Several years ago, I took a test at the Museum of Life and Science designed to determine whether I was better at remembering things that I hear or things that I see. The results were what I expected: my visual memory is far better than my auditory. I have known since I was young, at least instinctively, that I am a visual learner. For example, when trying to recall information for tests in school, I would call up an image of a page from a book or from notes I had taken and read the answer in my “mind’s eye.” Even today, I know that the Great Northern War(1) started in the year 1700 because I can “see” my handwritten notes from my 10th grade World Cultures class which I took in 1982.

In the course of preparing to write this column, I found this description of visual learners on www.educationplanner.org.

“If you are a visual learner, you learn by reading or seeing pictures. You understand and remember things by sight. You can picture what you are learning in your head, and you learn best by using methods that are primarily visual. You like to see what you are learning.

You often close your eyes to visualize or remember something, and you will find something to watch if you become bored. You may have difficulty with spoken directions and may be easily distracted by sounds.”

Most of this description sounds like it was written specifically about me.  I understand and remember things by sight, picture what I am learning in my head, have difficulty with spoken directions, and am extremely distracted by sounds. However, I don’t particularly seek out things to watch if I am bored; rather, I design elaborate things in my head, such as houses, chemical plants, and public transport systems. I can work on the same design for hours at a time and return to it periodically over the course of months and years for further refinement.

I think that helping students to develop a better understanding of their learning styles would be extremely useful in choosing both educational and career paths. In my case, since I was good at science and math, I was encouraged – correctly, it turned out – to go into engineering. But success and satisfaction in engineering are also greatly aided by being a visual leaner. While this line of reasoning could certainly be expanded into a broader discussion of education, I’ve decided instead to share with you some aspects of the world which drive visual learners like me really crazy.

I hate rotating Scrabble boards. Back in the “Good Old Days” when the board was a simple, stationary piece of cardboard, I usually volunteered to sit in the position where the letters were upside down. Everyone else seemed to dislike this spot. and the orientation of the letters made no difference to me. Then, in a move that I think must certainly herald the approaching apocalypse, the rotating Scrabble board was invented.(2) I find the rotation of the board to be incredibly disorienting. Every time the board moves I have to sort of start over. I often try to institute a no-rotating-the-board-on-my-turn rule, but it never works. Thinking that I will appreciate it, everyone rotates the board anyway.

I also hate the Google Maps app. Let me start with some background on this one. I love maps. When I was a kid, we criss-crossed the country hauling our Starcraft pop-up trailer and seeing the sights. While Dad was driving and cranking Mantovani on the 8-track, I was studying the map. When visual learners like me study a map, we learn and remember the relative positions of the towns and other landmarks as well as how they are connected by roadways. This sort of knowledge of geography is extremely useful  to us. Rather than memorizing a handful of specific routes from point-to-point, it allows us to navigate flexibly anywhere within the range of the map.

These days, almost no one uses paper maps. Instead they look at their laptops, tablets and smart phones, often while using Google Maps. This approach eliminates the opportunity to observe a large geographic area while maintaining a reasonable level of detail. As an example, the picture below shows the Google Maps view of North Carolina that I can get on my laptop screen, which is much larger than the one on my phone.

 

NC Google Maps

 

It’s nearly useless. Almost nothing is labeled. For example, if you happen to be curious as to why a number of roads converge southwest of Chapel Hill – it’s Pittsboro, by the way – and increase the magnification to figure it out, then you can’t see the rest of the state anymore. As a result, it is not possible to know both the names of the roads that pass through Pittsboro and to see where they go at the same time. (For the truly geeky among you, let’s refer to this as the Google Maps Uncertainty Principle.)

Far worse than this small-screen/magnification issue is the rotating map feature. If you decide to use Google Maps for directions, all the while when the soothing female voice is talking, the map keeps rotating and rotating such that the top of the map is pointing in the direction that the car is currently facing. While I have to assume that this feature must hold some appeal to the Scrabble board rotators, not only do I find this really frustrating, but I think it creates an even bigger problem.(3) I submit that if you wander around the world with a rotating map, you will never learn the local geography. A little rotating map on your phone gives you no perspective of distance or relative position. Your knowledge of the world is reduced to just the turn at the next intersection, and without your little electronic device you will be lost and alone. I suspect that this may have been Google’s intent.

Thank you for allowing me to air my grievances this week. Also, please be aware that we visual learners are out there and all of the noises and the rotations are hard for us. Want to show us some love? Turn off the music and get the old Scrabble game out of the attic.

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1) The Great Northern War is a pivotal historical event. It pitted Russia, under Peter the Great, along with Denmark and Saxony, against Sweden, which was the major northern European power at the time. Peter figured the timing was right to attack Sweden when 18 year old Charles the XII ascended the throne. Peter’s instincts were correct and Sweden was defeated. This led to Charles being deposed, ending absolute monarchy and putting Sweden on the path to become a socialist paradise and the home of Volvo and Ikea.

2) If memory serves, before Mattel began producing the rotating Scrabble board, people started putting their stationary boards on rotating Lazy Susans.

3) There is a compass needle on the Google Map app which, at least temporarily, allows you to lock the screen such that the top is referenced to north. However, as far as I can tell, if you look at the phone the wrong way the map starts rotating again.