How To Study Technical Things  ## Metadata - Author: [[YouTube]] - Full Title: How To Study Technical Things - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [self-study, technical-learning, skill-development] author: [MISSING] source: YouTube reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U date created: 2024-12-19 16:15 --- # 🏷️ Title: How To Study Technical Things ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Find quality courses using reviews and ratings — avoid resource overwhelm #learning - [H2] Apply learnings to passion projects during study — build while learning #projects - [H3] Join tech communities via Slack or meetups — find accountability partners #community ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Udemy](https://www.udemy.com) - [Meetup.com](https://www.meetup.com) ## 📝 Summary - **What happened**: A tech professional shares strategies for effective self-study of technical topics - **Why it matters**: Most people start learning with high motivation but abandon studies due to poor methods - **Key audience**: Self-taught learners, career changers, tech professionals upskilling - **Risks**: Tutorial hell, resource overwhelm, lack of practical application - **Bottom line**: Courses are only 15-20% of learning; real growth comes from applying skills to projects ## 📖 Main Content The core argument is that traditional course-taking represents a small fraction of actual technical learning. The speaker emphasizes that sustainable technical education requires: strategic resource selection over consumption of multiple courses, immediate application through personal projects, community support for accountability, and teaching others to identify knowledge gaps. Key contested claims include the specific 15-20% figure for course effectiveness, though the general principle that passive learning is insufficient aligns with established educational research. The approach emphasizes practical application over theoretical knowledge accumulation. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=0) — [H1] The motivation decline problem - Key idea: Initial excitement for learning technical topics consistently fades over time - Evidence: "A few weeks later you take part of the course...it kind of continues to dwindle off" #### ⏱️ [01:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=90) — [H1] Courses are only 15-20% of learning - Key idea: Taking courses represents a small fraction of actually mastering technical skills - Evidence: "Learning technical things and actually taking the courses are probably 15 to 20% of actually learning" #### ⏱️ [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=135) — [H2] Learn just enough strategy - Key idea: Resource abundance creates overwhelm rather than learning opportunities - Evidence: "We are not lacking in the tech industry is resources...it can become very overwhelming" #### ⏱️ [03:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=180) — [H3] Use reviews to filter quality resources - Key idea: Course ratings and review counts help identify quality learning materials - Evidence: "If a course is getting a 4.6 star out of 5 and it has 50,000 reviewers probably a really good course" #### ⏱️ [04:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=240) — [H2] YouTube tutorial limitations - Key idea: Free video tutorials lack quality assurance and become quickly outdated - Evidence: "You don't really know where this instructor came from...they can become very quickly outdated" #### ⏱️ [04:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=285) — [H1] Apply skills to real projects - Key idea: The majority of learning comes from building actual projects with new skills - Evidence: "The real chunk comes in is actually applying those skills to real world projects" #### ⏱️ [05:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=330) — [H3] Build projects you're passionate about - Key idea: Personal interest in project topics sustains motivation through difficult learning phases - Evidence: "Make sure it's something you are passionate about...something that you would like to use" #### ⏱️ [06:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=375) — [H3] Tech skills apply across industries - Key idea: Technical abilities can be applied to solve problems in any field of personal interest - Evidence: "You can apply your learnings or work really in any industry" #### ⏱️ [07:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=420) — [H2] Limited accountability partners - Key idea: Sharing goals with too many people can reduce motivation to achieve them - Evidence: "Tell one or two people don't go spreading it to the world...the response satisfies the part of the brain working toward achieving that goal" #### ⏱️ [08:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=480) — [H3] Let actions speak louder than words - Key idea: Completing learning goals quietly creates more impressive results than announcing intentions - Evidence: "Put your head down work and when you get that certification...they're like whoa I didn't even know" #### ⏱️ [08:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=510) — [H2] Find learning communities - Key idea: Connection with fellow learners prevents isolation and provides support - Evidence: "There are so many communities of people out there in very similar shoes that you are" #### ⏱️ [09:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=555) — [H3] Use Slack and Meetup for communities - Key idea: Specific platforms offer targeted technical learning communities - Evidence: "React slack communities or women in tech slack communities...meetup.com used to have some really great meetups" #### ⏱️ [10:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=600) — [H2] Teach to identify gaps - Key idea: Explaining concepts to others reveals weaknesses in understanding - Evidence: "Actually voicing out what you are learning will help you understand where gaps are" #### ⏱️ [10:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=630) — [H3] Use rubber duck method - Key idea: Speaking technical concepts aloud to inanimate objects helps solidify learning - Evidence: "The rubber ducky method where you're literally speaking to a rubber ducky explaining what you learn" #### ⏱️ [11:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U&t=660) — [H1] Avoid tutorial hell - Key idea: Continuous consumption of tutorials without application prevents real skill development - Evidence: "Do not get caught up in the tutorial cycle where you're just taking tutorial after tutorial" ## 📚 References - [How To Study Technical Things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U) - [Udemy Learning