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Note taking exists to combat what you're talking about. You can improve your note taking, and how you use your notes, on paper or on a device.

by hashkb 9y ago

Joe-Z 9y ago
Also I'd say you _can_ pause a lecture. Simply lift up your hand and ask a question: That's the great thing about person-to-person teaching. Painting all lectures and meetings as 'broken' because one would prefer to have video for everything (that's how I understood it) is pretty hyperbolic.
- cjsuk 9y ago
  I don't want a video. I want the material written down in a formal tutorial style that can be reviewed and updated and consumed at a suitable pace. That pace can be faster for the bits I understand and slower for the bits I don't.
  - mseebach 9y ago
    That's basically a textbook, and lectures are supposed to augment the book, not replace it. From personal experience, and anecdotal supporting evidence, lectures are the hardest when you haven't actually prepared for them (at the other end of the scale are the lectures you did prepare for, but enough others did, and the lecturer decides to indulge them by re-stating what's already covered in the book instead of, well, lecturing).
    - cjsuk 9y ago
      Yes and no. The textbooks we were given were reference structured. Ergo the path through them was defined by the lectures and the course which was mostly undocumented. There needs to be a course guide that spans the entire material with independent guidance. A good modern example of this is The Art of Electronics which is a textbook format. There is a companion book which is Learning the Art of Electronics which contains exactly the structure I want to see, which is your lectures, tutorials and labs in a structured format on paper. You can complete these with guidance, without guidance, with or without lectures and tutorials. The lectures should be more interactive and be a result of the above. Build your knowledge on more than one pillar and some structure so to speak. Some of the course ecosystems you see are very closed with respect to structure and you are carried through without being permitted to see the path.
- gowld 9y ago
  > Simply lift up your hand and ask a question. That scales poorly- O(n) cost per O(1) benefit
dmlorenzetti 9y ago
I have a colleague who makes mind-map style notes, either on paper or via software. He doesn't try to capture everything that's said. Rather, he notes key ideas, and identifies/imposes structure to the conversation. It can actually be informative to look over his shoulder as a meeting progresses, to see what loose ends are still dangling, and where people focus the most attention. For myself, I've moved to markdown-style in my handwritten notes. It isn't as fluid as mind maps, but the bullet points and headings still bring out structure, and the number of sub-bullets under any given item can hint to me if I haven't understood how things are going at a fine enough or coarse enough level.
- cjsuk 9y ago
  Agree with this. I rather like HyperPhysics here: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/index.html http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/index.html

Note taking exists to combat what you're talking about. You can improve your note taking, and how you use your notes, on paper or on a device.

by hashkb 9y ago

Note taking exists to combat what you're talking about. You can improve your note taking, and how you use your notes, on paper or on a device.

Joe-Z 9y ago

Also I'd say you _can_ pause a lecture. Simply lift up your hand and ask a question: That's the great thing about person-to-person teaching. Painting all lectures and meetings as 'broken' because one would prefer to have video for everything (that's how I understood it) is pretty hyperbolic.

cjsuk 9y ago
I don't want a video. I want the material written down in a formal tutorial style that can be reviewed and updated and consumed at a suitable pace. That pace can be faster for the bits I understand and slower for the bits I don't.
- mseebach 9y ago
  That's basically a textbook, and lectures are supposed to augment the book, not replace it. From personal experience, and anecdotal supporting evidence, lectures are the hardest when you haven't actually prepared for them (at the other end of the scale are the lectures you did prepare for, but enough others did, and the lecturer decides to indulge them by re-stating what's already covered in the book instead of, well, lecturing).
  - cjsuk 9y ago
    Yes and no. The textbooks we were given were reference structured. Ergo the path through them was defined by the lectures and the course which was mostly undocumented. There needs to be a course guide that spans the entire material with independent guidance. A good modern example of this is The Art of Electronics which is a textbook format. There is a companion book which is Learning the Art of Electronics which contains exactly the structure I want to see, which is your lectures, tutorials and labs in a structured format on paper. You can complete these with guidance, without guidance, with or without lectures and tutorials. The lectures should be more interactive and be a result of the above. Build your knowledge on more than one pillar and some structure so to speak. Some of the course ecosystems you see are very closed with respect to structure and you are carried through without being permitted to see the path.
gowld 9y ago
> Simply lift up your hand and ask a question. That scales poorly- O(n) cost per O(1) benefit

dmlorenzetti 9y ago

I have a colleague who makes mind-map style notes, either on paper or via software. He doesn't try to capture everything that's said. Rather, he notes key ideas, and identifies/imposes structure to the conversation. It can actually be informative to look over his shoulder as a meeting progresses, to see what loose ends are still dangling, and where people focus the most attention. For myself, I've moved to markdown-style in my handwritten notes. It isn't as fluid as mind maps, but the bullet points and headings still bring out structure, and the number of sub-bullets under any given item can hint to me if I haven't understood how things are going at a fine enough or coarse enough level.

cjsuk 9y ago
Agree with this. I rather like HyperPhysics here: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/index.html http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/index.html