We have written a post on how we contribute to a more sustainable approach to the use of learning resources (link here). In this follow-up post, we will like to share how LEARND.online contributes to making learning resources more accessible. 

A quick introduction about ourselves, we are a team of (ex)educators who are passionate about education, technology and problem-solving. Our experiences as educators taught us the inequity in education, and the challenges that learners from different walks of life face. While students in Singapore benefit from the heavily subsidised education, we know how much a difference additional academic support (e.g., tuition) can make. To some, such support is even viewed as a need for students to be “on par” with their peers (who are receiving similar support). This is no surprise that the tuition industry here in Singapore is estimated to amount to S$1.4 billion based on the last Household Expenditure Survey in 2017 and 2018, which according to a CNA report, is reportedly growing due to the pandemic!

If we think about it, it is difficult to argue against the fact that having more attention, resources and guidance will translate into better performance. This is analogous to engaging private coaches for the grooming of professional athletes. Yet, the fact remains that… such services are not accessible to all households.

We want to do something for these people.

Focusing on Learning Resources

One key aspect that supportive families feel helpless about is in the area of the “know-how”. Effective learning is about making meaning out of the content and also developing the right skills and attitudes through deliberate practice. Tuitions justify their high fees through the provision of both human support as well as the technical knowledge to effectively develop the learners. As such, we thought to ourselves, what if we can focus on improving the accessibility to the technical knowledge of learning through the form of learning resources by making them available at a fraction of the cost (of tuition services)?

We had initially thought of creating these learning resources ourselves. After considering our limited specialisation in our respective subjects and the scalability of the effort, we realised that the impact and outreach that we can provide would be vastly limited (considering that we are working on this as a side hustle). Adopting a collaborative mindset, we decided to develop a marketplace platform that enables the sharing of learning resources by all who share our mission and vision — making learning resources more accessible and sustainable. 

Empowering Educators and Learning Resource Creators

As educators, we create numerous learning resources every year. These include study notes/guides, bite-size classroom activities, homework practices, topical tests and even videos to support online learning. These resources take a huge amount of time, effort and heart to create, and the motivation that makes this happen is our belief that these resources will aid our learners in their learning. 

A Wider Audience = Greater Impact

What if, the positive impact of these resources can extend beyond the learners in our individual classrooms? Imagine helping a keen learner from a challenging background resolve some of his/her learning needs. Won’t that be will be such an impactful moment?

Motivated by the vision of enabling such moments, we put in months of hard work to develop a marketplace where digital learning resources can be shared and accessed by all. On LEARND.online, creators can have the option to share or sell the content at a price they deem fair. This way, we hope to attract professionals to share their wealth of knowledge with the masses.

One-time Effort & Passive Income

Furthermore, the amount of maintenance required for our creators is low. Unlike the case of physical products, once uploaded, the “product” will never run out of stock. This means that each product requires only a one-time effort to be uploaded and will remain available until it is taken down. This would be a necessity since we know educators do not have much time or energy to spare. Hopefully, the passive income will create additional motivation for creators to invest more effort into developing high-quality learning resources

Empowering ALL Creators

Not all passionate creators are certified educators. We believe that great learning resources can be contributed by anyone who invests effort and heart into the subject matter. In fact, we believe that even students can contribute high-quality learning resources that can benefit their fellow learners. This can come in beautifully handwritten notes, concept maps, etc. We would want to encourage learners to also step forth to share their great work with their peers. Furthermore, the creators also benefit as this forces them to ensure that their content is accurate and of high quality!

Our Commitment and Striving for Win-Win-Win

Our desire is that gather as many high-quality learning resources and make them accessible to as many learners as possible. To put our money where our mouth is, we do not charge any fees for the creation of account or the hosting of products. We self-fund our operations and will only earn through each successful transaction. In other words, we aim for a Win-Win-Win situation where creators earn from sales of his/her contribution, the learner gain from the quality resource and we collect a portion of the transaction to keep this business running. 

We are hoping for your support in our mission to make learning resources more accessible and sustainable. If interested, you can do so by doing any of the following:

• Share and tell others about our mission at LEARND.online!
• Join us as a creator and share your learning resources on LEARND.online via this link.
• Share with us your feedback/contacts to help us become better via this link.
• If you would like to donate to our cause, you may do so via this link.

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LEARND.online endeavours to leverage technology to make learning resources more accessible and sustainable. As an online learning resource marketplace, we aim to empower educators and even learners to share amazing self-created learning resources with those in need. You can find cheatsheets, notes, practices, study guides, mindmaps, lesson plans, free test papers and more anytime, anywhere, without the need to purchase prints (which damages our environment). Sign up is entirely free! Visit us today and thank you for your support.LEARND.online — Online Learning Resource Marketplace

In recent times, the word “sustainability” holds two meanings: (1) from a resource point of view, if the mentioned approach can withstand a long term deployment and (2) from an environmental standpoint, if the matter of discussion can help to contribute to maintaining the habitability of our planet. With the rising concerns over climate change (thanks to the various awareness campaigns), we now better appreciate the importance of taking actions NOW in order to safeguard our (not-so-far) future. In this post, we shall share our view on the more sustainable approach to the use of learning resources through LEARND.online.

