in light of the “business books” thread i pose a question.

if you had time for either, would you read a book, or listen to it?

whatever the answer, do you think you that is correlates to your ability to remember the content?

think of it like this.

if i gave you lyrics to a song youve never heard before, would you remember them as opposed to listening to the song?  i know the music itself plays a big factor but dont you ever get surprised that you can remember lyrics to a song you loathe purely from hearing it on the radio over and over again (even when youre not listening to it!)

me personally?  i remember better when i listen to things.  thats why even though i drive for hours every day, i learn a metric tonne through podcasts and ebooks.

what about you? 

@joanmuschampfagnani have you tried taking notes whilst listening?  is there a difference, advantage / disadvantage??

@joanmuschampfagnani @dextereugenio –Tactile — good word. Tangible.

I’m with Joan on all points, with a possible exception of audio books in the car. Driving is exclusively music time for me.

@rachelagheyisi @warrenveach what I left off was that audiobooks in the car must be for entertainment, for the exact reasons you mention!

@dextereugenio can’t take notes in the car, LOL, which is part of the problem.

Actually, love getting information both ways. And, yes, there is a difference in learning modes in the intake of info. If the material is valuable, whether listening or reading you’ll probably find you have to go with do-overs. On top of which if you’re really learning, each time you read or listen you’ll see/hear something new or in a different way.

@dextereugenio, thanks for staring this one. Best,

@dextereugenio Hmmm, that’s a very good question, I must admit. Throughout my academic life, I found myself to be a mix of visual and audio learner, with a slight preference toward visual. Reading a book, a chapter or class notes was always a good prep, then listening to the teacher would crystalise the understanding of concepts.

With books, since there is no “complement” to be had afterwards, I tend to stick with paper. I know we’re not supposed to, but I still write, underline and highlight passages from good books, and whenever I take another look back, it helps to remind me of the important passages. How do you do that with an audio book? And even with ebooks, I have a similar challenge. I recently downloaded a book on my iPad, it was fun to read and all. But the mere fact I could not underline or highlight… (guess I’m old-fashioned that way)

But to come back to your question, to learn, do you read, or do you listen? The honest answer has to be both. I learn the most by sitting in a meeting, listening to what people say, how people behave, body language, etc. Or in other circumstances, we learn by listening to the news on the radio, or listening to TV in the background. I guess we all have our preferred modes of learning, but reading and listening are both mandatory skills if you strive for excellence.

Great question!  I personally prefer to read BUT it’s a new year etc. so I’m on a bit of a gym kick right now – one of the things that I have just started to do is download podcasts so that I can “justify” stepping away from my desk and taking care of myself.

I love listening to audiobooks. I listen to a new one each month. But I’ve also found that there are some books I prefer in print.

One of my goals this year is reading through some classic novels I didn’t have time or interest in when I was younger. I listened to Will Patton reading Light in August (by William Faulkner) and Patton is a wonderful narrator.  But part of the magic of Faulkner’s work is the way he plays with words. He blends and weaves words together that I completely missed when I was only listening to the narration.

This week I’m listening to the novel again, AND following along with the text. It’s the best of both worlds.

 
@dextereugenio Cynthia Ulrich Tobias authored a book “The Way They Learn” which discussing learning styles and suggests that many children have 2 dominant learning styles. I found this to be true with my sons as well.

I listen to get an overview because I’m usually multi-tasking. I read to study and highlight to remember and take notes of actions to take. But, I have to read over and over sometimes because my brain won’t stay on the page…. It also depends on how much sleep I’ve gotten! @joanmuschampfagnani @dextereugenio

@dextereugenio I so much prefer reading. If I click through to an interesting blog or news topic and find that is video, I usually feel disappointed and click away with out playing.