Speed Eez: Speed Reading; Success Through Notetaking; Success Through Super Reading

The first and third programs listed above are designed to help viewers increase their reading speed and comprehension. Speed Eez is very thorough, providing current average reading speeds, skimming and scanning techniques, pre-reading tips, an overview of the SQ3R system, and a review of bad reading habits. It's chock full of solid information, presented professionally. The only drawback is a booklet, which contains questions and answers, and is integral to the program. Success Through Super Reading is a filmed lecture before a group of students, given by Kate Neale. Much of the same information as covered in the first title is found here, though in abbreviated and less organized form (skimming/scanning, pre-reading to increase speed/comprehension). Though not as good as the first title, it is a self-contained program, and requires no special "booklet" handling. The second title, Success Through Notetaking, a filmed lecture by Eric Jensen, explores the possibilities of mind-mapping. The idea is to use symbols connected by various colored pens to get down the main ideas of a lecture. (In our school days, this activity was referred to as doodling.) Thinking in terms of symbols and colors is not going to prove very helpful in mapping abstract trigonometry formulas (or, most of science, philosophy, literature, history, etc.) Going back to techniques exemplified by the Lascaux cave paintings is hardly the direction our already troubled educational system needs to take. The first and third titles are recommended, the second not. (Speed Eez is available from: Learning Specialists Inc., 2768 Loker Avenue West, Carlsbad, CA 92008; Success Through Notetaking and Success Through SuperReading are available from: SuperCamp, P.O. Box 5000, Del Mar, CA 92014.)