Switching learning techniques

[Moses Yoder]

Growing up we had no television, my parents had left the Amish to join a Beachy church and tv's were forbidden. I of course thought I was missing a lot in spite of my teachers telling me I wasn't missing anything of value. I read a lot, and learned from reading. I could easily picture in my mind what was written on the pages before me.

Fast forward 30 years and I find myself turning to youtube whenever I want to learn how to do something. There is an incredible amount of information there and you can pause and rewind at will. Another advantage is that you can learn a lot more faster from a video if you really pay attention to what is going on.

Just as one example, I stopped at a garage sale last Friday on the way to mom's house and found a set with a brass seal and four different waxes to seal letters, new in the original box. I made arrangements to pay $3 cash for it. I was thrilled to death with my new toy and as soon as I got home I searched youtube on how to use it. I found a guy who goes by edwardmbowen on youtube and when I looked at his other videos he had details on how to modify ordinary paper into a sheet that would look like papyrus or a leather like paper for making envelopes. Now instead of just sealing an ordinary letter with a love note for my wife, I plan on trying to make different types of paper and give her something that will show her how much I care. All because I can learn from video.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Youtube is pretty good,,,,,once you get past all the goofballs doing stupid things and getting hurt ;).

I see a lot of videos being incorporated into the "how to" sections of a lot of manufacturers as well as resellers (like Lowes and Home Depot) too.

IMHO - a picture is worth a thousand words, but, a video is priceless - when it comes to getting the point across.

[Dan Hintz]

I consider videos to be invaluable to learning certain techniques. While you could describe a particular cut on the lathe using text only, the sheer number of words needed to describe the angle and location of every piece of the body, the tool, etc. would take pages. You'll likely have to read it very slowly to comprehend each detail (any one of which could be easily missed), and you'll likely have to read it multiple times before you understand what it's saying. A video can show you in 30 seconds, and most intuitively see the nuances that could not be described in text.