TECH EDUCATION
How to Become Tech Savvy
Often we come across people and some of them might even be part of our circles that seem to be different from the rest….in a way that they seem to have magical hands and brains when it comes to technology. When you have a question about anything, they know the answer! When you have a tech problem, they have the solution! But the truth is there is nothing magical about them because anyone can actually be a tech savvy but that means you have to place in that extra time to learn new things that keep arising, be intentional and do enough research. It is actually very unfortunate that these Tech Savvy are quite few and yet the state really needs them especially as workers for their hi-tech industries. If you are still reading on with me, it means you are interested in being one and regardless of your reason to become one; you need to self asses yourself first. If you are lucky enough to have studied programming like C/C++, JAVA, C#, Python or web programming such as HTML5, CSS, MySql, PHP, JavaScript or to know the makeup of a computer throughout or are able to read the specifications of RAM, SSD, CPU, Hard Drive and then understand it as well or you are an expert at navigating your way through Max OS X, Windows Operating Systems and Linux then chances are you are a starter and that’s is good enough. If you haven’t then, no worries, it’s never too late to start!
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Who is a tech savvy?
The Cambridge English dictionary defines a tech savvy simply as knowing a lot about modern technology mostly computers. In other words these guys are the professionals in this field and that is why there is a very high demand for them. However you should be informed that gone are the days when being a tech savvy was only limited to being capable of booting up a computer or cell phone texting. Also it has nothing to do with splurging lots of dollars on the latest gadget on the market like the latest iPhone or having a Bluetooth connection that is between your microwave and fridge. Rather it means that the way you make use of technology has to be very efficient and productive.
Some benefits of being tech savvy include;
- You will have abroad understanding of the tech world
- You can develop new software’s
- Learn how to make informed decisions
- You will know how to improve on security
- Avoid making expensive blunders
- You will get tasks done easily and within a shorter time frame
- You will be highly-skilled
Now, here below are some simple steps in which you can become a Tech Savvy;
- Focus on your goals and progress: there is no way you are going to become a tech savvy if you don’t first focus on your goals and the progress. This means that the initial first step is having the goals set and then see how to progress along those goals as you work towards accomplishing each of them. While at it remember not to be in a rush like wanting to learn the entire idea at once because you might end up just confusing yourself. There are people you are going to meet that will know more than you do and this shouldn’t frustrate you and lead you into competition rather focus on your own goals and progress and later on those people will also learn something from you when you become a Tech Savvy.
- Have the right attitude: after focusing on your goals and progress, you will now need to have the right attitude towards being the next Tech Savvy otherwise you might give up sooner. This means that first of all, you need to be patient enough to try something out, fail but repeat it over till you finally have the solution. Remember it’s not about cram work but rather understanding in depth. Sometimes you will have to figure out something on your own until you get it…that is why this experience is not for the faint hearted. In other words there won’t be any learning unless you try harder. And make sure that every time you learn something new, you make sure to remind yourself later on to make sure you really got it well.
- Learn the basics: now before you can go ahead and learn the most technical stuff, make sure that you first know the basics….after all in Tech Savvy one thing leads to the other. If you don’t know anything then it is nearly impossible to become a Tech savvy so right now is the time to take the first step. Well, for starters let’s take a web browser as an example and under this you have to make sure that you learn some basics like how to change the homepage, how to check for and install updates, how to find the settings and then clear your saved passwords and history as well, how to open and use new tabs, how to check for and install updates, how to search Google without having to go to Google.com and so much more. With all these basics learnt, it will be so easy for you to go to the next step and easily learn newer things without getting confused.
- Join a work task force: it is very important especially if you are working to join some of those work task force groups that are very intentional like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation or any corporate website development around you. This is because there are usually opportunities to jump in as a functional expert that is for a technological project and who knows you could be the lucky one. This will not only be a win for you alone but for the organization too and this way while at it, you will learn all you need to know about technology especially with the tools provided and the people you get to associate with.
