Build Your Tribe

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Meet Kwame

Kwame prefers to tackle his coursework and assignments independently, relying solely on his own abilities and resources. Kwame's determination to be a self-reliant learner initially brings him a sense of independence and control over his studies. He dedicates countless hours to coding, researching, and practicing programming concepts on his own. However, as the term progresses, he starts experiencing the potential pitfalls of his solo learning approach.

One of the significant challenges Kwame faces is the absence of diverse perspectives and insights. Without engaging with classmates and discussing ideas with peers, he misses out on the opportunity to broaden his understanding, discover alternative solutions, and challenge his own assumptions. The lack of diverse input limits his growth and inhibits the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, without the support and collaboration of others, Kwame encounters difficulties in identifying and rectifying misconceptions. Without external guidance or input, he unknowingly reinforces incorrect ideas and struggles to fill gaps in his knowledge. This reduces his ability to grasp complex concepts and slows his progress in more challenging programming tasks.

Additional downsides of Kwame's solo approach are isolation and reduced motivation. As he spends long hours immersed in his studies without the support and camaraderie of peers, he feels disconnected from the vibrant learning community around him. The absence of a supportive network impacts his motivation and makes it challenging for him to stay inspired and driven to excel. Moreover, by solely relying on his own resources, Kwame misses out on valuable learning opportunities and experiences. He lacks access to collaborative projects, group discussions, and mentorship from instructors, which provide chances to gain real-world skills, enhance teamwork abilities, and expand his professional network. Without engaging in these activities, Kwame limits his growth potential.

Learning does not happen in a vacuum, nor is it a solo endeavor. In regular in-person classrooms, we are used to attending classes with fellow students. This happens to be the same in online classrooms as well. However, being in the same classroom with others does not mean one is learning effectively ‘with’ others. So, how do you ensure you have the right people in your learning space and maximize the presence and contribution of classmates to your learning journey?

In this lesson, we will explore how you can effectively learn with other members of the Kibo community, specifically:

Your Peers
Your Instructors
Your Mentors

Peer Learning

Let us start off with an understanding of what Peer Learning is or what is sometimes called: peer-to-peer learning.

Peer Learning is important because among other things when you learn with your peers:

You engage in active learning.
You reinforce your understanding of the subject matter.
The learning is more personalized, especially in one-on-one scenarios.
You are able to build skills for working with and collaborating with others.
You are better able to understand the topic as you and your classmates can explain things in a common language.

Peer Teaching

While peer learning shows us the learning that can happen between students without the involvement of a teacher, another similar strategy, peer teaching places emphasis on the teaching role of peers.

Putting Peer Learning and Teaching to Work

You might be used to a teacher or instructor as the one who assigns peer work or peer groups but as self-directed learners, peer learning and teaching are useful learning strategies that you can initiate among yourselves for your own benefit. Here are some of the scenarios in which you can implement peer teaching and learning to improve your learning experience:

Collaborative Projects: With this, you and other classmates are either assigned a project to complete by your instructor, or you identify a project or task and work towards solving it as a group. This involves each member of the group contributing something to the overall success and progress of the task.
Peer Feedback and Assessments: Feedback is important for self-awareness and self-improvement. However, we cannot truly give ourselves all the feedback we need to improve. It is for that reason that receiving peer feedback helps to reveal our blind spots and allows us to pursue more holistic growth. In peer assessment specifically, this involves ‘grading’ each others’ work. In many cases, there is a rubric to ensure that the process is objective. With peer grading, you can learn a lot from each other’s approaches to completing a task.
Study Groups: These are intentionally created groups of learners who engage in regular collaborative learning, many times, performing learning tasks together. Learning tasks might include study, research, discussions, and more. Study groups can last as long as they are needed and are based on the ability of everyone to commit to the group and help to make the experience rewarding for others.
Proctoring Approach: Proctoring is a peer teaching approach where one learner, who is more advanced either in understanding or in accomplishments than another becomes responsible to help the other student learn the skills that they need to learn. In this approach, you can either be the individual who is learning or the one who is responsible for teaching. Either way, you would be accelerating your learning.

