How to learn fast-changing tech in a post pandemic, Attention-starved world

The industry that we are in is at the tip of the knowledge economy. Regardless of our actual job titles, for most of us our role is to acquire and apply or sell (internally or externally) knowledge about the Microsoft technology stack. And these platforms are being developed at such a pace that this quickly becomes exhausting!

Luckily Microsoft have been incredibly successful at building passionate, loyal and a highly skilled technical community (yes, that includes you!), many of whom are willing to learn and share their knowledge with everyone else - largely for free! But this isn’t the full solution for everyone; there’s so much to learn and not everyone learns well by watching YouTube videos and reading blogs/documentation. I often lose attention watching/reading after a few minutes and need to learn by doing with a real use case.

In this session, I will outline some approaches I have taken to learning Power BI/Azure myself coming from a non-technical background and will show some of the engaging, interactive e-learning material I am currently building to help others. I will highlight some of the key principles of instructional design and how you can use them to become a better learner or teacher (ideally both – teaching really is the best way to learn!).