We start learning from the day we are born and hopefully until the day we die. It may be something simple like learning to change a light bulb or something more complicated like taking a PhD.
Learning should always be enjoyable because if it feels like a chore, it is extremely difficult to retain the information and easy to be distracted.
Many people seem to think that learning something only involves academic subjects, which is not at all true.
Learning something new, whether it be a new hobby or something you do at work is very important for your growth as a person.
Learning something new is good for your white brain cells and makes you sharper and improves your mental speed, keeping the dreaded Alzheimer’s at bay.
Taking notes versus typing
According to Metka Kordigel Aberšek and Boris Aberšek from the University of Maribor, Slovenia, and Andrej Flogi from the Institute of Anton Martin Slomšek, in the Journal of Baltic Science Education* in a 2021 “case study conducted in a biology class in Slovenia, six grade students participated in a biology project titled Writing Versus Typing in a Biology Class. The final task in the project was to write a chapter for a biology textbook with the title Urtica dioica [Latin for “stinging nettle”]. The task was performed twice: Firstly, the text was written by hand and, secondly, it was typed on the computer. Handwritten and keyboard-typed scientific texts, textbook chapters, were compared with the special focus on the lexical, syntactic, and semantic level of the text. The purpose of the research was to find out the effect of replacing handwriting with typing in the process of teaching/learning science subjects, where the understanding of texts is of crucial importance. A closer look at the students’ text products in the typing modality reveals that students, while typing, seem to be cognitively overloaded. One of the consequences of this is a lower level of cognitive achievement in their typed text: students show less knowledge, less terminological accuracy, and, above all, a lesser understanding of the interconnection between the items of information provided”.
*Full research paper on https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323560590_Writing_versus_typing_during_science_teaching_Case_study_in_Slovenia.
What it means by “seemed to be cognitively overloaded” is that the students who used a computer didn’t retain the information as well as the students that wrote their notes by hand. The students using computers understood less, didn’t get the terminology right and found it difficult to connect ideas.
In my experience this is true as people who read or watch things on the computer often have a totally different take on the content than people who have read a book on the subject.
People who write down the things they are learning also retain and understand the information on a deeper level.
In my experience schools encouraging students to use computers to work end up with children that pass exams but when they actually leave school know very little of what they have learnt.
In my opinion writing and reading physical books and taking hand-written notes is far more important than using technology.
Taking up a fun hobby
As adults people get mired in work, bringing up children ending up with no interests outside their career. Regardless of your age everyone needs to be enthusiastic and passionate about something. Also, there is no point taking up a hobby that you can’t get excited about doing in your spare time.
Obviously, it is no good deciding to run a marathon if you become bored with the hours of training needed. Hobbies can be like cooking, cycling, swimming, learning a new language, taking up a handicraft. What did you like to do as a child? You could draw on those memories and take up that hobby again.
Many people state that they do not have time for a hobby as it will eat into their sleep time, but it has been proven that having a hobby can help people sleep deeper and so wake up more refreshed.
Above all, hobbies must be something that you enjoy and are passionate about. It may be an everyday thing that interests you, it doesn’t have to be exotic or off the wall. Just something you have fun with.
My advice on learning is to write down everything that you need to remember, using computers is not good for retaining information.
Take a subject that you enjoy after the regulation school. Do something that you are passionate about that stimulates you whether it be an academic subject or an inspiring hobby.
Above all never stop learning, learn to be an electrician in your spare time or a great cook – how about a dog walker?
Go on, find something to bring excitement and fun into your life, don’t stagnate as you age, keep learning!
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