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Visual learners make up 65% of the population, so if you are one of them, you definitely shouldn’t feel alone. Plenty of other people are faced with the same challenges, and luckily, there are plenty of online resources that can help you out.
As more than 90% of all information is transmitted visually, visual learners have a bit of an edge over their verbal and physical learner counterparts.
Whatever learning challenges you may come up against, there is likely an online hub or tool that can help you overcome it. Let’s explore some of the more popular ones:
Infographics
Infographics are great for distilling large amounts of complex data into visually appealing imagery that is much easier to digest and memorize. As they also work well with a vast majority of subjects, you can almost certainly find one online that answers some of your questions.
On the other hand, you can also make your own custom infographic to help yourself memorize any subject.
One of the best places to find what you are looking for is, believe it or not, Pinterest, as it is full of fun and interesting infographics that can help you along.
And if you’re looking to build your own, we’d suggest using either Piktochart, which has a bunch of templates to start out with, or Easel.ly, which is very easy to use and has a lot of cool add-ons. There is also Canva, but that one might take a bit of getting used to.
Online Courses
A lot of online courses are specifically tailored to visual learners. This means that they provide a lot of visual aids and prompts, making it easier to digest the information.
Spaces like Skillshare, Udemy, or Coursera offer a wide range of courses on a huge variety of subjects, so finding what you need should be fairly easy.
There is also Masterclass, which has drawn a lot of popularity and interest since its launch in 2015. Education Speaks has done a great job of analyzing the fortes and drawbacks of the platform, as they note in this Masterclass review. So if you’re unsure whether it would be the right fit, read the review before you spend any money on a class.
Timelines
Timelines lend themselves very well to any history, geography, or even literary analysis. They’re also a great way to memorize all those dates we all have trouble with.
You can make your timelines as detailed as you need them, noting the major points only, or adding in additional details as well. Just make sure that the extra details don’t clog up the essential facts you need to be memorizing.
There are plenty of online tools you can use to create your timelines – so there is literally nothing holding you back from tackling that complex history project.
Memes
While you may not think of memes as an educational tool, the truth is, they are a great way to help yourself memorize something you would otherwise have trouble with.
If you take a boring and complicated topic, and add to it a pop-culture twist or a reference that makes perfect sense to you (but might not be as clear to others), your chances of retention will increase manifold. Some teachers have also started using memes in their classrooms, so it’s not like you’re way ahead of the game here.
Creating memes can be as complex or simple as you want it to be, and you can have a lot of fun in the process as well. At the same time, you’ll be memorizing that data you’ve been finding so very dull.
Slides and Presentations
Finally, we come to the original visual aid: slides and presentations.
However, you can do so much more than create a boring PowerPoint with the same templated slides swimming across the screen.
The aim should be to make them as personal as you can, so try to forget about what you’ve been taught in terms of crafting engaging presentations, and ensure your aids actually help you.
Use vibrant colors and keep things to the point – use as little words as possible, and try to focus more on images or videos. You may also want to create little stories that will help you remember things.
There are dozens of online presentation-making tools, so you’ll have no trouble finding one.
Final Thoughts
No matter how interested you are in a subject, remembering something can often be a bit of a challenge, so using any of these online resources can be a huge help. Just make sure you find a system that works for you, and take it from there.