Grow Your Mind (Learn Anything, Anywhere)
Becoming the great detective:
Batman is one of the greatest superheroes in the comic book universe. He is definitely in the top 5 most popular characters in comic books. Ever since I started reading comics I have been a huge fan. I remember the magic of watching Tim Burton’s adaptation for the first time. I was blown away.
The stories have gone all over the place. The movies have been a treat, and the video games these days are all spectacular. I look forward to seeing how the franchise develops in the future.
What’s interesting about Batman is that he isn’t quite a ‘super’ super hero is he? He’s a man who has trained to make himself the best version he can be. He is a great athlete. He is well trained in martial arts. He also has one of the greatest minds within his fictional universe. What made him more appealing to me then the others like Superman? It was this lack of ‘powers’. Superman could do everything. Batman’s ability to compete with these super-people with no super powers is amazing. Several famous story lines in the DC universe involve Batman outdoing super villains and superheroes alike (check out ‘Tower of Babel’) to include allof his super powered allies of the Justice League.
His physical prowess is impressive. He is strong, fast and a master of martial arts. The thing that makes him stand out above all else is his mind though. He is the ‘world’s greatest detective’. Of course it helps to have billions of dollars and the fancy gear. This is very cool. But the true appeal of Batman is how he has trained his mind. That is how he consistently beats the superheroes.
These things made me as a child say, hm, a person could train themselves to be Batman. This may or may not be true (Read E. Paul Zehr’s book “Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero”). You can at least train your mind to compete with the great detective.
Super Geek Life is created with the idea that we should seek out the amazing. The idea that the knowledge of our heroes can be ours. Pretty cool how that hero did a back flip right? Go learn how to do a back flip.
More accessible than ever these days is the ability to train the skills of the mind.
I’m here to tell you that learning how to be the great detective has never been more possible. Batman had billions of dollars, the greatest teachers and unlimited resources. I don’t have these things. But I do have an internet connection and a boatload of willpower!
This is not an ad for going to some online school or regular school. I went to school and have a master’s degree and 8 professional certifications. That doesn’t mean I’m done learning. I’m never done learning. It also doesn’t mean I want to go back to school for everything (though I would had I the cash).
I refer to the plethora of learning opportunities available on the Internet at this time. I’d like to talk a bit about a few of them.
Let’s start with the free nd widest breadth of information of the learning sites, www.khanacademy.com. Khan Academy is a wonderful non-profit with the goal of helping people learn whatever they want around the world. It is free and you can learn almost everything from the most basic math, to partial differential equations (advanced calculus usually reserved for engineering curriculums and hardcore math and science folks), to law, economics, organic chemistry, and much much more. They have recently been developing and investing in their computer science area and the interface is very user friendly. Most courses involve several portions: a video whereby the narrator of the video gives a clear and concise explanation of the principal or subject matter in question (always understandable and repeatable with the ability to read the transcript of the video). Sometimes there is some referenced reading and there are usually some exercises between videos to check whether you’re getting it or not.
For computer science courses (and in most other sites dealing with computer science specifically) there are exercises dealing with code in which on one viewing pane you see the code and on the other you see the output.
If you want to have Batman’s detective skills I would start with Khan Academy. Do the math and science classes. Learn about statistical analysis, organic chemistry, physics, electronics, etc.
I’ve taken many of the courses and have been very satisfied. They even have great prep courses for standardized tests like the MCAT (for example).
There are other free learning programs out there as well. If you looked up Open Learning Initiative you’d see a series of courses available to be taken (most downloadable right onto an IPAD through Itunes University). Many of which are offered via some of the most prestigious universities around (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, and many more).
What better way to start your computer science path then by a introductory course from Harvard? I actually took that course to see its quality and found it superb if you are looking for an introduction to the principles. You’ll be a super sleuth in no time!
These courses have a plethora of offerings in many subjects in which each offering varies in terms of how the material is presented. There are lecture notes, audio, video lectures, referenced reading, exercises (to be done on your own) and everything in between. I like to see this effort from the more well-known high end universities in making this level of knowledge accessible to anyone.
