https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/the-myth-of-learning-styles/557687/
When I was studying education, the concept of learning style was gospel. The directive to educators was that we had to cater to all modes of learning to have an effective program. Now there are studies that show it just is not all that important. Maybe it doesn’t even exist. I think in particular, it does not apply to adult learners. We all learned to read, listen and interpret visual information. We just may be better or worse at one than the other. But we don’t have to have education programs tailored for a particular learning style.
I agree with this – up to a point. Personally, i am not good at auditory input. I prefer to read. After a minute or two, a lecture sounds like ducks quacking. I just stop following the talk. Maybe I am off thinking about the first few sentences and stop processing talk at some point. Or maybe I am distracted by something shiny. I know that podcasts are not a good way for me to learn. And from skiing lessons, I learned I had zero Kinesthetic learning ability.
What does this mean for tech training? Simple. We need written materials as well as lectures. And of course, hands-on is required to really learn or prove that something was learned. Traditional tech classes do a pretty good job of providing multiple methods to take in the subject. Learning styles may or may not apply to adult learners. But as courseware authors, we should provide text, lecture and hands-on. Please, no more “follow along with me as I type and talk” type of classes.
