Give a person a fish and they survive for a day, teach them how to fish and they can survive forever.
You don't have to learn technology the traditional way, you probably learnt in the past.
The best way to learn about technology is to use technology to help you learn. But that's a bit of a catch-22 situation, if you don't know anything about technology in the first place. once you learnt a bit about technology you can discover ways to use technology to learn even more about technology. Just because you learnt a particular way in the past doesn't mean that's the best way to learn now. You may not realise it, but most of what you learnt you were never taught, you learnt it yourself. Like who taught you to walk.
It is often thought that learning is all about remembering. No doubt because often at schools people where taught to memorise things. Although it can be advantageous to memorise some things, in our modern society it is impossible to memorise what is needed to live a modern life. Therefore you need to be selective as to what you memorise. You can use technology to reduce the need to remember. Eg Phone numbers stored in phones.
It is more important to understand than it is to remember. As an example. Do you know all the results of the numbers from 5,256 through to 6,546 added to the numbers from 8935 through to 9834? Most likely not. But given time you may be able to work it out, because you may understand how to add numbers together. It is better to understand how to do mathematical additions, than it is to know the results of all additions. With modern technology the need to memorise has diminished whilst the need to understand has increased.
If you only remember some fact but dont understand the underlying concept, then later forget that fact, you may have forgotten it for ever. However if you did understand the concept but forgot the fact, you may be able to workout the fact. For example, if you understand the concept of families having the same surname, even if you forget a persons surname you could work out ther surname by finding out the name of another person in the same family.
The more you understand the more you are able to understand, more. An example. If you understand the concept of mathematical addition, as opposed to only memorising certain additions, you may be able to understand mathematical multiplication, as all it is, is repetitive addition. But if you dont understand addition you would not be able to understand multiplication.
I hear and I forget I see and I remember I do and I understand Confucius 451 B.C.
Often the hardest part about learning anything new is coming to grips with the terminology.
How did you learn all the words that you use now? From when were you were a baby?
You listened to sounds and associated those sounds with something you saw. like when you saw your mother and she would say mum mum mum. or when you were introduced to food and they said open up wide. You used two sensors, sight & sound. This is called multisense learning. Adult learning principles say that learning is always better when you use more than one sense. Typically this can be watching and listening. But could also be reading and seeing. if you were to see a photo of a dog and a cat and then someone said that's a dog and that's a cat, you would have a better idea of the difference between the two then if you just read about the difference without a photo. Whenever trying to learn technology, terminology try and see picture examples. And better still, even video examples. if a picture is worth 1000 words that a moving picture must be worth a million.
often terminology associated with technology, will use words that you may already be familiar with. For example memory. You have memory and computers also have memory. so you have some association. when learning new technology, terminology always try and relate it to something you already know.
Devises like computers, Laptop computers, Tablet Computers, Mobile Phones, Microwave ovens Televisions are all sight based. You look at them to be able to use them. But to be able to effectively use them you need to look in the right place. However learning methods, which use 2 or more senses, are more effective than those using one sense only.
When learning about any new technology I suggest, using the following steps.
1. Look at what information that is currently being presented to you
Ask your self why this information is being presented to me?
If you don’t know the answer read any notes for the course, the Help for the system, ask the instructor or someone else for assistance.
2. Read the appropriate course notes, help screen or listen to the course instructor. Based on the above, form an idea of what you feel is going to happen, visually, after you perform the operations that you're supposed to do.
3. This is the most IMPORTANT part. If you have to use the keyboard. Find the key you have to press and hold your finger over the key, but DO NOT press it Look up at the screen and whilst looking at the screen press the appropriate key. If you have to do something with a mouse action note very carefully what happens when you perform the mouse function. likewise if you have to do something with your finger on a mobile phone, note carefully what happens when you perform the function with your finger.
4. Note how the screen is now different
If the screen is as you expected it to be in step 2 them you have learnt well. If the screen is not as you expected it to be in step 2, but you no why, you have also learned well.
If the screen is not as you expected it in step 2 and you don’t know why then you have not learnt and so should re read the course material, ask the instructor or someone else for assistance.
It is useless going on any further if you don't understand why something happens
I have discovered that some people have trouble finding information on a screen. For example when asked to click on an OK button, some people simply can’t find it on the screen. To overcome this problem I suggest you follow the following procedure:
1. Starting at the top left of the screen, scan your eyes left to right
2. On reaching the right of the screen, move your eyes back to the left slightly down from the scan you did in 1 and scan left to right again.
3. Repeat step 2 until you reach the bottom of the screen.
If you did not find what you’re looking for repeat the process again.
Often on a computer screen there may be more than one window (section) on the screen. Usually the active window (the one you are currently working with) will have its title bar (the heading at the top of it) highlighted. In which case you only need to do the scan, described above, on the active window.
All modern technology device have functionality that is hidden from you. That is you cannot see anything that shows the functionality is there.
The oldest version of this was a right click on a mouse. Unless you right clicked nothing happened. When you do, right click, what is called a context menu will appear.
In more modern times this has been supplemented by either a mouse movement or touching on a phone. That is nothing appears until you move the mouse over a specific area or on a phone, touch the screen, on a particular area.
Ther are may different ways to learn. Ther is no best way to learn, other than what your personal like and dislikes are.
But somthing to be aware of:
We learn by doing. This applies to all forms of training but especially technology training
I hear and I forget I see and I remember I do and I understand
Confucius 451 B.C.
Try to related what you are learning to your existing knowledge.
You may be able to recall facts, etc. which you commit to memory . lf, however you want to comprehend the material fully, you must have a frame of reference into which you can fit these isolated bits of information so that a pattern develops in your mind.
Always move from the known to the unknown, ie. begin with what you already know or have experienced.
Rules for when you are learning:
Think about what you already know or have experienced before.
If someone is training you, tell them to set the level for you, not them.
Think of plenty of examples, illustrations, analogies and anecdotes.
Make everything as concrete as possible and tied to specific examples. Avoid abstractions.
Generally computer devises are designed to perform tasks that can otherwise be accomplished without them. There were times when they did did not exist. When you are going to learn something new, technology wise, think about the way you would perform the task if you did not have the technology. What steps would you take? What would you do if your steps did not give you the result you were looking for?
With this in your mind carefully look at each part of the technology you are using and ask yourself, how has this been designed to make it easier for me to perform these tasks. And why was it done that way.
Computers are very good at doing the same task over and over again very quickly. Hence computers program are designed to save you time by eliminating the need to replicate tasks
If whilst using a computer you find yourself repeating the same task many times, you should think to yourself, there must be an easier way. There usually is. Look in the Help function of the program you are using for an easier way of what you are doing.
A number of functions are generic across most computer packages, which are well worthwhile spending time in understanding. Some of these are: Selection, Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, Redo, Find and Replace
Often the hardest part about learning a new piece of technology is simply coming to grips with the terminology used. Most Help functions have a Glossary, which is well worth while reading before going too deep into a package.
Curiosity is good to have when learning to use a new part of technology. If you have never used a particular function then give it a try. You are not going to break anything and unlikely to do anything wrong. Remember menus can have sub menus and sub sub menus.