The Learning Life
Keeping track of your
LEARNING By Lowell Anderson
There are a few lucky people who just seem to remember everything they read or see. But for the rest of us, we need some tools to help us keep track of thoughts and ideas. This information can take many forms, such as to-do lists, goals, plans, random thoughts and telephone numbers. However, having a reliable way to record things is especially important when you are actively learning something. In addition to storing information so we don’t forget it, we also probably need to organize it so it makes sense, as well as being able to find what we need to review later. So, how do you keep track of all this information? There
are a variety of methods, ranging from digital, to paper and pencil. Which one you choose will depend a lot on your personality and how comfortable you are with technology. It may also depend on what you are learning and what your goals are. You may even decide to use a combination of the following tools. DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Some people like to do everything on a computer or phone. They may learn from videos or from online tutorials and may seldom use any old-fashioned paper or books. For them, some kind of note taking or journaling app or online service will probably be necessary. As an alternative, they could store thoughts and information with a voice recorder. However, the best option to avoid interruptions and app switching, may be to have a paper notebook to use along with the digital tools.
paper notebook. But depending on how you feel about books, there is another option, which is to use the book itself to store information. People who see a book as a tool often mark up their books with underlining or highlighting and write notes or thoughts in the margins. NOTEBOOKS The nice thing about notebooks is that they pair well with any learning method and can be customized to fit what you are learning. For some people, just the act of hand writing notes helps them to remember better. With paper, it’s very easy to quickly draw arrows and diagrams that may
help you understand the big picture of what you are learning. JOURNAL AND COMMONPLACE BOOK For people who enjoy journaling, a journal can be a great place to write about what you are learning each day. The downside is that it may be hard to find specific information later, especially if it is mixed in with other topics. A commonplace book is a notebook (although it could also be digital) in which the owner writes down anything he or she is learning or thinking about, as well as any other random information to be remembered.
BOOKS Some people enjoy reading and like to learn from books. Although you could use a digital tool to take notes while reading, many book lovers are more comfortable using a
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