Leading online education platform Codecademy is offering ten thousand free Codecademy scholarships to high school and college students around the world to help them make the most of prolonged school and college closures and learn to code in the most fun and interactive way.
The deadly coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the workplace and school closures across the globe, forcing parents and employees to reflect upon the various learning opportunities and career choices available today. Is this the right career path? Will it help me discover my dream job? What are the critical skills for tomorrow?
And while there may not be one common answer to all these questions, there is no denying that learning to code is one of the essential skills in the digital era.
Learn to code with Codecademy scholarships
As a leader in online coding education, co-founder and CEO of Codecademy, Zach Sims, recently took to Twitter to announce the launch of Codecademy scholarships. The ninety-day learning course will enable students with .k12 or .edu email domains to choose from a variety of coding courses, get access to thousands of courses and projects that teach programming, web, and mobile development skills and data science analytics.
The firm has a solid user base of forty-five million and a teaching experience of over seven years. It boasts of a step-by-step approach to learning coding skills remotely, building real-world projects that give the first-hand experience of coding jobs, and dedicated community support to help one stay focussed and motivated.
Coronavirus pandemic reshapes the face of education
Meanwhile, as the potentially fatal virus continues to spread across continents, learning from home has become the new normal. Although these changes come with a certain degree of inconvenience, especially for the technologically challenged population, there is no doubt that it is changing the way students are educated.
As the World Economic Forum reported on Friday, the centuries-old approach to teaching, which involves outdated teaching techniques, is gradually transforming into virtual reality experiences. Virtual lessons and live broadcasts are pushing students to improve their digital skills drastically.
In Hong Kong, where the primary and kindergarten classes are suspended at least until Easter, watching three and four-year-olds mimicking nursery rhyme actions taught by their teachers through video lessons is a common sight, making it apparent that digital learning is no longer limited to older kids.
It is also estimated that over the next ten years, computer science will generate over one and a half million jobs worldwide. And coding is the fuel required to drive it. In fact, jobs that are not directly associated with coding, such as banking, healthcare, or journalism, will need at least some understanding of this essential future skill.
Codecademy scholarships announcement spurs excitement on Twitter
Needless to say, Codecadamy’s recent announcement spurred interests among many coding enthusiasts. One twitter follower urged Sims to work on non-US domains as not everyone has access to the .edu email account. Sims replied to the comment stating that the firm is working on the same and is open to receiving recommendations on how to incorporate non-K12 and non-edu email domains.
Another user sought clarification on whether the Codecademy scholarships are only accessible to high school students and above, to which Sims replied that it is available for K12 as well as college students.
Many others thanked Sims and Codecademy scholarships for letting them use their free time constructively and learn skills that essentially matter in the future.
Indeed, the pandemic has allowed many to rethink their survival strategy for the future, which remains largely vulnerable to technological changes and environmental uncertainties. If anything, it is a strong indicator of what education will be like in the years to come.
