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Jon Kennard

Freelance

Freelance writer

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Learning how to learn

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Yes, that's the title of my new MOOC, or rather the latest MOOC I'm studying.

'Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects' started this week through Coursera and UC San Diego, and it's already a bit of a mind bender. For the most part, MOOCs teach you about a given subject, be it Dutch poetry, advanced Mandarin, beginner-level javascript etc, but this one teaches you about learning itself. Will I see my knowledge increase exponentially as the course goes on? Will I suddenly unlock that other 90% like Scarlett Johansson's character in that awful new Luc Besson film, Lucy? We're only on day two, and already there's talk of the Pomodoro technique, Diffuse thinking and the million billion synapses we have kicking around our grey matter.

If the techniques I learn on this short course (it's only four weeks) make a noticeable difference to my ability to learn new information - and recall it - then it's well worth my time. MOOCs are a second priority for most, and third or fourth for many with family, friends and already established pastimes taking understandable precedence, but they're well worth 3-4 hours of your time a week. 

For more info on the course I'm studying click here https://class.coursera.org/learning-002

Author Profile Picture
Jon Kennard

Freelance writer

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