So far, 2020 is a mix between Groundhog Day and a zombie flick. We’ve spent much of the year cooped up indoors and cut off from friends and colleagues. We’re living like there is no yesterday nor tomorrow, only today. Many teachers will say these conditions are holding students back from receiving a quality education. To that I say: perhaps not. Instead, maybe a quality education has been slowly evolving into something new for years now.

Our education system is all kinds of problematic. We’ve built a society that only ascribes knowledge-keeping to formal educators such as teachers and professors. This is a form of gatekeeping, especially for learners who don’t benefit from school. Furthermore, it implies that one cannot possibly learn without being in school. That young people should be dependant on school if they want to learn. However, school is only one channel for learning. There are many others. When you hear the word “education,” what do you picture?

A school? A teacher? A classroom? Textbooks?

These fall under what I call traditional education.

But today, let us consider nontraditional education. This includes internet forums, social media, and online project-based lessons. Sure, you won’t end up with a degree, but you can still learn valuable skills, and better yet, for free!

So let’s start with Internet Forums…

I use this term broadly to refer to thread-based websites that promote discussion on certain topics. Stack Overflow, for example, is no stranger to those who code. It’s styled in a question and answer format, and many learners refer to this website when coding or learning to use software. Forums represent an international community of peers and experts in a topic. Reddit is another one that promotes discussion. If your goal is to learn, then find a forum that suits your interest. Reddit has many subreddits for various topics. Stick to a small-medium size community focussed on a topic. Otherwise, drama, clickbait, fake news, bots, and oversimplification can plague a forum when it gets too popular. There is also the threat of a hivemind. I think forums that are focussed on a technical knowledge rather than politics or current events are more reliable places to browse. Physics Forum is a good example. In undgerad I was pretty shy and did not have much friends, so I used Physics Forum to ask questions. Internet forums mimic a community of inquiry (like a classroom), which is valuable when learning anything new. Comment sections on any website or app replicate internet forums. The comment section on TikTok for example gives insight into how young people speak and feel.

And on that note, let’s consider Social Media…

Social media such as Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are great tools to find new ideas, and network with skilled people. On Instagram for example there are accounts dedicated to Toronto history, black history, new types of art, etc. Find accounts where the descriptions give you fun facts or where the images themselves inform you about something new. Whether or not you like social media, it is accessible for many people, which means you can hear and see from people who could not or don’t want to become formal educators. Another thing, on Instagram someone’s profile can be used as a resume. If you see an artist whose page you like, then usually they do commissions too. You can ask for a certain drawing and work with them to get it to your liking. You can message people who make YouTube tutorials to see what their opinion is of your work. We often look at things online as a spectator and not as a participant. Do you see art you like on Instagram? Well then go ahead and contact the artist to see if they can make something for you. Do you have a valid point in a discussion, then go ahead and post it! Look at what young influencers do to collaborate. The simple DM does the trick. Sure, this may not always give you a response, but you’d be surprised. From my experience, if you contact someone with less than 20,000 followers/subscribers then they will typically respond.

TikTok is an app something like Instagram, but where one post takes up your entire screen. Posts are videos and many industry professionals use it now. They give useful tips from their field. Educators also use it to teach things quickly. This is useful for people who are scared to learn new things that seem confusing. Sacrificing up to 60 seconds of one’s time to learn about those new things is not as daunting. Just a reminder, anyone can give advice on the app, but it is your better judgment to determine if it’s good. Again, if your goal is education, then follow educational accounts. Otherwise you may just be watching videos and images of things that look cool, but probably aren’t useful.

In education, it is important that things are brought to our attention, not that we are always seeking out knowledge. The way I look at it, there are 3 types of knowledge: 1) things we know (for example I know how to make a YouTube video), 2) things we know that we don’t know (for example I don’t know how to make a Shane Dawson-level YouTube video), and lastly 3) things we don’t know that we don’t know. I hope the last one isn’t confusing. It simply means that there are things we aren’t even aware that we are have no knowledge of. This last one is crucial for growth. That’s why it’s good to stay connected to some network so random new things can be brought to your attention. For example, think about TV in the 1990s, you would flip around and sometimes you would find something new and interesting, but you didn’t know to search for it, it was simply available for you to come across. This type of knowledge prevents us from being stuck in a bubble.

Project-Based Lessons

Project-based lessons are a great way to preoccupy self-isolaters. These are essentially videos or interactive courses where the goal is to create something. These videos and classes are relatively short compared to a traditional course. This allows the learner to practice what they are taught, make something new with what they learned, and then search up another skill after they feel satisfied with the previous. There is no time constraint and sometimes learners are also provided with reference files to work on. I like these because they make me feel like I can make something new after.

For instance, I’ve been watching lots of tutorials on Adobe After Effects and made some animations with it. I personally enjoy this type of learning. It eliminates the stressful time constraints associated with a traditional course. It’s great for slow learners who need time to process things, learners who are busy and require flexibility, and learners with anxiety. Another thing, the focus is on creating something. When working on a project, you end up organically learning how certain tools work, which I think is more satisfying. You build your skillset after each project and you have something to show after each tutorial. For example, I like to post my animations on Instagram and Giphy. Having an audience for your work is a big motivator not only for students, but for anyone. Project-based lessons changed my perception of learning as well. For example, when watching lessons on Adobe After Effects, I don’t write any notes, I just rewind, reread, research, or and copy and paste code. I’m also not taught absolutely every aspect of Adobe After Effects, nor expected to take a test, nor given homework, etc. This is easier, more fun, and less stressful. More importantly, I still learn. In fact, this type of learning is similar to grad school research (i.e. determining for oneself what new skills to learn in order to conduct a project and not really knowing how things will end up).

There are project-based learning platforms outside of YouTube but please do research before considering to pay for anything nonaccredited. If you are paying for a learning service that is nonaccredited, you should really ensure that you are learning something valuable that you can use. Consider if it is worth passing on an accredited course. Otherwise, you may end up doing work that scratches the surface in a field and leave with a false sense that you learned enough. Oversimplification to appeal to the average person is a problem with many learning services. E.g. one day calculus I crash courses, one month data analytics certificates, shall I go on… Don’t treat learning something new like something on a checklist. Services prey on that mentality. Some services may even be scams, so research, research, research!

Conclusion

This article is not meant to put down traditional forms of education like school and university. They ensure to future employers that an individual is skilled enough in a certain field without gaps in their knowledge. But just think about the learners and educators who get to be included in nontraditional education. We don’t get to experience a certain group of educators when we enroll in traditional educational institutions. Who are they? They are people who don’t have time to be a full-time educators, freelancers, people who work in industry, people who work several jobs, people who don’t have the time to get the credentials to become educators, or creators who don’t want to be full-time educators. They are still valuable sources of knowledge. Some of them are on the cutting edge of their fields creating something new. Teaching a short tutorial on YouTube is not too big of a commitment for them. Think of nontraditional education as supplementary to traditional education. Lastly, nontraditional education isn’t just online. We’re learning when we talk to people, when we cook, when we create, when we explore, etc. Let me know what you think about nontraditional education. Comment down below and subscribe for more content.

Seeya!

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