Platform](https://www.udemy.com) - [Meetup Community Platform](https://www.meetup.com) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Courses and tutorials provide only basic knowledge structure; real learning happens through hands-on project building - Resource abundance in tech education creates choice paralysis; focus on quality indicators like reviews rather than quantity - Social accountability works best with 1-2 trusted people rather than public announcements which can satisfy achievement psychology prematurely ## 📰 Newsletter **Level Up Your Technical Learning Game** Struggling to stick with that new programming language or framework? You're not alone! A recent deep-dive into effective technical self-study reveals why most of us start strong but fade fast. **The game-changer**: Courses are just the appetizer (15-20% of real learning). The main course? Building actual projects with your new skills. Pick something you're genuinely excited about - even a simple to-do app becomes engaging when it solves YOUR problem. **Pro tip**: Find your learning tribe! Join Slack communities specific to your tech stack or local meetups. Having 1-2 accountability buddies beats broadcasting your goals to everyone (psychology says this can actually hurt motivation). Ready to break the tutorial cycle? Start building while learning, teach concepts back to others (or a rubber duck!), and remember - every expert was once a beginner who didn't quit. Resources: [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/), [WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Education: Create project-based workshops that combine learning with building, measure completion rates vs traditional lecture formats - Developer experience: Develop "passion project" templates that let developers apply new APIs to personal interests - Community management: Facilitate small accountability groups (2-3 people) rather than large study groups - Developer marketing: Create content around "learning in public" vs "shipping in public" psychological differences #### Community - Contributors: Design onboarding that pairs new contributors with experienced mentors for accountability - Maintainers: Provide project idea generators that connect technical learning goals with real repository needs - Ecosystem: Create cross-project challenges where developers can practice skills across multiple tools #### WordPress - Training: Develop project-based learning paths that build real sites while teaching core concepts - Community: Create local meetup formats focused on "build nights" rather than just presentations - Documentation: Add "practice project ideas" sections to technical tutorials - CLI: Create scaffolding commands that generate starter projects in various domains (e-commerce, blogs, portfolios) ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Project-based learning with personal relevance increases technical skill retention by 40% compared to tutorial-only approaches - Learners with 2-3 accountability partners complete technical courses 60% more often than solo learners - Communities focused on building together have higher long-term engagement than presentation-focused meetups - Teaching concepts within 24 hours of learning increases knowledge retention and identifies gaps faster ### 📊 Methodology - A/B test course completion rates: traditional video + quiz format vs video + required project submission - Survey technical communities on accountability partner sizes and correlation with goal achievement - Track engagement metrics across different meetup formats: lecture-style vs hands-on building sessions ### ❓ Questions - What specific project complexity level optimizes learning without overwhelming beginners? - How do different personality types respond to public vs private goal-setting in technical learning? - Which community platforms most effectively facilitate long-term technical learning relationships? ### 🔮 Future Research - Neuroscience of technical concept retention through teaching and project application - Cultural differences in accountability and community-based learning preferences - Optimal spacing intervals between learning new concepts and applying them in projects ### 💡 Implications - **Practice**: Shift from consuming educational content to immediately applying concepts in personal projects - **Education**: Learning platforms should integrate project requirements and community features as core, not optional add-ons - **Community**: Technical meetups and online groups need formats that prioritize building together over passive knowledge transfer - **Policy**: Professional development budgets should account for community membership and project hosting costs, not just course fees ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th Grade (Flesch-Kincaid) #### 👀 Visual learners - **Present**: Video format with speaker examples and screen demonstrations - **Improve**: Course comparison charts, project timeline visuals, community platform screenshots #### 🔊 Aural learners - **Present**: Full audio narration with personal anecdotes and explanations - **Improve**: Podcast version with chapter markers, companion audio exercises #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - **Present**: Clear definitions, multiple analogies (rubber duck method, tutorial hell), real examples - **Improve**: Glossary of technical learning terms, comparison tables for different approaches #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - **Present**: Step-by-step project recommendations, hands-on building emphasis - **Improve**: Interactive checklists, downloadable project starter templates, coding exercises #### 🧠 Logical learners - **Present**: Structured progression, numbered tips, cause-and-effect relationships - **Improve**: Decision trees for resource selection, learning milestone tracking sheets #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - **Present**: Community emphasis, accountability partner strategies, teaching others - **Improve**: Specific scripts for finding learning partners, moderated discussion forums #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - **Present**: Self-reflection on motivation, individual goal-setting advice - **Improve**: Private journaling prompts, self-assessment rubrics, solo project ideas #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - **Present**: Learning as ongoing growth process, career evolution concepts - **Improve**: Learning ecosystem analogies, sustainable study habit frameworks ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - **Present**: Video has spoken narration covering all key points - **Improve**: Detailed transcript with heading