning, media, business and relationship. Setting a realistic goal while booking out a time period to do it is a great way to get your mind in the right headspace and mentality to dedicate yourself to the work. The goal itself, when set in a way that makes it accomplishable, is a form of streamlining your effort into the goal you’ve set and taking away the worry and stress of doing everything at once. Students across the globe will agree that doing an assignment completely in one sitting is often a very taxing and arduous task. Spreading out your workload and setting achievable goals is a good way to make work easier and much simpler in a shorter amount of time, with the added benefit of keeping your mental health in a good condition.
Knowing which type of learning best fits with you and how to work towards a goal set with that style in mind makes all the difference to us students while we study. Using this method of study and learning can help empower you to change your attitude towards work in general, as well as giving us more free time to spend as we would like. This way, not only does study become easier and less time consuming, but it also helps your general and mental health as well as teaching you valuable life lessons. Setting goals, accomplishing those goals, hard work, earning your free time and understanding how you function are all crucial parts of finding a job and living a stable adult life, which is something I’m sure all of us should be thinking about at some point. What learning type do you believe you are? Do you agree with the method shared in this article? If so, feel free to experiment and tweak things in your own study time!
Until next time!
Martin's References
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Bidikov, D. (2020). “How do you write an advice column?” - The Phoenix. Retrieved 17 May 2020, from https://swarthmorephoenix.com/2017/09/21/how-do-you-write-an-advice-column/
Hoener, N. (2020). The Seven Learning Styles - How do you learn?. Retrieved 15 May 2020, from https://www.inspireeducation.net.au/blog/the-seven-learning-styles/
Leaf, C. (2020). How to Learn Faster, Memorize Anything, and Upgrade Your Brain to Become Limitless with Top Brain Coach Jim Kwik. Retrieved 20 May 2020, from https://drleaf.com/blogs/news/how-to-learn-faster-memorize-anything-and-upgrade-your-brain-to-become-limitless-with-top-brain-coach-jim-kwik
Store | Dr. Caroline Leaf. (2020). Retrieved 20 May 2020, from https://drleaf.com/