How to make the most out of “courses at aiadventures”!
Here are three tips to help ensure you have a great online course experience for all our course.
1. Time
Every course and every learner is unique, and there are a lot of variables that impact the amount of time and attention one might anticipate spending on a course like this. The convenience of taking a course at your leisure is one of the many strengths of online learning, with us. However, the best students identify specific times to take the course and make it a priority on their calendar. Online courses require a different kind of energy and engagement than traditional classes, and tapping into some of your proven self-regulation techniques will ensure a greater chance of making the most of your experience.
- Course Time — Allow yourself enough time to complete all of the course material, participate in discussions, etc. For some courses, the time demand may actually be greater than that of a traditional course. Set a time each day, or every other day to dedicate to your course. We recommend talking to your mentor for optimal time that you should invest daily, to be successful.
- Homework Time — We suggest you do some additional work aside from course material. Like, googling more about the topic, reading blogs & docs, watching videos, practice problems, sharing your learning (with the community, Social Media, etc.), discussions, & writing a lots of code. So try and give yourself extra time in your scheduling.
- You Time — Hey, everyone needs some time for themselves. You have already taken a step to better yourself by deciding to continue your educational journey. You deserve the greatest reward, time!
2. Environment
We live in an awesome time at the pinnacle of technology. Look at you, using the device you’re reading this sentence on! It’s nuts. Also, look how easily you can open another tab and watch a video that’s infinitely more interesting than this document (No wait! Please don’t). Distracted learning is a problem that only increases with the rise of technology. The more distracted you are, the less likely you will be able to learn DS/ML.
- Physical Environment — It’s important to try and find a quiet place without too many distractions in order to absorb and interact with the material effectively. This one is going to be hard to hear, but shut down, unplug, and turn off your notifications (cellphones, email, etc.). If only for 30 minutes, you may even find the break from persistent communication therapeutic.
- Emotional environment — It’s difficult to grasp some concepts and ideas when your mind is still at work, thinking about life troubles, or thinking about what’s for dinner. Before you dive into your course, take a little five-minute break to clear your mind. Think about trying to write on a jam-packed chalkboard — you need to erase some of the old material before you start to write new information. Try a short meditation session! And then tune in for class. 😉
- Platform Environment — With so many different devices available to view online courses, it may be difficult to choose what’s best. We recommend using a laptop or personal computer for all our courses. Keep a jupyter notebook open in next tab, try writing (don’t copy/paste) all the code you come across.
A crucial factor in successful, ongoing learning is routine. Develop a comfortable time routine, preserve against all distractions, and you will learn anything you sincerely want to learn.
Write down a specific time and place for learning (aka implementation intention), and then make sure you follow the time schedule you have set for yourself.
3. Interactions
Just because you may be by yourself in a dark room, wearing pajamas while you take a course does not mean you’re all alone! You have other peers and instructor teams that you can interact with, and the more interaction you feel in a course, the higher the chances you’ll have for a better learning experience. If you are having difficulty grasping a concept, an assignment question, or are experiencing technical difficulties, reach out!
- Peer Interaction — Our mentors and your fellow learners have varied backgrounds, may come from a different generation, or different culture. Reach out and get to know them, this diversity can be an immeasurable resource.
- Mentors Interaction — We try to provide you with tools and resources to give you a successful course experience as well as meet all of your goals, but if at any time you require additional resources, or you see an opportunity for further learning, please do not hesitate to contact the course team, and to share it with your peers.
- Personal Interactions — Take a course with a friend or group. Or if that’s not an option, don’t be afraid to reach out to a community member for a study buddy. That way, you can bounce ideas off of one another and hold each other accountable for assuring you’ve met your course goals.
4. Events
We believe learning is a continuous and ongoing process. Hence, we keep hosting a lot of events for our students.
- Interview question (Mon to Fri) — Everyday we post interview questions in #interview-prep channel and discuss them in detail at 4:00 pm. This is really helpful for all the students preparing for DS/ML interviews.
- Online Meetups (every Saturday) — Here, we discuss various tools, frameworks, and concepts used in DS, ML, DL, web and software development. We also discuss research papers and blog.
- Projects (every 2nd Saturday of the month) — Every month we build a live project from scratch. You will learn how to approach a DS/ML project, how to break it down into small modules, different tools that can be used, and finally, how to put everything together.
I know this is a lot to remember, but don’t worry! We post all the event details (except interview questions) in #announcements channel.
These events are not compulsory, but still, try to attend most of them (if not all)! Also, you can get your friends along with you.
Note: We are doing these events for you, the learners. So, all your feedbacks on “how to improve them” are welcomed. Also, contribute to discussions on event topics & timings. We would love to go with majority votes !
Here are two keys to success : Self-Discipline & Persistence!
You can become a data science ninja in a relatively short amount of time — given your are Self-Disciplined & Persistent.
The greatest aid in building self-discipline is, a matter of devising a practical & comfortable schedule for your-self & then keeping to that schedule.
Make sure you spend at least 30 mins daily reading the course material, always revise what you learnt in that session, and decide exactly when you will continue with your work before you put your computer to sleep.
There may be periods of difficulty — then is the time to exert the greatest self-discipline, the most determined persistence.
Conclusion
If this is your first online course, don’t fret, just make sure you commit. Commit time and effort, not just to your coursework, but to the community of people with whom you’re taking the class. Throw yourself in, and commit to co-creating the best environment for everyone to be able to get the most from this experience. You’re gonna do great!
Note: The purpose of posting in the discord channels isn’t necessarily about coming up with a correct response or even contributing a unique one. Sometimes, you may have a really similar experience as someone else in the course, but please don’t let that be a reason not to share. When there is a pattern of sameness in our responses, it will allow us to help each other better.
For example, there can a difficult topic that you are struggling with, but you will realize that you are not alone. Many other learners struggled with the same topic in the past. They can then help you overcome it, but sharing “how they did it”. In general, sharing experience of any kind forces us to be reflective and thoughtful which, as you’ll come to find out, is a very important component of learning!
Hope you found this article helpful, Cheers 🎉
Keep Learning, Keep Growing!
