The Evolution of Learning
If you wanted to learn something new, your first thought would be to find someone to teach you: a teacher, a specialist in the field, a skilled individual. This traditional method of learning has carried you from grade school to high school, and perhaps college – and it served you well. However, for those who’ve transitioned from the traditional classroom setting but still want to learn, the twenty-first century is here for you.
Today, a myriad of learning arenas exist – all offering unlimited access to any topic we want to learn. Just search online for information about your topic of choice, then read, watch, listen. This is a form of non-traditional learning. To get the most out of it, set aside 30 minutes to an hour or more each day for studying. At least you can sit with a cup of tea/coffee in this atmosphere, right? During study time, take notes, then ask questions and search credible sources for answers, such as books written by experts, educational websites, government sources that provide facts [statistical, historical, scientific information], and scholarly articles on the topic [make friends with scholar.google.com]. Share what you’ve learned with someone, and if you can answer their questions about the topic, that’s proof that you’ve gained a strong understanding of it. Sharing also increases your chance of retaining the information. No. This non-traditional learning method won’t get you a degree, but like traditional learning, it can sharpen your thinking, expand your vocabulary, and take your conversation skills to the next level.
Check out the following videos to enhance your learning.
Oops! I Forgot how to Think
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rushing through the zeitgeist like a raging river, taking our brains along for the ride and leaving us mere humans with mental atrophy. You know what I mean! After five minutes of trying to figure out what to write, we get mentally tired and turn to a chatbot for a boost. Relying on a boost is one thing, but using AI to write for you can make you forget how to think, believe in your own ideas, formulate those ideas, and trust the results. Be honest: do you find yourself second-guessing everything you write – more than you used to? Was there a time, before AI hit the scene, that you were confident about your writing? Even if you lacked confidence, I’ll guess it wasn’t hard to accept the results and grow from the feedback. Today, it’s hard to trust our own ideas because we compare them to how a chatbot would have written them. For humans, writing perfection comes with practice – and that’s okay. At this point, fine-tune your research, check the facts, and read your writing aloud. These small actions can restore your confidence in writing. It’s time to get back to thinking deliberately, exercising our brains, and growing from there, lest we forget how to think.
Word of the Week
Resilient
Pronounced: rih-ZIL-yuhnt
Part of Speech: Adjective