Can’t wait to try out the same dialogue with some colleagues!

@Dmitri – It depends on what you want to accomplish. If you just need to cover a rudimentary knowledge of a large amount of information quickly, skimming is very useful. The problem comes when you never “go deep” in anything.

Regarding the idea of letting things happen in your subconscious–usually the only way to get to the state you are describing is by in depth study and practice of the subject.

Skim reading actually promotes an essential state of being which is between the conscious thoughts – a detached, meditative, intuitive, and ready state of mind. In martial arts it’s called Zanshin, “mind like water,” a survival mechanism that allows you make life-and-death decisions and act without the involvement of conscious thought, which is too slow.

Skim reading may be not such a bad thing after all.

As a teacher, I have found that anything which does not engage instantly becomes boring. Now I don’t mean that the subject matter has to be immediately relevant, but this; many teachers assume that the quickest and most efficient way to instruct is to directly tell students what they want them to know, what is also called “chalk and talk”.

A far more efficient and effective method is to “ask and fill” so you put a question to the students, they attempt to answer it, then you fill in the bits they don’t know. It sounds like it should be harder, but in fact I find it far easier as I only do half or even a quarter of the work, while the student does the rest!

Students also become more interested in the subject matter as they find that what they have to contribute alters the content I deliver to them. I suppose interactivity is a valid key to maintaining attention span and learning.

@tom – In defense of teachers, much of what they teach is required and they don’t have any option in changing it. Unfortunately this tends to kill much of the creative experiences that good teachers can give their pupils.

I got an answer, because the crap you teach is boring and most likely I will not need it. Also, I am not learning this stuff just memorizing, so what is the benefit?
School is a one size fits all system based on how well you can memorize text and regurgitate it on paper during test time.

I think ebookreaders (offline ones) could prove to be successfull in helping us channeling our focus. What might also help is Firefox plugins like Leechblock (http://www.proginosko.com/leechblock.html) that people can use in preventing themselves from wasting time.