DEV Community

Cover image for Learning by teaching: How sharing what you know can help you to learn things better
Pachi šŸ„‘
Pachi šŸ„‘

Posted on • Edited on

Learning by teaching: How sharing what you know can help you to learn things better

During our lives we learn a lot. Since day one there is something to learn, and as we grow older, we start to learn things based on our own interests.
Some careers, such as programming, require ongoing learning. It doesn't matter if you have been coding for a year or 10, there is always something new a programming wants or has to learn.

Tech doesn't stop.

Picture of a wall with an art saying Love to Learn

Photo by Tim Mossholder, Unsplash

There are several ways of learning something new, videos, articles, books and more. But I find that one of the best ways of learning and fixing information in my head is teaching.

Teaching even if you donā€™t know much

When we talk about teaching, the first thing that comes to my mind is a teacher that has expertise on the topic they teach.

As long as you are honest with your audience about it, you do not have to be a master in any topic to talk and teach about it.

You will always know more and less than somebody.

Take me as an example: I have been learning Python live while streaming on Twitch. Every-time I am studying a new concept, I say it out loud, with my words. This helps me to learn better and also helps the people watching me to learn. I am very open with my audience that I am learning and donā€™t know much yet, and that is ok.

Teach in a format that you feel comfortable or want to be

Teaching while we are learning can be scary! We feel exposed and unsure, so it is important to start in a place you feel safe, like writing your study notes and sharing here on therelicans.com.

If you know me, you know that Live Coding on Twitch is my thing. And it took me a while, but today I am comfortable learning and explaining things there.

The important here is to reproduce what you have learn in some form, video, written, voice etc., and sharing it.

Donā€™t worry about the audience

Now, this one sounds a bit off, but hear me out!
While we are trying to teach what we are learning, our focus here is to learn. If you think too much about the people reading/listening/watching, your teaching may lose authenticity, which would defeat the whole purpose of ā€œlearn better while teachingā€ thing.

Be yourself!

Conclusion:

As people working in tech, we had to accept our learning in an ongoing process. So why not use our learning to try to help others?

Being a forever code newbie is one of my goals in life. I am an expert in nothing, but every little thing I know, I try to share in some format.

Figure out your favorite format and your next learning adventure, and teach us on The Relicans, a place for our community of learners & developers to support and educate each other.!

If you would like to know more about me or learning live, please Follow me on Twitch, where I stream every week morning my Struggles, with good humor of course haha!

XOXO,
Pachi

Top comments (0)