What message do you think this image is trying to convey? How does it relate to or comment on society or current events? Can you relate to it personally? What is your opinion of its message?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
“My name is Oladapo Onasanya and I am from Ogun State in Nigeria. I am a Mathematical Sciences graduate from the Federal University of Agriculture. I am the youngest of a family of five and I am married with kids. I love reading, writing, traveling and meeting people.”
How did you learn about Alison.com?
Seven years ago, a friend posted a link to Alison in a group we both belonged to.
What was your first course in Alison.com and why did you choose it?
My first course on Alison was in Customer Service. I chose the course because of where I was working back then. I was working as a customer care agent with Tech Mahindra Business Group. I needed certification to accompany my practical skills.
How has Alison courses affected your career?
I completed the Customer Service training and then proceeded to do the Diploma in Customer Service. The two courses really helped me on the job as I was able to apply the knowledge gained from both courses and be more professional. I was able to attend to clients over the phone and help them to resolve their issues quickly. I was then promoted from the general inbound call center to the high profile customers section where I was able to handle their calls and meet their needs satisfactorily as well. I have taken several courses on Alison and I still have other courses pending. I take courses when I have to change jobs or when I have to complete a business project and have to update my knowledge and acquire more skills to be able to do it properly. I have over twelve years experience in a variety of roles – customer care, training manager, assistant investment manager, research and monitoring officer – and I am currently working as a business development manager. I have taken Alison courses in Business Management, Operations Management, Sales Management and Project Management, to name a few.
What is your favorite way to relax from studying?
I watch movies, listen to music, play games, go for a walk, or chat with loved ones.
Where are you working and what are you studying now?
What is next for you, in terms of education or work?
I will continue to learn at my own pace and complete my study of Web Business Development and Marketing. These days, I prefer to work from home due to the unpredictable nature of the unrest in Nigeria, coupled with the fact that my place of work is in another state. I prefer to work from home and be with my family, and only travel to work when it’s extremely necessary.
What will you say to someone if they asked you about Alison? Would you recommend it and why?
Alison is a high quality online school that gives you the opportunity to learn at your own pace and receive a globally recognized certificate that you can use to get your dream job or get promoted at your current job. I recommend Alison because I got a job thanks to one of my Alison certificates, and I also got promoted to another job because of my Alison certification. Alison has high quality course content. It is very rich in both text and video material and the assessment exams in between and at the end of each course will really test your understanding of the course. You feel fulfilled at the completion of the course and you will add value to any organization.
One of the most common questions we hear from Codecademy learners is, how do I remember everything I’m learning? When you’re just starting to learn to code, it can feel a little overwhelming. But rest assured, you don’t have to memorize everything all at once.
8 tips for remembering everything you’re learning
We’ve put together eight learning tips to help you retain as much information as possible and learn quickly and easily.
1. Focus on understanding concepts and ideas
When it comes to learning spoken languages, you need to do more than just memorize the words. You need to understand how the language works in practice. Similarly, when you’re learning how to code you need to understand the overarching concepts and ideas — not just memorize the programming language.
The basic concepts and algorithms of all programming languages are important to understand so that you can make connections across your learning. Once you have a handle on those building blocks, you’ll not only know when to use them, but you’ll also be able to apply those concepts to multiple languages.
For example, if you memorized a standard “if … else” statement in JavaScript, but didn’t understand the overarching concept of conditional statements — or how or why to use them — it wouldn’t do you much good.
2. Apply what you’re learning
We may think we need to memorize code, but that’s not a natural way to learn things. Memorization alone doesn’t do the trick. Application of the new concepts you’re learning is key. It helps build connections in your brain, leading to muscle memory — a much easier way to remember and use new information and skills.
As we mentioned above, if it was easy to learn from memorization, we’d be able to pick up a new language by simply reading the dictionary. But we learn new languages by putting our skills into practice by working on projects. So, don’t get wrapped up in remembering all the language details. Focus on learning new ideas and putting them to use. This is when you start to see how all the concepts you’ve learned come together.
