Self-directed learning skills

We live in an age where the pace of change leaves one breathless. The general attention span has taken a beating due to the constant churning out of something new that seeks to grab our attention. Take for example the film industry. The time period, for what is considered a hit film, has contracted. About 20 years ago, a hit film was one that ran in a hall continuously for 25 weeks, or roughly four months. The film was then referred to as a silver jubilee film. Salman Khan's 'Kick' barely touched three weeks of continuous running. It has become the third largest grosser for the year. The box office collections on the first few days decides whether the film is a hit or a miss!

Now consider something that touches our daily lives, the mobile phones. One can easily connect with the constant need to upgrade  and learn how to use the device to keep up with the change in technology. Self-directed learning makes it possible. This avenue has to be nurtured, just to keep up with the the constant of change.

With access to the internet, we have virtually the whole universe of knowledge at our fingertips. But  its easy reach is useless if one does use the knowledge available. The need for self-directed learning skills arises here. Most of the education in our country is still teacher-oriented. The teacher lectures and the student listens. Students do not get a chance to explore the subject on their own. Herein lies the rub.

Self-directed learning ensures that if the resources are at hand an individual takes the initiative to learn. As Alvin Toffler suggests, the present century calls for not only literacy but an individual's capacity to learn, unlearn and relearn! Nimka classes gently tap and nurture this hidden potential in children through its methodology of teaching math. The spillover effect of this is the application of this in other subjects. Self-directed learning is the need of the hour. How are you nurturing it?

Address learning styles

Learning takes place best when all our senses namely, the senses of sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing are engaged in the process. This is well explained by Neil Fleming's (Visual Auditory and Kinesthetic) VAK model of student learning. The letters refer to the medium of  sensory input namely V for visual, A for auditory and K for kinesthetic or sense of touch. Learners with a preference for visual inputs learn better through pictures, graphs and other visual cues. The letter A stands for learners who show a preference for auditory inputs and lastly the letter K stands for those learners who show a preference for kinesthetic inputs. The model essentially acknowledges that everybody has a different way of processing information.   

In most Indian schools, the learning styles of the children are not addressed at all. The chalk and talk methodology employs only visual and auditory senses. Some schools have embraced technology via multi-media, but that essentially is an improvement of the visual and auditory medium. The kinesthetic sense is not touched upon at all. In the NIMka method of learning math, the kinesthetic sense, along with visual and auditory senses are also engaged simultaneously. The child is engaged in the learning process as she is participating, using at least three of her senses. This leads to better understanding of math as the child is immersed in it.