My Take on Lifelong Learning in the Digital Age

The past few months after graduating from Rutgers Business School, I taught myself several digital skills and programming languages from MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) such as Udemy and YouTube. The kicker is that these courses are about $10-$15 a course but invaluable.

Now I am by no means a programming prodigy or a tech genius. At least not yet! But, as Digital Transformation sweeps industry after industry at a break-neck pace, I believe every person working directly in a digital role or in a tech company (And I believe every single role and every single company is quickly becoming digital in some shape or form) should take the imperative to teach themselves some programming or learn the basics of how the Internet works, the history of technology, how data structures work, how data and information flows between devices and how our digital infrastructure is evolving.

The reason I say this is because MOOCs such as YouTube and Udemy are completely disrupting Education Institutions such as Universities. In fact, although I learned alot and gained invaluable connections, soft skills and business knowledge from Rutgers Business School, let’s face it universities and college degrees are already obsolete. And they are failing at the task of teaching students invaluable skills such as lifelong learning and curiosity.

I know this because I feel like I was one of the more curious ones in my classes and others were not interested in actually learning, not engaged in class or what the professors had to say. They were more interested in a Grade Point Average. And I’ll tell you many of them probably had a better GPA then me. I had a 2.9 GPA. Nothing to be proud of, but I take pride in the fact that I was more hungry in actually learning and I believe my hunger to learn has taken me much further and will continue to push me to unprecedented heights. However, it does sadden me that students are not actually interested in being “students”. The fact of the matter is, people who are not curious and are not genuinely passionate or interested in learning and growing in all aspects of their lives and careers will not be happy, intelligent or get ahead in the long run.

I believe lifelong learning and curiosity are self-taught and based on passion. And our institutions do not encourage curiosity, self-learning and passion. In the age of digital transformation, these skills are only becoming increasingly valuable as traditional norms, ways of thinking and ways of doing business are becoming disrupted.

I believe the future of education is self-taught, based on passion and curiosity. And everyone needs these skills to not only survive but to thrive in the digital era and the emerging digital economy. Whether this happens on the job, from MOOCs, from Podcasts, from trading stocks or cryptocurrencies, the imperative is clear — It must calm on behalf of the person. And every person is now a lifelong student or lifelong learner. This is what Jack Ma means when he says School of Life. Because there is no rulebook anymore, the rules are very blurry and I believe as the pace of change continues to accelerate, people will have to compete on their own rate of learning to advance further and further.

You can learn almost anything about everything from Cryptocurrencies to Futurology, to Technology, to Business through Udemy, YouTube and Spotify Podcasts today. And everyone who wants to get ahead in today’s world needs to be hungry enough to use these technologies as tools for learning and growing. (Check out my Instagram -> instagram.com/maddykutechno/ where I showcase how I am practicing what I am preaching)
Many people are trying to get ahead with a Business Degree or a Computer Science Degree but it just doesn’t cut it for people who have no interest in Business or Computer Science. The ability to be annoying and constantly ask questions even when there are no clear answers is extremely important and incredibly undervalued in the US. I believe the ability to be annoying, to ask one’s own questions, to challenge traditional wisdom & conventions, to disagree with peers, to constantly learn, and to set your own roadmap is empowering in today’s world.

The world is getting better and emerging technologies are bringing about an abundance of learning and financial opportunities that many are not capitalizing on. Too many people are becoming slaves to technology (COUGH, COUGH Smartphones, Gaming, Netflix & Social Media Addiction) letting technology use them rather than using technology for the purpose it was intended (empowering people).