As technology advances, so does education. More and more institutions are offering online courses as well as in-class courses for students to choose from. Which one works better for you? I know I am more of a text learner by reading and memorizing everything I read as opposed to visual learners who rely more on pictures than text to learn.
In November 2012 www.studymode.com by KydiamS posted facts about visual learners, and they can be used to help you determine which type of learner you in fact are. FACT: Approximately 65 percent of the population is visual learners. FACT: The brain processes visual information 60,000 faster than text. FACT: 90 percent of information that comes to the brain is visual. FACT: 40 percent of all nerve fibers connected to the brain are linked to the retina. FACT: Visual Literacy is the ability to encode (create a visual language) & decode (understand a visual language). FACT: Visual aids in the classroom improve learning by up to 400 percent. FACT: Students who are twice exceptional (2e) are often visual learners. 1. It is a lot less time consuming to watch a movie than it is to read a book plus you can do it all at once. When reading a book you have to keep stopping and starting where you left off. 2. In a movie you can see exactly what is going on (i.e. action, drama, romance); whereas in a book you really have to use your imagination.
1. As a visual learner, do online courses hinder your learning or aid your learning?
2. Do you think individuals classified as a visual learner, learn better through an online, self-taught course or in a classroom with an instructor?
3. Do non-visual type learners succeed more in online courses or in class courses?
What do you think? I for one may be a text learner instead of visual but reading my on my own and having to teach myself a subject, like through online courses, is definitely better for me.
Thoughts?
As a visual learner, I do not like online classes because I prefer someone to be in front of me teaching then for me to teach myself. I like to be able to ask a question and get a response then rather than having to wait for a response
ReplyDeleteI like having the teacher there to answer my questions right away but I think that is more because of impatience than anything, I learn and retain more when I have to teach it to myself.
DeleteFor several reasons, I like online classes. However, there are a few things that I am having to learn to get used to. 1) I am highly visual. I've taken to re-writing online notes so I can re-format them to have another visual experience with them. It's kind of a waste of time, but after seeing it in two forms, I pretty much have it down. 2) I am a verbal processor. So...my poor husband has to listen to everything I'm thinking about. Basically he's in these classes too.
ReplyDeleteI don't really think I would consider myself just an auditory learner but I am also a visual learner. I would rather read than watch a movie because I tend to remember parts when I read more than when I watch but visual learning helps me see things my imagination does not.
DeleteI am both a visual and auditory learner. The ways I learn best are by using lots of visuals (pictures, charts, videos) but I also like to listen to the lecture. Listening to it live or on a recorder never mattered as long as I had something to listen to. As for you question, do visual learners do better or worse in an online class - I'll let you know in a couple of months. :-)
ReplyDeleteI have learned though that if I use a recorder and then make my own notes off of the lecture recorded I tend to do better than if I just listen and take notes in class because sometimes note taking can be a distraction in and of itself.
DeleteI am a visual learner and I feel like online courses are wonderful for me. I can set my own pace and print out materials for future reference. On line courses also offer videos and links to websites that you might not see in an in class setting. I also like online courses better because I can work at my own pace. In an in class setting, you may have to continue to listen to the professor discuss a topic that you have already mastered or you may need additional time on a subject that the professor has already completed.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. Working at my own pace is the reason I enjoy online classes better. It isn't that I am a slow learner I just enjoy taking my time on each and every assignment so that it is no rushed and I can complete it to the best of my abilities. Sometimes if I am in the classroom I may not do as good of a job on the assignment because I would rush through just to get it finished, but if it is online then I take my time because I get more time to complete it.
DeleteI am visual, auditory, and "hands on" learner. I am able to retain the information I have read or heard but am able to really get a grasp of the information when I have some kind of activity that represents what I have read. I would think that visual learners would do well in online courses since the material is presented in a way that would be beneficial to a visual learner.
ReplyDeleteI agree that visual learners would benefit more from online courses because the content is strictly visual and not all teachers use visual things like hand written notes in their class, some just talk and expect you to write, which can be a challenge for some.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how this plays into the visual learner discussion directly but I tend to learn better through discussion and application. I think the visual part has to be a piece of a more connect teaching/learning environment. Visual, whether a live lecture or a video or even a reading a book doesn't complete the process. Simply going through the process of organizing your thoughts in a way that you provide some sort of feedback helps complete the learning step, regardless of the input. This can take place in live or virtual discussions and it can also happen in the narrated PowerPoints we have been assigned to do. The end product is not as important as the thought process it took to organize the thoughts and present them back.
