Although people have access to 5 times more information than 30 years ago, an adult's general knowledge is still little different from… 80 years ago. The following 4 tips will help you address this situation.
Although people have access to 5 times more information than 30 years ago, an adult's general knowledge is still little different from… 80 years ago.
ccording to a study published in The Telegraph, today we receive enormous amounts of information—5 times as much as 30 years ago, equivalent to 174 newspapers per day. Much consists of Instagram photos or Facebook posts, but not all the information we receive comes from social media.
In an article on the website Harvard Business Review, in business, online learning has grown 9 times larger, with nearly 80% of US companies offering their own employee courses, making information more accessible than ever.
There is a saying, ‘Information is power,’ so you might assume that with such vast, easily accessible information, human knowledge would increase. In reality, however, that is not the case. According to a survey by the newspaper Newsweek, an American adult's general knowledge still differs little from… 80 years ago. In business, an employee actually applies only about 15% of what they learn online.
In brief, we can see that we are consuming more information without learning any better. In other words, we are becoming less effective learners. So how can we learn more effectively in today's information-saturated world? The following 4 tips will give you the answer.
1. Focus on Just One Topic for Several Months
Instead of letting sensational headlines distract you, choose a single topic and read only about it. Besides adding new information to existing knowledge, focusing on just one subject brings another important benefit related to how our brains work.
Recently, Adam Gazzaley, a renowned American neuroscientist, shared in the book The Distracted Mind of his that “the more unnecessary information we can filter out, the more effectively our memory will function.” If you constantly have to process information unrelated to your goals, you will ultimately become distracted. Filtering information is truly essential to learning, retaining knowledge and making decisions. Therefore, indiscriminate reading without selection will have serious consequences.
2. Organize the knowledge you are learning into diagrams
A clearly presented diagram serves as a blueprint, helping the brain create space to organize incoming information properly. Since the 1920s, psychologist Jean Piaget, the first to use the term schema (diagram/framework), affirmed the value of organizing knowledge in diagram form during learning. Piaget used the term to describe the process of categorizing new information into specific patterns.
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A clearly presented diagram serves as a ‘blueprint,’ helping the brain create ‘space’ to organize incoming information properly |
Using diagrams in learning helps the brain absorb new information more effectively by systematically connecting old and new information. A simple example: it is easier to find a computer in a designated office than in a vast warehouse with no separate rooms. Similarly, systematically organizing and categorizing new information and linking it to existing knowledge makes it easier to absorb.
3. Regularly consolidate what you have learned
Synthesis is the act of linking separate pieces of knowledge into a unified whole, with the emphasis that the resulting body of knowledge must have entirely new meaning or structure. This definition comes from a study titled Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Development (American psychologist Benjamin S. Bloom's taxonomy of cognition). This has 6 cognitive levels, with knowledge synthesis at the highest thinking level, even above applying knowledge. This means you learn more by synthesizing knowledge.
Synthesizing knowledge is a fairly complex skill because it requires learners to discover something new from existing knowledge. Unlike summarizing information, synthesis requires your own opinions and thinking to identify what stands out; summarizing merely ‘reproduces’ knowledge already received. A simple way to practice synthesis is to ask yourself questions, such as: ‘What important lesson did I learn after reading this article?’
4. Alternate between taking in information and pausing intake
During learning, there will be times when you need to limit new information so you can focus on reviewing, examining, and applying what you have learned. Remember that new information will affect previous learning to some extent. On the website TechCrunch, research based on millions of Duolingo language learners found that those who review previous lessons learn more effectively than those who continually add new material.
So how do you know when to absorb more knowledge and when to stop and review? Duolingo says that if you feel you are about to forget something you have learned, it is time to review. Try summarizing what you have learned around a topic you enjoy; if you find you cannot do so, it is time to stop taking in new information and review.
Today, as people are surrounded by enormous amounts of information from blogs, YouTube videos, Facebook posts, and more, do not become a victim of attractive-looking information that actually offers no value. Become an effective reader and learner so you can make full use of the information you receive.
Collected.
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