7 Best Tips to Learn and Master a New Technology

In today’s era of digitalization, technologies are indeed changing or updating like never before. Either we talk about Programming Languages or their respective Frameworks or any other tools – technology in all disciplines is emerging regularly. And, if you’re having a career in the tech world or looking forward to getting into it then you need to know that you’re required to stay updated with all these latest tools and technologies in your domain to be at the top of the game.

But wait…this is something that everyone tells us i.e. to stay updated with all the latest technologies and so on but no one talks about the pinpoint approach to do the same, right?

Yes, despite everyone (even beginners also) knows the importance of staying updated and upskill with the latest tech trends, there is a problem with a majority of the individuals that they find themselves in a struggling position whenever it comes to learn any new technology. The problems like inconsistency, impostor syndrome, poor time management, etc. often come across with them. Regardless, whether you’re a student or a working professional, you need to follow a strategical approach to learn and excel in any new technology or skill.

Keeping this in mind, in this article, we’ll let you know about several most-effective tips that can surely help you to learn and master a new technology conveniently.

1. Allocate Adequate Time for Research & Exploration

First and foremost, you need to spend enough time to research and explore the particular technology that you’re going to learn. You must know that – what the technology is all about, what are its pros and cons and most importantly what benefits you’ll gain by learning that particular technology. Once you’ll be done with the research process for the technology and get clear about your goals behind learning it – it will firmly help you to plan your further learning process. For example – the approach of learning a new programming language by a developer for the new project will surely be different from the learning approach of the student who needs to learn that programming language for its academic goals.

Moreover, when you perform some in-depth research to know about a particular technology, it develops a genuine interest in you towards it. One of the best ways to know in-depth about any new technology is to go through the official documentation and read the experts’ testimonials. 

2. Identify All Prerequisites for the Particular Technology  

Without any doubt, it can be considered as the most-important strategical tip to get proficient with the new technology.

But Why??

Let’s understand it with a normal instance- suppose you’re all set with your car to go for a solo trip. In the midway, the fuel exhausts. Anyways, somehow you manage it. Furthermore, you need to make an urgent call but you find out the phone battery is dead. Afterward, you feel a bit cold but you’re not having your jacket along with you. And the occurrence of the similar situation continues…!!

Now, according to you, what would be the reason for such a mishap or terrible journey? Okay, so the problem here is that in that particular event the lack of not identifying all the prerequisites for a solo trip made the journey worsen for you. And the scenario is exactly the same when you look forward to learning the new technology. If you don’t find out what skills or knowledge you’re required to possess priorly to learn the particular technology then you’ll surely deal with a lot of problems later.

3. Find the Right Resources for Learning Process

To find the right & worthwhile resources for learning a new technology is as crucial as it can be. You won’t believe but the substandard learning resources will not only make you mediocre or even below-average with the particular technology or skill but can also make you lose your interest in the technology. And as there are an ample amount of learning resources available over the web for each and every technology, you need to be very careful and fastidious to pick out the worthwhile ones among all these. For example – if you’re looking forward to learning a new Programming Language or Data Structures & Concepts, you can opt for a renowned platform like GeeksforGeeks, etc.

Some of the most-preferable methods to learn any technology are provided below:

• Online Courses & Training Programs
• Recommended Books
• YouTube Videos
• Seminars & Conferences

You can choose any of them or all of these as well as per your convenience and requirements.

4. Don’t Hesitate to Ask Help

When you start to learn a new technology or skill, you come up with many hurdles and challenges in the journey. However, what most of the students do is that they hesitate to ask for help from the mentors, peers, etc. in such situations and often procrastinate to deal with the particular problems or challenges. And later, it results in a lot of confusion and doubts about the technology. So, it is quite necessary for all the individuals to discuss all the problems & queries and to ask help from others.

You can look to your friends, family, etc. to find out an individual who is associated or working with the same technology and can help you in clearing your doubts with the same. Also, if you’re not surrounded by any mentor or peers near you, you can use various online platforms like Stack Overflow, Experts-Exchange, etc. to share your queries with others.

5. Do Practice the Things You’ve Learned

Can you imagine yourself becoming an accomplished Cricketer by watching tutorial videos and live matches but without stepping down on the ground or doing sufficient practice…?? Obviously not!!

The same is the case when you look forward to learning any new technology or skill. You need to follow the principle of Learn By Doing as without doing the practical implementation of all your theoretical learnings & knowledge, you can’t expect to excel in the particular technology. You’re required to get your hands dirty with the technology and with the respective tools to get command over it. For example, if you’re learning a Programming Language or any other trending technology like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, etc. – you’re recommended to build several minor and major projects to get practical exposure. It will not only strengthen your fundamentals but the process will let you know about various other concepts and underlying mechanisms as well that you might not learn theoretically.

6. Put your Knowledge to the Test

And yes, practical exposure is not alone sufficient to validate whether you’re going on the right track and have become proficient with the particular technology or not. You need to put your knowledge to the test to assess yourself – though there can be many ways through which you can test your knowledge based on the respective technology or skill.

For instance, if you’re learning Data Structure or a new programming language, you are strongly recommended to participate in the coding challenges and hackathons to test and showcase your skills. Similarly, you can opt for several renowned certification exams of the respective technology to assess your skills in that particular domain.

Indeed, when you put your knowledge to the test, it helps you to analyze if you can use and apply, whatever you’ve learned, conveniently or not which is undoubtedly the ultimate goal behind learning any technology. And these things will not only test your skills but will also add value to your resume.

7. Share Your Learning With Others

Lastly, there is an approach which most of us often forget to follow but it plays a crucial role in mastering any technology. You’re recommended to share your knowledge and teach others as much as you can. When you share your learning with others, it hones your skills in a greater way. This is because when you try to explain a topic to others, you first need to have an in-depth understanding and clear picture of the same in your mind that subsequently makes you proficient with that particular topic.

And here sharing your learning and teaching others doesn’t only imply that you need to follow a conventional pathway and look out for the individuals to teach them but what you simply can do is write a blog or develop an online course for the particular technology to make it easier for you. Also, you can contribute to various online study groups, meetups, etc. as per your convenience.

Whether you use online courses, training programs, YouTube videos, or any other resources – learning a new technology is always exciting and worthwhile as long as you follow the right approaches, maintain consistency, and don’t give up in the mid-way. As they said that everyone in the world has the same number of hours in a day and the one who used it in the most efficient manner gets success. Hence, do follow the above-mentioned tips and utilize your time & resources efficiently to master any technology or skill out there!!