Why Learning Resources?

To be honest, the key impetus to select the education field is not due to environmental concerns but rather our passion for education. Nevertheless, from our experience, we know that a large amount of printed learning materials goes to waste each year.

A quick look into the list of waste produced and recycled in our small island-nation Singapore alone, we see that paper/cardboard waste is the top waste generated in 2020 among the 14 categories of waste listed (see image below). With a total mass of 1,144,000 tonnes, the amount of paper waste generated is equivalent to the mass of about 100,000 double-decker buses! What makes the matter more concerning is that we have only achieved a recycling rate of 38%, making it the 2nd highest disposed waste after plastic.

As ex-teachers, we are very familiar with the amount of paper waste generated from unfinished ten-year series, old textbooks and unfinished/uncollected worksheets. Each year-end, we use trolleys to ferry stacks of papers and you will notice numerous recycling bins filled to the brim with these wastes. Truth-to-be-told, the photocopying room in each school is almost always busy (and we have to outsource this printing service to external vendors which will allocate one headcount for this position of photocopying worksheets for teachers). We never felt good about the wastefulness, but considering the circumstances, it seemed pretty inevitable for the needs of our students…

Until COVID-19 challenged us to rethink our approaches.

What has Changed?

With COVID-19 and home-based learning, we are forced to deal with a situation where learning resources have to go digital. Teachers and students are made to scale the steep learning curve in teaching and learning online. “Hardcopy” notes and worksheets have to be uploaded and downloaded in “softcopy”. Since there was no way to feasibly send physical worksheets and collect them, everyone has to adapt to the digital way of completing, submitting, grading and returning assignments through the net. Furthermore, we have also pushed to ensure that each student possesses a learning device (usually a Chromebook) with sufficient processing capabilities to handle these tasks.

The More Sustainable Approach

It is crucial for learners to get used to writing answers and attempting questions on pen and paper. In fact, studies have suggested that writing aids stronger cognitive engagement as compared to typing. Yet, with the improvement of on-screen writing technology as well as the exploration of digital examination, the relevance of pen-and-paper practise is put into question.

While technology continues to improve and the education fraternity test and explore the feasibility of a fully digital approach, the more sustainable approach will be to make digital copies of learning resources available and should the learner prefer, they can be printed on-demand. With this arrangement, we can not only minimise the absolute number of paper used but also ensure that should the resources be printed, it is on purpose and should therefore be put to good use.

As such, we have developed LEARND.online to encourage an increased uptake of digital learning resources. We hope that through a virtual marketplace, we can provide an alternative to traditional brick and mortar bookstores. Like a specialised mall filled with stores that provide learning materials, LEARND.online strives to empower more education content creators to set up stores with a simple few clicks while enabling shoppers to either window shop for interesting learning resources from the featured page or zoom in to what you need through the search tab. If you are an educator (or even a student who creates beautiful handwritten notes), why not share digitise and your learning resources with a wider audience (and earn some passive income)? If you are a student/parent, what’s better than buying a hardcopy book is that… should you/your child like to redo a specific practice, just simply redownload/reprint the assignment!

We view sustainability as a responsibility that we have to uptake both at the corporate and the individual level. We are working on it. Are you ready to play your part?

Support a more sustainable approach to the use of learning resources and visit us today at https://learnd.online!

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LEARND.online endeavours to leverage technology to make learning resources more accessible and sustainable. As an online learning resource marketplace, we aim to empower educators and even learners to share amazing self-created learning resources with those in need. You can find cheatsheets, notes, practices, study guides, mindmaps, lesson plans, free test papers and more anytime, anywhere, without the need to purchase prints (which damages our environment). Sign up is entirely free! Visit us today and thank you for your support.

LEARND.online — Online Learning Resource Marketplace

School holidays are the time of the year that students (and teachers) live for. It is the mental “carrot” that motivates us to push through each term. It’s definitely the light at the end of the tunnel for us all.

While school holidays can range from days to months, we can all agree that there are times that we feel that we have spent the time well and times that we feel utterly lousy about how we have wasted the holidays away. So in this post, we are going to run through FOUR activities to be done over the (longer) school holidays so that you will feel ☑rested, ☑energised and ☑ready for the new term.

These activities are stated in sequence of how they should be completed (i.e do them from 1 to 4).

Ready? Let’s go!

