In May the coding bootcamp industry got a lot of coverage in mainstream news including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. In our latest podcast we discuss the new ways military veterans can learn to code, we look at three New York Times articles about coding bootcamps, and hear about a coding bootcamp facing closure. Income share agreements remained a hot topic, plus find out about diversity scholarships, university and coding bootcamp partnerships and more!
Computer weekly covered Makers Academy’s announcement of their Women in Software Power List which honors 30 women in the UK who represent the best of the coding community.
An Opinion piece in the New York Times by author Malcolm Harris, likens students using ISAs to “subprime students” and worries that, “If I.S.A.s take off as a desirable funding source, it’s inevitable that they will begin to reshape childhood… Every child becomes his or her own start-up.”
Steve Lohr from the New York Times looks at how effective intense technology programs are for helping people move into the middle class, focusing on nonprofit organizations like TechHire, Skillful, Per Scholas and Year Up
Nate Swanner from Dice looks at tips for choosing a good coding bootcamp including looking at outcomes, understanding what the bootcamp offers, and reading reviews.
A Forbes contributor also looks at demand for data scientists in the US, saying that demand for data science is increasing, citing a report from Indeed which found a 30% increase in demand since 2018, but searches by job seekers only grew by 15%.
Tech Education in Africa and the Middle East
Lambda School, an online bootcamp which offers Income Share Agreements is launching in Africa alongside Microsoft’s Africa Development Centre in Lagos and Nairobi.
Region Week also looked at the eligibility requirements for Lambda School in Africa – it’s open to citizens of Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa who are 18 years old or above. Lambda School is partnering with PayStack to provide co-working space for students.
Business insider reports that Andela is launching a new program called The Power of X which aims to recruit mid-level and senior software developers to work with clients, alongside the apprentices. Remember that Andela raised $100 million in Series D funding in January 2019.
Africa News reports that the first free coding school in Senegal, Sonatel Academy, is taking part in the Digital Women’s Day event in Dakar, Senegal on June 13 and 14, and will involve talks by prominent women in tech, as well as an awards ceremony.
Education Dive reporter Hallie Busta interviewed Trilogy CEO Dan Sommer about the recent Trilogy acquisition by 2U for $750 million. Dan talks about how 2U’s capabilities will accelerate Trilogy’s expansion on the ground and online, how the practical skills Trilogy focuses on complement traditional degrees, and how Trilogy is trying to be more transparent when they are providing curriculum for college-branded courses.
University of Connecticut is partnering with Trilogy Education to launch a coding bootcamp in Stamford. The 24-week part time program begins on July 30. Trilogy now partners with 46 universities.
In Boston, Wayfair is partnering with Boston coding bootcamp Resilient Coders to recruit software developers. Students can get two weeks of additional training, specific to the technical-skill requirements and programming languages needed for a job at the company.
The Arizona Central, Education Dive, and other publications report that Woz U, Steve Wozniak’s coding school, has had its license revoked in Arizona and may be forced to close, after the discovery of connections with a suite of career college collapses.
The New York Times and Post Industrial dive into a lawsuit against coding bootcamp Mined Minds, a bootcamp set up with the goal of helping people in West Virginia affected by the decline in coal mining retrain to work in tech. Now more than 20 former students are pursuing a lawsuit claiming that Mined Minds was a fraud.
US News looks at how people should research coding bootcamps before signing up, citing Course Report stats, and noting that a number of bootcamps have closed over the years, and some get mixed reviews, or have faced scrutiny from local governments.
An opinion piece on Huff Post looks at whether tech companies inflate the costs of online education. They’re talking about 2U here, which just acquired Trilogy Education.
American Inno covered the launch of online data science training program Refactored.ai that has a deferred tuition model, so graduates don’t pay until they have landed a job. The course Uses AI to personalize learning.
Coding Dojo is offering scholarships to teachers in Seattle who have been laid off from their jobs. Their are 30 scholarships available for June, July, August and September for students to attend the 14-week coding bootcamp at their Bellevue campus, or online.
New Coding Bootcamps on Course Report
Bethel Tech, an online coding bootcamp founded by the Bethel Church
Imogen enjoyed interviewing Alex Mannix, a woman who graduated from Codesmith coding bootcamp in New York. Alex had always been interested in coding, but initially dismissed it in college because of imposter syndrome, and feeling like she should have been doing it since she was 10. Then she won the Edie Windsor Lesbians Who Tech Scholarship to fund 50% of her Codesmith tuition! She explained how supportive both the Lesibans Who Tech and the Codesmith communities are, and how she hopes to inspire more women to think about getting into tech!
Liz got to chat with two employers who hire from bootcamps in May! First, she talked with the VP of People at CD Baby, Gretchen Boster, about how their new hires from Epicodus coding bootcamp in Portland, Oregon are performing on the job. CD Baby actually participates in Epicodus’ internship program which facilitates internships for all Epicodus students. Liz also talked with Avery Johnson, a Technical Solutions Recruiter for Datadog, to understand the value bootcamp grads bring to the Solutions Engineer role. They hire mainly from Flatiron School.
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.
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