With smartphones and the internet providing us with unlimited information about anything and everything many students are concluding that learning to memorise information doesn’t matter anymore. I agree with this view in part.
In some senses, memory is less important than it used to be, and with a vast amount of information being available online and it is now important that we teach students to be discerning and seek quality information from reliable sources. That said, I have recently been teaching students that memory does matter because, without the ability to memorise, it is impossible to think. For example, for someone to decide whether mask-wearing is currently worthwhile they would need to hold in their mind (have memorized) the positives and negatives of mask-wearing. All thinking requires people to hold information in their minds. Memory still matters.
I recently explained to students that their ability to memorise can be vastly improved if they practice using effective memory strategies like the Memory Palace. I demonstrated how this technique works by getting them to remember 10 foods that are good for their brains, in a particular order. You may want to ask them if they can remember these 10 foods and how the technique works. The acronym PIE summaries the key aspects of this technique P= place, I = imagine, E = entwine. If you ask them about it then it will assist them to remember it.
~ Tim Oates (Head of Secondary Campus)
