this morning i went on twitter and as usual, my twitter friends had posted links to a number of videos. against my usual practice, i actually viewed one – web 2.0 guru robert scoble on the best facebook applications. it was a topic that i found interesting, discussed by someone who has useful things to say, so i sat through it. but even as i did, i noticed how i was getting impatient. can’t he just write about this, i asked myself, irritated. (and he did – thanks, robert!)
i don’t get why people put these things on video. this information is so much easier to read, i can skim it, i can look at some of it and easily come back later … these are the thoughts that go through my mind.
the thing is – it’s my mind. it’s the mind of a person who didn’t grow up with TV and doesn’t much like it. it’s the mind, according to learning styles online, of someone who primarily learns verbally and in a solitary way (and here’s the image that goes with that.)
the truth of the matter is that for someone who is very much oriented to images and social interaction, videos probably work much better than reading.
so it’s all about learning styles. actually, i don’t know why they call them learning styles – they are much more: styles of interacting and experiencing the world, and of course they are quite complex.
we all have certain patterns that we play with again and again. you may find that whatever you do, you like to touch things and feel their texture. your fingertips are as receptive as your tastebuds.
or you always come back to music. you panic when you don’t have your MP3 player with you, like to meditate to soothing music and get all excited when you get a gift certificate for HMV for your birthday.
you may be someone who likes to fix things. if it ain’t practical or useful – either you repair it or you don’t want to have too much to do with it.
it gets really interesting when we see how intricate these patterns can be, and how they interact with each other. some practical, hands-on people may be able to spend 10 hours in a row fixing a computer but will run away screaming at the thought of fixing a muffler.
or take me – i’m a visual person in many ways (colours are very important in my life, and i can’t get enough of beautiful-looking images) but i have little patience for videos, TV or movies. but every pattern needs an “unless”, otherwise it gets boring. so – i’m disinterested in videos unless one of my artist friends – another pattern in my life – gives me a good reason to see it. then i’m all for it; hauke boettcher’s soaring video is a good example.
what’s your learning style, your style of interacting and experiencing life?
isabella mori
moritherapy
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