Hey guys, today I’m posting something that isn’t SBC-related. I’m writing a reflection on a project that we have been doing for the past two months or so in our Digital Citizen class.

So, for the non-ISD people that are reading this —

What is Genius Hour?

Qimono. “Lightbulb, light, bulb”. Pixabay. Pixabay, 21 January 2017, https://pixabay.com/p-1875247/?no_redirect

Genius Hour is something that we do in our Digital Citizen (kind of like Technology) class. We have just finished our first Genius Hour, but we’re going to do multiple ones throughout the year and we’ve already started our second one.

Basically, we pick a subject ourselves and research it for a couple of classes. I think it’s very engaging for us students, because (let’s not lie) we’re almost never interested in school-suggested subjects. THis allows us to research something we actually want to research. In our class, subjects ranged from Japanese food to successfully managing a business. My subject was Python — not the snake.

Python

The People from the Tango! Project. “Python.svg”. Tango. Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Python.svg.

Python is a programming language; something that is used for a system to execute. You can use programming languages for a lot of things in your everyday life (from running your car to your toaster), and Python is the most popular coding languages out there. It’s mostly used for websites; YouTube and Dropbox both use Python for example.

I chose this subject because I think programming languages are going to revolutionize the future — they already have, but success in life may be, in the foreseeable future, highly correlated with skills in programming since they are starting to affect every aspect of our lives. But I chose this coding language, out of all of them, because it’s the most popular — so most databases or sites focused on programming most likely have some sort of accessible course to everyone. Also, I heard it’s a very easy coding language to learn and use; this means it’s the perfect gateway to the world of programming.

In consequence, my research question for this Genius Hour was: “What is Python? How does it work?” (the syntax).

I learned mainly two things throughout this project; the first, was how coding languages were going to impact the world in the foreseeable future (mostly how automation was coming for our jobs), and how Python, itself, worked. I divided this by studying coding languages one out of two times and just learned to code the rest of the time. Out of these two, my favorite was learning about the rise of automation (which is kind of scary, to be honest), but the most useful to me was probably learning the Python syntax itself. I familiarised myself with this greatly.

I think this helped me to grow as a person because I am more aware of how much the world can change in a very short amount of time. Do you realize that by 2030, 21-40% of jobs will be partially or completely automated? This made me ponder about employment in the future and the problems that we will have. Also, I think learning to code, by itself, was revolutionary on a personal level. I discovered a new world that I’m very interested into.

Regalt. “Community Friends Globe Continents”. Pixabay. Pixabay, August 30 2015, https://pixabay.com/en/community-friends-globe-continents-909149/

Learning coding languages can help with the development of technologies in the world; and the very fact that I introduced myself to them is a tiny, tiny step to the public acknowledgment of the power of technologies. Once a considerable part of the world familiarises itself to programming, I truly think that another global revolution can happen.

What comes next?

We have already started to work on another Genius Hour project. The subject will be: “How to optimize muscle growth through nutrition”. A completely different type of subject. I am hoping that this will not only help me on a personal level (I am a bodybuilding-lifestyle enthusiast) but if I can manage to spread the main ideas of my subject, I hope that I will be able to make other people adopt the healthy eating lifestyle that I currently endure — I mean, choose to apply! Health comes first, after all.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. My Genius Hour Project Presentation is linked over here. You can check it out if you’re interested — commenting is enabled, so feel free to write some constructive criticism on there! Also, I’d like to hear your opinion about this post. Liked it? Didn’t care? I want to know. Thanks in advance.