Have you ever struggled to figure out what went wrong in a project? Maybe you were working on a simple piece of code and it took you hours to find that missing semicolon or a capital letter was typed instead of a lowercase letter, throwing off your entire program. It’s those experiences that help you learn and get better — and once you’ve solved them you’ll have an advantage the next time you run into the same problem!
3. View other people’s code
Another way you can learn about how to apply code on different projects is by viewing other people’s projects and codebase. You can use websites like Google Chrome Development Tools and GitHub to view another developer’s projects and code.
By taking some time to see how other people approach a similar project, we can pick up how to apply the concepts and ideas we learned in new and exciting ways. You can download repositories from GitHub to view the code in your text editor and even use the code in one of your projects.
Another method of increasing your knowledge is to be part of a community that will give you feedback on your projects. You can share your code and view feedback on other members’ code. Be open to feedback whether it’s good or bad because it’s all an opportunity to learn and improve. Don’t be afraid to give feedback on other people’s code too, because you can learn a great deal by understanding how someone else approaches a project.
Join the community in the Codecademy Forums to ask questions, discuss topics, and provide answers for others. You can also look for an existing Codecademy Chapter, or start your own, to connect with learners in your local area.
5. Know where to find answers to your questions
Searching for answers to your specific questions is another way to increase your retention. Just like we mentioned above, applying your knowledge will help form pathways in your brain to remember key concepts. You’ll never memorize everything, but you can always perform a quick search online.
There are a number of places you can go to search for answers and help online, starting with communities you’re a part of. Search the Codecademy Forums or, if a post on the topic doesn’t already exist, start a conversation.
You can also perform a search on Google to find answers. For example, you could type: html5 variable examples GitHub. Your search will then direct you to a trusted site (in this case GitHub) for your answers.
6. Compile good resources
When you come across a great resource in the searches you performed above or when you are learning new concepts, store them in a spot for safekeeping and easy access. You can have a file folder on your computer titled “Code Resources” where you can save all the PDFs and documents or repositories that have been most useful, or a collection of bookmarked links, articles, and blogs in your browser.
While you’ll be maximizing the amount of knowledge retention with these tips, you may need to refresh yourself on some concepts and ideas in the future. So, keep these files or links in a spot you can continue to come back to.
7. Take notes
You may have heard this in the past among other learning tips passed down by teachers and fellow learners. Taking notes helps you learn because it turns you from a passive listener into an active learner. When you’re taking notes, you’re focused on what you’re learning, and you won’t be as tempted to zone out or check your phone during a lesson.
Note-taking also helps you to clarify the concepts you’re learning and forces you to write down the most important concepts in your own words. The act of writing things down also helps you to remember things more easily.
8. Practice!
We saved the most important of the eight learning tips for last. As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. We aren’t aiming for perfection, but if you commit to practicing your skills for just a few hours a week, you’ll be surprised by how much progress you’ll make.
If you take all these tips on your learning journey, you’ll retain so much more, and you’ll enjoy the process. It’s way more fun to work on a project than to memorize code. And joining a supportive community that helps you improve is more enjoyable than doing it alone.
Remember, learning is a life-long journey, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself in the short term. Use these tips to retain as much as possible, but know that there will always be something new to learn. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back every time you solve a problem or successfully complete a project. You should be proud of all you’ve learned and accomplished.
Thinking about a career in front-end development? We spoke with John Pham, a front-end developer at Smartsheet and formerly at Microsoft, to find out more about his day to day and what he works on in his front-end role. John was a subject matter expert on our brand new Front-End Engineer Career Path.
John got hooked into programming when he participated in a hackathon in college. He was creating art assets for a game and had to learn how to program the art assets into the game. He describes front-end development as “a great combination of being artistic and being able to program.” In our interview, John defines front-end development, talks about how he got started on his path as a front-end engineer, and shares some tips for aspiring front-end developers who are just starting out.
If you’re interested in becoming a front-end developer, the Front-End Engineer Career Path is designed to prepare you with everything you need to get an entry-level job in front-end development.
What does a front-end engineer do?
In the world of web development, there’s front-end and back-end work. On the back end, programmers do the hidden work and processes that run behind the scenes, that the end user doesn’t see.