1. Reflect

Simply put, reflect back on the term that you have just completed and write down what you think of your progress. I have avoided using the term “reflection” as based on my experience, this word has a bad reputation among students and is often viewed as something to be done for the sake of doing. It definitely takes maturity to be able to realise the true benefits of reflection and it is not something that is easily appreciated.

Nonetheless, you HAVE to start the holidays by first wrapping up the completed school year. Through this exercise, you will discover what you have done well and where are the areas to be improved. Perhaps, you realised that your poor performance was due to the fact that you are burnt out and are in critical need of some quality rest. Or you may discover that you have a dire need to reorganise your learning resources because… you have misplaced your recent test papers (or get FREE study notes and guides here at LEARND.online!).

Most importantly, this exercise gives you a purpose and help you realign yourself to your goals. Therefore, it cannot be more important to have a reflection at the start of your holidays if you want to spend it right.

2. Strategise

If you have done your reflections right, then you will probably be motivated to make some changes. Hence, the follow-up is almost natural that you should develop a plan for yourself!

Yes, YOU plan for YOURSELF.

If you can make yourself read through this post, then I guarantee that you are more mature than the majority of the students of your level and are definitely ready to take charge of your own learning. Write out your goal and phrase it in a way that motivates you. From there, write down some steps that you think is NECESSARY for you to achieve your goal. In other words, those will be the MINIMUM requirements that you have to do to achieve your set goals. If you would like some help, you can check out some templates shared by School of Success right here on LEARND.online!

And there you go! You got yourself a plan. You should also design a plan for the holiday to practise self-discipline in following a plan. This (the lack of self-discipline to do what is best for yourself) is one of the main causes for the underperformance of many students.

3. Recharge

Many students will quote that the holidays are meant for resting, but at the end of it, they return to school more tired than before and definitely not ready for the new term. This brings out the point that you should focus on RECHARGING yourself. Yes, this will most definitely involve taking a break from studying but it has to be done in moderation.

When it comes to gaining that rejuvenating feeling, the key to achieving BALANCE. This also means that you should strive to give those aspects that you did not manage to work on during the school term some love. Generally speaking, this will include physical needs (e.g. exercise, sleep), emotional and spiritual needs (e.g. self-care, connecting with friends, enjoyment). Reiterating the point on balance, you should not be over-compensating by spending too much time and effort on these activities (e.g. binge-watching shows, having gaming marathons) just because you can. Do it in the right moderation and you will find that you will enjoy the best feeling of fulfilment.

4. Learn

“OH MAN! Give me a break! Are you saying that I should be studying on a holiday?”

Do note that we are saying that you should go ahead and recharge yourself (that’s why Recharge is ranked as #3 and Learning as #4) but you should most definitely leverage this break time to patch up whatever gaps that you have over the topics taught in the previous term. We all know how busy school days are like with most days ending at about 3pm and evenings occupied by homework. There is little difference between what student to student on what can be done on a school term. HOWEVER, a holiday of weeks of free time changes this entirely. Students who can successfully leverage the holiday to revise or even get a head start on are found to cope way better than students who don’t (DUH!). And based on experience, it is possible for students to make a 2–3 grade improvement if they spend their holiday well, effectively turning these students from failing to passing grades, or from Bs to As.

Furthermore, learning is in fact a skill! The more you practice learning, the better and faster you get at it. You will develop your mental circuits as well as your own learning strategies. How powerful will that be!

It sure is tough to make yourself get back to studying when it is the holiday. This is why it is once again so important to #1 Reflect and #2 Strategise to develop the motivation and structure to guide yourself through the holidays! With that said, these are the 4 MUST-DOs if you want to have a productive holiday that prepares you well for the new term. We wish you a lovely and productive holiday ahead!

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LEARND.online endeavours to leverage technology to make learning resources more accessible and sustainable. As an online learning resource marketplace, we aim to empower educators and even learners to share amazing self-created learning resources with those in need. You can find cheatsheets, notes, practices, study guides, mindmaps, lesson plans, free test papers and more anytime, anywhere, without the need to purchase prints (which damages our environment). Sign up is entirely free! Visit us today and thank you for your support.

LEARND.online — Online Learning Resource Marketplace

If you are a student or if you WERE a student (to those parents reading this post), I dare bet that you would have at least attempted to write some study notes.

You should be proud of yourself for doing that since it shows that you are willing to put in the work to learn. HOWEVER, not all notes are equally effective or efficient in helping you learn so in this post, let’s walk through 4 types of study notes that students come up with and find out which is the BEST study notes that you should be using to achieve the best results.

But WAIT, before that we need to first…

UNDERSTAND why self-created notes help

Even if nobody instructs students to create notes, it is almost natural for learners to do so! This is because the very process of preparing these notes forces the learners to:

1. Revisit the content in detail
2. Process the content to sieve out critical content from the less important information
3. Consolidate and present the information in a more presentable and intuitive manner

Simply put, it is the PROCESS of preparing the notes that help learners engage the content! This is also the reason why I deem it extremely important that we are aware of these helpful elements in the note-writing process so that we can focus our energy on these aspects and not more.

