What I’ve learnt

In the last two months, I have learnt so much more than I thought I could. I have been exposed to writing blogs which is the last thing I thought I’d ever do. I have created websites, made videos, released podcasts and done so much content creation. The skills I have gained are invaluable and will continue to grow with me in my future endeavors.

Of the many skills I have acquired, one of the most impactful has been learning about web accessibility. I had never considered individuals with disabilities in my past content creation. I had a narrow mindset that my target audience were individuals that were capable of consuming the content I created without need for additional support. I was ignorant to believe that if you can’t access my site, then the content on the site won’t be useful to you, cause accessing my site was the bare minimum. I did not see beyond the fact that it is not a privilege to make the web more accessible, but a necessity and a human right. I am now proud to state that I have taken a few steps to correct that mindset by being an advocate for Web Accessibility.

Another impactful discovery was learning about Creative Commons. I write more about it in my Creative Commons Blog. The process of using online media from my products has always came with an underlying insecurity for fear that I may have to face the repercussions of plagiarism someday. So imagine the joy when I found there is a way around this – I no longer have to unfairly use royalty media. With creative commons, I have not only accessed a wide array of great media content, but I have also been able to properly reference their respective creators and even become a creator myself. I always have fun searching for creative commons content, and I no longer hesitate to release my creations to the world.

My goals for the future

Although some skills I acquired were more impactful than others, one of the skills that truly stuck out to me as useful for my future endeavors is Podcasting. I enjoy discussing deep ideas and I rarely have time to find the right people to have such discussions with. I listen to podcasts I find interesting in an attempt to compensate for that desire, but it never occurred to me that I could start mine. Podcasting to me is a very direct way of putting my voice out there. It is a means of communication that is more intimate and personal than writing blogs! Not to mention, it is also an opportunity to improve on articulating my thoughts and speaking in general.

I plan to continue to take leverage of podcasting. There are so many topics to discuss and individuals I plan to interview. I am truly excited for what my journey looks like and I am grateful for being exposed to a course on Web Technologies that has facilitated these aspirations.