How to Learn Effectively from Programming Tutorials
Learning can be difficult, especially when you are trying to teach yourself something new because every step you take to obtain that knowledge is from you. You have to wake up, get on any device you are learning from, log on to that platform and push yourself to add more to what you learned yesterday. No one is telling you what to do except if you watch a tutorial and the instructor tells you this and that, check this link, use this syntax and so on.
Now, the question is, how do you learn effectively from a tutorial? How do you grab enough knowledge and be able to explain what you have learned and use that knowledge?
The thing is, if you keep following that tutorial without understanding what you doing, maybe it’s time to realize you doing something wrong.
What some tutorials tell you
For years, I have come across lots of tutorials that say, you can code along. Something to note here is, ‘’you can code along”. Meaning you don’t have to code along anyway at all. You can go with any other option. But It’s easy to just code along because I can finish that tutorial within the length of the course hours and earn my completion badge. Plus, I have the completed project from the course because I coded along. Some of the syntax, I don’t even understand, lol. I have a working project and a badge that’s all that matters. And oh yes, I forgot about the knowledge, I got some though but it has gaps in it. I kept on using this method, jumping from tutorials to tutorials until I found another method to end once and for all. What do I do?
How you can change that
So this is what I decided to try. When I’m watching the videos, I pay real close attention to everything the instructor is doing. When it gets to the point I’m lost, I would pause the video, trace my steps back to where I got lost and follow up. If I can’t understand, I go on google to check it out. Read more about it on anything I could find. What I was trying to achieve there was understanding. I also kept track of my brain. I know, the brain keeping track of the brain? lol. Yea, I kept track of how much my brain could backtrack to what I have learned. More like recollecting why I was adding more. When It got to the point I was losing it, I pause the video and recall everything I learned. Then I would explain it to myself, and complete that portion of the app we are working by myself, by my own understanding without code along. Was it painful? Yes at first. It was because I had to push myself to listen, google, and explain. Was it worth it? Oh yes, I made it understood why I was using every syntax in my program because if I didn’t understand it, I won’t be able to complete that portion of the app.
Before I was 80% done with the tutorial, I already got the knowledge I needed. I was building my own apps. It became had to complete the tutorial, but I had to because there was more to learn.
Conclusion
Learning can be seen as a lot of work sometimes. But what’s worse after learning is not been able to apply the knowledge. The act of listening, understanding, and practicing can change this. Now you know, what are you applying this knowledge to learn?
