4 ms·

Couldn't have said it better myself, as an autodidact of CS, math, and music, this is my thoughts. Managing your own time and learning curve is really hard. As

Couldn't have said it better myself, as an autodidact of CS, math, and music, this is my thoughts. Managing your own time and learning curve is really hard. As an autodidact, I can just not do it because I am tired, busy, not in the mood, or whatever. The second thing that college grads don't get the value of is that they are able to learn by some proven path. This path is not etched out so well and requires considerable research, self-assessment, and decisions that aren't comfortable at all times. You could spend weeks a) researching what is next and b) attempting things you aren't ready for and blowing off a few weeks on something you gained nothing from because that knowledge base just wasn't there. There are many other little things you learn in college that are at times quite difficult to learn about on your own. Despite the apparent "free" education, nothing is free and there are things that you simply cannot learn or discover on your own. Guidance, whether from an instructor or a mentor, is very important when you are learning. Trust me, I'd gladly shovel out money for good guidance. You also live a lonely life and there is no one you can call up who is also struggling or trade information with. There is no way to really test yourself so you know you are correct and where you went wrong. Self-testing is either very hard or impossible in many instances, and that little epiphany you get from a red circle isn't available for you. It takes a certain amount of brutal honesty to get it right, and then you still don't always know. This is frustrating for me. The final piece is the double-edged sword of readiness. As a grad, you have proved to someone or some institution that you have mastered the material and are ready to work, whereas when you are an autodidact, you simply won't have the confidence to face an interviewer unless you are something like 10x better than any bachelor-holder, and sometimes masters-holder, that walks through the door. The time you lose on getting better and better -- plus the massive confidence boost -- is offset in spades by a decent education.

unimpressive 13y ago
>You also live a lonely life and there is no one you can call up who is also struggling or trade information with. Is there some sort of network for people on the outside of the university system? A mailing list or something?
- Ixiaus 13y ago
  Hacker News. Khan academy discussions. That's about it for what I've been able to find though.
  - kenferry 13y ago
    Email me for an beta invite at ken@understudyapp.com. This is exactly the problem we're trying to solve! With our iPad app, you pick a material (e.g. http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/) and work through it, talking once a week to someone who has already been through it. As you progress, you begin to mentor someone else who is less far along in the same way that you were helped. The collaboration environment in the app is live video (ala Skype) plus a whiteboard - the main surface of the iPad. The problem in learning isn’t information access: it’s determination. It’s dead easy to put down a book or stop watching a lecture. If you’re talking to someone, you cannot just stop, and when a human asks "what have you done since last time?" you don’t want to have to say "nothing". Think of single founder vs two founder startups - someone else who cares is huge. On the mentoring side, explaining a concept to someone else is a forcing function for getting things clear and organized for yourself. Also, it's fun to talk about stuff you chose to spend time working on and understanding, and it's fun to help someone else follow in your footsteps.
    - dizzystar 13y ago
      One of the reasons that autodidacts are autodidacts is because many are working $10/hr jobs and we didn't have an honest or fair shake at getting into college. Given that, why would someone want to spend three week's salary just to download your app? I also disagree that determination is the the problem for many autodidacts. Many of us really do enjoy the experience of learning and there is a mile of difference between slacking off and quitting. Personally, I would never pressure someone into learning that isn't into it. The Autodidact brain is not built like this. With the iPad requirement (too poor for that + refusal to buy Apple anything and no I won't change my mind when I have enough money) and an apparent misunderstanding of who I am, I'm probably not in your target audience. This really should be a web-based business. What is the obsession with making everything apps these days?

unimpressive 13y ago

>You also live a lonely life and there is no one you can call up who is also struggling or trade information with. Is there some sort of network for people on the outside of the university system? A mailing list or something?

Ixiaus 13y ago
Hacker News. Khan academy discussions. That's about it for what I've been able to find though.
- kenferry 13y ago
  Email me for an beta invite at ken@understudyapp.com. This is exactly the problem we're trying to solve! With our iPad app, you pick a material (e.g. http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/) and work through it, talking once a week to someone who has already been through it. As you progress, you begin to mentor someone else who is less far along in the same way that you were helped. The collaboration environment in the app is live video (ala Skype) plus a whiteboard - the main surface of the iPad. The problem in learning isn’t information access: it’s determination. It’s dead easy to put down a book or stop watching a lecture. If you’re talking to someone, you cannot just stop, and when a human asks "what have you done since last time?" you don’t want to have to say "nothing". Think of single founder vs two founder startups - someone else who cares is huge. On the mentoring side, explaining a concept to someone else is a forcing function for getting things clear and organized for yourself. Also, it's fun to talk about stuff you chose to spend time working on and understanding, and it's fun to help someone else follow in your footsteps.
  - dizzystar 13y ago
    One of the reasons that autodidacts are autodidacts is because many are working $10/hr jobs and we didn't have an honest or fair shake at getting into college. Given that, why would someone want to spend three week's salary just to download your app? I also disagree that determination is the the problem for many autodidacts. Many of us really do enjoy the experience of learning and there is a mile of difference between slacking off and quitting. Personally, I would never pressure someone into learning that isn't into it. The Autodidact brain is not built like this. With the iPad requirement (too poor for that + refusal to buy Apple anything and no I won't change my mind when I have enough money) and an apparent misunderstanding of who I am, I'm probably not in your target audience. This really should be a web-based business. What is the obsession with making everything apps these days?