People and Learning – How Do You Learn?

I have written a couple of posts about the importance of having passion in learning, and it’s about time I go more in depth on the topic of learning. I am always fascinated by humans’ ability to learn and pick things up quickly, but throughout my life, I have also been, at times, astounded by people’s attitude towards learning.

What is “Learning”?

Does “learning” mean “understanding concepts and applying the knowledge to specific situations”? Or is it acquisition of knowledge that one has never heard of? Well, “learning” in general means “to acquire knowledge and skill”. However, I would like to highlight a few common misconceptions about learning:

Learning is not about going through the motion of attending lessons in school.

Learning is not about following your sergeant’s instructions and going through the motion to complete tasks in military camps.

Learning is not about remembering what your math tutor taught you how to go solve an algebra problem and regurgitating the solution when you encounter a similar question.

Learning, to me, is in fact about taking the initiative to leverage on, explore and experiment on a subject which you have just been introduced to.

Leverage

One of the most powerful learning tools is tapping and leveraging on your own experiences and knowledge and applying to a subject that you have just been introduced to. Every individual is unique and has unique experiences in life. We can put our experience to good use by applying where we deem fit. For instance, if you have learned how to prepare traditional dishes from your mum since young, and is currently learning how to prepare Italian cuisine from a cook book, you may leverage on your knowledge and cooking style and try to create new dishes. Also, you may add on to or omit ingredients specified in the cook book, based on your knowledge of ingredients that you think complement each other, or feel is healthier for your family.

This is one of the reasons why in a class of 30 students learning the same dish, we tend to get 30 different tastes at the end of the day.

Explore and Experiment

After gaining knowledge on a subject, do you explore and experiment from there? Exploration and Experimentation can be time consuming. However, when you discover new ground through your own exploration, the sense of satisfaction can be overwhelming. Let me elaborate through my Photobie Lessons. In Photobie Lesson 1 – Text Fly In Effect, we learned how to create text effect like the one below (on the left):

Compare the two animated images above and you’ll realise the distinct difference. Have you ever thought of trying out new “stunts” after learning the basics? For Photobie fanatics, you may want to try and create the animated text above (on the right)? =)

Ask Questions

Asking questions is one of the best ways to learn. Perhaps I should correct myself. Asking the right person the right questions is one of the best ways to learn. Ask a hair stylist how to fix a leaking gas pipe and you may end up with an “explosive” hairstyle, literally. Ask him about the recent “In” hairstyles and you may end up with a decent haircut just in time for your friend’s wedding.

Why do people shy away from asking questions? Firstly, some may feel embarrassed by their lack of knowledge in a particular field, and fear being ridiculed by others for asking “stupid” questions, when in fact, the questions they have in mind are valid questions. I personally feel that there are no “stupid” questions. All questions are valid and apply to different people with different levels of understanding and knowledge of a subject. For instance, blogging beginners will ask “beginner” type questions such as “How do I get this plugin to work?” or “How do I gain more traffic to my blog?” whereas slightly more advanced bloggers may ask various questions related to search engine optimization (SEO).

The equation is simple… Ask and you may benefit. Don’t ask and your doubts will remain unanswered.

How do you learn?

Is it sufficient to simply tell myself that I have passion in learning? No, things do not work this way. I am a keen learner, and I adopt the above methods to learn when applicable. I leverage on my own knowledge on a topic I have just been exposed to, and when I lack knowledge in that field, I try exploring and experimenting on my own. When I get stuck during exploration, I ask questions and search for answers.

That’s how I learn. How do you learn?

Blogspot Blogging Basics Tutorial 1 - Getting Started with Blogger.com

There! This is what you get when you select the Minima template provided by blogger.com. For those of you who have just joined us, this is where we start out blogspot blogging basics (BCube) series. The blog URL which you can view the most updated “output” for this series is http://blogspotbloggingbasics.blogspot.com/ You may find out more about this series in my introductory post. At this point, I’d like to highlight that I will not only be giving “how to” instructions. More importantly, I will address why we want to make certain changes to our blogs. I have structured my series in this manner such that bloggers who are not using blogger.com as their blogging platform can still pick out relevant discussion topics and hopefully find value in this series.

