#+TITLE: learning in public

• tags:: learning_in_the_open[learning in the open]], learning, Group

  I've been doing some more reflecting about learning recently (see previous reflections here). As I was formulating these thoughts I realised that I find three things in particular helpful for me on my learning journies.

  I take a lot of these journies and I want to keep on taking them. I also want them to be as useful and as transformative as they can be.

  Here are my three pillars of learning.

• Learning in the open I'm not the first, and I won't be the last, to say that learning in public is a really valuable experience (see here, here and here to start). When I joined up with egghead at the start of this year, I felt like I'd found a community of people who were dedicated to learning. Not just in creating content for others to learn but people who saw the importance of learning for it's own sake.

100DaysOfProjects

One way I've started to hold myself accountable to learning in public is through the Twitter hash-tag 100DaysOfProjects. This was set up by Ceora and has been really helpful for me to feel accountable to make progress on my projects.

I have a lot of projects and having a short check-in that is public is really helpful for me. I'm finding that the check-ins I'm making are quite generic though and wondering about more interesting and useful ways to contribute.

Embarrassment

Like others, I think I'm nervous about sharing my learning because it feels embarassing. Surely everyone knew that and showing I'm just learning it feels vulnerable and exposing. The reality is probably different and, even if it isn't, someone being able to see that I'm learning "basics" might give encouragement for others to keep going.

• Learning as part of a group For me though, learning in public can feel kind of lonely. I also get nervous that it feels kind of self-indulgent - why would anyone be interested in my learnings? Finally, I find that I get distracted and jump from learning topics if I'm not travelling with other people. Sometimes people are interested in my learning journey for it's own sake but I find it much more helpful to learn as part of a group.

D&D

I love Dungeons and Dragons (I'm also looking for a new group to play in, so any offers or openings let me know - DM'ing or PC'ing!). I've been playing a lot of RPG games with my boys during lockdown and been thinking a lot of how it relates to learning.

Forming an adventuring party to complete a task, solve a murder or rescue a child is a lot of fun. Once you've completed the adventure, you might return to the inn and find a new group or keep going with your same group. This series of adventures are generally called campaigns - characters can come and go but while together work towards a common goal.

I haven't been alone in this reflection! Joel and others have been reflecting on this and I'm really excited to see what this thinking can add to learning experiences.

Book groups

One way that this has already been playing out are book groups. The number of these that I am in is steadily rising! These feel like learning D&D adventures.

We're almost finished our exploration of "Seven Languages in Seven Weeks". We read the chapter, try to do the exercises and take an hour to discuss it together.

This group might read another book together or might disperse entirely. It makes sense for groups to form round a shared goal and disperse when that has been achieved.

Sales Safari experience

Last night, I watched Sales Safari with 5 excellent humans. We watched the workshop, did the exercies and discussed what we were hearing.

This was great! I learnt loads, both from the content and the group. This could be a 'one-shot' adventure but the group felt great so we might look for another "adventure" to complete together.

ClojureFam

Clojure is one of the languages we looked at in our book group. One of the things we've been thinking about is the communtities that grow around languages. How welcoming a language feels to outsiders and how proactive they are in onboarding people of all backgrounds is really important to me.

Clojure is very different from any language that I've written in before and the community seems really interesting. During our book club discussion we found out about ClojureFam, a guided learning experience of at least 5 weeks, and a number of us are going to embark on this. Another different adventuring experience.

Slack and Discord communities

To continue the D&D metaphor - between adventures, people generally hang out in taverns and inns. There they hear about trolls or necromancers and decide to set out for fame and fortune.

Where are the inns for learning adventure groups? I'm part of a number of Slack and Discord communities and these are my taverns. These are the places I find people who want to learn and who want to set out on adventures with me.

I'm still learning how to do this well but I'm excited about it.

• Creating as part of a learning experience For me, this is the third pillar of learning - creating as a demonstration of learning, adding to the conversation, helping others and pushing your own understanding deeper. ##Breakable Toys Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye wrote an excellent book called “Apprenticeship Patterns”. I love this book as it reminds me of different ways to make my own learning more meaningful by using and developing a Pattern Language.

One of the patterns is breakable toys. The context is that we experience (learning) is built on failure as much as success. So, in building something we learn more.

Having smaller projects to learn with can feel less risky. You can learn in a sandboxed environment. This is why you'll often here more experienced developers tell newer folks to build something.

Colby is gathering some excellent ideas for breakable toys for front-end people over here. I love me a breakable toy :)

Blogging and Content Creation

Ian mentioned at our last book group that you learn more from writing the book than reading it.

That's why I blog and make videos. I want my learning to be deep and long-lasting. I want to help others and I want to solve problems.