26 Assess the place of reading in your learning journey

Reading and the online learning journey

Online learning typically requires you to interact with a larger amount of written material than traditional in-class courses.  This can benefit your growth as a lifelong learner by developing your skills in selecting relevant reading material, approaching it purposefully, and managing the information you read.  Consider the following principles as a guide as you approach reading:

1. Not all reading material requires equal time or attention.  Unlike a novel, where you give most pages equal time in order to understand the story, much of your professional reading is focused on finding and using relevant information.  This means that you may not read every word in available readings. Some information may require a close and careful reading, while other information may be skimmed to find key points.
2. Before you begin reading, identify your purpose for reading.  What do you need to learn from this reading?  This will determine how you approach the reading material.
3. Use questions to guide your reading.  In the next sections of this module, you will learn a strategy called SQ3R that can guide you through the process of using questions to guide your reading.
4. Develop a system for identifying important information and taking notes. You have already explored systems for online information management. Consider how you will mark key learnings in the texts that you read, and organize this information in a form where you can easily access it again.

Move on to the next section to explore reading strategies in more detail.