“Meta” means something that is referring to itself or is self-referential.
Thus metalearning is about learning how to learn effectively.
This topic has gained significant traction in recent years due to the explosion of information available and the need for individuals to adapt to new skills and knowledge faster than ever.
A book titled Ultralearning, takes a deep dive into this topic and identifies the strategies, techniques, and tools that work best for each individual when it comes to learning.
Below are some key concepts:
Focus
This point seems trivial at first glance but is actually severely lacking with so many individuals who have fallen into the mediocrity zone. Distractions of the world today are vast. I would say endless. In your quest to get anything done at all, be prepared to face countless obstacles and challenges in the form of distractions. It’s an easy excuse too. But if you get this one thing right, you’re going to go places for sure.
Self-awareness
By understanding your learning style and preferences, you can make more informed decisions about how to approach new learning opportunities. For example, if you know that you are a visual learner, you can seek out materials that are more visually appealing or utilize diagrams and charts to aid in comprehension. If you’re team-oriented and love learning from others then seek out peer-to-peer learning opportunities.
Direct and Indirect Learning
Imagine that you wish to learn public speaking. Most people might go buy a book on the topic. Or subscribe to a relevant YouTube channel. Basically doing everything except actually performing public speaking itself. Such is indirect learning and while it is a safe and easy method – few will ever become great at it that way. Understand the difference between direct and indirect learning and you may be able to speed up your learning by leaps and bounds.
Do the Drills
In gaming analogy, this would be mindlessly farming experience points. Drilling is the act of repeatedly doing something until it becomes an auto-pilot mode of sorts. Common learning drills are rote memorization or step-by-step exercises. Most people have come to dislike or fear this process. It can be mind-numbing, boring, and even feel futile. But drills are essential to some degree. It may be tedious but those who face it willingly are the ones who will shine.
Resourcefulness
Another important aspect is the ability to identify and utilize resources effectively. In today’s information-rich society, there are countless resources available for learning, including books, online courses, videos, podcasts, and more. However, not all resources are created equal, and some may be more useful than others depending on the topic or your learning style. By being able to identify high-quality resources and knowing how to leverage them effectively, you can optimize your learning experience.
Free Recall
One of the best ways to test yourself is to perform a free recall of the subject matter. If someone asks you about something specific, are you able to conjure the answers directly from your mind? Or that it’s not there yet and you are still roaming the lands of reading, drilling, and reviewing? Free recall may come more naturally when you take in the subject as a whole, understand its core fundamentals, and see how everything connects on a grander scale.
Feedback
Learning fast involves getting good feedback. This can sometimes be a little harder for those in the creative field because understandably we feel attached to our work. But there is no stopping it as you’ll have to brace yourself for criticisms of all types. You may think that harsh criticism is bad, but the opposite is also true. Feedback such as “Wow, that’s amazing!”, “You’re so great!” are equally useless and can even unintentionally demotivate a person because hey it’s good enough, why try harder?
Benchmark Yourself
This is similar to getting feedback except that you are secretly doing it. By comparing yourself to greater, more successful people, you can try to emulate them. At the very least it can help to drive your expectations to a higher level. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Learn ultra-fast by checking out others who had it all figured out. You would do well to first meet that milestone and then hopefully surpass it in your own ways all in due time.
Creation and Experimentation
Bloom’s taxonomy was developed to provide a common language for teachers to discuss and exchange learning and assessment methods. It was revised in 2001 and separates learning into 6 levels. The first 3 levels deal with remembering, understanding, and basic application. The final 3 levels deal with analysing, evaluating, and creating new methods by experimentation. It’s a good guideline to help master any subject systematically.
Innate Talent
Surely an individual’s innate talent plays a role in metalearning, right? If you’re naturally good at something, should you undoubtedly pursue it? Well, it’s complicated. Firstly you should assess if that talent is monetizable or in demand. Secondly, you must assess how your talent compares to the majority at large. You may think you’re great at gaming for example – but gaming talent is through the roof these days. It’s difficult to monetize unless you’re in the world’s top 10 percent for example. So you have to target a talent that has good business value and ideally has low competition rates.
Hope this helps your learning process.
In the meanwhile, why not check out our courses and level up something?