The remainder of the sites I want to talk about are pay to play (either via subscription or via course). Some have free options and courses but the premium content is where it is at on the next sites.
The first two I want to talk about are very similar in that they offer different course tracks for specific skills. Some offer full curriculums and have their own proprietary certifications or degrees. I’m referring to www.teamtreehouse.com as well as www.udacity.com .
Treehouse has a very smooth user interface with a learning experience closer to Khan Academy than that of Code Academy. In other words there are nice explanatory videos about the subjects they are teaching. This is the same for Udacity as well. I have taken the Swift 2.0 coding class at Treehouse and found it to be a great course. For those non-techies, Swift 2.0 is the language that many IOS apps are developed in these days.
At Udacity I have taken both their Product Design and Programming Foundations of Python course. I have found both to be stellar and the fact of the matter is that both interfaces are very similar overall.
The proprietary degrees offered by both are starting to gain notice from many tech companies as well. If you’re looking to make a career leap this may be the best bet for you if you’re willing to spend the money. Personally I wouldn’t spend the money, I would just learn to code and show my work. Their curriculums for whichever paths you choose are comprehensive though. I could see someone going from knowing nothing to a competent app or web developer easily if they completed a full curriculum.
There are two other pay sites I would like to discuss. I saved them for last though categorically they are similar. The sites are www.skillshare.com and www.udemy.com . Both of these sites operate in a similar fashion in that it is a free market for classes. Anyone can create a course (within approved guidelines of course) and post to these sites. The course creators then market their courses and hope that people pay to take their course. I have personally only used Udemy though I’ve heard positive and similar things about skillshare. I like Udemy’s interface. The courses vary in material but almost always have video and audio lectures. They usually post assignments, required reading and instruction for any software required. The thing about Skillshare and Udemy is that while they did start heavily tech focused, they are a source of courses for any topic you can imagine.
For instance I have taken these courses from Udemy (In no particular order):
Build a Dropship Empire
Raiki Level 1 Certification (I mentioned this in my blog entry about meditation)
Scrum Knowledge (Updating my Agile Project Management Knowledge)
Learn to code in Unity C#
Learn to code in Unreal Engine C++
The Webdeveloper Bootcamp (to sharpen my web chops)
Wing Chun Kung Fu Level 1
1 Day Minimum Viable Product
Product Management (to help with my day job)
Ecommerce Website Management
Music and Audio Production Using Logic Pro X (I’m a music geek)
Fundamentals of Automobile Engineering
German Made Simple (also to supplement my day job)
Data Science ExcercisesAnd most recently (today in fact) I’ve signed up for a introductory course on learning to play the violin (I play 5 other instruments but this one has eluded me). I’ll let you all know how it goes in a future blog post.
This just goes to show the breadth of subjects available on this site. The catch for Skillshare and Udemy is that there are many courses for any one subject. I search for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for instance and a hundred related courses could pull up. You can gamble or you can read reviews. I always look to make sure the course is teaching me as specifically as possible what I want to know. I’ll look at the curriculum outline to preview it. Then I’ll look at both how highly it has been rated and how much it has been rated. If a course has been rated both often and highly it’s probably a good bet. Also, don’t be daunted by the pricetag of the courses. For instace my violin course was 120 dollars. But once you put it in your cart there’s almost always a promo code applied. I ended up spending 12 dollars. Not bad at all. Same for the full coding development courses. In my opinion this is a better value then the treehouse or udacity courses.
So in order of use these days it is a tie between Khan Academy and Udemy. A close third would be code academy as I don’t need sound or video in order to progress. I urge you all to get out there, and explore your interests. Seriously, get the itch and scratch it on any topic!
With that sort of attitude you’ll be sleuthing with Batman in no time! Now get out there and build a bigger mind palace (referencing the other ‘greatest detective in the world’, Sherlock Holmes).