Front-end development, on the other hand, deals with the parts of a website or application that the end user actually sees and interacts with. As a front end developer, you’ll be working to make websites beautiful, functional, and accessible. A common thing you’ll do as a front-end engineer, says John, is “working with program managers and designers and customers to figure out what’s the best way to implement a solution for a customer problem.”
Is front-end development right for you?
When it comes to deciding between a career in front-end development or back-end development, the creative and visual nature of front-end is often a determining factor. Back-end development relies a lot on problem solving, but you don’t always get the opportunity to see your work, since you’re focused on the processes that happen behind the scenes.
Front-end development, on the other hand, focuses a lot more on creating a beautiful and engaging user experience. Do you view yourself as a creative person and enjoy bringing things to life visually? “A front-end engineer is someone that likes being at the intersection of art and logic,” says John. “So if you like programming, but also like the artistic side of design and working with customers, being a front-end engineer is the perfect role for you.”
Front-end developers are also very involved in the user experience, and oftentimes work closely with designers and customers to help create the best solutions for customers. “My favorite part about being a front-end engineer is being able to work directly with customers and designers to figure out all of the fine details that end up creating the best user experience,” John says. “That’s one of the most rewarding aspects of being a front-end engineer.”
Advice for aspiring front-end developers
Interested in pursuing a career in front-end development? Start with learning the basics — HTML. CSS, and JavaScript. Then, put what you’re learning into action by building real projects.
“One easy way to get started is just to build your own personal website,” says John. “Your website can be an expression of who you are or what you want to do.” As you work on building your website you’ll learn by doing and gain confidence through experience. Once you’ve built the website, says John, “That’s an awesome way to start marketing yourself.” It’s an example of your work and shows potential clients or hiring managers what type of work you can do for them.
Getting started
If you’re ready to begin your journey towards becoming a front-end developer, our Front-End Engineer Career Path is the path for you. This Path will take you through everything you need to know, from how to build and deploy static web pages to design skills to make your webpages beautiful and usable. You’ll also learn interview techniques and build your portfolio so you can start applying for front-end development jobs. Get started here.
Here is the October edition of Teenagers in The Times, a roundup of the news and feature stories about young people that have recently appeared across sections of NYTimes.com. We publish a new edition on the first Thursday of each month.
For ideas about how to use Teenagers in The Times with your students, please see our lesson plan and special activity sheet, both of which can be used with this or any other edition.
A list of series that are exciting, funny, educational and exactly the kind of television that parents should be watching with their preteen and teenage children.
When people ask where I’m from, I’m usually conflicted. While I currently reside in Texas, I wasn’t born nor raised here. When I moved from California, I was asked a few times where I was from. I’d simply just say, “California.” Then, they’d ask, “Oh, really? What part?” I’d think to myself, “Well, do I tell them SoCal or the actual city? But, if I do say the city, which one should I say? The one I was born in or the one I actually moved from?” Both cities feel like home to me, but what should I actually answer with? To me, it’s like choosing between my mom’s and my dad’s sides. What side do I feel like I represent the most?
When people ask me where I am from, I can usually feel my cheeks turn hot as I spend the next few seconds pondering the response I would give to the predicament my interrogator just put me in. For me, this question represents both a complex cultural and identity conflict that I’ve been combatting my entire life. I, along with every member of my family, was born in China. However, my time there was brief, and I’ve spent a significant portion of my life in the United States. So in response to this question, do I say that I am from China, making myself the target of xenophobia and mockery regarding COVID-19 (aka the “China Flu”), or do I say that I am from the United States, being completely doomed to the awkward follow-up question of where I am ACTUALLY from? In that sense, Vanessa Hua’s “The Complexity in ‘Where Are You From?’ hits close to home. Whenever I tell others that am American, the raised eyebrows and uneasy silence come instantly, prompting me to clarify and tell them that, although my family is from China, I’ve lived in the U.S. for most of my life. A satisfied smile spreads across my interrogator’s face as they realize that, once again, Asian-Americans haven’t assimilated into American society.