With this common understanding established, we are ready to rate the 4 main types of study notes and identify the champion. Let’s get started with the 4th position…

#4th: Paragraph Notes

Efficiency: ★★★★★ (0/5)
Effectiveness: ☆★★★★ (1/5)
Overall: ✰★★★★ (0.5/5)

Mostly done on foolscap paper with the school notes or textbook right beside. This type of note contain chunks of information in the form of paragraphs, separated by headers. The only difference between this and the original textbook/notes is that you can claim that it is an artisan’s work — handcrafted with blood, sweat and tears. Unless you aspire to be a human photocopying machine (sorry, as part of the sustainability movement, prints are going softcopy) or a master penman, this is an utter waste of time and effort. There is almost no mental engagement or meaning-making involved in this mindless copying. If you are doing this, STOP! You are way better off doing any of the other approaches to come.

(You HAVE to read this: Stop wasting your time preparing for exams the wrong way.)

#3rd: Bullet Notes

Efficiency: ☆★★★★ (1/5)
Effectiveness: ☆☆☆★★ (3/5)
Overall: ☆☆★★★ (2/5)

Most students will fall into this category. I will own up that I, too, didn’t know better when I was a student! The key difference between Paragraph Notes and Bullet Notes lies in that paragraphs are summarised into bullet points. From the sound of it, it seems like a trivial difference but this allows for a greater level of organisation, expressed through the different levels of indentation for each point. For this reason, not only are learners forced to further distil the content into key points, they are required to nest these points under the right point or sub-point. This process granted the Effectiveness to be bumped up to a 3☆.

If you have gone through this process, you will understand that this is still a very time-consuming process since the fact that it is written in the format of the lines (commonly on a foolscap pad), encourages the learner to write more than is required. More amateur learners copy entire sentences or even paragraphs and just put a bullet in front of those chunks of text. Once again, a huge waste of time and effort.

So what can be better than bullet notes? Read on!

#2nd: (Classic) Mindmap

Efficiency: ☆☆☆☆★ (4/5)
Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆★ (4/5)
Overall: ☆☆☆☆★ (4/5)

Once a hot favourite, mindmaps seem to have fallen out of trend (at least in my opinion). By Mindmap, I am referring to the “spider”/semantic map (i.e. the classic mindmap by Tony Buzan) which features a spiderweb-like chart where a central idea splits into many more ideas (that splits into more sub-ideas).

One key reason for its fall in popularity is that teachers HATE mindmaps. Since mindmap is a creative compilation of how content is organised, each mindmap is unique and it is very difficult for teachers to validate the accuracy of each mindmap. With teachers being responsible for every piece of feedback provided (i.e. to the level of putting a “seen” or tick on the mindmap), we are hesitant to incorporate the creation of mindmaps into our assignments due to the challenges involved in grading.

Nonetheless, mindmap is one of the most efficient and effective ways to organise and make sense of the content that we interact with. One useful tip in making the most out of mindmap is to consider it as a “working document” where there will always for room to create an improved version. Do not attempt to create that one perfect map. Instead, treat it as an interactive process where you constantly challenge yourself (1) revise the map regularly and (2) think of better ways to connect the content. Let go of the need to correct the best map and instead, focus on creating many better maps. This way, you will be able to achieve the best efficiency and effectiveness.

#1st: Concept Map

Efficiency: ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5)
Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5)
Overall: ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5)

Here’s our top pick for the BEST study notes! You must be wondering what is the difference between a mindmap and a concept map. The fact is that they are almost identical with the only difference being that concept maps introduce an element that is critical to the organisation of information — the hierarchy of concept.

Unlike the mindmap that starts from the centre and radiates outwards, concept maps require the main concept to be at the very top of the page and the subpoints to branch downwards. While one may argue that this is merely a difference in orientation, I have observed that this has a profound effect on helping learners with their learning.

Ideally, a concept map should be readable not just in the vertical direction but also horizontally. Each horizontal band will showcase the concepts on the same “level” of detail. Generally, the lower the band, the more detailed and specific the content would be. Conversely, the higher up the band, the more generalised the concepts. Having all of the content organised in the vertical and horizontal orientations make not just the reading but also the construction of the map more intuitive as compared to reading it radially. This is the reason for the 5-star rating in effectiveness.

In terms of efficiency, the reason for the increase in rating is due to the ease in construction of a concept map with the use of existing learning resources (e.g. textbooks or notes). This can be done easily following the steps below:

1. Start with the main topic header (i.e. the name of the chapter). This will be the topmost band.
2. Flip through the entire chapter and write down the main sub-headers. Often, if you are working on chapter 2, the subheaders will read 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc. These sub-headers will form the second band.
3. Look into each subchapter and build your concept map downwards. Here, you will fill in the details of each subchapter. Personally, I do not align the horizontal bands anymore for levels 3 and above in order to be more space-efficient — there will usually be arrows tunnelling into the empty spaces around the canvas so it is difficult to stick to the bands.

