-- Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
Act II, Scene II, Line 51
Here is a summary of my experience running an Open Space on Continuous Learning at my third That Conference.
Ways to Share Knowledge at an Organization
- Scheduled reports / presentation which are record
It is very important that they are scheduled as a recurrent event so that everyone will feel the need to take part in them. It is also very important that they are recorded so that they can be used in on-boarding. - Tech Talks
Part of being in IT is knowing about what is happening in technology. Have your new people and interns talk about what they use to communicate with their friends, I bet they use things you have not even heard of. - Project Show and Tell
Every project big or small has interesting challenges, share your solutions since they will more than likely be face again and again by others. - Tech and Try
Have someone do a quick 5 to 10 minute talk on a topic and then have everyone do what was just talked about. An example of this would be have someone present on a framework then have everyone do a code kata using that framework, you now have a bunch of people who have at least used that framework a little.
Ways to Learn More on Your Own
- Code Kata
Try doing the FizzBuzz kata in a bunch of different ways with a bunch of different frameworks and languages, then compare implementations. - Online Classes
Pluralsight, Egghead.io, Codecademy, ... all have different ways to learn new things, find the one which works best for you. - User Groups
I am a bit bias since I am a co-lead for an User Group, but there is more-likely-than-not a group of people that get together and talk about something you are interested in, join them. If you cannot find any existing group, start one, all you need is a place to meet and other people. - Present at a Conference
There is no better way to learn something than teaching others. I know presenting and coding are two very different skill sets, but developing the ability to present and develop software will open all kinds of doors.
