The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on another annoying strike. And according to ASUU National President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, “this strike will be total, comprehensive and indefinite.”
https://twitter.com/uthman_waxcav/status/1059324369300832256
History has shown that ASUU do not make empty threats with their strike actions. It has always been one long, seemingly endless war of attrition that ultimately affects students in multiple ways. Academic calendars severely disrupted, students lose interests in academic work, low morale, among many other things.
But this time around we hope things will be different. Not with the strike though, but for students.
SS3 Student:I applied for a 4years course into a Nigerian university
ASUU: pic.twitter.com/2FEiN1sREE
— Slim_berry💕Amina🔥 🇳🇬 (@Meeiynalicious) November 5, 2018
With the digital economy promising so many opportunities and adventures, this latest ASUU strike presents an important opportunity to learn something new.
So, below we’ve compiled a list of interesting digital skills students can learn during this latest ASUU strike.
Video Editing
Video editing is one of the most important digital skills you can learn during this latest ASUU strike.
Speaking from history, this ASUU strike could last several months. But if you can devote a solid one month to learn video editing, it could lead to many opportunities far beyond what you’d expect!
ASUU STRIKES IN NIGERIA:
1999 – 5 months
2001 – 3 months
2002 – 2 wks
2003 – 6 months(ended 2004)
2005 – 3 days
2006 – 1 wk
2007 – 3 months
2008 – 2 (1 week) each
2009 – 3 months
2010 – 5 months, 1wk
2011 – 3 months(ended 2012)
2013 – 5 months, 15 day
2017 – 1 month, 6 days— Son of David (@DrOlusesan) October 28, 2018
Unlike what many believe, video editing is not as hard as it appears. With the right tools one could blend and get started easily. Softwares like Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere Pro are quite powerful and popular, but their learning curves are quite steep. But other softwares like Wondershare Filmora and Windows Moviemaker are fantastic for newbies. And they’ll get you up and running in no time.
You can upload your videos to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter even Instagram. You could even go on to become a popular content creator! Who knows?!
Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Many graduates from the fields of engineering and even architecture have little knowledge of CAD. Meanwhile tools like AutoCad are essential for designs and prototypes they develop even as undergraduates. From designing cars to laying out the plans for a building, this skill is high in-demand. But it is not widespread which means it holds huge opportunities.
Before autoCad, do you remember? pic.twitter.com/WxGTjSiY8K
— Bald eagle (@notavulture) November 2, 2018
So why pay a hefty sum to someone else when you can learn how to use these softwares yourself? Make the right choice. Learn this skill during this latest ASUU strike.
Digital and Graphics Design
This is another interesting skill you can pick up during this latest ASUU strike. Importantly, graphics design is more than just Photoshop editing. But many people don’t know that. You have cartoons, user/app interface design and prototyping, among a few other things.
https://twitter.com/hephz_iba_h/status/1059208722801717248
There are already a ton of people who are graphic designers, but many of them concentrate on image manipulation. Why not take the leap and learn something different. Learn how to create comics and cartoons with Adobe Illustrator or Sketch. And learn how to develop phone and app mocks with Adobe XD and others.
Programming
This is the obvious choice for most people during this latest ASUU strike. And it’s not just a guy thing; programming is equality and attractive field for ladies too. Programming has become one of the most interesting things in the tech world. By becoming a programmer, you can contribute to the development of technology that people use on a daily basis.
But you have to be wise when making your selection of what to learn. Depending on your intentions, picking a wrong programming language may hamstring you and keep you from taking advantage of the mobile world.
If you are a coder affected by ASUU strike, tweet me a project you have online. You can stay busy in this period by interning with @hotelsng. Backend, Frontend, Design and Android tasks available.
— m_e (@markessien) November 5, 2018
If you want to build apps and tools for Apple, learn Swift or Objective-C. if you want to build for Android, learn Kotlin, Java or C#. and if you want to build for the web, there are a host of languages you can dabble into.
So make your pick, the latest ASUU strike affords you time to learn and explore.
Hardware Engineering
Learning how to repair and work with hardware could be one of the most important tech skills you could learn during this break. If you have the funds, go online and purchase the tools you’ll need to start working with hardware. If you’re strapped for cash head over to a trusted repairer around you and become his apprentice.
ASUU : The Strike would be indefinite and total
Final Year Students: pic.twitter.com/qzI9ofCzx5
— ADEMOLA. (@Dhemoskii_) November 4, 2018
This skill pays in the long run and you’ll be surprised how much money you could make from fixing simple problems with devices.
What do you know, you could even learn enough to become a successful entrepreneur from this.
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