By following this 3-step approach, you can get a concept map out relatively quicker than any of the previously mentioned methods. Similar to that of a mindmap, you should not concern yourself with getting everything right at the first few tries. If it is too daunting to “just do it” and you find yourself stuck in this long-drawn process, one method to overcome that will be to title your work as DRAFT. This is a simple yet effective means to help us overcome the mental barrier of having to be perfect.

With these all said, I hope that you have taken away some useful tips and nifty hacks to learn more effectively and efficiently. If this article helped you in any way, it will mean the world to us if you share it with your friends and whoever is learning something right now. Let me also invite you to visit LEARND.online where you will find learning resources (many for free!) and also more such articles aimed at supporting learners like you on your journey.

Happy learning and all the best!

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LEARND.online endeavours to leverage technology to make learning resources more accessible and sustainable. As an online learning resource marketplace, we aim to empower educators and even learners to share amazing self-created learning resources with those in need. You can find cheatsheets, notes, practices, study guides, mindmaps, lesson plans, free test papers and more anytime, anywhere, without the need to purchase prints (which damages our environment). Sign up is entirely free! Visit us today and thank you for your support.

LEARND.online — Online Learning Resource Marketplace

PSLE. O levels or N levels. A levels or IB. Not to mention End-of-Year exams and streaming. It is inevitable for students to encounter exams throughout the education journey.

Not surprisingly, very few students will be excited for the challenge while most should be dreading it. We know it. It is VERY stressful especially when the results of these exams will impact the opportunities for the next few years. In the face of stress, some cope better while others choose to avoid and suddenly, months fly by and all’s done deal. Time is limited so the very first thing to do is to STOP wasting time and energy on the wrong things!

Having taught in Secondary Schools for more than 4 years and tutoring for more than 10 years, I have witnessed the different struggles faced by many students. In this post, I hope to share some tips which I think are CRITICALLY important for you if you desire to perform your best for examinations.

Ready? Let’s go!

1. LEARN instead of STUDY

Wait… You mean there is a difference between learning and studying?! You bet.

To understand these terms better, studying focuses primarily on the act which students engage in. It often involves reading, writing notes, doing practices, drawing concept maps. Learning, on the other hand, focuses on meaning-making. This involves an effortful use of mental capacities to engage, make sense and assimilate information into one’s knowledge pool.

It is clear that one can study very hard and learn nothing (or the wrong things).

The unfortunate thing is that we seldom emphasise or teach in our curriculum how to learn. As students, they are taught the importance of studying hard and smart, but what’s lacking is the know-how on the way to go about it. Here at LEARND.online, we are partnering with educators to create more resources to support our learners in this aspect. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, bear in mind to focus on the LEARNINGs (i.e. what you gain from your efforts) rather than studying (i.e. how long or how hard or even how you are studying). In this case, the process matters less than the product.

2. CONSISTENCY is key

Are you aware that our memory can “decay”?

Much like any organic matter, information that is assimilated into the brain does not last forever. Or at least not immediately. You have probably heard of short and long-term memory. It is a no-brainer that we want what we have learnt to be stored in the long-term memory but how would our brain be able to discern where information should be stored?

I think this is entirely based on impression. But… Aren’t impressions vague and subjective? Yes, that is definitely true.

What are some examples of impressionable information? These include positive experiences which you appreciate (e.g. food that reminds you of childhood, a song that you fancy, a touching movie) and interestingly, negative memories (e.g. traumatic experiences, embarrassing moments). We do not need to make any deliberate effort to remember these experiences, do we?

While this provides “some” justification for disciplinary actions in the name of education, it is not a very useful means of self-help in the preparation for exams. So I would like to share with you a 100% effective “hack” to impress your brain that the content that you are learning is deserving of long-term memory space.

That would be increasing the frequency of exposure to the information that you wish to remember. Think about it, the reason why you can remember the lyrics of your favourite song or the lines of your favourite show is not merely because you enjoy it. A huge part of this is also due to the fact that you are listening/watching it on loop! When constantly exposed to a specific set of information, the brain is signalled to remember it as important. And when that happens, amazing things occur! You start to compose tunes/chants out of formulae/constants (does anyone still memorise mobile numbers?), invent mnemonics (TOH CAH SOH for trigonometry anyone?), create memory palaces to “store information”, take on imaginary tours through time and space to replay history or explore the impossible.

In summary, make it a point to constantly expose yourself to information that you want to remember. In simpler terms, be consistent and do your revisions regularly. Riding on the first tip, revision does NOT have to involve strapping yourself to your chair and rewriting notes for 2 whole hours. You can revise on your way home from school by simply recalling what is taught in each lesson of the day! Repeat this at the end of the week to check in on what was taught versus what you have learnt for that week.

