Applied Self-learning
Learning feels good unless discarded halfway.
For learners, education can be gained in several forms, such as regular courses, distance education, online coaching, and self-learning. Among them, self-learning – an individual or collective initiative to learn a particular subject or course without attending any traditional classroom or online training – has widely accepted as a learning method suitable for all because few mouse clicks can bring the required information from anywhere in the world to our convenient space in the age of interconnected computers.
Self-learning – Pros & Cons
Self-learners learn whatever they want, whenever they can and wherever they are. Unlike traditional education, where students take the passenger seat after deciding their course, self-learning ensures active participation.
In self-directed learning, however, over-reliance on an individual or a group is undeniable. One could easily abandon the efforts at any point of time for simple reasons. Although we don’t have any statistical evidence for high dropout rates among self-learners, the numbers wouldn’t be small as timelines and goals set by the learners themselves; not any external party.
Self-study and Persistence
Study methods such as regular courses and distance education rarely test student’s persistence as the curriculum, study materials, and examination usually arranged and followed up by the institution; nor the student. Moreover, advance tuition fees paid for the course could pressure the students to continue their chosen path.
Self-learning or independent study, on the other hand, based on individual choices, and its success largely depends on students’ motivation levels throughout the learning period.
This example incident happened in my own life about five years ago. To stay updated in technology, I decided to learn Python, a computer programming language very popular back then or even today. Like any other novice programmer, I began to learn the basics of the language and had written many small python programs in the first few weeks. But slowly, initial euphoria started to fade as I progressed towards tougher portions before it came to an end a short while later.
The above no-so-good experience, however, had caused a brainwave. Had I used a different approach, I wouldn’t have been dropped my study halfway. Instead of practicing a bulky programming language book, should I have studied only selected topics leading to my goal? Had any goal in mind when I decided to learn?
Learners’ myth
Every learning start with basics isn’t always correct. That might true for children who begin fresh without any specific or clear goal. But, following the same pattern won’t always benefit adults because they could easily give up learning when thoroughgoing the subjects.
In the case of children, learning leads to goals. But for adults, it was goals that lead them to learning.
Why did self-learners drop in the halfway?
Firstly, many self-learners don’t have a clear goal other than a vague picture of the learning journey ahead.
Secondly, without a goal, the learner will fail to understand what has to be learned in the first place. It will be as though enrolling a course that has neither a curriculum nor a teaching structure.
Finally, mere study without any visible benefits negatively impacts motivation level. In the absence of measuring progress, your learning journey could take the wrong direction that further reduces your confidence level.
A fresh thought – Applied self-learning
Nowadays, the educational system all over the world reforms to applied learning whereby students apply the skills and knowledge gained from classrooms to creative projects and use this practical knowledge back to academic learning. While this proven methodology is being more and more integrated to formal educational systems, one category of students either shun away or use it barely – self-learners.
Incorporating applied learning to self-directed learning with necessary customization can bring a lot of benefits in self-learning. We’ll see all of them in the following sections.
Mitigation steps for choppy self-learning
Top-down approach: Don’t always follow the bottom-up approach because investing a lot of time on basic concepts may deplete your enthusiasm. Instead, adopt a top-down approach by which the final goal shall dictate your entire learning process.
For example, choose a complex project relating your study and acquire the basic knowledge necessary to solve it. This strategy would solve over-studying to a certain extent. Moreover, having solved at least one problem – In this case a project – using new knowledge encourages you to know and solve more.
Quickly convert knowledge into action- Transforming the knowledge to visible results elevates motivation. Better not to keep it until you lose enthusiasm. Instead, from the beginning, explore the practical aspect of gained knowledge and implement them wherever possible. Having worked on the practical side, you not only perfect your learning but also becomes more passionate about the subject. Above all, you are taking-off even before you learned flying. Cool right!
Main goals and sub-goals– All the practical benefits for self-learning, however, have associated risks. Without a proper structure and curriculum, only you’re responsible for its success and failure. Setting a goal alone won’t be sufficient to keep you on track. The success, rather, lies in dividing it to sub-goals and measuring them frequently.
Persistence is the key to successful learning. But persistence won’t be possible without motivation. And motivation comes only when breaking down your final goals to many sub-goals, associating them to studies, and measuring the progress at the sub-goal level.
Conclusion
Self-instructed-learning or self-learning clears off any barriers surrounded your learning – Be it your time limitations, high fees, or lack of education facilities nearby. While it is improbable that formal classroom and online learning will ever be entirely replaced, self-learning will gradually become the most favorite study method among adults.
The main roadblock in this path is the lack of persistence as it does not enforce any structure and timelines by itself. Bringing self-learning to the level of classroom education depends on your sheer determination and use of progressive methods such as applied learning.
Through applied learning, a self-learner always keeps self-interest level high, re-calibrate the curriculum, and easily measures the progress. Instead of spending so much time learning the basics, the learners can focus on what they need to learn.
Remember! Your goals must drive your learning. Not the other way around.