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RubyConf 2016 - Continuing Education at Work by Katherine Wu The list of things we want to learn is infinite. How many of us have marked items to read/watch, yet never go back to them? Despite the best of intentions, I often only learn what I directly need. It wasn’t until I started running a couple lightweight continuing education programs at work that I followed through on my goals. We’ll discuss strategies for making these programs low maintenance and long-lived, as well as flexible enough to help both more and less experienced folks. If you’ve been looking for a more effective approach to learning, but still outside classrooms, this talk is for you!
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The video "Continuing Education at Work" presented by Katherine Wu at RubyConf 2016 discusses the importance and benefits of running continuing education programs within the workplace. Katherine shares her personal experiences with two key programs she implemented at New Relic: a technical book club and a Lunch Conf session where conference talks are viewed and discussed. Key Points: - **Introduction to Continuing Education**: The intrinsic need for continuous learning is acknowledged, with a focus on benefiting both personal and professional growth. - **Book Club**: For over two years, Katherine has facilitated a book club where participants read one or two chapters weekly and engage in discussions. This encourages active learning and reinforcement of concepts. - **Lunch Conf**: A program designed to watch and discuss conference talks during lunch breaks. Over 70 talks have been covered, providing a variety of topics for discussion and learning. - **Positive Feedback from Participants**: Attendees find these programs enjoyable and stress-free. Quotes from participants indicate that group learning significantly enhances understanding and retention of information. - **Benefits of Continuing Education**: - Keeps employees engaged and excites them about new concepts. - Provides immediate application of learned material to real work problems. - Helps fill knowledge gaps before they become critical issues. - **Group Learning Benefits**: The advantages of peer pressure and shared learning experiences reinforce knowledge retention. The importance of discussing different perspectives on the materials is emphasized. - **Convenience of Workplace Learning**: Utilizing company resources and a familiar environment makes it easier for employees to participate and commit time to learning activities. - **Three Principles for Effective Programs**: - **Make it Easy**: Reduce overhead to encourage participation; set low expectations to ensure attendance. - **Make it Distributed**: Avoid dependency on one person by documenting processes to allow others to take over if needed. - **Make it Useful**: Ensure learning is beneficial and stimulating to maintain interest and participation. - **Final Thoughts**: Continuing education programs help foster a culture of learning, support, and collaboration in the workplace, while also encouraging personal accountability in learning endeavors. Katherine concludes that the goal is to create an environment where ongoing education flourishes. Overall, Katherine Wu's talk underscores the significance of organized, low-maintenance education initiatives in the workplace, enhancing engineers' skills while building a supportive community.
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