Distance Learning - it's here to stay...
Colleges, schools, parents - we all understand the simple yet inconvenient truth. It affects all students - rich or poor, young or old, from rural to urban. The new classroom format is at home...for better or worse.Digital media will force more screen-time. In turn, we will seek more un-plugged time outdoors. Quality education must now be both engaging and entertaining. In the ocean of digital noise, who has that magic spoonful of sugar?
We must adapt or risk failing our children's Zoom-based future - not one semester or one year, but one generation.
10 Truths of Education in the Post 2020 world:
- Learn Anywhere - Social Distance is baked-in. Crowded lecture halls become obsolete.
- Dynamic Pacing - smarter kids accel at a rapid pace, not held back; slower students are not discouraged for not keeping up. Lack of comparison and peer judgment.
- Asymmetric Sharing - One Master Teacher can now deliver what feels like a personalized 1-on-1 lecture anywhere in the World.
- Better Visuals - Classic topics must be modernized for newer viewers and younger audiences.
- Multi-lingual - Smarter AI translations and automated international closed captioning.
- Freedom and Time to Learn - Kids now have so much more free time.
How we fill this "idle time" could determine their future more directly than ever before. Off-court or outside school, alternative education plays a much larger factor today. - Tempo control - option to skim through chapters at 1.5x speed in the background, or carefully study and freeze-frame a key idea.
- Recorded replays - For both clarity and re-enforcement, we review deliberately as every lecture is now recorded. Like reading a great book, we get something new on the 2nd or even the 5th time.
- Exploration of Knowledge - Gen Z uses YouTube the way we discovered the internet at its infancy. It is so easy for them to transition into related sub-topics fluidly without stopping.
- Breaking Self-Inertia - Avoiding lazy idleness. Know it, Be it, Do it. It's not just a Nike slogan anymore.
Procrastination is sinfully easy now; parents are gatekeepers. Learning now takes extra diligence at home to prevent their kids from automatically being lured by all the other digital media vying for their attention.
5 Tips for Studying Video
#1) Feel free to jump around!
It's Not compulsory to go linearly from Chapter 1 to Chapter 10 in order. Explore all topics briefly at least once. Skip ahead a bit, if you know it.
#2) Don't Binge!
Yes, this is not like trying to blast through 5 seasons of a sitcom in one weekend. It's not a race nor a time-limited food buffet to see how many dishes you can stack.
The goal is to understand this stuff and retain it.
- Watch a few videos, then take a break to think about it. I prefer 90-minute "sprints".
- Share or explain what you learned to a peer, in your own words.
- Sleep on it - let your subconscious review the lessons and ideas overnight before bed.
#3) Follow a Ratio of 50:50 (Learning to Practice)
How to Study Smart is a great youtube video to watch for any student.
- Take one or two drills max at a time.
- Write down in your own words the keys points first.
- Go out with a parent, friend, or coach. Demonstrate what you witnessed.
- When you teach someone else, you reinforce it. Always be a student of the game.
#4) Maximize Screen Time Efficiency - 3 views for every 1 clip
1st time viewing any video - Skim through and get the overall idea
2nd replay of the video - Write on paper the key points (in your own words)
3rd / final or later replay - answer these questions in your head:
- What are the basic mechanics?
- When do I use it in a match? When should I avoid it?
- Identify one good habit to focus on. List one bad habit to avoid with this drill.
- Why is it used? Explain its usefulness.
- Where should you hit the ball? How close to the lines do I need to hit?
Finally, set some progression goals to level up.
Make 3/10 - level 1, then 6/10 in a target area - level 2, etc.
Keep it interesting and yet challenging enough.
