Do you struggle to learn from PowerPoints?
Recently my assistant was perusing my YouTube comments, and we came across a question about how to apply my anti-boring study techniques to classes with overwhelming powerpoints.
Good question.
On the one hand, I’d need to know a lot more about what subject this student is trying to learn, what kinds of information the powerpoints have on them, etc.
On the other hand, I DO have a quick tip. There’s a specific muscle that every student should learn how to develop (that I teach in my online courses) to help with learning overwhelming powerpoints.
This video gives you the quick ‘n dirty summary of that skills, and then if you want to take it further, you can check out one of my courses (links below).
If you’re ready to build some significant academic muscle, check out one of my courses:
The Anti-Boring Approach (for students and parents) and the Art of Inspiring Students (for educators).
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Oooh, I have some issues here. Complex information, by definition, is often not usually easily represented by a single page graphic. In most cases, we have to break down the complex information into smaller components then address how they work together. I get that sometimes it’s helpful to create a summary with simple information but can you really fit the entire anti boring approach on one single page graphic (I’m not talking just the study cycle)? If so, then why is it spread across several courses and videos?
Good question, Herb! I LOVE how you dip in from time to time here. 🙂 You’re absolutely right that complex information is broken into smaller components that folks need to understand, and bit by bit begin to see how the inner workings fit together. Yes!!!
That said, it is ALSO possible to have the entire Anti-Boring Approach fit onto a single page. However, the key is that this page should be put together DURING and AFTER the student learns it. The representations on the page are symbols that the student has decided have meaning, based on the learning they just did. The symbol represents more complex information, and are visual hooks that represent much more complexity. Kinda like a hologram, maybe?
(Of course, the trick with students is to help them NOT oversimplifyy, and actual hold the complexity of what they’re learning while at the same time simplifying it for the purposes of their own ability to retrieve).
I find that learning is a constant titration between a few different poles: (1) external authority (the teacher or expert) and internal authority (how the student is making meaning of that external information), (2) the Forest (the overall objectives for the course) and the Trees (the detailed information that make up the forest.
This one page summary I often advocate is a map that the student creates of the “big picture”. It is important that they do the cognitive work to map out the big picture for themselves, instead of just relying on me.
Does this address your concern at all?! Bring up MORE concerns? I’d be happy to hear. 🙂 And ALSO happy to talk about it, if you were open to jumping on a zoom call (and perhaps being recorded, in case our conversation was spicy enough to potentially share with others).
Funny, for some reason I can’t log into my backend to post this as an administrator, so I’m just posting it as another guest. 🙂