Learning doesn't stop when you leave high school or university. In fact, you should be learning throughout your entire lifetime. So why are effective learning tools so hard to come by?

Indeed, when we purchase an educational web or iPhone app as adults, it’s probably because we already want to learn the subject—not because a parent or teacher is forcing us.

It's therefore pretty frustrating that most adult-oriented educational software spends a lot of time trying to motivate us through cheesy animations, games, and quizzes that we should share with our friends.

The fact is that a game or app can't just hand you learning on a silver platter. We often see claims of a 'silver bullet' to learning (for example) how to code, speak fluent French, or become a sensational guitar player in a short period of time.

But learning doesn't work that way. Instead, these are skills that takes time and deliberate practice to master.

Wouldn't it be great if curriculum designers focused on helping us learn faster rather than just helping us have fun while learning?

The Right App Can Help You Learn Faster

The designers of most educational tools lack respect for the power of an adult's intrinsic motivation. You're busy and you want to learn as quickly as possible without wasting time on "rewards" in the shape of sparkles and dings.

There is some good news. There are newer mobile study applications that want to optimize your learning efficiency instead—like Brainscape, a web and mobile adaptive flashcard app that focuses your study time on learning by stripping out the bewildering range of settings and features that exist in most other mobile study applications.

Once you've chosen what you want to study, you can get started with one tap. Even if you're studying multiple subjects, Brainscape finds the cards you were about to forget, and shows them to you at just the right time to refresh your memory.

Defeat the forgetting curve with spaced repetition
The brain naturally forgets information over time. But by repeating your exposure to that information at precisely-timed intervals, you can defeat the "forgetting curve" and retain knowledge far more efficiently than cramming.

Move From Unknown to Known

But even the right app won't necessarily guarantee that you'll learn faster. When you set out to learn a new topic, you can't just blindly pick resources and hope they'll help you reach your goals.

You'll have to evaluate how to find the right resources to reach your goals. You need to consider where you are starting from to properly assess the resources you need to learn.

A powerful tool to assess what we know and what we don't know about a topic is the Knowns and Unknowns categorization:

table of known unknowns helps learn faster
Use this framework to help you identify where you need to focus your study. This will help you learn faster.

This framework is particularly useful to approaching knowledge by asking yourself:

  • What do I know already? (known knowns)
  • Am I conscious of what I'm not exploring? (unknown unknowns)
  • Do I have any biases or unconscious assumptions about the topic? (unknown knowns)
  • What are my conscious assumptions about the topic? (known unknowns)

When you take the time to understand where you fall on a particular topic, you can better understand which resources and practices would be best to get you to the 'known knowns' quadrant. Gaining a better understanding of your own learning is among the most valuable life skills you can have.

The Tools (and Mindset) That Make Lifelong Learning Stick

Learning as an adult isn’t about flashy gimmicks or artificial incentives—it’s about efficiency, focus, and genuine curiosity. When you're choosing to learn something new, you want tools that respect your time, honor your motivation, and help you make measurable progress.

That’s where smart frameworks like “knowns and unknowns,” and adaptive tools like Brainscape, come in: by helping you target your weaknesses and sharpen your strengths, they accelerate your path to mastery.

So wherever your learning journey takes you—whether it’s a new language, a career shift, or just brushing up on trivia for pub night—remember that the smartest learners are the ones who take a moment to assess what they actually need to study. Pair that mindset with a tool that meets you where you are, and you’ll be unstoppable. Happy learning!

References

Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.100.3.363

Justo, A. (2021, December 7). The knowns and unknowns framework for design thinking. Medium. https://uxdesign.cc/the-knowns-and-unknowns-framework-for-design-thinking-6537787de2c5

Santos-Longhurst, A. (2019, February 11). Intrinsic motivation: How to pick up healthy motivation Techniques. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/intrinsic-motivation