Previously, I wrote about modern-day education. In this post, let’s explore how the role of the college lecturer has evolved over time.

Traditionally, lecturers were at the heart of higher education. Their primary responsibility was to deliver lectures—bringing a human touch to the world of reading and writing. These sessions, often informal in tone, helped break down complex topics into digestible chunks. The setting was familiar: four walls, a blackboard and chalk—or later, a whiteboard and marker.

As developers, we often get comfortable with a language and ecosystem, mastering its quirks and nuances. But what happens when we need to step out of our comfort zone? What if the best tool for the job is in a language we haven’t touched before? The transition from one language to another used to be a daunting task, requiring days of reading books, writing small programs, and debugging mysterious errors. However, in the era of AI-assisted development, this learning curve has flattened significantly.

In the past, formal education was primarily accessible through schools, colleges, and universities. However, this is no longer the only path to gaining knowledge. Today, with the vast array of modern tools and technologies available online, self-education has become more viable than ever. If you have the motivation and discipline, you can learn virtually any subject without attending a traditional institution.

Education is now widely accessible through various online resources, including: