Hello Prime subscribers!
You’ve probably noticed the Timeline feature in the top right corner of the app recently: https://learn.thoughtbot.com/timeline
This is an announcement and a bit of an explanation. Please, if you have any comments or suggestions, enter them in below.
Something we often ask ourselves is “how can we be successful in training the kind of developers we’d want to see in the workforce?” It’s why we started offering workshops in 2008, it’s why we started Learn in the first place, and it’s why we started offering mentorship this summer. The timeline is another answer to that question, and we think it’ll be a huge aide to the mentor/mentee relationship.
As you work through learning Ruby on Rails, or any other trail, your trail completions will display on your timeline — this can include workshops, videos, and other Learn resources. When you meet with your mentor, they’ll see where you’ve been since the last meeting and what you’re working on now. Your mentor may recommend a resource or create an exercise, recorded for future reference via notes, and you could reply with a github link to a completed exercise for the next meeting. Notes help both you and your mentor remember everything and catch up. There are lots of possibilities since the format is so free, and we’re excited to see where it goes.
What if you don’t have a mentor?
Everything still works the same, but no-one else will be looking at your timeline. You can keep track of your progress yourself, and record resources, TODOs, etc. with notes. If you upgrade and get a mentor, they’ll see everything you’ve done.
If you downgrade and lose a mentor, you’ll retain their notes. The same goes for if you switch mentors.
What if you’re working on something not covered by trails?
Notes are totally free-form, so even if you don’t have complementary trail completions, your mentor can still recommend resources, exercises, etc. Whatever useful things you discuss in your meetings that you want to remember for the next meeting can be recorded on the timeline.