Remember that understanding the content does not guarantee that you will remember this content.

3. Seek the TIPS

There are multiple ways to get from one point to another. But it is always easier to take a tested path created by those who have walked it before you. While effective, one of the most inefficient strategies that I see my students use in revision is the writing of notes. Not only is it time-consuming, note-writing only allows the students to interact with the content. This does not improve your ability to apply the concepts or present your answers. Furthermore, many students fall into the need to keep the notes flawlessly beautiful with multicoloured ink, professional calligraphy and even mesmerising doodles. The output is a masterpiece which I feel is at a publishable grade (if you are such an artist, please share your work at LEARND.online so that others can benefit from your hard work). Yet, the expense would be time and energy.

Instead, a better use of time would be to, as suggested in Tip #1 again, interact with the content and make meaning out of them. Focus on organising the information instead of documenting them in your own style. Seek out examples of how others make sense of these content. When reading notes/guides/textbooks, pay extra attention to the way the information is presented and connected. It is also common for some strategies to not work or resonate with you. Fret not! Seek more resources! It is likely that you would not be the only person struggling with the concept/content. Simply ask your teachers, seniors or the web. Browse learning resources such as guidebooks, websites or videos which are readily available online (download FREE guides on LEARND.online)!

Keep your mind alert for tips and tricks that your teacher or learning resources share when it comes to approaching a concept or way to memorise challenging content. You would be surprised by how much these little tips and tricks can make learning more manageable and enjoyable.

More Hacks?

I think 3 is a good number and to be honest, there are A LOT of changes that need to be made with just these 3 tips. Many of which are fundamental approaches towards learning that you will most likely find very challenging to change. Nevertheless, I encourage you to invest ALL your effort to make these changes happen. When done successfully, every unit of effort that you spend on learning will yield you more progress than ever. If you find these suggestions useful, share them with your buddies. Consider subscribing to us at LEARND.online as we try to build a community of learners and educators and make education more accessible and sustainable.

As your buddy on your education journey, we wish you every successful and we will see you around!

TL;DR: Times has changed. If you are still focusing on the product of education (e.g. knowledge, graduation, certification), then you would have missed the most important aspects of schooling and that lies in the process (i.e. development of skills and attitude). Interested to find out what we can do to support our children? Read on!

So what is school really about? If you were to pop this question at students, you are going to be responded with most likely the S word — Studying. After all, the word “student” refers to someone who engages in… the act of studying! It gets interesting when we push the question one step further: So, what are you studying? You would be surprised at how sensible our students are since most would describe how they are studying “for their future” or even, to “land a good job or earn money”. What a 10/10 response!

I am not sure about you but that definitely sounds too manicured and “PC” (politically correct) to come from these kids or young adults. They sound like the exact things that we adults expect out of the education system. Of course, if we go down the age group, we will have greater chances of hearing more innocent responses, such as “school is for us to have fun/make friends/ do projects.” Now, that sounds more age-appropriate isn’t it?

Different Stakeholders. Different Perspectives.

To broadly categorise the stakeholders involved, this will include #1. Learners (student/child), #2. Parents and #3. System (ministry, policymakers, curriculum developers). Learners and parents would be more concerned about the micro (i.e. individual) level of education while the system will be focusing on the more macro (i.e. societal, social, economical) aspects. Without a doubt, each stakeholder will have a different response to our question.

You might have noticed that Educators is not placed within these 3 categories. As the people on the ground, we Educators straddle between the micro and the macro as we are emotionally attached to our students and at the same time, professionally committed to delivering the curriculum. With this said, this unique position allows me to make a balanced claim of the TRUE purpose of schooling.

Let’s jump into it!

What we can all agree

While there will be differences in the details, there is little to argue that the purpose of school IS to develop our younger generation and prepare them for the future.

Everyone is agreeable to that. Fortunately, in this day and age, nobody will refute the importance of education. In other words, we share the same mission of providing assistance to our children in preparation for what’s to come. And in my humble opinion, all stakeholders should recognise this very important starting point. We should all appreciate that every decision made is in the best interest of our child.

But, kind intention does not always meet with positive outcomes. Often, disagreements stem from the “what”s and mostly, the “how”s. Personally, I feel that it is more important to address the focus of education first and hence, this post’s focuses on “what” the purpose of schooling would be.

Recognising the Blackbox

There are two fundamental facts that we have to recognise when discussing this topic on Education:

1. Nobody has perfect information (especially about the future).
2. Inevitably, the stakeholders (namely learners and adults) come from different generations.

