The difference between old school on-the-job training and today's online courses is night and day

I learned more in 6 months of shadowing a grumpy old mechanic in 2012 than in 2 years of clicking through video modules at my current warehouse gig, has anyone else noticed that hands-on stuff just sticks better?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_stella7d ago

Gotta disagree there. Online courses are lazy as hell for sure, but they let me learn at 2am after my shift without bothering anyone. Shadowing a grumpy old mechanic sounds romantic but what if he's a bad teacher or just shows you his way and calls it gospel? I took a Python class online last year and replayed the loops section like 8 times until it clicked. Can't do that with a human who's got other jobs to do. Each has its place but let's not pretend old school was perfect.

jamie7127d ago

I get what you're saying about replaying videos, but "shadowing a grumpy old mechanic sounds romantic" kinda misses the point. The grumpy part is what makes it real - he's not gonna sugarcoat it or let you keep making the same mistake eight times. When you replay a video, you're still just watching someone else do it right. You're not feeling the stripped bolt or smelling the burnt clutch or having him yell at you to hold the wrench at a different angle. That's where actual learning happens, in the mess and frustration, not in the clean playback.