The 2 core components you need to maximize any E-Learning journey

I’m slowly closing on 2 years at CG Spectrum as a 2D Animator Mentor and can’t be grateful enough for the chance to give back to the animation community by teaching the new generation of artists.?

I’ve always been a big fan of online learning since the early #Schoolism days (OG kickstarter backer here). At the time, it was my first experience getting tips and tricks from actual artists working in the industry and, as a young ignorant lad, the access to quality knowledge was pure fuel for both my creativity and my capacity to envision a positive artistic future for myself.?

Now reflecting back on mentoring dozens of students and my own personal venture into online learning, I’ve come to realize that apart from the quality of the material/knowledge you’re learning from, 2 major components seem to influence a good deal the outcome of your educational journey: time commitment and attention commitment.?

Time commitment because animation is a very process oriented craft, you learn -in part yes - by watching/listening/analyzing but mostly by doing/experimenting/feeling. You can watch all the videos you want but you’ll only be as good as your muscle memory and pattern recognition built over hours and hours of messing around with your pencil, mouse or stylus. You gotta do it so much that you eventual recognize when you’re doing the right thing and when you’re way off. Like anything in the good old analog world, the physical experience cannot be thought, it has to be lived through.?

Attention commitment because without full attention, e-learning can quickly become mindless binge-watching. You can, again, watch as many lessons as you want but you have to really be invested to really internalize the information that is giving to you. Attention commitment again because art is sometimes hard to’’get’’. You’re not just trying to learn facts, you’re trying to understand why something good is good and how you can replicate that yourself by using a technique that you’re mostly probably exploring for the first couples times. Doing will make you good but understanding what you are doing will be what will make you great.?

That being said, I think it’s important to try to keep things as simple as possible, so to all online students out there, here are two tips you can implement to help you a great deal with that:

1- Plan & Track your time: Every week, plan in advance how much time you think you’ll be spending on learning this week, decide when you’ll be allocating that time and then -and that’s very important- WRITE IT DOWN (all that preferably in a calendar). Every time you finish a working/learning session make sure to write down how much time you’ve spent. If you ever need to skip one of those sessions, find a new time on the calendar and commit to that new schedule (extra points if you write down the reason of you skipping that session as well, it's a precious way to analyze yourself and your potential patterns).?

At the end of every week take a moment to assess how well you did compared to the initial schedule you had made and plan for the next week. This might sounds a bit technical or boring but trust me, it will help you build the discipline you need to become a great artist.?

2- Create a learning-friendly space for yourself:?Keeping your learning environment free of distraction (phone, notifications, other people, etc.) will be the super weapon that could make or break your learning experience. Make sure to have a place you can learn/work that feels as comfortable and inspiring as possible. Make sure the temperature’s is nice, have some water nearby, customize the layout to your liking, etc.?

Make sure you wanna sit there for the time you’ve allocated in your calendar and once you’re locked in, don’t start adding distraction by watching videos online or playing with your phone. Wether you’re watching lesson or doing an assignment, this time has to be a 100% dedicated to you learning something new. Ours minds need to be bored and to wander a bit to really get soaked up in all that new information you’re ingesting.?

This post is obviously tailored to animation learners but I think it applies to pretty much every learning process. To all e-educators, e-students and e-learners out there, any game changer tips that enabled you to maximize your learning experience?