structure, alt text for any visual examples #### Keyboard navigation - **Present**: Standard YouTube keyboard controls available - **Improve**: Timestamped chapter navigation, keyboard shortcuts for replay sections #### Contrast and readability - **Present**: Clear speaker voice, minimal background noise - **Improve**: High-contrast transcript format, adjustable text size options #### Media and captions - **Present**: Auto-generated YouTube captions available - **Improve**: Professional captions with technical term corrections, downloadable transcript #### Standards reference - Follow WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines for any supplementary materials ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - **Present**: Universal technical learning challenges, platform-agnostic advice - **Improve**: Examples from diverse tech ecosystems, acknowledgment of different educational access levels #### Inclusive language - **Present**: Gender-neutral examples, avoids assuming prior knowledge - **Improve**: Define technical jargon, provide alternative resource suggestions for different budgets #### Neurodiversity support - **Present**: Multiple learning strategies, acknowledges different motivation patterns - **Improve**: Specific advice for different attention styles, sensory-friendly learning options #### Representation - **Present**: Mentions diverse communities (women in tech), various industry applications - **Improve**: Broader range of identity-based tech communities, varied career path examples #### Psychological safety - **Present**: Normalizes learning struggles, non-judgmental tone about different approaches - **Improve**: Address imposter syndrome directly, validate different learning speeds ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - **Inductive strength**: Uses personal experience and observation to form general principles about effective learning - **Analogical strength**: Rubber duck method and tutorial hell analogies effectively illustrate concepts - **Causal reasoning**: Links specific behaviors (project building) to outcomes (better retention) #### Fallacies - **Appeal to popularity**: "50,000 reviewers" doesn't guarantee course quality without considering review authenticity - **Hasty generalization**: 15-20% figure lacks empirical backing, presented as universal truth - **False dilemma**: Presents courses vs projects as either/or rather than complementary approaches #### Tone of voice - **Overall tone**: Encouraging and conversational, uses inclusive "we" language, shares personal vulnerability about learning struggles ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - **Deny**: No defensive denial patterns present - **Attack**: No attacks on accusers or critics - **Reverse victim/offender**: No victim/offender - Document Tags: [[learning]] [[projects]] [[community]] - Summary: How To Study Technical Things - URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkEfLGeO3U hey friends welcome back to my channel today we are going to be going over the best way to self-study technical things there's a lot of times where we get so excited and we want to learn something new we sign up for a course and have all this motivation in the world to study it a few weeks later you take part of the course you know you're enjoying it a little bit you're telling all your friends you're getting into this new technical field or area that you're studying and it kind of continues to dwindle off looking back you go why didn't i keep with it what went wrong and i think we can all relate to that having been there that the motivation starts so high and you're ready to learn there's some reasons why you don't carry on with it today i'm going to talk to you about the best way to self study self study it's kind of a tongue twister technical things and there are so many different ways and so many ways that i see people doing it wrong that i want to share with you the best ways before we go any further make sure to hit that subscribe button for more tech and coding related videos also shout out to some of my wonderful subscribers here thanks for all your support and okay let's get started i want to first start off by saying that learning technical things and actually taking the courses are probably 15 to 20 of actually learning the technical thing and this may be surprising you think you take a course and you're an expert but that is completely false there is so much more to it than that the first tip to becoming a proficient self-study when it comes to technical topics is to learn just enough and what i mean by that is one thing we are not lacking in the tech industry is resources and courses online you type anything into google nowadays related to coding or any technical topic so many resources will come up where the problem lies though is quality over quantity there is so many resources it can become very overwhelming to choose which resource is best for you not only that but a lot of times because there are so many resources out there you end up abandoning the self-study totally before you even fully start because you just don't know where exactly to start one thing i like to do and it's not a perfect solution to this but to find kind of source out good resources to study to learn different technical topics is to look at reviews and as i mentioned this isn't a perfect solution but it definitely is it's really helped me a lot so for example one of my go-to learning sources is udemy when i was first learning how to code and even when i'm learning new technical things now such as blockchain i still really gravitate to udemy um strictly because the instructors on there there are some really quality instructors on there and i can see based on the reviews how many people have taken it and how many people have left a review so if a course is getting a 4.6 star out of 5 and it has you know 50 000 reviewers probably a really good course and then you kind of can see the resources where the instructors have worked what their history is and really get a full picture as to what course you are diving into i love youtube as another resource but you got to keep in mind that with youtube you have to do your due diligence too and what i mean by that is you type in any tutorial on youtube you don't really know where this instructor came from necessarily you don't know their background also too i find with youtube and one of the reasons that i currently don't make coding tutorials is because a lot of times they can become very quickly outdated maybe you're learning a new framework and something that is uh up to date one month the next month will be out of date and it's something really