December Blog Challenge… Learning

Today's post topic is again from The Daily Post. What’s your learning style? Do you prefer learning in a group and in an interactive setting? Or one-on-one? Do you retain information best through lectures, or visuals, or simply by reading books?

photo from here

I suppose I'm a unique individual because I have the ability to learn from any method. The easiest way for me to learn is in an interactive one on one basis where I can ask a bazillion questions.  Not sure it boils down to learning methods, or just the teachers ability to communicate in an exciting fashion.

Nothing is worse than a monotone lecturer or a dry text book. Unless you are looking to catch some sleep! If the person teaching is uninterested, impatient, or just tired it can negatively impact the learning experience. Everyone learns easier when the subject is interesting. Great teachers really do love what they do. They have the ability to explain the same thing in many different ways. They realize that catering to their audience is a must. The best example of making sure learning something is entertaining is the Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure. This is created by the Department of Justice and is a hysterical read. They are all true stories that teach important lessons. Best employee compliance handbook out there! It's much harder to teach well in written form. When your speaking you can gauge your audiences reaction and adjust if they are not understanding. When in written form you only get on chance to get it correct for your entire audience. To answer a question about your learning style, it's not an easy answer. It all depends on the teaching skills.