Let's Learn Right the First Time

By: Noah H.
Learning styles are the fingerprints of the mind; they are as unique as the person using them and as varying as all the people in the world. There are several generalized categories of learning styles, and all influence how a student learns. Understanding them is the best way for a student to pass a class. Knowing about your learning style can help you know how to study for an online class.
A learning style is the way in which a person learns, for example whether or not they learn more from a video or a book. There are several different theories as to how learning styles work but the most common is divided into 4 categories: visual, auditory, reading/writing-preference learners and kinesthetic/tactile learners (hands on).
The most common learning style is visual. This learning style focuses on pictures, diagrams, movies, and other forms of visual media, even visual demonstrations are helpful. The next most common learning style is auditory. These people benefit from someone talking to them to help them learn, and they benefit from lectures and video/audio setups. Reading/Writing-preference learners are most comfortable learning from books and texts, these students have no trouble reading chapters of a textbook, and may prefer to read a book about a subject than watch a movie about it. Lastly, kinesthetic/tactile learners are people who learn by “hands-on” experience.
One thing to keep in mind is that all people have parts of every learning style in them: no one is 100% one way or the other. You may be 10% reading, 10% visual, 50% auditory and 30% kinesthetic; however you should try to study the best way for you. So the person above would most likely want to get auditory help in a subject because that is their greatest strength. Another thing to keep in mind is that your learning style can change over time usually babies start out with learning through touch (tactile) but as they grow they will learn to use visual and auditory learning more and more.
Knowing your learning style is important, because as soon as an individual discovers which type they are they can begin to attempt to adjust their studying to their strengths. For example, if a student knows they learn very well from videos then they should look for tutorials on YouTube or some other video site rather than trying to decipher a wiki. Another way they can try to help themselves is in the way they ask for help. An auditory student may want to call the teacher over the phone for assistance while a reading/writing-preference learner will want to send an e-mail. All these factors lead to an easier online class experience.
To find out your learning style go here: Learning Style Analysis