Alt Text: Photograph of a completed “sketchnote” created from a TEDtalk on effective communication

Reflecting on the Experience

This week, I attempted Sketchnoting while listening to a TEDtalk by Julian Treasure on the topic of effective communication. Although this is a video, I listened to the audio only to focus on my sketchnoting and creating my own visual experience. This was my first experience taking notes from learning material in this way and at first it did not feel natural to me. While listening to the talk, I found that I was worried about not transcribing all the information presented and missing important points. However, when I was finished I found that I could follow my sketchnote and remember the lecture. After completing this activity, I do see value in combining images with notes to aid in retention of material as discussed by Rachel Smith. I am curious to see if this absorption of the material is held over time and will come back to my sketch note at a later date to test this.

Creating the Sketchnote

Prior to listening to the TEDtalk and producing my sketchnote. I viewed the instructional video by Doug Neil on sketchnoting. Personally, I am not experienced in drawing so Doug’s video aimed at sketchnoting “without drawing” was very helpful for me. I utilized his techniques of conveying importance through text size and style and using containers and arrows to connect and segment ideas.

What Principles are at work?

When viewing my sketchnote as something that myself as a learner will use to recall information later there are a few principles from Mayer’s  theory of multimedia learning that I believe are at work here. The first if the Coherence Principle. When creating my sketchnote, I was mindful to only include and emphasize information that  would be helpful to my learning and retention. I avoided “decorating” the sketchnote and drew only visuals that related to the ideas presented. The Signalling Principle can also be applied. I used headers when possible and went into further detail underneath them to allow for a sense of organization and to direct my attention to important information and main points.

My Learning Material

Below is the TEDtalk video I created my sketchnote from. It is a great talk that anyone can related to as it can be applied when having conversations with others in daily life as well as in important and professional situations. It also relates to the concept of teaching when using your voice as narration is utilized.