What is Lean Forward Learning? Online Education Needs It!

TL;DR

Lean forward learning is an online-education approach that makes students actively practice the skills they want to develop instead of only watching instructional videos. Obsidian Flight School applies it through choose-your-own-adventure content, hands-on exercises, simulations, timed tests, and measurable progress; its vault contains over 240 lessons and notes, 100 embedded videos, and over 10 exercises and simulations. Read on to see its six principles and how Flight School puts them into practice.

Transcript

what is the best way to improve at something watching or doing yes both are needed but we improve the most by doing we learn faster and better when we immerse ourselves in the very thing we want to learn and we already know this when a student wants to learn spanish assuming they're lucky enough what do they do they move to spain that student will ... Read More

Key Insights

• 👀 Passive learning, such as watching videos alone, is not as effective as active learning, which involves practice and application.
• 🤗 Obsidian Flight School aims to improve skills and confidence in using the note application Obsidian through immersive, hands-on learning.
• ☢️ The course follows the lean forward learning paradigm, which promotes active engagement, uncomfortable challenges, immersion, measurability, and multiple avenues of engagement.
• ▶️ Online courses should consider incorporating lean forward learning principles to provide effective and profound learning experiences.
• 👻 Obsidian Flight School offers a non-linear, choose-your-own-adventure style of education, allowing learners to navigate and explore at their own pace.
• 🤗 The course includes a variety of exercises, simulations, and timed tests to provide learners with hands-on repetitions and measurable progress.
• ☢️ While Obsidian Flight School excels in active learning and immersion, it could improve in providing more avenues for social interaction and sharing among learners.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is lean forward learning?

Lean forward learning is an online-education paradigm centered on active engagement and learning by doing. Its six principles are curated but non-linear content, hands-on repetitions, uncomfortable challenges, immersion, measurability, and multiple avenues of engagement.

Q: Why is learning by doing better than only watching videos?

The speaker says people improve most by doing because practice makes them engage with the exact skills they want to learn. Watching videos alone is passive and encourages a lean-back mode of consumption, while immersion helps people learn faster and better.

Q: What is Obsidian Flight School?

Obsidian Flight School is an immersive educational product and starter kit for improving proficiency with the Obsidian note application. Its goal is to make students faster, more skilled, and more confident in Obsidian by requiring them to practice.

Q: How does Obsidian Flight School apply lean forward learning?

Flight School uses curated but non-linear material, hands-on repetitions, challenging activities, immersion, measurable progress, and multiple ways to engage. Rather than relying on instructional videos alone, it asks learners to navigate Obsidian through exercises, simulations, and timed tests.

Q: What is included in Obsidian Flight School?

Flight School includes a vault with over 240 lessons and notes, including 100 embedded videos and over 10 exercises and simulations. It also provides peer-to-peer forum access and lifetime updates.

Q: Who is Obsidian Flight School for?

It is intended for people who downloaded Obsidian and feel overwhelmed, want to use it faster, or want to experience more joy while using the app. The course focuses specifically on improving practical ability and confidence with Obsidian.

Q: Who is Obsidian Flight School not for?

It is not designed for people who primarily use a mobile or tablet device without a keyboard because the training uses many keyboard shortcuts. It also is not training for building a custom personal knowledge management system or developing sustainable ways to think better and create more value; those goals belong to the Linking Your Thinking workshop.

Q: How is Obsidian Flight School structured?

Flight School is an experiment in choose-your-own-adventure, non-linear education. Learners can navigate curated lessons and notes while practicing through exercises and simulations, creating a more immersive experience than a sequence of videos alone.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Obsidian Flight School is a comprehensive educational product designed to enhance skills in using the Obsidian note application.

• The course focuses on active learning by providing hands-on repetitions and simulations for learners to practice and improve their proficiency.

• It follows the paradigm of lean forward learning, which emphasizes curated yet non-linear content, uncomfortable challenges, immersion, measurability, and multiple avenues of engagement.