| I spent the better part of 17 years in and | | | | not only do you process the content, but you |
| out of higher education. Eleven of those | | | | end up with a one-page summary of the main |
| years were invested in taking classes and | | | | points of the text. The process works for |
| pursuing degrees. In the process of having to | | | | books, individual chapters, and |
| read a lot of books and articles that I | | | | articles.Basically, the process involves five |
| didn't really have time to read, I began | | | | steps:1. Define the content. You must know |
| asking myself, "Isn't there a more effective | | | | what the book, chapter, or article is all |
| way to do this?" Like many of you, I had a | | | | about.2. Look forward. Review the |
| life outside of the academic world. I had a | | | | introductory material determining the |
| family, jobs, responsibilities, and the | | | | author's map for the text.3. Look back. |
| desire to enjoy some portion of each week. | | | | Review the summary material and identify the |
| Reading was necessary, but it wasn't | | | | key terms and concepts.4. Take note. Scan the |
| something I always enjoyed.One day as I was | | | | entire text locating and reading about the |
| sitting at my cubicle in the library, I | | | | key terms and concepts.5. Summarize. When you |
| glanced over at the three stacks of books I | | | | can put into your own words the main points |
| had accumulated. These books represented the | | | | of the text, you have a basic knowledge of |
| precedent literature I needed to review | | | | the content.Does this process work? I have |
| before writing my dissertation. As the days | | | | had students tell me that this process is one |
| went by, the stacks of books grew--I was | | | | of the best things they learned in their |
| adding books faster than I could review them! | | | | entire academic careers. Others have thanked |
| I was frustrated and ready to just give | | | | me for the hundreds of hours they have saved. |
| up.That's when I began developing the basic | | | | You can do it too... it's easy... it's fun... |
| concepts that have resulted in the quickREAD | | | | and it makes you a more efficient learner. |
| method. That method now can be obtained in | | | | Give it a try!Dr. Terry Hadaway is an author, |
| the form of an e-Book from my web site is | | | | motivational speaker, university professor, |
| what I discovered. Even if I poured through | | | | and conference leader who is recognized as a |
| every book page by page, my retention level | | | | leading authority on elearning, |
| wasn't that great. So, if I wasn't going to | | | | decision-making, and adult education. Visit |
| process it all, wasn't there a more effective | | | | for more information. |
| way to do it?By using the quickREAD method, | | | | |