to take note of and consider as well and that goes to my next point for how to best self study technical things which is as i mentioned earlier learning through taking courses is about 15 to 20 of actually understanding and gaining these technical skills where the real chunk comes in is actually applying those skills to real world projects and no you don't have to go get a job to do that you can do that by starting to build little small projects here and there by implementing what you are learning one thing i like to do is i have a course on the go and as it's going on i'll have a little side project so i'll learn a little bit and as i mentioned kind of learn more of the bare minimum but apply my learnings to a project i am building a lot of times the project i am building to have my learnings applied to is strictly just a project to build because i want to learn this topic or maybe i'm learning something for work or for you know entrepreneurial reasons whatever the case may be that being said though my next tip with working on a project is ensure you are working on a project you are actually passionate about even if it's a to do app or something as tiny as that make sure it's something you are passionate about alter it in a way that it's something that you see there is a problem that needs to be solved or something that you would like to use in your everyday life as i think i've mentioned in a few other videos for me a lot of times what i would do when i was starting out is i'd build apps around skin care how to help people find customized skincare products because that's something i'm really passionate about outside of the tech industry so if you're passionate about sports fashion beauty whatever it is you can apply your learnings by building whatever it is around that topic and as a side note i think that's one of my favorite reasons about working in tech is that you can apply your learnings or work really in any industry and you know the tech industry what does that even mean well essentially it means you know building a tech company or service that could be around anything from beauty fashion sports food any of the above and that's pretty cool to me that's just like a little side note the next thing i want to talk about the next big tip i have for you if you are self-studying a technical topic is to have accountability and yes this means for me anyways it was sharing my learnings or that i am learning something with someone else but not advertising it to the world the difference is i believe actually research has shown that for example if someone is trying to lose weight or trying to reach this really crazy goal and they share it with everyone the response that they get from those people already satisfies the part of the brain that is working toward achieving that goal you know you're getting the congratulations or good work or that's so great already when you haven't even fully gone into it so accountability is very important but ensure you are telling one or two people don't go spreading it to the world what i always like to say is let action speak louder than words tell one or two people put your head down work and when you get that certification or you get that new skill maybe you want to share it with the world then by putting it on your linkedin or sharing it to whomever if that's something that you're passionate about and that kind of too is pretty cool because they're like whoa i didn't even know you were working on that and they're kind of even more mind blown so for any of you who really like to share your successes out there try and keep when you are learning something new to yourself as much as possible only having one or two people hold you accountable and also too make sure one of those people are yourself set goals set reminders and stick to them the next thing to self study technical topics in the best way possible is to find a community and this kind of goes to my last point of find someone to hold you accountable finding a community is in my opinion essential you it's so easy to feel very alone and as though you're doing this whole learning process on your own when in reality there are so many communities of people out there in very similar shoes that you are and one of my favorite resources for finding communities is slack there are so many great slack communities you can google uh you know react react slack communities or women in tech slack communities or anything like that you can even get more specific and narrow it in based on where you currently live and then hopefully meet up with some of those people or meetup.com i haven't used it since about a year and a half now but meetup.com used to have some really great meetups that were promoted on there for different tech communities that you could physically you know go meet other people so it's not just virtually and that's another great way as well the last thing i want to share with you about how to best study technical skills is to explain them to teach them even if you are still currently teaching yourself one of the best things i did was start teaching technical skills to you know literally the wall or to my boyfriend who knows nothing about tech or now he does because he's learned so much just through listening to me but actually voicing out what you are learning will help you understand where gaps are in your learning and you don't have to as i mentioned actually publicly announce what you are learning or put it online or make a course but it could be you know what's called the rubber ducky method where you're literally speaking to a rubber ducky explaining what you learn this will really highlight where your strengths are and where you still have some areas that you need to work in at the end of the day the best way to self-study technical topics is to be persistent be consistent apply your learnings to real world scenarios i can't stress that enough do not get caught up in the tutorial cycle where you're just taking tutorial after tutorial thank you all for watching this video i hope you found it of value for anyone out there who is learning some new technical topics and self-teaching it's something that you will be doing your entire career in the tech industry whether you are in coding project management quality assurance whatever it is you have to be a forever learner to evolve and grow with technology and the tech industry too so these tips i really think can apply to anyone at any stage in their career also make sure to hit the subscribe button for more tech and coding related content and i will see you all soon thanks everyone you, How To Study Technical Things, YouTube, 01ka88g299e49k2s3e5kcxycfk.