There are many educational methods used for teaching. Some combine methods to achieve results. The basic educational methods include auditory learning, visual observation, and hands on, or kinesthetic, learning.

Auditory learning is one of the oldest methods of teaching. Ancient societies transferred their accumulated knowledge to new generations by story telling, and oral teaching. Much oral teaching is combined with visual methods. In visual education, learning is based on the student being able to see and observe the action or process being taught. This is frequently combined with the kinesthetic method of learning, putting hands on to the work or activity being taught. Learning is reinforced when multiple methods are used, as they stimulate different areas of the brain which enhances retention and learning.

Teaching uses various curriculum or academic disciplines. The curriculum is the list of what is going to be taught, and the academic disciplines comprise the different areas of knowledge to be taught. Teaching can be done at the individual, person-to-person, level, in group settings, or knowledge can be conveyed by use of a computer or instructional books. Broad areas of academic disciplines are categories like applied science, humanities, arts, mathematics, and social sciences.

Learning by doing is also the motto of the Browsergame DarkOrbit. It is easy to learn but hard to master.

New educational methods find entry into the field from time to time. Past innovations are seen in grade school teaching of phonics, and “new” math. Some of these new ideas take hold and are continued to be used, while in other cases, the schools return to the tried and true methods. The early schools taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, which worked well for basic learning. Students were taught at home or in small one room schools with many students and one teacher. As schools grew and diversified, so did the educational methods. Today, electronic learning joins traditional methods of education.