4 types of learners: which type of learner are you?

Learning is an ongoing process whether you are studying in school, doing your graduation, working as a manager, running your own business, every role you play in life involves one form of learning. There is a pivotal question; are you utilizing your skills effectively by being a smart learner?

We are going to discuss 4 different learning modalities and its implication in learning in this article.

All learners are not the same. We have 4 different modalities for learning.

The 4 learning modalities are:

1. Visual

2. Auditory

3. Kinesthetic

4. Read/write

1.Visual learners:

Visual learners primary modality is sight. Such people like to see information in the form of charts, graphs, images and demonstrations.

Are you bored of listening to lectures?

You may be a visual learner.

Visual learners should learn through videos, animations, images and charts.

2.Auditory learners:

The learning modality they prefer is the sense of sound. They like to take in information via the spoken word. They notice not only what is said, but how it is said, including the tone of voice.

Do you love to listen to lectures?

You may be an auditory learner.

Auditory learners should learn through classroom lectures, audiobooks, podcasts.

3.Kinesthetic learners:

Kinesthetic learners learn by internalizing the material and connecting with them.

Do you like to learn by doing?

You may be a kinesthetic learner.

Kinesthetic learners feel jaded by classroom lectures and feel disinterested.

Kinesthetic learners should learn by discussing with others and teaching others.

4.Read/write learners:

Read/write learners primary modality is reading and writing.

Do you like to learn by reading/writing?

You may be a read/write learner.

Read/write learners should learn by reading and writing.

Reasons for learning difficulties:

Learning difficulties arises from the inability in recognizing the learning modality we are born with.

Each one of us is capable of learning but our learning modalities are different.

“Imagine a student Kizito who is an auditory learner and he can grasp all the concepts by listening attentively to class and rarely likes to read and write, suppose his parents are forcing him to study at home and demotivates him he will start losing interest in studies and his grades may go down”

If you are using the wrong modality for learning, you will be bored soon and start to despise learning.

All kinds of learning approaches can be used for learning but your primary modality for learning (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, read/write) should be used for deciding your core learning methodology.

Are you going to approach the learning process systematically and leverage your primary learning modality to skyrocket your learning ability?

Today is the day to change the way you learn and to be a smart learner.

Dr. Vivekananth Padmanabhan

Learning Skills Trainer |Senior Lecturer ICT/HRM