4 ms·

The practice of consuming content accompanied by a commentary or 'gloss' is an educational practice dating back to the Middle Ages: https://sites.nd.edu/manusc

The practice of consuming content accompanied by a commentary or 'gloss' is an educational practice dating back to the Middle Ages: https://sites.nd.edu/manuscript-studies/2015/09/17/reading-between-and-around-the-lines-an-introduction-to-glosses-and-commentaries/ https://sites.nd.edu/manuscript-studies/2015/09/17/reading-b... The novice gets to see a more experienced student tackle the same problems, 'live'. Which helps him to identify some of his own misconceptions. The author of the book or video game is less able to assist in this way because as an expert he has forgotten his early misconceptions, suffering as he does from the Curse of Knowledge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge Modern publishers have dropped the practice because [insert correct historical explanation here ... because we don't copy our texts by hand?] and this may explain why textbooks now so unreadable. The practice has re-emerged spontaneously on YT because children, contrary to popular belief, actually enjoy learning things.

hyperpallium 8y ago
When people explain things to me, the point they make is often unhelpful... but incidentally, in the course of their explanation, I learn the crucial thing neither they nor I realized was the problem. Walkthroughs would have a similar effect.
jacobolus 8y ago
> dating back to the Middle Ages Or realistically long before the invention of writing. Observing the world together and explaining what is happening is one of the things parents do with their young children all the time, and is also a big part of how tutoring/coaching/mentoring works in any field, and arguably a focus of good lectures as well. Legibly adding layers of commentary in written books is a difficult typographical challenge though. Medieval-style books aren’t all that easy to read. The biggest problem by far with many current textbooks, at least in early grades, is that they are developed by people without any particular skill or expertise, based on a terrible committee process driven largely by politics and marketing. I don’t think adding interlinear annotations would help.

hyperpallium 8y ago

When people explain things to me, the point they make is often unhelpful... but incidentally, in the course of their explanation, I learn the crucial thing neither they nor I realized was the problem. Walkthroughs would have a similar effect.

jacobolus 8y ago

> dating back to the Middle Ages Or realistically long before the invention of writing. Observing the world together and explaining what is happening is one of the things parents do with their young children all the time, and is also a big part of how tutoring/coaching/mentoring works in any field, and arguably a focus of good lectures as well. Legibly adding layers of commentary in written books is a difficult typographical challenge though. Medieval-style books aren’t all that easy to read. The biggest problem by far with many current textbooks, at least in early grades, is that they are developed by people without any particular skill or expertise, based on a terrible committee process driven largely by politics and marketing. I don’t think adding interlinear annotations would help.