You must never underestimate online education, self-taught students know it. In this kind of education, students become responsible for their own learning process.
People who have become self-taught learners, adopting this learning process, have developed certain skills: Curiosity, patience and a feeling of connectedness.
Throughout the process of virtual learning, they also tend to practice how to correctly research for solving problems, making sure they understand the subjects, maintaining their assignments schedule and improving their network.
Online students must be self-taught
Miguel Morales, Director of the Android MicroMasters Program, mentioned that online education “encourages you to be a self-taught person”.
Being a self-taught student means to take a step further in your education indeed, however, taking online courses and commit yourself to this kind of process is not an easy task.
To get the most out of your online education Morales recommends the following:
- Make summaries and mental maps in order to verify you learn the theoretical aspects of the course.
- Practice constantly what you’ve learned until you become an expert on the subject.
- Don’t hesitate to ask in forums inside the LMS or in social media communities.
- Build personal projects with the content and activities of the course, so you can validate what you are learning with real-life situations.
Morales finishes saying “never give up” since the ones who are successful in this kind of education are those who have discipline and commitment to the process.
Find your life balance
If you have signed up for an online course it might be because of the accessibility and convenience of this type of education. Online education lets you study anywhere at any time, just don’t forget to find the balance of your daily activities.
If you are at home or at work, avoid getting distracted by making your own place of study and setting a time to have your lessons. It’s about getting organized, before taking an online course pay attention to this 4 points:
- Learn about time management, try to follow the recommendations of the online course about the number of hours you must dedicate to your lessons.
- Set your expectations and clear objectives about taking an online course, don’t forget the reasons why you got enrolled, that will keep you motivated.
- Prepare a learning strategy that works best for you, online education considers learning on a self-paced method, so try to apply the best learning strategy in order to take advantage of the content and activities.
- Be an active participant in the eLearning community to exchange experiences with your classmates and professors.
It is very important to consider what you need to succeed in an online course and the difficulties you may struggle with; be prepared for that before starting the course.
Programmers are self-taught people
Cory Althoff, author of the book “The self-taught programmer”, points out the number of successful people who have learned to programme in a self-taught way.
Althoff said that this kind of personal learning becomes an advantage because they have developed a desire to learn, “and wanting to learn is the biggest advantage you can have”.
For companies, hiring professionals with an inner desire of learning is a good bet. Also, the self-taught person has a “don’t give up” attitude, as Ribhu Sarma says, they have got used to accomplish challenges on their own.
If they get in trouble with something their professor cannot help them to solve immediately, they practice the research of a solution using the Internet or interacting with virtual communities.
Becoming a self-taught person is not an easy task, however, if you have a good motive, curiosity, and patience in your own learning process, you could develop problem-solving skills and the indispensable ability to overcome challenges.
