The term "self taught" is gaining in popularity, but has been used for many years. Some have called me self taught and I have at times referred to myself the same way. However, I always had a problem with this term because it feels like it was giving me too much credit. I'd ask my, am I smart enough to teach myself something that I know knowing about? No, so I wasn't actually self taught. I've always been taught by someone else. So, whether it was from a video course, an online platform, a book, or a blog; someone else taught me.
So, now we know we aren't "self taught", what are we?
I was pondering this and landed on the term "Self Guided" and I believe this most accuratley reflects the actions of someone taking this path to learn. So what makes someone "Self Guided"? Generally speaking, it's someone that didn't take a formal educational approach. So you didn't go to college or a bootcamp. However, after the initial learning curve we all become these "Self Guided" learners.
The most difficult part of being "self guided" is not the act of learning, but deciding where to start and what resources to use. There are more resources than ever and some are good and some are not so good. So, making the wrong choices could lead to wasted time and having to relearn something.
Even though we aren't attending accredited universities or well known bootcamps doesn't mean that we aren't being taught by someone.