Online Degrees - The Basics

In their most elemental categories, learning styles can be broken into the senses or combinations of the senses, and these are often the easiest categories for learners to identify themselves with. Some people are visual/verbal learners, getting their knowledge best through reading. If sitting in a classroom setting, these learners prefer instructors who use a blackboard or overhead projector to write out or list the essential points of the lesson. They do well obtaining knowledge from textbooks and notes, and tend to study alone. Visual/verbal learners do well with online education which is mainly presented in written form.

Others are visual/nonverbal learners, needing pictures, diagrams and designs to help them understand. In a classroom setting, these learners prefer instructors who will supplement his or her lesson with video clips, charts, maps and images. They also do well with online degree programs which often includes graphical representations of information and movement or words.

Auditory/verbal learners do best when listening to something or someone. In the classroom, they do well listening to lecture and also participating in discussion with classmates. If trying to remember something, auditory/verbal learners will often say phrases out loud repeatedly. Online degree programs are not suited as well for this type of learner, although it can be. Most information is presented visually or graphically, but streaming audio or computer conferencing can complement this information to help these learners earn one of many online degrees.

And lastly, tactile/kinesthetic learners need to be involved in the process with their whole body. The prefer laboratory setting where they can touch things and manipulate scenarios. In the classroom, they learn best when the instructor uses in-class demonstrations and hands-on learning experiments. Again, online degree programs are not necessarily suited best for this learner, but it can work, and work well. With increasingly more engaging technology, simulations and 3-D graphics can now represent physical demonstrations, and if necessary lab work can be done at home as part of online degree programs.

Using these four learning style categories, adults can generally determine which learner they are.