Because of these two facts, the adults (stakeholders #2 and #3) often have to reference their schooling experiences and tend to project that onto the learners. We make use of our prior knowledge and experience, combine it with our present observations and make a prediction of the future. With these inputs, it is easy to appreciate how we, individuals with unique personal experiences, would arrive at a diverse range of conclusions on what is the BEST for our learners.

Diving deeper into #1, who then has more perfect information? We can recognise that the System would have an arguably clearer view of the economic and societal needs based on the current macro trends. At the same time, Parents would have a clearer understanding of their child in terms of character, talents, nature, temperament, etc. This shows that each stakeholder holds a different piece of the puzzle and therefore emphasises the need for constant communication between stakeholders to determine the best way forward for our children.

Let’s talk about the Present & Industry 4.0

As we progress towards Industry 4.0, one major factor that we have to recognise is that our society has progressed BEYOND the knowledge economy. With the rise of machines that can store information better and more reliably as compared to humans, knowledge is no longer as critical as compared to the past. Therefore, in the current and future generations, we will find a greater focus on skills as well as attitudes since these are less replicable by machines.

As the education system is meant to prepare our children for the future, there are very deliberate attempts to shift the focus of education onto the development of skills and attitudes… Yes, you must be wondering right now: How do we teach and assess skills and attitude! The fact is that it is VERY challenging. Of course, knowledge is still important in developing literacy but more importantly, it forms the context in which questions are framed for educators to assess the skills and attitudes exhibited by the learner during the process of problem-solving.

Relating back to the point raised previously on how we adults are heavily influenced by our personal experiences, many of us are still pushing our children to memorise content and drill practices. We will realise that while it is (currently, but not for long) possible to achieve decent grades through these old strategies, we are NOT doing our children justice in reaping the full benefits of their education. In fact, this will result in the development of DESTRUCTIVE skill sets and attitudes, resulting in difficulties in adapting to the demands of the new economy.

What shall we do then?

Once again, the relatively abstract nature of skills and attitudes as compared to knowledge makes it challenging for every stakeholder. Unlike knowledge which can be “transferred”, skills have to be honed and attitudes have to be developed. To put it more simply, this endeavour focuses more on the process, rather than a product. All stakeholders have to be more patient and mindful about the purpose of this endeavour, even if there are easier/faster means to achieve the same outcome of graduation. Based on my experience, our children get frustrated too. Many would rather memorise notes and complete Ten-Year Series (if these will produce results) than go through the mentally tedious thinking and inquiry processes.

As adults, we need to do more to encourage our children to accept and even embrace a less structured approach towards success. Here are some examples of what we can do:

1. Encourage learners to stay inquisitive
2. Challenge learners to derive the first principles of issues
3. Model how to deal with failures positively
4. Emphasis the importance of constant improvement over numerical results or grades
5. Support learners in their attempts to learn organically
6. Guide instead of instruct
7. Help learners develop processes instead of providing them with a plan

And, the list can go on. (such as encouraging them to upload their self-made concept map on LEARND.online!) If you have more suggestions and ideas to share, drop them in the comments below!

If we were to identify a commonality among the suggestions, it will revolve around empowering learners to take greater ownership of their learning. As uncomfortable as it might be, we must be willing to step back and let our children venture, experiment and develop their qualities. I say this is the BEST way to make use of their schooling years… and this is what school is really about.

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TL;DR: If you are a student/learner and are keen to be primed for success in the new school year, then you must invest some effort into creating the right environment for your success. This involves: 1. Setting a motivating goal, 2. Creating a focus corner and 3. Forming a meaningful ritual. For more details about how to go about that, read on!

As another year draws to a close, it is once again time to get ready for the new school year. There is a saying in Mandarin that a good start is equivalent to half the battle won (好的开始是成功的一半）and there is no question on how important momentum is when it comes to getting work done. As a teacher, I have worked with many students and have seen how much a difference starting right makes. So if you are interested in helping yourself or your child (if you are a parent) start the year right, here are three simple things to do for a guaranteed good start for the year.

#1. Set a MOTIVATING goal

A year is a long time, especially if you are a student since each year has a well-defined curriculum that requires the completion of fixed sets of content and practices. It is easy for one to lose drive when the subjects become too difficult or, interestingly, too simple. When learning becomes too challenging, learners lose hope and give up. When it becomes too simple, humans become complacent and laze around our comfort zone. This emphasises the importance of having a compelling reason to stay motivated, regardless of the situation.

It is a common activity in the first few weeks of school for teachers to guide students through a goal-setting activity, especially for graduating classes. The key reason for the lack of effective output (speaking from experience) lies in the distracting nature of a class, where students tend to moderate their goals as they are concerned over how their peers may perceive their targets. This often results in a meaningful activity turning into a superficial paper exercise. Worse still, learners form a poor impression of goal-setting as a feel-good event, for their teachers.

