Episode 11: February 2017 Bootcamp News

Here’s what we found ourselves reading and discussing in the Course Report office in February 2017! We found out the three most in-demand programming languages, we read about how coding could be the new blue collar job, and looked at how new schools are tweaking the bootcamp model to fit their communities. Plus, we hear about a cool app for NBA fans built by coding bootcamp graduates! Read below or listen to our latest Coding Bootcamp News Roundup Podcast.

General News

• Coding Dojo did an analysis of the most in-demand programming languages and found the most popular was SQL followed by Java, Python, JavaScript, C++, C#, Perl, iOS, and PHP (San Diego Times).
• Miami Herald reported on Wyncode coding bootcamp raising $1 million of funding, and the opening of their new campus, Wynbase.
• Coding has been dubbed “The Next Big Blue Collar Job” by Wired magazine, because of the need for a variety of different skill levels, similarly to older industries like coal mining.
• The Wall Street Journal looked at how coding bootcamps can retrain workers in Middle America for the 21st century, and gives examples of successful graduates from Software Guild and WeCanCode IT - both coding bootcamps in Ohio.

Life At Bootcamp

• DevMountain founder Cahlan Sharp wrote a guest post for Developer Tech looking at what life is like at a coding bootcamp and covers topics such as financing, experience requirements, quality of different bootcamps, and how to research them.
• A reporter for Austin Inno, published a roundup of all the coding bootcamps in Austin, including Galvanize, General Assembly, Dev Bootcamp, and Hack Reactor.
• Dev Bootcamp founder Shereef Bishay talks about why he sold the company, and his new coding education venture Learners Guild, which is 10 months with deferred tuition.
• EdSurge interviewed 42’s US COO Brittany Bir for their On Air podcast. Brittany explains how 42 students are teaching each other and working through projects, and about plans to increase enrollment with space for up to 1024 students at the Bay Area campus.

Life & Career After Bootcamp

• Flatiron School iOS grads have launched a series of messaging apps called Small Stars featuring NBA players. They started a digital agency called Hijinx after graduating (Huffington Post).
• Built in Chicago interviewed four Coding Temple graduates about their post-bootcamp lives and what sort of jobs they found.
• An article in Fast Company stresses that while coding is important, networking is just as crucial for jumpstarting your technology career.
• California State Investigators are looking into whether students get what they pay for at coding bootcamps (ABC News).
• Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR) launched this month. Members of the council include Hack Reactor, Hackbright Academy, and Thinkful, who have have agreed to a set of outcomes reporting standards.

Bootcamps Around the World

• We got to know Fereshteh Forough, the woman who started Code to Inspire coding bootcamp for women in Afghanistan. She studied computer science in Berlin and then taught CS at a university (Green Biz).
• Coding bootcamps are opening in Brazil to help battle unemployment during their ongoing economic crisis. Le Wagon is one of the coding bootcamps that opened a campus in Brazil last year (Plus 55).
• We heard from British-based coding bootcamp Founders and Coders about why they are opening a new campus in Nazareth, Israel (Jerusalem Post).
• An online, mentored coding bootcamp has launched in Nepal. Founders Takehiro Mouri and Natsuko Robyn, started Techrise six months ago to give back to the community which had helped them during the 2015 earthquake (My Republica).

Colleges + Coding Bootcamps

• We learned about how companies are helping colleges break into the bootcamp space, such as Learning House and Trilogy Education (Inside Higher Ed)
• Borough of Manhattan Community College is connecting students to Code to Work (C2W), and #CUNYCodes to help them train for in-demand technology roles.
• Brigham Young University newspaper The Daily Universe profiled coding bootcamps in the Utah area, discussing how they offer more hands-on experience compared with traditional college education.
• Coding Dojo has teamed up with Seattle Central college to deliver programming courses at the Continuing Education Department for working professionals.

New Bootcamps/Bootcamp Updates

• Bottega bootcamp and DevCamp in Utah have merged to form a new campus in Lehi, Utah. The bootcamp will now be called Bottega and offers a full-time 12-weeks program, and a self-paced part-time program.
• Coding school Covalence is opening in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 10-week coding bootcamp aims to fill the many open IT positions in the area. Covalence has also taken over Depot/U in Birmingham, Alabama.
• Grand Circus coding bootcamp is opening a campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They already have a campus in Detroit, where they have graduated 600 students (MLive).
• The Tech Life podcast interviewed founder of Charleston, North Carolina-based JRS Coding School, who explained how it was founded to leverage tech to improve healthcare, while growing tech talent in the Charleston area.

New Schools

• JRS Coding School, Charleston
• University of Denver Coding Boot Camp, Denver
• i2 Labs Academy, Miami
• Mente Argentina, Buenos Aires
• Dallas Coding Academy, Dallas
• San Antonio Coding Academy, San Antonio
• Houston Coding Academy, Houston

Favorite Pieces on the Blog

Imogen Crispe

• Jessie, Natalie, and Jenna showed me a Virtual Reality hand rehabilitation app they built for their Dev Bootcamp final project! Check out the video of their project demo.

Lauren Stewart

• Our Ultimate Guide to Mobile Development Bootcamps compares average salaries for Android and iOS developers, lists the skills you need to succeed in this field, and we give our suggestions for the top mobile bootcamps

Liz Eggleston

• I spoke with Chuck Xenakis the Global Head of Technology Recruiting Strategy at JPMorgan Chase who has hired five coding bootcamp grads from Tech Elevator in Columbus, Ohio, and also hires from ZipCode Wilmington and Hack Reactor.

FURTHER READING:

• January 2017 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• November 2016 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• October 2016 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast

About The Author

Imogen is a writer and content producer who loves writing about technology and education. Her background is in journalism, writing for newspapers and news websites. She grew up in England, Dubai and New Zealand, and now lives in Brooklyn, NY.