Never-ending reading sessions have happened to almost all of us at some point in our education. Recently, online education services have become very popular among both teachers and students. Today, anyone who wants to learn anything has an option of reading or watching.
Probably most of our visitors owe their college degrees to books. Back in the days, it was the only source of information. In fact, written knowledge has its roots in Sumer (in Mesopotamia) around 3100 BC. For about 5000 years, we have been unceasingly writing the knowledge we have generated. When computers became more accessible by end-users in the 1990s, it became extremely easy to find what we are looking for in the written sources.
Beyond any doubt, reading is a proven educational method for us. While the preference for reading an ebook or paper book differs, it is a very good way of learning things for some of us. Let’s check some of the pros of reading as an educational method:
- Reading increases intelligence
- Reading can boost your brain power
- It stimulates imagination
- Reading brings up new ideas
- Reading improves focus and concentration
- Flipping pages can help you understand what you are reading
- Reading improves our language skills
- Reading improves your memory
- The activity of reading can help you relax
- Reading may help fight Alzheimer’s disease
- Reading is contagious
With the advancement of the internet, elementary school, high school, and university students have became familiar with watching videos in some portion of their lectures. Maybe visuals of the well-prepared videos had a great impact on young brains or they were too lazy to read books, but we loved using videos as a part of our education.
There are several video learning websites emerged and they became very successful. For instance, Khan Academy is founded by Salman Khan and originated in the United States. As a non-profit organization, they have been providing online tools and videos for students since 2006. Udemy, another online learning platform, aims for young professionals and originated in Turkey. They have been publishing videos to sharpen the skills of the professionals since 2010. Let’s also look some of the pros of watching videos as an educational method:
- It saves an enormous time
- Watching videos makes learning experience more efficient
- It reduces the cost of education
- It drives consistency in the education experience
- You can watch videos anytime, anywhere
- You can pause and replay the videos
What is your preference: reading or watching?
All of us may not be able to have video technology during our education. However, we tried to provide some comparative notes above. First, let us know which method you followed before. Afterward, we would like to learn which method you are likely to follow for your next education or training.