Inspiration
I was browsing through twitter one day and came across a tweet by Cameron Moll. The tweet read...
Cameron Moll@cameronmoll
I have 5 sons (3 college age!) and only 1 who really shows any interest in our field. 100% OK with this. But in thinking about why we're not seeing more youth enter our field, a thread.22:30 PM - 23 Aug 2021
The part that particularly caught my attention;
"Why we're not seeing more youth enter our field".
So, based on this tweet, I would like to discuss about the society we live in, how we consume information and the resources that surround us.
This will likely be a multipart series on modern approaches to learning, so stay tuned.
Youthful Frustrations
Today, we are extremely lucky to have access to the vast library of content, we're able to access content anytime, anywhere, however; as stated in my previous post...
Great things in life come with a 'sacrifice' so to speak, for us? That's patience. We exchange something so crucial; for on demand, accessible information.
Let's take a quick pause and go over some of the pro's and con's to this exchange.
Spoiler Alert, The Pro's and Con's are identical.
Pro's
- Information on Demand.
- Fast, Lighting fast. (Rural areas too, check out Starlink).
- Millions of Resources. (Impossible consumption for one lifetime).
- Social Media, Connecting us to thousands of intelligent people across the world. (Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Rick Sanchez...).
Con's
- Information on Demand.
- Lighting Fast, Too fast.
- Millions of Resources.
- Intelligent people across the world...?
Okay, weird? That's a bit ambiguous of me, let me explain my thought process.
The Sacrifice
I will attempt to do this in short paragraphs, it'll take a more direct approach; saving you some time.
NOTE: If you would like to discuss these points further, I'm an open-minded person and would love the conversation.
IMPORTANT: The Pro's will not be discussed, this topic is to embrace the con's.
With that out of the way, let's continue...
Info On Demand.
Having access to information at any point has shown us that we can put down a book, stop reading a post, or abandon that 1 hour video without any consequences. We can bookmark pages, save posts, pause videos and even share content for others to do the same.
Lighting Fast
We are able to access content absurdly fast, if a page takes several seconds to load, we abandon it and find a new source. Our impatience aggressively grows, hunting for the quickest load times.
Content creators are reducing their length times to suit the new generation... More on that Later.
Millions of Resources
We have an overwhelming amount of resources, from purchased to free. If you're a Web Developer, check out your frameworks. Game Developer? Game engines with thousands of different enriching features to learn. Our library of resources range from useless to the most powerful, awe-inspiring advice you'll ever read.
Intelligent People
Social media promotes so many wonderful, amazing, intelligent people across the world. Outstanding success stories, the minority with phenomenal 'luck', majority with jaw-dropping talents. We idolize, are inspired by these people... we're overwhelmed by the shadows they cast, unable to follow in their foots steps, we feel disappointed, defeated... desperate.
I would love to discuss this further; but I don't wish for this post to undermine the works of others.
Honestly...
The positives definitely outweigh the negatives, that does NOT mean we should ignore them, instead, learn to embrace our impatience and self-loathing. Harnessing our patience, rather, lack thereof can seriously contribute towards our learning, as well as our understanding of modern society... speaking of, that leads me to my next point.
Modern Society.
This could easily receive its own blog, so I don't intend on diving too deep into this topic.
Let's start by talking about modern standards. Following up, how we can take advantage of this 'new' way of sharing content.
So, pointing fingers... TikTok, an app I personally dislike but can't knock the smart design choice behind the application. If you've been living under a rock, fossilizing away, let me give you a quick description.
TikTok is a video sharing, social networking platform that is used to create short videos from dancing to education. These videos can have a duration of 15 seconds to 3 minutes.
Generally these videos last around 60 seconds.
This design approach is clearly focused on the younger generation. Providing micro-entertainment with next to no effort. You can get a channel up and running and begin posting content within minutes. The ability to procrastinate within this application is beyond wild.
Another example, pulling away from procrastination, a YouTube content creator, (developer). They provide guides, tips and tutorials in a similar fashion, I'm referring to Fireship. If you haven't seen their content, I highly recommend it - Especially if you lack patience like myself. Fireship have taken their steps to provide content for the younger generation, which, I personally can say, it's very effective.
Both TikTok and Fireship provide short bursts of 'distraction'. They both use the new modern approach to entertainment and consuming information, both very effective and have well structured content and design that target younger audiences. We eat this content up because it requires no effort.
In the future I will be discussing the filtering process of these "micro-distractions" and how to effectively gain from them.
No Effort
Majority of people, especially now, when time is precious, will want to utilize the 'no effort' train. Without even noticing, you have probably, at some point taken advantage of this approach to living.
This isn't anything to be ashamed about, heck, It's encouraged, however; acknowledgement of when you are using this approach is always a good step towards effective learning. The next time you find yourself caught in a micro-distraction, save it for the future. (provided useful).
If you find yourself struggling to get motivated, not having enough time or simply feeling lazy, give that 'micro-distraction' some attention.
Final Message
This will be one section of several chapters towards a youthful approach to learning. In the future I will be discussing the following processes.
- Finding
- Filtering
- Extracting
These will follow through with the same concepts about modern approaches.
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