Developing Your Skills in Technology and Computers

by | Nov 28, 2012 | Uncategorized

How best to develop your skills? A question that many people ask themselves and more often than not give up after struggling to find the answer. Well, if you are serious then having the perseverance to continue and actually find the best tool to develop your skills is important.

Having computer skills is of course a huge advantage in many areas of life.  If you’re looking for employment or just studying then being able to use a computer will be of great benefit.  Many jobs now stipulate a certain level of proficiency in at least basic computer skills.  Using a computer is now as useful as basic levels of English and maths to the majority of employers.

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There’s no need for anyone to miss out on these skills though, even if they don’t have a lot of knowledge about computers.  Anyone can learn about computers and you don’t need to be some sort of nerdy geek to get real computer based skills to put on that CV.  The best part of gaining skills in technology is that they’re very well suited to being delivered online.  You can potentially become a computer expert by never leaving home (although we don’t recommend this!). There are classes online of all sorts of levels in computer skills available for free.

Have a look at these for instance –

  • The ODIN Project – well respected courses supported by a huge number of talented volunteers.  Learn most programming and web development languages here with nearly 80,000 others.
  • MIT Open Courseware – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is of course a world renowned university. However did you know that thousands of it’s courses are available free online to non-students.  Sure you don’t get the Degree but the knowledge is all there to access, have a look and see what interests you.
  • Code Wars Over 30 programming languages delivered in an innovative way using martial arts style progression. Lots of people love this site and have started successful careers in IT from this resource alone.
  • Solo Learn – currently supporting about 12 computer programming languages but has thousands of lessons and quizzes. There’s quite a lot of mobile components so you can learn on your smart phone too.

For the majority of businesses these days computers are an important way to function whether it is getting information out and interacting with customers, sales or research having computer skills is very important in most businesses.   Not only can it help in your work but it’s also useful to use as market research particularly when combined with appropriate tools such as a decent proxy server for example.

Finding courses to learn the basics or maybe take you up to the next level will significantly improve your chances of getting a job or progressing in the one that you already have.  If you have problems accessing any of these course or the thousands of others online based on your location – then simply hide your IP address.  You can do this by using a proxy server as mentioned previously, they’re not expensive and can unlock content that might be blocked to you previously.   They’re also great for watching Hulu, YouTube and the BBC if you get the right ones.

These skills will stand you in good stead and with them you will be able to work on websites for things as diverse as aquariums to 5 star luxury lodges and being able to work on such a wide and varied selection will also be another impressive string to your bow on your CV.

It is always important for us to try to improve at whatever we are doing and with the way the computers and technology are constantly changing and updating it will be well worth your time and effort to take the steps to stay up to date and further your career possibilities.

Further Reading:

 

A Different Way To Avoid The Freshman 15

by | Nov 15, 2012 | Uncategorized

Ask almost any college student if they experienced the “Freshman 15”, and there is most likely a resounding “yes” as an answer to that question.  This well-known phenomenon occurs to most students who go away to school and live in a dorm.  It of course, relates to average weight gain of a student during their first year in college.  It’s a surprisingly high amount considering the majority of college students are young with faster metabolisms.  I’d hate to see the averages for mature students who have metabolisms like me !

It’s still a large rise though so why?  There are a lot of reasons why this happens and how it relates to way we conduct education in 2021.

Freshman 15

For a lot of students, the school cafeterias offer an all-you-can-eat style buffet with an assortment of different foods to suit your specific mood.  Couple this with collegiate-style partying which includes mass quantities of beer and alcohol and little time to exercise, and most students will gain fifteen pounds or more during their freshman year of college.  In passed times, there use to be a lot of TV watched during the day too although we can probably replace that with the internet nowadays.

Although many people do take part in lots of physical activity during their college years particularly if their course is linked in some way to sports.  For many people their activity levels will drop to be replaced with study.  When you’re younger it’s relatively easy to fit in sports like running and football between school times, a college course may be more demanding.  It’s not a good idea to tone back physical exercise to this extent but unfortunately it does happen to a lot of students.

 Students who take online courses, however, don’t typically have this problem.  Not only do they manage to avoid the party animal mentality, but they manage to stay healthy and fit as well.

Perhaps, then, distance learning through an online education can be a great way to get your college degree and avoid gaining unwanted pounds.  Add a workout routine to your school work, and you have a recipe for success in maintaining a healthy physique.  While you are online, read some workout plan reviews to determine which ones will meet your needs the best.

All colleges now have fantastic internet access and there’s no limit to what you can do online.  You can even take different courses online from other Universities, try different languages by using the internet.  Even enjoy news and documentaries from the BBC simply by routing through a British IP proxy to hide your IP address.  Obviously you have to be careful in accessing courses which are restricted to specific locations.  You can use next gen proxies to bypass these restrictions and access the course but it won’t help when you have to attend the graduation !

A good review to read is the insanity workout review, as it can be a wonderful, comprehensive workout program that is condensed into the little time students usually have between their social lives and their studies.  You should be able to squeeze in a high intensity workout and still have time for your online classes, all the while avoiding the freshman 15.  You will be the fittest, best looking college freshman around, no questions asked!