Exploring New Technologies to Aid in Learning

Lifestyle

May 27

Article by Julia Siiatski

With the long-awaited summer-time, many may be searching for new activities to put our extra time to use. In my experience, shifting to a slower routine abruptly following exams requires some adjustment. In order to aid the transition process and pick up new skills during the summer, a multitude of online resources could be employed. Not only do hobbies enhance our skill set, but they also contribute to improving our mental health - as outlined by Dr. Azizi, the chairman of the department of neurology at Temple University School of Medicine. He asserts that delegating even a small portion of time to a hobby is beneficial and activates a part of the brain that controls our perspective and feelings regarding life - the nucleus accumbens.

Hobbies also allow you to enter a flow state, which involves immersion into an experience and a high level of concentration. The flow state sharpens your focus and is shown to enhance your performance. With the extra stimulation in the neurotransmitters of your brain, the subsequent result is higher emotional and intellectual motivation.

Now that the positive effects of pursuing a hobby have been outlined, it's time to choose which one (or more) is right for you.

For Those Interested in Learning about all Dance has to Offer

“If I had the chance I'd ask the world to dance.” - Billy Idol

For those who have a passion for dance, many businesses are now catering to a remote dancer’s vision. My personal suggestions of resources for those who want to continue or start their dance journey include STEEZY and 1 Million Dance Studios.

Personally, I would rate STEEZY the highest as an online resource for dance. The dance platform features choreographies of varying difficulty catering to everyone from beginners to well-versed dancers. The interface is also highly intuitive with the level of difficulty, instructor, and length of the class outlined briefly in each thumbnail. In addition, personal customization is possible, with users being able to add certain choreographies to their schedule. Finally, each instructor has their own style and featured moves they perpetually use throughout their choreographies. This allows you to choose a choreographer with a style you resonate with or become a more skillful dancer through mastering multiple styles. Personally, one of my favourite choreographers is Kyla Fajardo whose choreographies feature many hip movements, smooth transitions, and overall is the dance embodiment of the phrase “girls’ night”. Another favourite of mine is Alexander Chung, a Canadian-born dancer who is now signed with various American labels and whose choreographies are always sharp and vary depending on the melody of the song.

STEEZY also has a Youtube Channel providing useful advice on realms that dancers could explore outside of purely dance tutorials, with topics pertaining from which outfits are the best to wear for different choreographies to fixing the awkward feeling when dancing.

1 Million Dance Studios

1 Million dance studios is also among my top rated dance platforms. The studio was co-founded by Lia Kim, a seasoned professional, having choreographed dances for TWICE, Sunmi, and has frequent features from other K-pop stars and groups, such as Jay Park, Girls’ Generation, and Mamamoo. I decided to try their Youtube subscription as a member of the billionaire level, one of the ranks of membership Youtube offers when becoming a member of a channel. This proved to be a good decision, as they uploaded more than 15 choreographies with significant selection as to the level of difficulty, style, and music choice. Some of my favourite choreographies include:

Choreography by Youjin Kim Song to the song “16 Shots” by Stefflon Don
Choreography by Isabelle Song to the song Usually by Danileigh
Choreography by Emma Song to the song Snack by Ms Banks

Although the choreographies were all of top-tier quality, I found that the teaching style wasn't as engaging as Steezy’s since despite having an English translator, the narration was brief, and I felt I was unable to fully understand the subtle cues the choreographer added.

However, if you find yourself watching their videos constantly and are envious of the dancers, I would highly suggest becoming a billionaire-level member of their Youtube Channel!

For the Life-Long Learners Seeking Education and an Enhanced Skill Set

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears and never regrets.” - Leonardo daVinci

Coursera

Coursera is a learning platform featuring tutorials and certification courses from many leading universities and companies. Whichever field you want to expand your knowledge in, there will likely be a course on it. Access to learning resources is an invaluable tool and could be used for many goals. Personally, my favourite course was “The Science of Well-Being.” This course is hosted by Yale professor Laurie Santos, and teaches how to incorporate more productive habits and wellness into your daily life, as well as misconceptions about well-being and happiness. In taking the course, there is an option to either pay for the certificate or learn the material for free, with no certificate.

Reddsera

If you are interested in Coursera but find the amount of choices to be overwhelming, I suggest using Reddsera to narrow your choices. Redserra features the top 100 courses on Coursera as determined through upvotes on Reddit, including courses such as “Machine Learning” and “Python for Everybody” - by Harvard University and the University of Michigan respectively.

For Those Who Want to Explore Another Language

“A different language is a different vision of life.” - Federico Fellini

Preply

This website - without a doubt - is my favourite resource for learning a language in greater depth. Apps such as Duolingo or Rosetta Stone are able to teach the basics of reading and grammar; however, they do not provide the opportunity to practice oral speech. Contrastingly, Preply connects students with teachers of their preferred language. The page is also very user-friendly and features the teacher’s ratings, a biography outlining their experience teaching, and their language level. I find the hourly rates also fair with rates around $8 - $30 an hour.

For the Artists with a Passion for Tech; Explore Art Through Technology

“Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination.” - Daniel Bell

Maya

Maya is a 3D graphics software used to create 3D aspects of gaming, real estate, and film. With Autodesk offering a year of free access to educators and students, having professional software at your fingertips does not require any fiscal commitment. Moreover, in addition to their application in film and gaming, the 3D models created in Maya are also able to be 3D printed. Although I have only been using Maya for two weeks, I highly recommend it for beginners like myself, as once the basic shortcuts and actions like extruding, welding, and bridging are learnt, using the software to build models becomes quite intuitive. Moreover, if you have an affinity for problem-solving, exploring 3D software is especially worth the engaging experience.

Illustrator

Most people are familiar with Photoshop, but unless you want to add colour to an existing scanned artwork, I would suggest learning Illustrator. The reason being is that Photoshop is raster-based, whilst Illustrator is vector-based. The visual difference is that when magnified, raster causes the image to be more pixelated whilst vector maintains the same visual effect.

Although Illustrator has some drawbacks, if you are looking to create logos, inflate an image, or simply create a clean-lined work of art, Illustrator is ideal and lets you learn a different skill set as opposed to Photoshop.

With many softwares available to pursue skills and passions, for anyone looking to try something new I highly recommend the technologies outlined in looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel.

“With the world at our fingertips, technological software should be used to the greatest extent in pursuing new and existing interests this summer.”

With endless learning resources available, acquiring a new hobby is recommended. Not only does it improve mental health and emotional and intellectual motivation, but new resources in pursuit of your passion should always be considered. Look forward to the light at the end of the tunnel whilst immersing yourself in new experiences, such as dance, language-learning, arts, and overall expanding your skill set through various software.

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