Want to up those tech skills in 2020? If so, Codecademy, an interactive online learning community, recently polled 1,000 U.S. employees to pinpoint the Top 5 skills-based New Year’s resolutions related to technology.
- More than half (62%) said they their resolution involves gaining or improving a tech-related skill in 2020.
According to respondents, the Top 3 most in-demand Natural Processing Languages they want to learn are Python, SQL and Javascript.
The survey also found New Jersey (66%) was one of the Top 5 U.S. states where residents are planning to make resolutions to improve their tech skills, with the rest being in New York (71%), Ohio (70%), Pennsylvania (69%), Maryland (67%).
“When people learn to write code, they’re embarking on a journey of personal transformation that emanates into every other part of their lives. It helps people realize their personal and professional potential, and teaches them to become problem-solvers,” Zach Sims, CEO and co-founder, Codecademy, said.
- Personal growth and lifelong learning are top motivators for people to learn a new skill in 2020.
More than half (57%) of respondents said “self-betterment” was the main driver behind learning a new hard skill this year. Professional growth was the second largest (23%), followed by potential to earn or save more money (20%).
“Learning is a lifelong journey requiring someone to experiment, make mistakes, and devise solutions to problems. As Codecademy’s audience becomes much more mainstream, the path to learning is no longer the straight path it used to be. Learners have a much more dynamic learning journey and there is an opportunity to bring programming and coding to the masses along this new path,” Sims said.
- Most (82%) said they believe coding and programming resolutions have the most universal growth potential.
“Hard skills like SQL and Java are going to continue to be in high demand for the foreseeable future, but another coding language I suggest all people learn is Python. It is an ideal skill to learn in the new year because it is in high demand (about 18% of tech job postings asked candidates to understand Python in 2019) and also because it is designed to be easy to read and learn,” Sims said.
- Nearly 73% said the best way to master a new skill is to ‘learn by doing.’
Also, 23% said receiving timely feedback is crucial for success in skills-based learning.
“Codecademy believes that ‘when one teaches, two learn.’ This quote can be attributed to Robert Heinlein. To turn that belief into a reality for people learning to code, we built an online community with tens of thousands of members,” Sims said. “Across the globe, people meet and connect on their learning journeys, helping to motivate one another, celebrate accomplishments, and debug code. The forums and our Facebook group are open to all, and there’s also an exclusive community for Pro members.”
- More than half (68%) said they have completed a skills-based resolution in the past, with 57% saying they will likely complete their resolutions this year.
“Learning to code is a vehicle for evolving ourselves. It empowers people everywhere to build something meaningful,” Sims said.
