Is Formal Education Important?
Over the past decade, I have been in and out of university. Completed or current taking: an undergraduate degree in Engineer at McGill University, an IT certificate offered by McGill University, and online courses on Udemy and Coursera.
These various educational experiences gave me a deep understanding of the value that comes from self-learning and formal education paths, which I would like to share with you.
Self-Learning
Self-learning is the most difficult path to learn any material yet the most rewarding. Using your own discipline, you learn knowledge and build skills to help you achieve your goals that promote self-growth in life and in companies.
When you choose to take unguided online courses on Udemy and Coursera, picking up an IT book and reading it front to back, reading the documentation of various projects on coding, airplane design, or financial reports. You build knowledge, skill, and discipline.
Yet the difficulty with self-learning is having the discipline to habitually pick up a technical book and read it.
Formal education
Formula education provides a structure developed by professors or professionals to guide their students to learn core knowledge in a specific period of time. They periodically use quizzes, assignments, exams, to evaluate your understanding of the course material.
When taking an official certificate or degree offered by a college or university, the objectives of each course are laid out at the beginning of the course, and diverse evaluation methods are used to test your knowledge of everything taught.
Pros and cons
There are many benefits and downfalls to both learning paths. Yet there is no perfect path for everyone in society. Each individual must choose the learning path they believe is optimal for their learning style, and pursue it to the end.
Conclusion
In the end, every path in life requires knowledge, skill, and discipline, to varying degrees. It is up to you to decide what aspects and to what extent you would like to build each throughout your life.
