Comment by netcan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by netcan | Hacker News Reader

It's interesting looking at the arc that education related products/startups are going through. It's obvious that the internet should be revolutionizing education, but Universities and other traditional institutions still seem more or less unchanged. Various (mostly free) mass online education platforms/products/startups emerge. A lot of interest follows. Results are good but not revolutionizing education in 2 years good. A lot of people get frustrated with some of the hurdles (benchamarking, coaching, commitment) and find they can be overcome with in person education. A bunch of intensive, small, energetic courses with high teacher/student ratios emerge that squash those problems.

I'm not saying its not a productive process. It might be just what's needed. Education is hard and important and it seems like progress is happening.

Since it's free to comment, I'll comment that I'd like to see these two newly invigorated paths cross-pollinate. Is there a way of getting all the advantages of in-person education at scale and with lower costs? Can technology be used to lower teacher student ratio without costing effectiveness?

This is all of course through the lens of the stuff reaching me via articles & blogs & HN. In reality I am sure that the majority of people learning stuff are completely unaffected by either MIT Open courseware, Corsera... It's really more an arc of HN interest, but still.

I think we strike a great balance of what you're looking for at Tealeaf Academy.

If you're looking for an online option, check out Tealeaf Academy for an online bootcamp: http://www.gotealeaf.com Disclaimer: I'm a cofounder.

Our courses are project driven and you learn with a cohort. We want to maintain the quality and intensity, without forcing you to relocate or quit your job. The trade off is that we mentor you for a longer duration. If that appeals to you, then Tealeaf Academy could make sense for you.

hint: hover over the faces on the world map for student testimonials

Interesting. It seems like a paid version of coursera with a job-based focus, like the various intensive hacker schools. Do you post stats on your students' post-graduation placement like those schools usually do? Do you get any income via recruitment fees for companies hiring them?

Cool.

Would you guys should consider doing a podcast or something to document your progress & ideas. This is an area with a lot of interest and I think its likely that people would like to listen to conversations about what its like to run these 21 century courses. Might also be an opportunity to interview smart people and market your academy.

In the UK the Open University has been doing distance learning for many years.

They approach this with distance learning materials, exercises regularly marked by real people giving feedback, IIRC regular monthly opportunities to go and speak to your peers and slightly less regular opportunities to meet the course tutors.

Once a year, depending on the course, they would run a 1 - 2 week intensive, usually in summer.

Some new startups and technologies are serving great purpose. For example when you take some classes at uc Berkeley, they shove you into a social network of classes teachers and students. Students ask each other and the teachers questions about work assignments, etc unifying your 500 person lecture.

Not quite: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732444230457823...

Universities are already starting to lose the monopoly they once held as more and more students realize that $200,000 of debt might not be worth it for a piece of paper.

Can someone who knows this course, chime in:

Is this a way for designers & people who have dabbled with coding to become professional programmers (IE some sort of alternative to Uni) or a way for people who are already professional programmers to learn a new programming environment (IE alternative to on the job training)

This a way for designers to learn to code. Our next bootcamp is in Javascript and we're aiming it at designers who are tired of handing over their comps for someone else to build. I'm a designer who learned to code, and want to help others do the same.

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