I know that for many people change, or various changes, happen too quickly. However, for those who embrace learning, there are currently countless ways to do so.
Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is that further training helps us advance our careers. Now that the year is slowly coming to an end, you can start thinking about where your professional journey will take you next year. Or rather, how and where you want to steer it yourself. What further training are you interested in? Recently, I have met people who completed a degree many years ago and who are now studying an AI programme, simply because it interests them. In this decade, the possibilities for further education seem limitless with maximum flexibility. The offers are tailor-made for their target groups. But I observe that there is more to lifelong learning and this affects so many, if not all areas of our lives. When I think about it, several examples come to mind. Let me touch on just a few of them.
Firstly, learning can be fun. I don’t have to go back to school to learn a language. Duolingo simply sends me my daily lesson to my smartphone. I’m learning Polish and – as my current learning streak hits 274 days – I am slowly getting a little closer to my neighboring country. Plus, there are TONS of other languages I could learn on the app. Isn’t that a privilege? (Admittedly, it doesn’t feel like a privilege when you have a stressful day and see on your phone’s display how the owl – “Duo” – is getting worse by the hour because you haven’t completed the daily lesson yet.)
Secondly, learning can fill the free time you have. On car rides or walks in nature I listen to the podcast “Was bisher geschah” (“What Happened So Far”), which discusses events and personalities in history. I’ve learned so much and caught up on what has been missed through school (or through my own fault…). It must be mentioned that the stories are of course prepared in an exciting way so that you listen spellbound. Speaking of podcasts… what a great medium, right? Many people in my network are involved in this and share their learnings and observations on their own podcast. There are far too many to listen to.
These kind of offers are „free“ – if you ignore the data that you transmit to the various services and the advertising that you often have to endure because you are (not yet?) a premium member.
You never stop learning, to use an old saying. And social media “knows” this. There are probably hundreds of tutorials on YouTube and Instagram that teach home bakers how to make macarons or a “Paris Brest”. The learning opportunities – no matter how informal – affect all areas of our lives. Last year, I bought an old house with my partner. Thanks to the Internet, I can not only watch tutorials from hardware stores on how to lay tiles (not that I am planning on doing that at the moment) or plaster a wall. I can also follow other people who have started a similar journey and know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that you need a lot of patience with old houses.
Hobbies are all well and good. But then there is social change, political challenges and the many things we all need to learn to master climate change. I also need to strengthen my resilience skills. I always hear that the next pandemic is definitely coming. Are we prepared for this or other crises? I have to learn how to respond (patiently at best) when someone says they regret the vaccinations. I have to learn how to convince the “concerned citizen” who talks loudly at the produce counter (and is well aware that everyone can hear him) that democracy is in fact a (very) good thing. There are many offers that teach me exactly this.
Ultimately, we need and want to continue our education in order to remain relevant in the job market. But we can also gain a lot from informal and social learning for our personal development and ideally our contribution to society.
Fun Fact: While this blog post is my original work, I had the title of this post generated by chatGPT as I learn more and more how to benefit from AI technologies.
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