Shiv on Learning

Thanks to the web we all have access to thousands of Journal Articles, Blog Posts, Essays etc that we would like to read. There is constantly new research being released that you want to keep abreast of and this all takes time. My RSS reader has 108 sources, many of these are feeds that aggregate other feeds, and I check it several times a day.

Reading on a computer screen is typically 25% slower than reading on paper. The average reader reads at 200 words per minute, on screen, and comprehends about 60% of what was read. With practice good readers can read 400 – 700 words per minute, comprehending 80 – 85% of what was read.

RSVP Reader plug-in for Firefox use a technique called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) too allow you to very quickly read web pages 3.5x faster without learning to speed read.

RSVP displaces words from the text in sequence in a fixed position on the page so you don’t have to move your eyes. You look at one point the words are flashed in front of you. Using it regularly for a couple of weeks you can increase your reading speed to 600 words per minute.

The following video shows how it works:

I have been using RSVP readers since 2006 and now wouldn’t go without them.

Download RSVP reader here, download FireFox here.

TIPs:

• Start at 300 wpm and work your way up.

• Your reading speed will increase faster than your comprehension speed. Make sure you understand what your reading when you increase the speed.

• Do not select the whole page and press play, read paragraph at a time – it improves comprehension.