Much has been said—good and bad—about online learning courses. I’ve been a supporter for quite sometime now, and after a recent experience I’ve become even further entrenched in the enthusiast camp.

Last week, a friend of mine who is earning an associates degree online in Early Childhood Education allowed me to take a peek at the first textbook she received. To my surprise, this textbook wasn’t about children, but rather the course focused on how to discover your own personal learning style and how to study. My friend was required to take this class before she could begin her academic program.

Now isn’t this a smart idea? And why is it that after earning a high school diploma and college degree, I was never asked to think about my personal learning style? During my entire career as a student (in formal academic programs) information was simply put in front of me and without much of a technique that I was aware of (beyond memorization) I managed to learn.

After browsing through my friend’s textbook, I was reminded of what Arnold Palmer said about reaching inside of yourself “to discover your personal resources, and what it takes to match them to the challenge.” Since I consider myself a life long student, I decided at long last to find out the process I use to learn new information.

Online I found an “Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire” by Barbara A. Soloman and Richard M. Felder of North Carolina State. I answered the 44 question form, and the results were calculated in seconds. My results showed that I’m mainly a “Reflective” learner. I also seem to have a preference for a “Verbal” learning environment.

Once I saw my scores, I clicked on a link for “Learning Style Descriptions” which outlined various ways I could help myself learn according to my strengths and weaknesses.

Follow the link attached to the article to discover your own learning style. It’s free! And only takes a few minutes.