ReplyDeleteToo Deep?
That is well said Shawn....I think you hit the nail on the head....you said things I have thought but couldn't find the words to say them. I do agree with you that a live lecture, video, or reading doesn't always complete the learning process, sometimes it is how you absorb the information that you read/learn and use that. Organizing thoughts sometimes is hard for me because I think my brain works in overdrive sometimes and that keeps me from being able to express all my thought properly, but I am sure I am not the only one who gets like that. Thanks for your feedback!
DeleteI for sure think that online classes would work great for visual learners however I also think that the success depends on the independence and discipline of the students. I think some people just can't police themselves on keeping up with the work of an online class in the same way they would an on-ground course. I only say this because in my first experience with online class I was this way, Putting things off! However I obviously learned what type of effort it would take from me to make the grades I wanted in online course and have since improved my efforts :)
ReplyDeleteI had a tendency to be a procrastinator when I had online classes because I took advantage of the fact I had access to the class anytime I wanted but as I got older I appreciated online classes way more. Thanks for your response.
DeleteCaitlin,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic for online learning. We just had a leadership workshop at school for our students and discussed visual learners.
1.) I would consider myself a visual learner so I did hesitate when applying for an all online Doctoral program, but I would say that even as a visual learner I can take the information from elearn and apply to my own visual aids so that I understand it. I also talk things out with my husband to better grasp the concepts. So, I would say it depends on the person and whether they are willing to provide visual maps for themselves or if they expect to always get it from a professor in a traditional classroom setting.
2.) Visual learners can learn either way. It is up to them on how they want to intake the information. As stated previously, I take the information that we get from elearn and talk it out or make my own visual aids.
3.) Non-visual learners may have an easier time grasping information from online courses at first because they don't have to turn the information into anything visual to comprehend it.
That is exactly me too Tabitha, I enjoy teaching stuff to myself and figuring it out and then having someone who is a professional in that field give me feedback and I tend to take the criticism and feedback better than in the classroom for some reason. I like to be given the information and doing what I will with it and making it my own. Thanks for responding.
DeleteCaitlin,
ReplyDeleteGood questions. I can tell you this about visual learners and online learning: research shows it works. The course design is key, as in an on-ground course. However, online requires the student be more disciplined in their work and time they put in it. As you have already witnessed, the design of this very course has in mind the auditory, the visual, the tactile and the cognitive learner. With all of these collaborative elements, we are all learning this course material. The course is well designed because of these element. Our professor has students with disabilities in mind as well, so that this course is accessible for a diverse group of learners. When we get to the section of the course that deals with accessibility, you will gain greater insight as to the significance of visual learning in online classes. Well, you will gain greater insight about how and why people can or do learn in the way they learn. It is my opinion, frankly and figuratively speaking, that we all are visual learners. Even the visually impaired. A description of something enables one to "see" what is being described. An image of something is symbolic of the real thing. We learn by drawing conclusions, connecting the dots, using our imagination. All of these things require sight, be it cognitive insight or sight delivered through our retinas to our brain. "See" what I mean?
The traditional classroom and the way "we were taught" is more meaningful to us digital immigrants than it is for the digital native, the 21st century learner (your kids). For, in the digital native's world, knowledge is delivered pretty much via symbolic form. They tend to learn more from an avatar than a teacher talking for 50 minutes. Unless you can deliver a message or lesson in 9 minutes or less, you are probably going to lose the "native" for the remaining 40, unless you can keep them engaged in some activity -- other than the type people 30yrs and older are used to doing.
We can try to "see" things from a different perspective, and in doing so, we become visual learners--in a way. Visual learning doesn't necessary have to mean using images exclusively to teach or to learn material. I think keeping that in mind will help us see the beauty in instructional design and technology. Online classes work because somebody knows how to put this all together so that when we are done taking an online course (or finish an online degree program) we can do more than work at McDonalds as a cashier :).
I have found that when I was in undergrad the idea of an online class scared me and I think it had a lot to do with my competence to get on and complete the work but now in Grad school I fully understand the concept of online classes and I have the patience and the maturity to complete online classes, I have become more responsible as I got older and was able to handle more online courses without forgetting about them. Well said Denise and thanks for the feedback because you explained it in a way I didn't consider.
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