Arguably, the most important skill a distance learner needs is the ability to make sense of the written word. A high level of reading comprehension is necessary for students who must digest lengthy passages of complex texts with little outside help. Simply being able to read doesn't cut it. Distance learners must be able to digest passages quickly, make connections beyond the text, and retain the information they encounter.

Unfortunately, many adults fail to fully develop their reading skills. A new blog post from Scott H. Young explains:

"Reading is an incredibly important skill to have. Just about any form of education will involve reading, sometimes almost exclusively. You can often make yourself an expert on an intellectual subject just by reading enough in that area. But despite the incredible importance of reading, most people are wildly inefficient at it. Like a child that never goes beyond a crawl, most people have enough reading skills to move around, but they are far from running."

To explore his six tips for improving reading speed see: Double Your Reading Rate