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How To Learn Anything Effectively

Understanding the process that can help you learn anything effectively is critical in this competitive world. Knowing how to learn effectively can give you a competitive edge. And as a result, you will find personal satisfaction and help better the world around you. Remember why you’re reading this article and please read with an open mind, ready to get more from this article than what is written. Enjoy!

Why Would You Want To Learn Anything Effectively?

Learning productivity is important for several reasons. Here is a list of reasons why you would want to learn anything effectively: 

Better Problem-Solving Skills:

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Effective learning can help you develop critical thinking skills, which can be useful in various areas of your life. 

Personal Development:

Every time you learn something new and well, you broaden your perspective, enhance your creativity and give yourself a better chance to achieve your goals. 

Career Advancement: 

Effective learning can boost your performance in your job. Learning productivity will set you apart from your colleagues, make it easier for you to get promoted to a better position, etc.

Time-Saving: 

Learning effectively allows you to acquire knowledge and develop your skills more efficiently, giving you more time to focus on other important aspects of your life.

Effective Learning Techniques 

Here is a list of effective learning techniques to use [if you want to get any of the above benefits]. I have used several of these learning techniques myself. So, I know that they work. 

  • Set clear goals: Define what you want to learn, why it’s important to you, and how you will measure your progress. Your brain prioritizes things that are meaningful to you.
  • Break the subject down: you can learn any complex subject by breaking it down into smaller understandable pieces.
  • Seek feedback: Ask for feedback from people you trust, those who will give you sincere and honest feedback. It might be a teacher, a tutor, or a friend. Remember, you need to be ready for any type of feedback because not every single one of them will be “positive”. The best feedback should be the one that helps you identify your weaknesses and/or your strengths. Therefore, you need to be humble. And finally, remember that feedback is supposed to help you move forward, not to stop you.
  • Review regularly and practice often: Reviewing what you learn allows you to retain more of it because “Memories weaken over time”, and regular practice gives you experience. Moreover, when you practice or experiment with something you want to know well, you will discover knowledge that is not written.

The key here is that you will always learn faster and remember things that mean a lot to you. Meaningful activities or meaningful learning sessions stay with us. So, find what interests you, break it into smaller topics, practice again and again while learning from your mistakes, and seek improvement through honest feedback.

How To Learn Efficiently 

To learn efficiently, you need to know the following:

  • What is the key information you are looking for: When you know what you lack, it becomes easier to identify the key information you are looking for to complete your understanding of something. Once you get what you need, don’t waste your time reading other things; move forward with the next thing you want to know. For instance, one day, I wanted to know how to make a QR code on Canva, so I Googled it. The result was a numbered list. I read the part that I didn’t know of and exited Google right away. As a result, I was able to make the QR code before it was time to go to the meeting!
  • How deeply you want to know this subject or topic: Sometimes, you may want to deepen your knowledge of something; if this is the case, you may need to read as much as you can about the subject. More on that later.
  • What are some credible sources you can use to get the information you need: When it comes to learning, sources matter. You need to know where to get credible information, and then use them as your primary sources.

4 Tips On How To Learn Anything Deeply 

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  1. Be committed: Deep learning requires commitment because it’s a long journey! Some subjects are so vast that it takes a lifetime to master them. Are you ready to invest time and money trying to learn something deeply? I hope so.
  2. Use several sources: When you listen to or read different opinions people have on a given subject, it helps you understand the different aspects of the subject. Consider using at least 5 sources to learn about anything you want to know deeply. 
  3. Observe and experiment: To really know something, you need to have personal experiences with it. You need to use it in ways that others have never done before. Look around to see what people are using this thing for or how they are using it. And finally, take notes.
  4. Look for what’s missing: Now that you know what several people think about the subject or topic, and you have been observing and experimenting, you can start forming your opinions on the subject by looking for what is missing. You will know that you really know something when you can make and bring your own unbiased opinion about it to the table.

How To Learn Effectively And Productively 

To learn effectively and productively, you need to know why you want to know, how this knowledge is going to be beneficial to you, and how much you want to know. And then you can apply the principles mentioned above. 