- Make use of search engines: you will have to make search engines your best friend because it is where you will do all the searching and you will find. If you have a question or confused about something about technology then you can type it in and you will get an answer. Through these search engines you can discover some of the best software and tools that will greatly benefit you at becoming a Tech Savvy. Some of the best search engines include;
- Google: which is the most visited site in accordance to Alexa and usually tries improving its search to provide the best results to the end-user
- Bing: this was launched in2009 and it is Microsoft’s answer to Google and it will provide different services like image, video and web search alongside maps
- Yahoo: this is the leading most popular free email providers and it only gives competition to Bing but not Google.
Some of the other search engines include; Baido, Ask.com, Chacha.com, AOL, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Excite, Lycos and WolframAlpha that you could use but the first three mentioned above are the most popular ones with Google in the lead.
- Learn more about computers: most of the things you will be doing will revolve around computers so you will have to go the extra step of learning more information about them. Now the information about computers can be found on tools like E-books, books found in the local library and on websites. This way you will learn a lot more than any other computer user that only knows how to power it on and read emails or check out social media pages. Better still when searching for information about computers, you can endeavor to use Usenet as it contains a lot of information about computers. You should be informed that these modern computers are made up of things like at least one processing element like Central Processing Unit (CPU) and some memory. This CPU will carry out arithmetic as well as logical operations while the sequencing and control unit is able to change the order of operation in response to the stored information. Examples of peripheral devices include input devices like mice, keyboards, joystick and so on while the output devices include printers, monitor screens and so on.
- Learn about antivirus, spyware and avoiding malware: these are some of the security threats that you will face as a challenge as you become a Tech Savvy. It is for that reason why you should learn about them as soon as possible. Some of these viruses are so dangerous that if not treated early, will lead to loss of very important work or even leakage to the competing organization. There are very many great anti-virus and spyware programs like Avast, AVG, Malwarebytes and Spyhunter that you can learn about and start to use them. You never know later on when you become a Tech Savvy; you could develop an antivirus software that is better and make loads of money selling it.
- Learn programming: the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and so many more are the who they are today because of programming. If you want to be like them or want to be a Tech Savvy then you will have to make programming your first love. This is because it is one of the important skills in the technology world and you don’t have to learn all but some few that will assist you be a Tech Savvy. It is because of this programming that we now have Windows and the World Wide Web and so much more like video games, Mp3 players and name it. If you are a beginner then I would recommend you start with a programming language like Python before you go ahead to other programming languages like C, C++, C#, PHP and Java. These programming languages can be learnt through some websites found on the web with tutorials like the ones found on w3schools.com
- Use Unix or Linux: if you want to become very good at being a Tech Savvy then you will also have to use the Unix family of operating systems as it is very popularly used with most of the Tech Savvy experts in the world. And guess what? The good news is that this operating system is totally free of charge allowing you be able to view the source code that are used in them. You should also be informed that under this Unix and Linux operating system, you will enjoy better programming tools as well as improved technical tools than what you will usually find on Windows. If you are new to Linux then you can use the easy distribution of Linux which is through the Ubuntu Linux Distribution that can be found on the ubuntu.com.
- Tap into social media tools: if you don’t have any social media accounts like on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google + then its time you get an account with them. This is because although this might be under looked, it is surprisingly one of the best tools in which you can freely get unending source of opportunity to gain knowledge about some new things. All of these major technology firms, media groups and experts do have profiles that are either on Twitter or LinkedIn in which you can use to your advantage through following their threads. This way you get to know most of the latest things going on in the technology world first hand and that is how you become a Tech Savvy.
Conclusion:
Learning new things never ends…I mean there is always something new on this earth and in the same way technology keeps changing almost daily so in order to be a Tech Savvy you need to learn these things without tiring. After all after a while all these things gets easier because they are all connected in one way or another. All the best!
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