Well, I am sure most people know how to sign up for an account, so I shall skip all that. All you need is to arm yourself with a valid email address and follow the instructions when prompted to do so. Sign up for a free blogger.com account here.

In this journey of ours, I won’t be able to list all steps down to the minute details. I will however, give the broader picture and provide more details for key changes. Nonetheless, if you need further elaboration on any steps, or have any questions, feedback or ideas, do not hesitate to contact me.

With that, let our Blogspot Blogging Basics Series begin!

Let’s first get the boring but important administrative details done up first. Once you have your account up and running, you should see a dashboard similar to what I have below:

Click on “Settings” under “Manage Your Blogs” and you should see something similar to the screenshot below:

Run through all the sub-tabs and fill in the required information. I’d like to highlight only certain important fields, as summarized below:

Basic Tab:

1. Add your blog to our listings? Yes (Unless you want to keep your blog private)
2. Let search engines find your blog? Yes (Unless you want to keep blog private)
3. Show quick editing on your blog? Yes (For your own convenience)
   

Note: Remember to click on “Save Settings” after editing EACH tab!

Publishing Tab:

1. For bloggers who want others to keep coming back to their blogs, try not to change your blog URL (sub-domain) too often. Settle on one right at beginning and then leave this sub-tab alone.

Formatting Tab:

1. Show 7 posts at the most (showing too many posts can affect your page loading time, especially if your posts are filled with pictures or photos)

Comments Tab:

1. Who can comment? Anyone (Don’t make it difficult for others to comment, or they will not comment at all)
2. Show comments in a popup window? Yes (Help your visitor save time! Visitors need not navigate back and forth to continue reading your posts after leaving comments. All they need to do is close the popup comments window)
3. Enable comment moderation? Yes (Be sure to provide a valid email address. You’d like to filter out unpleasant comments or profanity, don’t you?)

Site Feed Tab:

1. Allow blog feeds? Full (If you want to keep your blog private, select none)

Permissions Tab:

1. Who can view this blog? Anyone (Unless you want to keep your blog private)

Done! Ok, explore around, fill in your “About Me” page and stay tuned to my next post ya? Let’s take things one step at a time. Feel free to contact me if you need any help. =)

Blogging Success

Something to ponder about…

“Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Half effort does not produce half results. It produces no results. Work, continuous work and hard work, is the only way to accomplish results that last.”

- Hamilton Holt

I believe in putting in my fair share of effort to make skoyu.com tick. Do you?

5 Types of Constructive Comments

Thinkers’ Delight: Do you leave constructive feedback or comments at others’ blogs? Why?

As blog owners, we would like readers to drop constructive comments that are relevant to our blog posts and value add to other readers. One cannot help feeling joy whenever readers leave quality comments on a sustainable basis. Let’s run through the 5 types of constructive comments.

1. Asking relevant questions. Asking relevant questions probe the author’s and readers’ minds and add value to the subsequent conversation. More quality content is thrown up in this manner and everyone benefits. “Asking relevant questions” apply especially to blog posts that are categorized as recommendations / tutorials / lessons. For instance, readers may ask if the author knows how a recommended product functions under certain situations, or ask more in details about “how to” lessons.

2. Answering questions raised. When questions are raised on a subject that falls within your expertise, you are encouraged to step forth and share your opinions. This is where you exhibit sound knowledge of the subject, and contribute to the quality conversation.

3. Providing your opinions on a subject. Whenever you provide relevant opinions to the subject of discussion, you are giving constructive comments. What do we mean by relevant opinions? It can be as simple as your thoughts about the blog post, suggestions that you think the author has missed out, or whether and why you agree or disagree with the author’s opinions.

4. Leveraging on the topic of discussion. Comments that leverage on the subject of discussion include expanding on the topic to encompass wider ground, or drawing parallels with another subject. In the former, for instance, if the author writes about “perceptions of perfectionism for couples in love”, we may leverage on the topic of perfectionism to include not only couples, but also “perceptions of love between family, friends and colleagues”. This can be a little tricky, for the last thing we want is to go totally off-topic. However, if done correctly, the effect can be brilliant, for you will be able to give the topic of discussion another dimension. Readers should provide comments of this nature with care.