“Lubbock, Texas. Born and raised,” I tell my peers. Their responses are full of enthusiasm, I know. Nobody ever asks any more questions, because they know that Lubbock is a boring place. They also can’t imagine living in the same place their entire lives. Something that they’re missing, though, is that I have seen Lubbock’s city limit expand two times. My address changed when I was in Elementary School. It used to be a county road, now it is a painted street. As a little girl who’s lived outside the city her life, so far, it was super exciting to see the workers paving and painting the road in front of my house. (Considering the fact that the road beside my house was made of nothing but dirt) I’ve seen three Elementary Schools get built, including the school that I went to all 7 years of Elementary. I’ve seen the Middle School I attended get built. Lubbock has changed so much over the 16 years that I have been a resident. I love it here, but I can’t wait to live in a city where I don’t have to be full of shame when telling someone where I am from.
In my life, I have moved around frequently and had many different places that I called my home. Even though throughout my life my location has changed, I will always consider the place that I’m “from” to be my hometown in California, even though I’ve since spent the majority of my life in other places. Despite my limited time there, I made almost every core memory growing up in that town. There, I was shaped as a person in my young age and continue to visit every summer in remembrance of the unforgettable childhood I created there. Where you’re “from” doesn’t ever have to be where you are in the moment. I think where you are truly from is where you feel you were the most shaped as a person. For me, that place was California because there I discovered who I was going to be growing up and developed passions, friendships, and aspirations that I still hold on to to this day.
Half Italian and half Indian, when people look at me they can rarely guess my race. People don’t recognize the Indian in me, asking me if I tan everyday, or if I am Latina. “No,” I tell them proudly, “I am half Indian” … While I might not look like what you think of when you picture someone Italian, this identity could not be a bigger part of me. I have had the opportunity to not only be a tourist and learn to make pasta in Italy, but to blow glass in my relative’s glass factory outside of Venice. Back at home I often dream of living in Italy. In the meantime, I do what I can to bring a bit of Italian life into my home, cooking my great grandmother’s gnocchi and risotto and taking Italian language lessons. As I fill out applications, it sometimes asks me to select my race and I check both Asian and White. But on some applications it asks me to just pick one, so I default to “other.” I am “other” and proud to be.
The mysteries of my family parallel those of Hua’s father. My grandfather was an illegitimate son born somewhere around Monterrey, Mexico. He was adopted by Joseph Garcia, but his assumed last name was Contrelez. My family will probably never know our kinfolk in Mexico. While Hua is offended when she is interrogated about her ancestry, I am indifferent when I am questioned about my cultural background. The inability to answer questions about my family has never insulted me, and no one has ever been unsatisfied when I omit information about my heritage. Instead of clinging to one’s motherland, people should find something like Hua’s family necklace, something to represent a family’s legacy other than a last name. If Americans can find value in their present home, we take a step closer to eliminating ethical stereotypes in our society.
My family and I are from Ethiopia. Ethiopia is known for being one of the two uncolonized countries and the origin of coffee. My family takes pride in that and tend to talk about it freely when someone asks. If someone asks where I’m from, I used to be happy and say Ethiopia but people can’t seem to get their mind around that there is a country named that. They joke around and say, Utopia?, Zootopia? So I stopped saying Ethiopia and started saying Arizona. It seems people accept that more. But I do take pride in my beautiful country.
The word paroxysm has appeared in 10 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Sept. 11 in “The Other Way Covid Will Kill: Hunger” by Peter S. Goodman, Abdi Latif Dahir and Karan Deep Singh:
In Juba, the capital of South Sudan, the pandemic was merely the most recent form of grave danger.
A sense of crisis has prevailed since a paroxysm of violence four years ago in a long-running civil war fueled by ethnic division. Amid the fighting, people fled the surrounding countryside for refuge in camps inside the city. Without access to their fields, many became dependent on food distributed by relief agencies along with anything they could buy at the market.
Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this illustration — or tell us about a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of.
Another option: Consider these doors a metaphor and tell us what new beginnings you hope for by describing the door you’d like to walk through, and what might be on the other side.
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article (written in 2018) to learn more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
When the world went into lockdown, millions of people turned to online courses to upskill and empower themselves – and to keep boredom at bay! As a result, the demand for easy-to-access knowledge and skills training is now higher than ever. With the launch of the new Alison Courses App, learners now have over 2000 free courses at the tips of their fingers.
