Active vs. passive learning - LinkedIn Learning Tutorial

- [Instructor] The quickest way to move from lower order thinking like memorization, to higher order thinking, like application, is to be an active learner. Active learning is where you focus on applying your knowledge and participating in the learning that's taking place. Now that seems kind of odd to hear on a learning video, because usually we think of videos as a passive way to take in information. But don't let it be, many course on LinkedIn Learning have exercise files which provide resources for you to follow along and engage with. Here I'm going to open up another tab and in here is the Outlook 2019 essentials training. So up here at the top, remember that we have these different tabs that we can access. And one of them is exercise files. I'll click here, and once I do that, you can see the exercise files. Now if I click on this, it will download that to my computer where I can then access, open it up, and follow along. Now even if a course doesn't have exercise files, I strongly recommend that you follow along with the course and apply what you're learning. If you simply listen to it, it's difficult to retain it. But if you stay active, you can really retain that information understand what it is you're learning about. Now another great feature, is the notebook feature. So up here at the top, I can click on the notebook feature. And this is something we looked at before, but I want to point out this. I'll go to the contents of the course, and let's just say create and format a new message. I'll click here, - [Female Instructor] It's time to start writing some email, but the dialog box - And let's say at this point, I fast forwarded to 47 seconds here, let's say that this is where I want to leave a note. I'm going to go ahead, I'll scan over to notebook, in here I'll type, this is a sample note. When I'm done I'll hit Return or Enter, and watch what happens. Down here it leaves the note that I left, it says, This is a sample note, but not only that, it then tells me the video it came from, as well as the time. So this is a great way to be actively engaged is to seek out the things that you're trying to find and take notes. It's something that you can then go back and retain after. Also, by watching courses on LinkedIn, there will be assessments, those are also designed to keep you from being a passive learner. Passive learning is really common in today's society. From watching a PowerPoint presentation, a lecture, or even when watching a video, we're experiencing passive learning, we're still acquiring info, but not necessarily retaining those skills. The skills come when we can apply what we've learned and actively use our knowledge. Many LinkedIn courses contain features to actively engage you, and I highly recommend that you utilize them so you can gain the skills, and not just accumulate information. Some courses lend themselves really well to immediate life practices. For example, if you complete the speech writing course, it'd probably be a good idea to write a short speech after that course, in order to practice the knowledge you just gained. Or when complete a beginner course on web design. Design a simple webpage to implement what you just learned. And keep in mind that timing is important. You want to do this as soon as you can after learning it. The longer you wait to apply that learning, the tougher it will be to recall the information. Sometimes we simply can't get away form passive learning. But there are things that you can actively do to help you learn, memorize, and recall. To dive deeper into this, check out the study skills fundamental course, which is filled with tips and tricks for memorizing and learning, including various note taking, reviewing, and test taking techniques. When possible, make sure that you're actively learning, not just watching, but doing.