5. Showing appreciation. The 5^th and most common form of constructive comments is showing your appreciation for a fellow blogger’s posts, recommendations and such. However, there can be more to “I like your post”, “Thank you” or “Thanks for sharing”. You can share with the author why you like the post, and how the post has affected you (if any). For instance, if you read a post about useful gardening tips, besides a “Thanks for sharing”, perhaps you can go on to tell the author how you feel the tips will help you manage your garden. Better still, come back a couple of months later to share your experiences after putting the tips into practice.

These are the various ways to leave constructive comments at others’ blogs, and comments may come in the form of a combination of the 5 types listed above.

Well, are there any benefits of leaving constructive comments? The answer is ‘Yes’. Besides the feel good factor, one can value add to other readers’ reading experiences by leaving a couple of constructive sentences. Secondly, by leaving quality comments, you are building a strong online profile and will get the attention of the author and readers. Now, we are not sick attention seekers. We would, however, like others to visit our blogs and leave quality feedback as well, don’t we?

I shall end this post with a manifestation of the concept of reciprocity that I strongly believe in:

“Start giving and you will receive eventually. Give more today and you will receive more tomorrow.”

Well, ready to start leaving quality comments?

Photobie Lesson 3 – Creating a Blinking Button

In this Photobie tutorial, we will learn how to create a simple blinking “Click Here” button using Photobie. Why do we want to learn how to create this button? In my opinion, “Click Here” buttons are often used in banners to encourage readers to take action after reading a post. The key to designing a useful “Click Here” or “Click Me” button is such that it catches attention and serves its purpose. We do not want to create an over-extravagant button. A simple animated blinking button should do the trick.

For the purpose of this Photobie tutorial, we shall learn how to create the “Click Here” button entirely using Photobie. Well, you can see that it is not the prettiest button. This is because I did not dwell into areas such as font, color manipulations etc. Designing is all about exploring and experimenting till you get something you like. I shall leave it as homework for you to find means to use Photobie or any other platforms to create buttons that you like. For those who prefer to use readily made buttons, you can easily get one at buttongenerator.com.

Ready to start from basics?

Step 1: Start up Photobie. Create a new 250 x 250 pixels black background as usual (Readers should be familiar how to do this by now). The reason for selecting a dark background is to show the contrast of the blinking effect. Go ahead and try other colors that are to your liking.

Step 2: Creating Button. From Color palette, select the color for your button’s background (I have gone for white). Then, click on the “Drop Down Arrow” for the second icon in the first row (Fill Shapes) of the Paint/Selection palette and select any shape you like for your button (I have gone for round rectangle). Place your mouse cursor over your 250 x 250 black background, and draw the desired button size. You should get something similar to what I have below:

Step 3: Getting your “Click Here” phrase. On the Color palette once again, select your font color (I have chosen red), then click on the “Text” icon (second button on fourth row) in Paint/Selection palette. Click on anywhere within the black background and a textbox should pop up. At this point, you will also realize that you may configure your text through the menu bars that appear above and to the right of the Layer Manager. Type in your phrase “Click Here” or “Click Me” and click on “OK”, as shown in the screenshot below:

Step 4: Shift and resize your phrase. Resize your phrase if necessary and shift it to the center of your button.

Step 5: Creating the highlight layer. With the above, you have a basic button. We now focus on creating the highlight layer. First, select a bright color in the Color palette (I have gone for yellow). Click on the “Drop Down Arrow” for “Fill Shapes” in the Paint/Selection palette and draw another button (this time slightly larger than the first button) such that it overlaps the first button. If you have trouble gauging how well your second colored button overlaps with the first, there are a couple of ways to go about it. Firstly, you may shift the newly created layer “3 New Layer” to become “1 New Layer” and you realize that the first button appears in front of the second button. Now it is easier to shift and centralize your buttons. The second method is to reduce the opacity of the colored button by using the sliding bar in Layer Manager. By reducing the opacity of the second button, you can now see the first button and adjust accordingly. For the purpose of this tutorial, I have gone for the first method. You may want to try and follow so that you do not get lost with the numbering of the layers later on. So far so good? This is lesson 3 already, do I need to remind anyone to save his work? =)