In conclusion, to learn effectively, you need to break what you want to learn into small and understandable elements and seek improvement by asking for feedback. To learn efficiently, you have to be committed, learn from several different sources, get your own experience with what you’ve learned, and find what’s missing to form your own opinion on the subject. Lastly, effective learning and efficient learning can help you in every aspect of your life. 

What other practical learning techniques have you used that are not mentioned in this article? Please feel free to share in the comment below. Was this article useful? If yes, share it with a friend. 

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The Evaluation System that is Revolutionizing Education

Young write girl with an open book in front of her, right palm on right cheek, bored face.

Hive Systems is an assessment tool that prioritizes skills over memorized information. It is a computer-assisted development, management, and tracking program for measurable standards.

The founder of that company realized that any discipline has patterns that can be identified and broken into logical learning units taught, learned, and tracked. But the main reason why Hive Systems was created is to help take education to the highest level.

School Evaluation 

In a survey contacted by the marketing manager of Hive Systems in July 2020, he found the following:

Question#1: How do you feel about the evaluation and assessment system that they use in universities?

Student#1—Response:

“I feel like it is mostly based on memorization and less on actual, real-world understanding and application.”

Student#2—Response:

“I feel that the letter-grade evaluation assessment system is schools trying to do their best with what they have. But overall, I do not feel it is effective. It is unfair. It places too much strain on students. It is more about memorization than understanding the content. You can skim through an online class and struggle through a real campus class and end up with the same grade (A).

Student#3—Response:

“I think it works for some students.”

Question#5: When they say you got 70% at the end of the semester, 70% of what? (Please, take your time to understand this question before you answer.)

Student#1—Response:

I think it basically means I understood (memorized) 70% of the syllabus in that class for the semester.

Student#2—Response:

“I think it probably means 70% of a perfect grade, meaning you performed excellently and above standard for every assignment.”

Student#3—Response:

“I think it is 70% of understanding the course material.”

Question#8: What do you think university professors measure in a test?

Student#1—Response:

It varies but as mentioned above, it is mostly stuff that individual professors want me to learn/memorize/understand.

Student#2—Response:

I think some university professors only measure memorization, but that many are improving so that they test understanding and application of the material.

Student#3—Response:

“Our understanding of the course material.”

This is not all, some university professors, when asked what they assess or evaluate, they answered, “Whether the students completed their assignments.”

What Are The Consequences Of The Current Assessment System?

Can you imagine how nervous those students are/will be when they are asked to apply what they have learned? Is it possible that memorization is transformed into skills? If yes, how? Could you imagine how weird it sounds to a student who always got an “A” in college when an interviewer or a manager says, “You are not qualified, you don’t know enough?” 

How would you feel after spending thousands of dollars in your education and you realize that you did not learn things that are applicable to the real world? Have you ever doubted on what you think you can do even after getting an “A” for the class that teaches what you have to know about the subject? Most students have. Why?

Too many teachers and professors are focusing on things they have learned when they were students. Most of them keep teaching those things 15 and 20 years later.  

Too much information to memorize. It’s a waste of time and energy to teach things that will not be helpful to the student in real life. We need a new system, a new way of measuring; we need to focus on skills rather than memorized information, and that is where Hive Systems comes in.

Hive Systems Corporation makes it possible that students will no longer need to memorize a bunch of information just to take a test, and then forget what they have learned in class. 

It helps professors know what to focus on, what their students are struggling with, what they partially understand as well as what they do not understand at all. It does all the above things for the students as well.  It uncovers weaknesses and strengths, filters skills and provides the teacher or professor with a detailed and comprehensive report on a test for each student.

Hive Systems Corporation has over 300 databases on many different fields that they use to evaluate university students, sport professionals, employees as well as prisons, hospitals, and school buildings according to the established standards.

Note: Hive Systems evaluated the Utah State Prison.

Hive Systems Corp. organizes basketball camps, in which they assess each trainee according to the approved standards and skills for basketball.

How Can The Hive Systems Help You?

Hive Systems Corporation offers advantages such as a skill-based evaluation system and a more detailed report on exams for each student, whom, the founder of Hive Systems Corporation believes should be treated individually instead of as a group.  

It makes it possible that anyone learns anything they want, be assessed, and if qualified, they will get credit for all of those mastered skills. Where there is no rule, chaos reigns. The world needs skillful people not heads full of useless information.

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