Episode 33: September 2018 Bootcamp News

The coding bootcamp industry is always evolving, so at Course Report we closely follow news and announcements in the coding education space. In September we saw a lot of interesting new data around women in tech and how coding bootcamps are increasing accessibility for underrepresented groups. We also read about new apprenticeship initiatives, heard from students about their experiences, and founders told us about taking bootcamps in new directions. There were also articles about the impact of bootcamps on the education industry as a whole, and advice about finding a job after bootcamp.

Impact of Coding Bootcamps

• A Forbes contributor looks at how skills transformation via bootcamps, online programs, and MOOCs are transforming the workplace.
• An EdSurge podcast featured Career Karma CEO Ruben Harris where he talked about his efforts to help non-traditional students, like bootcamp grads, work in the tech sector.
• An opinion piece in DevOps.com looks at how automation is changing the nature of education, and mentions growth in coding bootcamp graduates, and how these days, people can learn all they need for a job without a college degree.
• Petersons looks at how to choose between a CS degree and a coding bootcamp (this is a website that promotes colleges).
   

Student Experiences

• E27 website published a guest post from ALPHA Camp coding bootcamp in Singapore profiling 4 successful Singaporean entrepreneurs about why they each went to ALPHA Camp.
• Vermont Biz profiles Burlington Code Academy’s first cohort of students.
• A Thinkful guest post for WRAL TechWire profiled a Thinkful student who built an algorithm to predict the probability of NFL teams scoring!
• In their “Pathways to Prosperity” series, Cleveland.com profiles students from Cleveland Codes and Tech Elevator.
   

Getting Hired after Bootcamp

• A Flatiron School guest post in Hypepotamus looks at how students can maximize their bootcamp experience and chances of getting a job.
• Built In Austin wrote about how 5 Austin tech companies help their employees learn like HomeAway who grows employee skills via bootcamps.
• Quartz looks at the realities of switching careers into tech, gives tips on making sure it goes smoothly, and looks at coding bootcamps and the media coverage of people switching careers.
   

Founder Profiles

• The Founder of ALPHA Camp explains how he closed down his campus and relaunched as an online bootcamp.
• The Evening Standard profiles ReCoded, a 5-month coding bootcamp in Iraq which has been around for 2 years now, and it’s female founder is working to “bring the country to a more digital economy and give students the opportunity to take control of their futures.”
• Jenny Anderson of Quartz profiled 42, the free, teacher-less university in France, looking at the millions of dollars and euros founder Xavier Niel spent on the Paris and Silicon Valley campuses.
• Fox profiles Memphis-based Code Crew, a non-profit group that’s trying to encourage more African Americans and women to work technical careers in Tennessee.
• WJCB Profiles Gainesville Dev Academy, talking to founder Duncan Kabinu about the shortage of developers in the area, and the varied backgrounds students come from.
   

Women Working in Tech

• An article in the Wall Street Journal looks at how the hiring of women in tech has only grown 1% since 2017, with women represented in 24% of technical roles. The article talks to a number of company leaders about what needs to be done to increase workplace diversity.
• WRGZ looked at the equity gap between men and women in tech, and suggested that if companies want to increase the number of women in tech, they should root out bias in hiring, and mentions bootcamps as a way to avoid bias.
• An article in Technically DC, not really about bootcamps, has a nice story about The Melanin Collective, an organization created to support the professional growth and development of women of color in tech through webinars, workshops and curated social media talks.
• A letter to the editor on Syracuse.com from the founder of Hack Upstate, a bootcamp launching in 2019 to teach women and minorities to code in upstate NY talks about poverty in the area, and employers struggling to hire local developers.
• Emma Simms of Alphr.com rounded up the best free coding courses for women in London.
   

