My Story

When I was 13 years old, I was deep into video games, and become quite fascinated with computers. I had always loved playing video games, but I started to wonder how I could builld my own computer to play video games on. I was the only in my family who was remoting into technology and devices, so I had no one who was able to teach me about computers. Then I turned my energy toward YouTube for guidance. At first, I watched many video explaining how the parts in a computer work and how they interact with each other. As I become more interested, I began to watch full how to build a PC tutorials, which broke the processing of building a system and what parts work well together. Once I had spent enough time watching tutorial and guide videos I felt much less intimidate by the process. After months of research on parts, I pulled the trigger after saving enough money to purchase the parts I wanted. As I as building my first computer system I had a guide video going along side me to make sure I was confident in what I was doing and not miss anything small. When my PC was finshed I pressed the power button and the computer successfully booted for the first time, it was one of the most rewarding experiences I had ever had. 

It felt rewarding  I had taught myself a new technical skill using a free online videos. That experince changed how I am able to learn. I no longer need formal instruction to learn something technical and valuable. Fast forwarding to now, I applied the same approach to learning about car maintenance. Whenever my car needs routine maintenance or small repairs, I first search YouTube for a turotial videos, instead of paying someone else to complete the work before I at least try myself. Through YouTube videos I learned how to diagnose smaller problems, change tires and oil, replace the battery, and check breaking performance. Now I have confidence in myself to perform basic maitanence on my car after being educated by YouTube. Looking back, YouTube had done much more than teach me how to build a computer or repair a car. It changed the way I learn. It showed me that education is no longer limited to classrooms, textbooks, or formal instruction. These experiences continue to influence how I approach learning new technical skills and I imagine the same for many others as well.

YouTube Has Changed the Way People Learn

When I built my first computer, YouTube became more than an entertainment platform it was my classroom. Today, millions of people use YouTube to learn practical and technical skills that may not be taught in regular courses or schools. This particularly started happening on a large scale during in 2020 with Covid-19. With the introduction of Covid-19, students world wide were affected and most schools physically shut down and moved to online learning, 92% of some or all courses in Canada were moved to online between April 19 and May 1, 2020 (Statistics Canada, 2020). Many of these courses, and the this course we all are taking currently, use or used YouTube videos as resources for Students to use and learn from, with it a theory bassed video, or a tutorial for learning a new technical skills or ability.