Today, it is no longer enough to have an academic degree; you need to stand out from the crowd by developing yourself and acquiring skills and experiences that you cannot rely on traditional education to obtain.
Therefore, self-learning is the best way to give you this, which you should make part of your daily routine, as it is the most effective because it stems from yourself and your passion for learning. What is self-learning? And what are its sources? What are the most important tips to take advantage of it?
What Is "Self-Learning"?
Self-learning is a type of learning that has spread widely after the revolution of the Internet and technology. This name is called because the person does it independently and from personal motivation without being forced, pressured, or directed by anyone and without going to educational institutions (like schools or universities).
Self-learning aims to develop oneself and acquire new skills and knowledge. In short, self-learning is to teach yourself by yourself and choose the source, field, and topic you want without guidance from anyone.
Self-Learning Sources
There are many and varied sources of self-learning today, as you can learn by yourself while you are at home, sitting at your table or bed before going to sleep, or even in transportation while you are on your way through the following sources:
1. Formal Online Learning
Registration and study in the most famous universities worldwide that allow online education and obtaining a certificate from them or grants, and the option of formal education via the Internet is one of the most expensive and time-consuming options.
2. Online Courses or Workshops
There are many courses and workshops in various fields available on the Internet, provided by international universities and institutes, or from a specialized online course site. The courses are the most flexible and available sources, and they may be free or paid, including what provides an accredited certificate.
3. Books and Magazines
Books and magazines, whether paper or digital, are among the most important sources of self-learning, and they are the most accurate and reliable sources.
4. Audios or Podcasts
You can adopt audio or podcasts as a source of self-learning when you cannot read, write, or attend courses, such as when you are on the roads or transportation, for example. All it takes is to put the headphones on and play the audio.
5. Videos
Today, there are a lot of educational videos, especially on YouTube, which provide information in various fields without the need to attend a course, register in an institute, or join an online university. They are distinguished by the ability to attend and refer to them whenever you want.
6. Blogs and Websites
Today, it is possible to self-learn from blogs and websites by entering “Google” and searching in the “search box” for the topic you want, and you will see many blogs and sites that display articles and information on the topic you want to learn about.
7. Conversations
Today, many applications allow you to chat with people from all over the world and show the importance of this resource in learning and practicing languages and directly discussing the trainer and the students.
Self-Learning Advantages
Self-learning brings many advantages for the learner, such as:
1. Develop Problem-Solving Skills
During the self-learning process, you may face some problems and obstacles, like technical problems, that you will have to search for a solution on your own, and this develops your problem-solving skill, searching for solutions and adapting to the variables around you.
2. Acquisition of Other Skills While Learning
During self-learning, the learner acquires other skills, such as time management, goal setting skills, self-evaluation, knowing weaknesses, and self-discipline without supervision.
3. Flexibility and Freedom
One of the most important advantages of self-learning is providing freedom and flexibility to the learner, as you are free to choose the subject that interests you or the one you like to learn about and choose the time that suits you according to your daily concerns and obligations.
4. Save Time and Money
Self-learning saves the time and money you would spend going or traveling to the actual education places from schools and universities.
5. Taking into Account the Differences Between Learners
Self-learning takes into account the differences between learners, as you can take as much time as you need to learn, and you can repeat any idea that you did not understand and study in the way that suits you without comparing yourself with others as happens in traditional education in schools and universities.
6. Suitable for All Ages
One of the advantages of self-learning is that it is suitable for all ages, so anyone can learn by themselves, whether old or young. How many children have we seen mastering programming languages, for example?
7. Ease of Access to Information
Self-learning allows easy access to information, whether through the Internet or books. You do not have to wait for the school teacher to explain the idea or for the university to open.
8. Self-Motivation
Self-learning ensures that you remain self-motivated to learn and love to know because you started it with a decision and are not forced by anyone.
9. Self-Development
One of the most prominent advantages of self-learning is the development of yourself and your skills, increasing your confidence and sense of independence and responsibility as you learn to rely on yourself and commit to a certain goal.
10. Mental Fitness
When people stop learning and running their brains, they become dull and intellectually sluggish. Still, with self-learning, you guarantee mental fitness, analytical ability, and the ability to learn for life.