Step 6: Getting the frames up. From the screenshot above, you see that I have 4 items in Layer Manager. Make sure you try to arrange and follow what I have, so that you do not merge the wrong layers. Note that “1 New Layer” is the larger colored layer. I have checked the boxes for “0 Background”, “2 New Layer” and “3 Text”. Click on the “Drop Down Menu” for the fourth button in Layer Manager and select “Copy All Selected Layers”. Then click on the “Drop Down Menu” for the fifth button and select “Paste All Copied Selected Layers”. You now have a total of 7 items listed in the Layer Manager. Check the boxes for the first 4 items, i.e. “0 Background” to “3 Text”. Do not be confused by the numbering. Then click on “Merge Remove” (second button on first row). Your list is now reduced to 4 items. Click on the last 3 items. “Merge Remove” again. We are now down to two frames. Our product is almost done up.

Step 7: Animation time. Go to Animation Control Panel and set the time delay for both frames to “500”. Save your animated image.

After going through 3 Photobie tutorials, it’s about time I mention this. Designing is all about “letting yourself loose”, allowing your brains to run wild with ideas. As you go through the steps, please think about each step and what it does. I have tried to explain each step by indicating at the start (in bold). If you have a shortcut method to achieving the same effect, good for you. Share it with me and other readers by leaving a comment. In that way, everyone benefits. Also, feel free to ask any questions so that we can explore Photobie together.

It’s also about time I give some homework for the keen learners. Try to design a better looking button than the one I showed you. This will help you to pick things up faster. All the best!

P.S. If you have just joined TKH in his Photobie Lessons, you are invited to find out more about Skoyu’s Photobie Lessons For Beginners. Cheers.

Firefox 3 Download Day

17th June 2008 marks the day whereby Firefox will attempt to set a Guinness World Record and achieve the most number of downloads for its new version of Firefox browser (Firefox 3) within 24 hours.

Firefox has been an integral part of my blogging and internet browsing experience, and in fact, skoyu.com is best viewed through the Firefox browser. Hence, I am delighted to hear that Firefox 3 will be available for download soon. If you are a big fan of Firefox, click on the image to pledge your support and be part of this record breaking attempt. Else, do consider having another browser at hand as different websites are best viewed using different web browsers. It’s all in the name of enhanced viewing experiences.

Are You a Passionate Blogger?

Thanks to Mommy Ruby (once again), I learned about The Passionate Blogger, a website advocating passion in blogging. It has a button for bloggers, passionate bloggers to be exact, to display and link to the website. Well, the idea is not about linking to another website to obtain a reciprocal link. It has much more thinking and “soul searching” to be done by individual bloggers…

Firstly, do you adhere to The Passionate Blogger’s creed, as follows:

I believe in pursuing one’s passion.
And blogging purely for passion.

I believe that each person has a story to tell.
And their stories are as important as mine.

I believe in supporting talents,
In things lovingly made by hands, and heart.

I will continue to blog no matter how many people visit my site,
Or how many people will leave messages.

I will continue to share my story,
And sprinkle some lessons and inspiration here and there.

I will build a happy community among those that
I constantly read, support, learn and take inspiration from.

Secondly, before jumping into the bandwagon and proudly displaying the Passionate Blogger button in your blog, perform some “soul searching” and ask yourself how passionate you are about blogging. For instance, do you believe in, actively carry out and advocate the following activities as a blogger?

If you are passionate about blogging, blog on a regular basis and provide quality value-for-time content. We want readers to visit our blogs and gain something, not waste time.

If you are passionate about blogging, show it in your blog. Appearance matters. Ensure your blog is easy to navigate, font sizes are not too small and color combinations do not go out of hand, to name a few.

If you are passionate about blogging, drop constructive comments in others’ blogs. Constructive comments are the best gifts bloggers want to receive. The more you drop, the more you receive.

If you are passionate about blogging, you will aim to contribute fresh ideas to blogosphere. Start a unique movement to benefit fellow bloggers or make better use of your skills to teach those who are less skilled but are keen to learn.

Well, after reading the above, are you in or out? =)