The app has the same user-friendly dashboard as the Alison desktop platform and has all the same features, including course progress, completed courses, and available certificates, which can be downloaded within the app.
“The improved layout and functionality of the new version of the app allows for a better user experience” says Tim Potenz, Product Manager at Alison. “It was important to us to streamline navigation and to make the learning process as intuitive as possible.”
Other new features include:
Improved search: Autocomplete, autosuggest and the ability to search within categories allow learners to easily find courses.
Full-screen support for video content to make studying on-the-go even easier.
Fewer ads for a better user experience!
On-the-go learning is now easier than ever as the desktop platform and mobile app seamlessly integrate and sync automatically. Learners can easily move between learning on the website and learning on the app. A learner can start a course on their laptop and then pick up where they left off on their mobile phone, as course progress is shared across platforms.
Learning on Alison is completely free and learners have access to all 2000+ free online courses via the Alison Courses app. Should a learner wish to purchase a digital or printed certificate or diploma after passing a course, they can do so through the Alison shop which is fully accessible within the app. The process of purchasing certification has been made much easier and all discounts can now also be applied to purchases within the app.
The Alison Courses app is available to download from the Google Play Store.
Over the past couple months, Codecademy for Business and our friends at Code Climate have been meeting each week with an engineering leader to talk about their career journey, leadership tactics and advice for the next generation of engineers. This week, we hear from Smruti Patel, an Engineering Manager at Stripe.
Here on the Codecademy blog, Smruti shares advice for those considering careers in engineering or engineering management. For more from the interview with Smruti, head over to the Code Climate blog.
Q: What interested you about engineering when you were just starting out?
I was always interested in STEM. Math and Science were my strengths, even back in school growing up, and so it made logical sense for me to pick Computer Science and Computer Engineering as the things I specialized in.
I would say that problem solving was also always something that I was curious and excited about. So engineering fit well in all of that. It’s a personality trait for me.
Q: What advice do you have for people who might be considering a career in engineering?
I think it depends a lot on where you are on the planet. I think it’s hard for a lot of people, given the lack of support that they might need — at the family level, at the social level, and at the financial level. So, acknowledging privilege is important and, consequently, so is humility, curiosity, and self awareness. Basically, none of us are perfect, we all have room to grow and improve. So, if you’re considering something in engineering, I’d say be humble, be curious — and be okay with failing.
For someone starting out, I would tell them what I would tell my younger self, which is that it’s okay to fail. I was too worried about failure for the longest time. I’d only take on things that I knew I was good at and things I could excel at. But I think a few failures early on, trying more risky things up front, is what I would probably try to get my younger self to do. Don’t be too comfortable. Push yourself.
The extrinsic part is more around how you communicate what you’re thinking. Especially in the changing times, a lot of weight is put on how well you present your ideas, how methodical you are in your approach, and how willing you are to go the last mile. So, I would say clarity in thinking and communication also takes engineers a long way.
Q: What advice do you have for engineers who are considering management one day?
To me it comes down to three things. For one, it’s all about the people you manage: the people you work with, your partners, peers, and stakeholders; the people you report to; and your managers or leaders. Managing up down and across becomes super crucial. Build relationships, foster trust with the people you work with, and then provide ongoing feedback to your peers, or even the leaders.
The second thing that comes to mind is systems thinking. I was introduced to a book called Thinking in Systems, by Donella Meadows. It’s a framework for how you think about things, which is that nothing is broken or awesome in isolation. Being able to understand that interconnectedness goes a long way.
Finally, as a manager, you’ve got to be able to deal with ambiguity, living with constraints, and you need to be adaptable and flexible. Personally, I’ve felt that no given day in management is like business as usual. Either you’ve got a key business product which has suddenly found a catastrophic bug a couple of days from release, or you’ve got a really angry customer you need to jump on a call with and say, “It’s okay, we’ll figure it out,” or some other teammate’s received life-altering news, and you need to be there to support them. In that way, being a manager can be very humbling and very rewarding. So, one thing I tell people who are thinking about this space is, you’ve got to be able to deal with that ambiguity, and then adapt.
