Saturday, May 14, 2011

Shiny Toys

Ah Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a confession to make, I have sucuumbed. I am now the proud (sheepish) owner of a Kindle. For all of you who I ranted at, that such a thing would never be possible...yes, I know. This lady was indeed for turning.

Nine days in London, away from my library (2 floor to ceiling alcove book shelves, 3 standard book shelves) and I realised I wanted the convenience of having all of that available to me at the push of a button.

I did try to use my shiny, new iPod Touch to read. But the small screen and my fast reading pace made it impossible for me to concentrate because I was constantly scrolling. Yes, I do read fast. I can read a 50,000 page Mills and Boon in an hour and a half, I can read a novel in under 4 hours if I'm engaged.

Having done the NLP Course (and here you were thinking you'd got away with one post not being about the course) made me think about the way I read. For me, reading is an active process. I turn the words into a movie, which I then step into and live out. Any writing which is turgid (which a lot of literature is) or just down-right appalling (think Dan Brown) seriously interferes with this and leads to a lot of grumbling and book flinging across the room. This has it's up sides and it's down sides. It means I when I get 'into' a book, I really enjoy it and interuptions are not welcomed. I've learnt not to read novels when I've got other things to do. Other things to do, tend not to get done. The serious downside to this, is that reading for knowledge acquisiton is more like hard work. You can't create pictures out of Management Accounting for Decision Makers (yes, this really is the title of a book, currently languishing on my bookshelf).

I realise now how much NLP suits my learning style. I really enjoyed that tranced-out learning, letting the knowledge seep into my skin and then letting my unconscious process everything. We didn't take notes during the 9 days. In fact, there were serious words from the speakers when people got their pens and paper out.

I'm getting really curious about how to use NLP more for knowledge acquisition and education. I wonder if it would be possible to explore new ways of learning, using NLP? As someone who thrives on learning and knowledge acquisition, I'm committed to that lovely phrase 'life long learning'. This current UK government seems to be doing it's best to tear down the traditional bastions of learning, so I wonder whether it would be possible to turn this threat into an opportunity?

This is merely a random thought. Obviously, I don't have enough knowledge and experience with NLP to answer these questions, nor indeed have an educational background (I have a learning background). But it's enough to make me start thinking....hmmmm.....

9 comments:

  1. It's not the same, but a few years ago at my high school they tried teaching English in classes set through learning styles - Visual, Auditory or Kinaesthetic. They did aptitude tests first and then put the pupils into classes. The head of English who had done a course on it was very keen, but unfortunately she got a promotion to a different school so she didn't see it through, and that might have made a difference.

    It looked promising, because all the studious visual learners weren't distracted by the bouncy kinaesthetic learners, and the latter were going around saying "I'm not thick! I'm a kinaesthetic learner," but it wasn't a success. They abandoned it after two years and went back to mixed classes.

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  2. ...and in that trane like state you also nicked the FGES. Tut.
    Sx

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  3. *trance... obviously I am also in a similar state...
    Sx

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  4. z ~ Bandler doesn't have anything good about teaching totally to your style (VAKOG). He says it impoverishes the children's experience of learning. A good teaching style uses all of those elements to enrich the experience.

    When we next get together, I'll explain his strategy in depth.

    ms scarlet ~ a yes, the saga of the FGES. Love how you're using me to blame their disappearance missy. I've been in London. I can prove it.

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  5. It didn't take off well enough for me to find out if the idea was to teach to that style, or also to bring out the less natural styles, though I assumed it was, if only because you have to prepare for exams.

    What I'd find very difficult is learning by listening, with or without a visual presentation. I need written down words in front of me or I don't concentrate for long. I hate it when I go to governor training and we're not given the notes until afterwards - I can't remember a thing afterwards, but if I've been able to read as I listen, I remember it.

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  6. z ~ I can imagine your frustration then. Will they not give you the notes beforehand? If this is your learning style, this is your learning style then it's up to them to accomodate you. Kick up a stink next time.

    I had a look on-line and found some NLP for education courses in Brighton later in the year. They really do look interesting....

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  7. As a bookophile, do you suppose you'll miss the sensuous pleasures of the heft, texture of the paper, smell of the ink, sound of the pages of a real book?

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  8. If you do find a way to make reading about real estate law 'fun' please let me know. I have quite a bit of that to get through and not enough time before I actually start the advanced course.

    I read slowly. I taste the words and the movie I get out of it is in slowmotion but that's OK because then it lasts longer.

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  9. xl ~ I think I'm going to be one of those people who ends up buying both editions. I sniff paper, fondle the cover...

    cyberpete ~ real estate law? zzzzzz Sweet, that's beyond me. Good luck with that.

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