Initiatives to Increase Accessibility

• DeltaV school will receive $10,000 in grants from the state of Iowa to fund five scholarships for students from underrepresented demographics, and go towards costs of running the school.
• The Bridge BK profiles CodeBridge, a joint venture between Per Scholas, General Assembly, and AT&T, aimed at giving underserved students a career boost in the technology field.
• Codewit wants to teach 100 people to code for free in Ghana, with the top students placed in full or part-time employment after a 3 month internship.
• Former Iron Yard staff member Lelia King has helped launch a state-funded free platform to allow beginners to learn coding skills in South Carolina.
   

Apprenticeships for Coding Bootcamp Grads

• Slack is partnering with Hack Reactor to offer apprenticeships to formerly incarcerated people.
• A CNBC video featured Heather Terenzio, Techtonic Group CEO, discussing her coding bootcamp and how coding apprenticeships can help close the skills gap.
• ElearningInside covers the news that UK-based startup WhiteHat has raised $4 million to expand their apprenticeship-based education. WhiteHat partners with coding bootcamps like Flatiron School and General Assembly to place students in apprenticeships.
   

Bootcamp Updates

• The University of Oregon, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Wisconsin are launching Trilogy Education’s 24-week part-time web development program covering full stack JavaScript programming.
• Geekwire announced that Flatiron School is expanding to Seattle – their first West Coast location. They also have campuses in NYC, London, Houston, Atlanta, and Washington D.C.
• News 12 Connecticut announced that San Francisco-based, 2-year code school Holberton School, is opening in Connecticut!
• Rivard Report reports that 18-week coding bootcamp Codeup has expanded its campus in San Antonio, Texas, and is developing a new data science program.
• CIO Dive published an update on Woz U. One year in, Woz U says adult education is the largest focus right now. Most of their students are in the 25 to 35 year age range, with almost two-thirds already holding a degree and looking for a second career.
• Israel21c.org profiled Elevation Academy, a digital nomads-type destination bootcamp in Mexico, which is a partnership with Selina Hostels – Israeli-founded coworking and accommodation spaces geared to Gen X “digital nomads”.
• WMC5 reports that Code Crew school, a nonprofit coding bootcamp in Memphis, Tennessee is calling for nominations for students to enroll for the January 2019 class.
• Yuanxia Ding, who previously served as Chief of Staff to the Department of Education’s former Under Secretary, Ted Mitchell, during the Obama Administration, has joined Skills Fund.
• Manchester, UK-based coding bootcamp Northcoders is launching an introduction to programming course which starts in October 2018.
   

New Bootcamps on Course Report

• Code Stack Academy, San Joaquin, California
• Rice University Data Analytics Boot Camp, Houston, Texas
• BeCode, Brussels, Belgium
• University of Oregon Coding Boot Camp, Portland, Oregon
• Vanderbilt University Coding Boot Camp, Nashville, Tennessee
• KMMX IT Training Center, Mexico City, Mexico
• University of Wisconsin Extension Coding Boot Camp, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
   

Favorite Articles on the Blog

Imogen Crispe

• I really enjoyed speaking to three military veterans who recently graduated from Tech Elevator. They each were in different parts of the military, different ages, and had very different careers following the military, so it was fascinating to hear about their varied experiences, and how their military training translated into programming and doing a coding bootcamp. They all used the GI Bill for their tuition.

Lauren Stewart

• I enjoyed finding out how Code Fellows helps their students land jobs. I spoke with their Director of Partner Relations, and Head of Instruction, to learn more about the Code Fellows Career Accelerator program, their hiring partner relationships, and how they help grads land roles at Microsoft, Amazon, and Expedia! So check that piece out!

Liz Eggleston

• My favorite piece to work on this month was another podcast. Jeff Casimir from Turing joined me to talk about what it actually feels like and looks like to learn at a bootcamp. We break down the differences between traditional education and a bootcamp, and how folks who didn’t do well in high school or college may really benefit from a bootcamp learning style. We also transcribed it, so you can listen or read.

FURTHER READING/LISTENING

• August 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• July 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• June 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast

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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.