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Comment by rorykoehler

4 years ago

I learned f all in college and everything through reading and watching back video tutorials/lectures. YMMV.

Then you had poor teachers or a poor structure that didn't give you access to teachers in the right way.

While documentation has both advantages and disadvantages compared to in-person training, video tutorials are strictly worse than an interactive lecture.

  • I’m an autodidact. No teacher can provide the density and velocity of information and knowledge the Internet, science papers and books can provide. I can’t watch a lecture at 2x speed if its live. I can’t cherry pick. I have to be at a certain place at a certain time when I might not be in the right headspace. Then add on top that’s it’s basically a crapshoot whether or not you get along with your teacher or not. I don’t regret going to college but I didn’t gain much academic knowledge there either.

    • 100%. As an undergrad in the 90s I came to this conclusion as well. Then when YouTube, Khan Academy, and MOOCs hit critical mass in the 2010s, I could see the beginning of the end. COVID-19 has greatly accelerated the demise of in-person learning, and the fact that colleges continue to charge the same tuition is clear evidence that what they're selling isn't education, it's credentialling.

    • > I can’t watch a lecture at 2x speed if its live. I can’t cherry pick.

      If you have a 1:1 teacher you can just tell them what you already know and they can jump to the parts you don't. Much more efficient than skipping through a video for interesting snippets.

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