What are collaboration and learning in public?

Collaboration is when two or more people, organizations or entities work together to complete a task or achieve specific goals. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear about collaboration is community. Learning in public means sharing your knowledge, experiences or journey through making videos, writing articles, blogs and many more.

Why are collaboration and learning in public important?

1. Diverse resources and skill sets to achieve a particular goal
2. Diverse perspectives and problem-solving approaches
3. Network with people from all around the world
4. Enhance soft skills
5. Learn to be inclusive and respectful while interacting with people from diverse backgrounds
6. We learn to be empathetic and patient while interacting with others
7. We learn about leadership and teamwork skills
8. Patience and empathy
9. Learn to take feedback positively
10. Develop an attitude of giving back rather than being selfish and competitive

My Journey and lessons of collaboration and learning in public

I have been a part of multiple open-source programs and communities. Open source is about communities, collaboration, learning, and knowledge sharing.

1. Open source Hack mentor - July & October
2. MLH Fellowship (Prep) - July
3. HacktoberFest
4. MLH Fellowship in Software Engineering track
5. Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI) by the Society of Women Engineers
6. Harvard WECode Tech Fellow
7. Technical Coach for the Apprenticeship Pathway Program (APP) at AnitaB.org
8. Member and contributor at Layer5
9. Community Manager for CodeIn Community

How I practised collaboration & learning in public at every step

1. Overcoming my shyness.
2. Joining various global communities
3. How to find out about communities?
4. Joining their public channels
5. Attending community meetings
6. Do proper research before asking any questions. Asking good questions.
7. What do I mean by good questions with examples?
8. Asking questions in public channels of the communities
9. Sharing about a Pull request that got merged in an organization on my social media accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn) by tagging the organization
10. Applying for speaking at Conferences
11. How to write a CFP?
12. Sharing about a program, conference, meetup or webinar that I attended
13. Sharing about a project that I recently built
14. Writing blogs
15. Joining twitter spaces
16. Maintaining a good GitHub profile and regularly contributing to open source
17. Sharing about a training program or course that I am currently doing
18. Sharing achievements
19. Applying for fellowships, mentorships and various learning programs to join a group of folks with similar interests
20. Learning the art of following up
21. Volunteering
22. Signing up for newsletters

Some other ways

1. Participating and sharing Hackathon Experiences
2. Apply to good ambassador programs
3. Google Developer Student Club, Microsoft Learn student ambassador and GitHub campus expert. We should avoid joining programs just for certificates. It should help us in growing our skills and network.
4. Content creation - videos, articles, tutorials, podcasts, workshop
5. Create a community

Unlocking opportunities

1. Networking
2. Show real-world experiences in your social profile/resume which can help you land a great job
3. It helps in building credibility
4. Get reached out by companies for amazing opportunities