This is why it is so important to craft a very personal goal statement with the sole purpose of invoking motivation. Different people work differently so it is crucial for each individual to look deeper into oneself and “design” the goal statements. Some find more excitement when goals are deliberately set closer to impossible levels while others prefer to have goals pegged at achievable levels to build momentum. While there is no formula for the best way to craft your goals, here are some tips to help you craft motivating goals:

• Have a combination of active goals and passive goals where active goal focuses on actionable targets (e.g. spend 30 min a day on reading, write a blog post each week, upload a concept map/summary notes at the end of every chapter onto LEARND.online) while passive goal focuses on raw targets (e.g. Getting into a dream school/class, scoring A for all subjects). Ideally, the active goals will be the necessary actions to help you in achieving your passive goals.
• Keep the number of active goals below 6 and passive goals below 3. Less is more as ultimately, we need to be able to constantly remember and remind ourselves of these goals. It is hence better to have 3 motivating goals which you can call on to kick-start your snoozing engines than 20 goals which you probably waste more energy trying to recall than actually pursuing them.

Done with your goals? Now get it printed/written in bold and we are ready for our next item.

#2. Create a focus corner

You might have heard that humans are creatures of habit. We can condition our physical and mental states to respond to external stimuli. This also means that we should always invest a bit of effort into creating a conducive environment for the pursuit of our goals. If you have the luxury of space, create a dedicated space free of distraction for studying. This usually means an area with sufficient tabletop space and legroom for you to place your learning materials while sitting comfortably in an upright position. Ideally, this area is also not directly facing sources of distractions like the television, your gaming setup or an area with a lot of movement (e.g. A walkway where people walk around, a fish tank filled with captivating fish).

Of course, most of us would not be able to have the flexibility of space to create a dedicated space for studying. This is where we can get creative and think of different “configurations” for work and play. For example, change the side that you face (i.e. Shift the position of the chairs), the colour of the lights or the stationeries on the desk to signal to your brain the “mode” that it should be in. This is a very fun process and you would be surprised how much of a difference this can make for you to stay focused. Needless to say, that mission statement that you have crafted should be placed in the most visible position here.

#3. Form a ritual

Do you know that willpower, just like our physical strength, is finite and trainable? Each day, we exhaust our will (or mental strength) to perform tasks and stay focused. This is also the reason why we feel exhausted after long sessions of intense focus and in that exhausted state, we find ourselves succumbing to more vices such as binging on junk food and entertainment. This is because we ran out of mental strength to will ourselves against these temptations. With this in mind, it highlights the importance of “rationing our will” and one key way to do this is to… that’s right, create a ritual.

By ritual, I do not mean those voodoo or witchcraft stuff but rather, a routine that is followed religiously whenever you plan to engage in a particular activity (in our case, focusing to learn). You can create a simple ritual such as taking a cold shower before sitting at your focus corner to study. Or have a ritual to start your day by reading your goals aloud before you head for school. Some make a ritual to take out all the homework for the day the first thing upon reaching home to be reminded of the amount of work to be done for the day.

Ideally, these rituals should NOT be too difficult to perform or you will end up not being able to summon enough will to start the ritual, hence defeating the whole purpose. When the ritual is effectively cultivated as a habit, you will be able to reap the benefits of auto-piloting into the focus state without having to will yourself each and every time you wish to focus. This is a trick that professional athletes do before their major competitions. Why not make use of it!

Bonus I: Share it with people

Since you have read this far, you must be really determined to do good for yourself. That’s really respectable! So here’s a bonus tip for you!

If you have experienced the Asian culture, you will be very familiar with the concept of “face” — perception of others on yourself. Nobody wants to “lose face” (be placed in a shameful position) and do you know that this is one of the key reasons that keeps society in check? We can leverage this power motivator by sharing with others your goals and even your rituals. This act of sharing with others form a need (within yourself) to be accountable, even if others cannot care less. You will find this allow you to “borrow” the willpower of others and get you to do the necessary even when you had deemed yourself empty of any sort of energy to carry on.

So do it! In this time and age, just post it onto your social media! Put in as your status messages! You will find others policing showing care for your progress and helping you along your journey. Yes, these exchanges may not be the most pleasant and some would leave a bitter aftertaste BUT they would be powerful nudges shoves that push us in the direction we set ourselves out to.

Bonus II: Do it NOW! Done is better than none.

Wow! You are STILL here. SO here’s one final tip. Just get started. Don’t worry about your goals not sounding as perfect as they should. Don’t worry about not having the most ergonomic chair for your focus corner. Don’t worry about what you should name your ritual. JUST DO IT. There is no such thing as perfect for we are always in the pursuit of it. Since perfect does not exist, done is better than none. Take action now! Share your goals and thoughts in the comments below! Share your focus corner and ideas with everyone here. Declare your rituals here and have us join in with you. Let’s get started. I can already hear all the engines rearing.

LET’S GET STARTED!