Sketchnoting Thoughts

Following my re-blog of Jackie Gerstein’s compilation of Visual Note Taking resources, I took some time today to do a little in-depth exploration of some of the concepts and thought-leaders in that area. Having previously seen Sunni Brown’s TEDTalk on the power of Doodling, I’m enjoying a growing fascination with these ideas.

I’m like many people who wound up taking text notes on lined paper, and years of tacit compliance with the social norms in formal education are proving difficult to re-work.  A number of the people engaged in this process note that this may well be the hardest thing for many to overcome.  One thing that does (should? might? possibly?) work to my advantage is my diploma in Graphic Design. Couple that with a love of drawing and sketching, and I might have the foundation for a (personal) informational revolution.

Visual Note-Taking

While I haven’t digested this article in its entirety, I’m seeing more and more of these kinds of approaches to note-taking and information mapping. I’ll add some comments later, but this was simply too fantastic a post NOT to reblog. Thanks, Jackie!

User Generated Education

As should be the case, there is ongoing discussion among educators about the skills that should be taught to their learners.  One such skill is note-taking.  Note-taking is typically classified as a study skill and taught as it has been through the history of institutionalized education – the outline.

When I started researching brain-compatible learning (see neuroscientist John Medina’s Vision Trumps All Other Senses),  I was exposed to the mind-map as a tool for organization, comprehension, and note-taking.  Mind-maps have several benefits:

http://www.visual-mapping.com/2011/05/study-shows-key-benefits-of-mind.html

. . .  and according to Giulia Forsythe:

As Temple Grandin says, “the world needs all kinds of minds.” and some of those minds “think in pictures”. Doodling is a form of external thought that allows you to visualize the connections you are making while thinking. In the conscious mind, doodling can assist concentration and focus but even in the unconscious mind, while doodling and day…

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