Self-education or school education?

[JaySherman]

Which way do you prefer to learn?

Me? I prefer self-edumacation. Seems like I'm very good at working on things on my own, but the minute I transfer whatever I'm studying to a structured classroom setting, my interest drops to zero. No idea why.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I do fine under both circumstances and that wasn't an option

Is it perhaps that you aren't an auditory learner? People process info differently...I can do OK with either a visual or auditory cue but I prefer auditory.

[JaySherman]

5. That would make sense.

Considering I'm half deaf in one ear. Interesting. Could also have something to with that fact that I like to build and create things. Output rather than input.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. I would venture to guess it has to to with both

Are you in college? Have you been tested for any of this? It might be empowering for you to find out so that you can play to your own strengths in classes.


BTW, do you wear hearing aids or have they been recommended? They make small ones that aren't eyesores and are adjustable according to your noise exposure.

[JaySherman]

11. I graduated three years ago.

Majored in Anthropology, with a heavy dose of English.

As for the hearing aid, I've resisted going that route to this point, but it may be something I'll consider in future. My hearing loss isn't chronic in that it's not getting any worse. It stems from childhood problems. When I can afford it, I might look into the hearing aid though.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. Most of the newer ones have come way down in price

it's the batteries that are expensive and need to be replaced often.

[camero]

15. The batteries are actually pretty cheap

Mine are about $5-10 per 6-8packs and last for about a month. The aid itself is still a little on the high side but not as bad as they were.

If he could get them wholesale through a clinic they are much cheaper. In the $300-500 range for in the ear models.

[camero]

9. A question

When you're in a classroom setting where do you sit? I'm half-deaf myself and found it better when I was sitting in one of the front rows. That could be part of it though I wouldn't count out self-education because I also took the written word to be easier to digest than the spoken word.

[JaySherman]

12. Usually near the front.

And oddly enough I tended to be one of the best listeners. Maybe because I naturally had to concentrate more than other people just to keep up with the discussion.

[camero]

13. Same here

Hearing loss tends to make you a better listener. But there are always words that you miss like any other person so that's why I always got more into the books.

To expound on NSMA's point and if you decide to get an aid, go for the one that adjusts to your loss and limits noise exposure. It will be an adjustment anyway because the first thing you will notice is that now you hear everything and filtering out background noises such as other conversations will be your first adjustment. I had to learn to mentally block out other conversations as you will also.

But it will open up a whole new world to you.

Edit: Also at first you will have a tendency to talk and laugh too loud because you got used to talking louder in order to hear yourself speak.

[JaySherman]

17. I already tend to talk and laugh too loud.

And some of my biggest hearing problems arise in situations where there is a lot of background noise and conversation.

So who knows what effect it'll have on me? Slightly worrysome to think I could end up talking even louder for a while. I get embarrased enough when that happens as is.

Definitely a something worth considering though. I appreciate the info. :)

[camero]

19. Most of it's mental

A teacher pointed it out to me and then I made the adjustment. It didn't take long. It really was nice to be able to hear the birds chirping again.

No problem. Just some things to consider as you adjust. :) You may even have the opposite effect now that you know.

[punpirate]

2. In favor of school and for this reason...

... one which I often told students when I was teaching--a good liberal education does two things--first, it teaches you how to think, and second, it teaches you how to go on learning on your own for the rest of your life.

In your case, you probably gained enough of those skills early on to keep going on your own. But, without those two basic skills, one flounders.

Cheers.

[Delano]

3. I put school for two reasons.

"self" smacks of "home-schooling" which I believe to be inferior to school, especially for social development. Even if one is attennding school, he/she should still be learning on his own as well. School gives social stimulation and intellectual give-and-take that you won't find in a library book (in the ideal anyway)

Besides, school forces you to learn about the things you may not be interested, which I think is crucial. If I'd made up my own currriculum, it would've had no math, no PE, and no grammatical sentence diagramming. I'm glad now that I was forced to learn those things.

[JaySherman]

7. I don't know if I see it as home-schooling.

This may sound a little strange, but I've found something romantic about the ideal of the self-learned man. On the other hand, as another poster mentioned I probably wouldn't have gotten this far without the liberal arts foundation that was laid in college. But at this point in my life I'm not sure I could go back to classroom structure.

Also, imo the feeling of satisfaction that comes from teaching yourself something then watching yourself succeed at it far outmeasures the feeling of success in any classroom setting.

[camero]

4. Both

I like the instruction that you get from school but also like to back it up with self-learning. Schools should really ingrain the love of learning in you which they fail to do now with all of the standardization and teaching to the test nonsense.

[neoteric lefty]

6. I would say both

I am pretty lazy when it come to getting started on things (like the studying I should be doing for a test I have in 6 hours) so I need a little push to get started. However, once I am started, I only want to do it my way, I kinda hate structure unless it is beneficial to the outcome of the project.

[Kathleen04]

10. As a high school senior..

who's suffering from a case of senioritus, I have to say self. I KNOW that I've learned so much more this year from the things I've sought to learn on my own than I have at school.

This is partly because this year isn't challenging; each day is virtually the same as the day before..

I'm pretty self-motivated and do well on my own, I'm *not* a math/science person and I probably would not make them the focus of my studies, BUT I'm not taking any challenging math or science courses at school either.

[gyopsy]

20. My senior year...

which was only a few years ago was marked by the same feelings. School was getting REALLY boring at that point and when you're 18, you can see through so much of the bullshit of the school system you feel almost silly for still having to go there.

College is much more fun and you'll get to focus on stuff that you want to focus on. I hope you plan on going after you graduate. It's a lot of fun and you only have to go to class about 15 hours a week. Your learning really is a lot more in your own hands.

[nickgutierrez]

16. Depends on the topic

If it's computer-related or something like that, I definitely do better on my own. I can work at my own pace, going slowly over the tough concepts and racing over the things that are similar to the things I know from other concepts. In class, though, it often moves too fast for me.

Now, if it's philosophy or literature, I need a class to get everything out of it. I need to be able to discuss what I read, to get every different opinion possible, so that I understand it as well as possible.

Do I make sense?

[JaySherman]

18. Totally

I'm completely self-taught in computing as well. I love it, but I would be bored to tears with it in a classroom. That's why I've never pursued it professionally

LA's and humanities on the other hand, naturally lend themselves to discussion. Their content is more abstract, so they're better learned in situations where the subject matter can be expounded upon and discussed.

[gyopsy]

21. School

I think that for myself I would do okay for a while in self-learning but then I would naturally begin to get lazy. Being lazy is a part of human nature and when you're not being forced to do something, you're not being challenged. The motivation to learn goes down and you get caught in this downward spiral where you get more and more lazy.

Some people aren't like this but I think most are.