Reflection: Peer Teaching and Learning Experience

Learning from Instructors

At Kibo, instructors serve as guides on your journey through the learning experiences. You can expect that your instructor will encourage you to take ownership of your learning, and challenge you to ask questions and explore new ideas.

Teacher Roles in 21st Century Online Learning

In online classrooms, your instructor takes on the following roles:

Designer: In a museum, a curator locates the best artifacts to create an effective experience for those who visit. In an online learning environment, your instructors take on the role like that of a curator as they design the course. They will guide you toward readings and other learning materials that will serve your learning goals. Based on their experience in their field, they are able to help you focus your attention on learning resources that are accurate and relevant.
Facilitator: Your instructor carefully creates opportunities for you to learn the skills you need for your future career, and designs assignments and learning activities to lead you towards intellectual, personal, and professional growth. As you review the course presentation, consider each of the learning activities and assignments. Think about the reasons why your instructor may have selected these course components to contribute to your development.
Director: Online instructors are available to answer questions along the way. As you learn, you will inevitably find areas that are unclear to you, either related to the course content or your learning process. By communicating with your instructor effectively, you will take full advantage of their role in guiding you on your journey

Adapted from: Learning to Learn Online at Fanshawe

In addition to the above, your instructors are on hand to provide you with support as you navigate the world of online, self-directed learning.

Learning From Mentors

In today’s hyper-connected world, you do not need to wait until you get into the workplace or get a boss for you to enjoy professional support from a mentor. In addition to your instructors, who act as a source of guidance and support, industry mentors play an important role in your learning, professional development, and readiness for the workplace.

As a computer science student and future tech professional, the tech ecosystem is full of many potential mentors who can not only help you accelerate your practical learning, but can help you grow your career. These experts can provide you with much needed feedback on your abilities and goals, as well as sharing lessons that they have learned from their professional experiences. Here are more reasons why you should have a mentor in the tech industry:

The Importance of Having a Mentor

To provide clarity as you make career choices

As you learn, the purpose of your study and other forms of practice is for you to become an expert in the field who uses his/her skills to solve problems. Experienced industry mentors can help you understand what professional path the skills you are developing are best suited for.
To provide you with practical insights from the field

As you go through your learning as a student and work on projects, it is important to ensure that the skills you are developing are relevant for the current job market. Mentors can provide insider insights on how to navigate the industry.
To help you grow your professional network

There is a common saying that ‘your network equals your net worth’. Needless to say, your career progress depends largely on your network. Whether you choose to become an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur within an organization, your network will be critical to your impact and success. This is where your mentors in the industry help by lending you the credibility and introducing you to other people who are critical for your career.
To challenge you towards growth and improvement

Some of the most successful people today attribute their success to having a mentor that helped them see what they could not see in themselves and discover and express their greatness. If you read through the stories of founders of Apple, Google and other companies, they talk about the importance of these mentors.
To develop lifelong skills and skills for the workplace

Your mentors will bring a professional perspective in their interactions with you. These will help you appreciate the non-technical skills that it takes to thrive and to work towards acquiring the same.

In general, mentora do not only help you learn about the subject matter, they also have a longer-term impact on your career. Studies have shown that having a mentor increases your chances of earning more and getting promoted.

As part of your experience at Kibo, you have been matched with a mentor. Note that asking for someone to help you in your learning journey is a meaningful ask and therefore, you should be ready to make the best of the relationship and make the mentor’s engagement with you worthwhile. Here are some tips for getting the most out of a mentorship relationship:

You should show a willingness to learn and a willingness to put into practice the ideas shared with you by the mentor.
Be prepared for each meeting with your mentor.
Be clear about your expectations in the mentorship relationship and make them known to the mentor.
But also be sure to keep your expectations reasonable. Remember that your mentors are working professionals, who are managing a number of other personal and professional commmitments.
Schedule your regular meeting time with your mentor in advance (i.e. get on their calendar)
Listen actively to your mentor, be curious, and ask questions.
Engage respectfully and show gratitude to your mentor.
Help your mentor help you. Try to clearly articulate the ways that your mentor can support you.

Optimizing Your Learning