Recently I had conversation about some tutorials that my friend watched. He compared them to other tutorials, that he referred to as beginners, and other “more complex” – advanced. So I did look at both, comparing them. Interestingly enough, that in the “beginners” or easier tutorial there was more information provided, both in the amount and the level of skill, than in the “complex” more advanced. In fact, the advanced tutorials had some errors explaining functionality of application, because instructor was based on assumptions and not explaining in basic how does it work.
What was make it look as more advanced? First, way both instructor presenting, one (beginner) avoided using any short cuts, that was invisible to the viewer and explained every step. The “Advanced” was flying through menus with short cuts making it hard to follow. Yes it was apparent that the instructor had a lot of knowledge, but they did not teach that knowledge in the tutorials. Next instead using simple explanations (simple is genius) the “advanced” instructor used complex phrases.
In comparing those tutorials I found that easily understanding first tutorials make it feel like easy material to learn, so it’s probably beginners.
It reminded me of the time at school, where I hated math, because all the teachers followed manuals and never really cared if the student understood how it worked, just as long as they memorized the steps. Later, at university I had one math teacher, who had a talent to explore how stuff work. I remember how excited I was, because I really understood how it worked, on a basic level. I remember my thoughts that it was so easy … probably beginners level 🙂
In the end, don’t tell then something is more advanced because you don’t understand, it may be that the instructor is just not good…
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