-”That is a clever trick, that sketchnoting!” Well yes, it is helpfull and everyone can learn it. But there is far more to it!

First of all, visual thinking is a the way some of us learn and think. It is the opposite to linear thinking ; step by step bottum up thinking. Visual thinkers see the total picture, in images , all at once. They are rightbrainers as opposed to the leftbrainers that most people are. In school (in our society) we are expected to learn in a linear and step by step way, based solely on language and writing. Our visual thinking skills fade away if we aren’t real visual spatial learners. There are several different learning styles. Through images, through rythm and music, through actually doing things, through writing and reading. Some take in information better one way, some the other. We all have our preferred information binging methods. I for one love to have overview and visuals, others want to see gradually progressing video’s while others still want text or graphics and numbers.

Furthermore visual note taking is something that we all can learn, even though we are not all visual thinkers. It is very useful for everyone to have an overview of a concept , idea, session, or to take notes of a speaker or workshop without having to read a whole text, watch an entire video or write everything down you hear. It is something to help us process larger chunks of information in one clear image. Of course, you still want to go more in depth if it is something you would want to know more about, but it is a way of easily filtering and summarizing information.

Since there are massive numbers of data produced every single day, we need a way to filter al this data, the visuals, the music, the graphs, the text. The way I see it, visual iconic language that connects and gives overview is the way to filter, to have a quick scan overview to decide weather or not you want to take in more info on a specific topic. Choosing the most suited form of information.

This applies also when people talk or work together. Or where problems need to be solved.  Visuals and visual connections that give a quick overview can help different thinkers to more easily understand eachother and build on their thoughts, rather than clashing whilst saying basically the same thing but not understanding each other.

Visual thinking binds all forms of thinking together and has the power to connect great minds and have them fully understand one another. It helps to see  different learners  understanding each other and lets us build from there, instead of making ripples in your own area, you could  make far bigger ripples while interconnecting different disciplines.

I love the way this video by Socialnomics illustrates the impact of Social media.

Click here to view the embedded video.

this post was published earlier on beeldenaars.net

This morning I stumbled across this article in the NY times;  in the article a Kaiser family foundation studies is discussed that reveals that media consumption by children between the age of 8-18 is up again. I was pleased to see the following quote by Dr. Michael Rich, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston who directs the Center on Media and Child Health;

” with media use so ubiquitous, it is time to stop arguing over whether it is good or bad and accept it as part of children’s environment, “like the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat.”

And in my opinion that is exactly what we need to do. Yes we can have lengthy and heated discussions about whether this is good for them, taking in arguments of addiction, social deprivation, loss of concentration etc. As I did have some weeks ago at a parent school night on online dangers. But will that change the world our children already live in? At school I was asked to deliver my opinion on new media and online friending and gaming. It shocked most parents who would not accept that their children already think in a different way. At the end my only answer was; “We can go on discussing this for hours but it doesn’t change the fact that this is how our children live these days, and how they will function later and need these new skills in their careers. We can pretend we do not see it and be scared, or we can accept it and guide them with the rules they still very much need”.  See how they ask questions on all sorts of subjects on multiple channels and have the answers pouring in not as lazy (why do they not look it up for themselves) They realize that sometimes asking in their networks is simply more efficient and get you far more answers in far less time. They learn how to sift through streams of information and tell the valued from the crappy answers, they are developing much needed skills for the still rapidly changing way we share, take in and publish information increasing the data flow everyday. We need to be proudly aware of that, whilst trying to have them see the basic good and evil stuff on that different plain as well.

picture by wilgengebroed

Ethan Beard (Facebook) Explaining their connecting principle

Ryan Sarver (Twitter) with 3 important announcements.

Chris Pirillo in an inspiring presentation on the culture of communities.

Chad Hurley (Youtube) in a chatsession with Loic LeMeur.

Marissa Mayer (Google) on innovations and the imprtance of users and their social content.

Tony Hsieh (Zappos) and the science of happiness that he applies to his company culture ( and it works).

Queen Rania of Jordan calling on us to take action online to make a difference offline.

Gary Vaynerchuck who completely took over in a chat session with Loic LeMeur.

Chris Sacca with his 3 trend words for 2010.

These sketchnotes were published also on Dutchcowgirls.nl and Sketchnotearmy.com.

First opening chat with Jack Dorsey who showed of his new and interesting mobile service with which  you can put on a “swiper” on your mobile to be able to swipe Credit Cards. His service ‘Square’ should roll out early 2010 for everyone to use ( pay and sell) via mobile. The question of how much the ’swiper’ would cost the public was answered with a surprising -’nothing’! Of course the free dongel should stimulate use of the service. The rest of the morning continues to be all about (iPhone) apps and their potential.

You can see my sketchnotes of the two days on Dutchcowgirls