The Teaching Space

Episode 60 of The Teaching Space Podcast delves into active reading. Introduction Last year I read 100 books. I know. It’s a crazy number and it’s not something I’m planning to repeat any time soon (I chat about this in episode 47). While I have run no official statistical analysis on my 2018 reading list (surprised?) I’d estimate 90% were audiobooks. I’m a huge fan of audiobooks, but one downside for me, is I don’t fully absorb everything I hear. While this is usually OK for fiction, it’s sometimes problematic for non-fiction, particularly if I’m reading for professional reasons (e.g. study). This has lead me to explore active reading, and that’s what I will talk to you about today. What is Active Reading? According to the Open University website, active reading is “reading something with a determination to understand and evaluate it for its relevance to your needs”. When I’m listening to an audiobook or a podcast, I’m listening but I am definitely not evaluating at a high level. The closest I come to evalua