Tips to Help You Self-Learning
Self-learning is a very wonderful experience if you know how to go through it. A lot start it, but just a few continue, the majority get bored or apathetic, or they are distracted in more than one field. So, here are the most important tips that will help you try self-learning so that you succeed in it without getting bored or slack:
1. Set a Goal
The most important advice before starting self-learning is to set a clear goal that you seek to achieve from self-learning, whether it is learning a specific language, a skill, playing music, dancing, or cooking, for example.
2. Set up a Learning System
To get good results from self-learning, you should not leave it to chance or in your spare time. Create a program for it so that you devote a certain time from your day to self-learning and make it a priority.
3. Choose a Suitable Location
Make sure you choose a quiet and suitable place for self-learning, away from the fuss of the family, and deal with it with the utmost commitment.
4. Be Curious
Curiosity is the secret to learning anything. Be a curious person interested in learning and understanding a lot of fields, this is what makes you ambitious and successful.
5. Take Notes
Do not be satisfied with self-learning by listening only, especially in online courses, rather, rely on taking notes and information, as the saying goes: “The worst ink is better than the strongest memory,” so that you can get the most out of it and be able to review the information at any time.
6. Take It Seriously
Take self-learning with all seriousness and focus and not as if it is fun or a pass of time. Think that you have a goal from this experience, and you must achieve it. Stay away from all distractions, cancel the notifications, and do not open your social media during learning time.
7. Connect with Trainers
If you follow an online course or follow videos of one of the trainers, do not think twice before contacting them to ask about the points you did not understand and ask for their advice through their email or through the comments.
8. Be a Critic, Not Just a Recipient
One of the most important tips in self-learning is to take the role of the critic and not the recipient, meaning not to believe everything you read or hear, rather, think about it a lot, and any information that you doubt, search for it to make sure of its reliability.
9. Keep Reviewing
Keep reviewing the information you got from self-learning and repeating it. Otherwise, you will often forget it if you just go through it once. Repetition transfers it from short-term memory to long-term memory.
10. Reward Yourself
Make sure to reward yourself when you make any progress or achievement during the self-learning experience so that your self-learning is associated with a positive motivation, like rewarding yourself with a nice picnic, a glass of your favorite beverage, or a piece of chocolate after an advanced stage of self-learning.
11. Evaluate Yourself
One of the most important tips in self-learning is to evaluate yourself periodically, compare the level you were before the experience and your level now, and discover weaknesses and omissions to avoid them later.
12. Practice What You Learn
To get the most out of self-learning, try to practice and apply what you learn, and not only theoretical information, such as practicing the language you learn and start speaking it with those around you or with its native speakers, or practicing presentation skills in front of the mirror or in front of parents.
13. Study the Labor Market
It is recommended to study the labor market and the most required fields of work, choose the field that matches your interests and desires and learn it through self-learning to improve your employment opportunities.
14. Share Your Knowledge
Share your knowledge and what you have learned with others. It makes you understand and master your information and makes it more firmly rooted in your brain, and as Albert Einstein says: “If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well.”
15. Learn English
If you want to start self-learning, especially by relying on the Internet, you should master the English language well to get the most benefit, the English content is richer and more quality than the Arabic content, which is still somewhat modest.
Among the Most Popular Electronic Self-Learning Platforms
- Coursera platform.
- Udemy platform.
- EdX platform.
- Skillshare platform.
- LinkedIn Learning platform.
Make Self-Learning a Lifestyle
Today, the world tends to pay more attention to the skills and experiences that a person has acquired through self-learning than to the academic and university degrees obtained.
Major companies such as Google and Apple are abandoning the requirement of an academic certificate for employment and preferring an employee who is interested in developing themself permanently and self-learning without relying on anyone.
So make self-learning a lifestyle for you, which means that you do not practice it for a certain period or learn a certain thing and stop after it but decide to learn something new every day. Any problem you face, start looking for a solution for it, learn it, and do not turn to others for help.
Self-learning is how to develop yourself and your skills and improve your life. It is also a journey of enjoyment and exploration of new fields and information that broadens your horizons and perceptions and eliminates boredom and routine in your life. And do not say you are late no matter how old you are, as every moment is a new beginning that can be a turning point in your life.
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