Life long learning

Life long learning

Over the past two years, I have dedicated much of my spare time to learning about new technologies such as Android, Data Science and various Cloud Technologies. During this period, I have used a number of online providers such as Udacity, Coursera, and Udemy to name a few.

Given the interest in the media regarding these organisations, I thought I would feedback my thoughts on the online courses provided by Udacity. If you are looking to get into many of the latest technologies, Udacity offers a fantastic range of online courses. For example, if you are interested in learning to develop mobile applications (either for Android or iOS) then there is a course for that. I highly recommend the Android nanodegree which has helped me gain both confidence and experience in Android development. Taught by Udacity and Google engineers, it is a fun and educational experience.

Nanodegree programs are built with a mission in mind: to equip students with the most in demand skills being sought after by the best companies. To achieve this objective, we design curricula in partnership with a shortlist of leading brands like Google, AT&T, Facebook, Salesforce, Cloudera, and more. These curriculum partnerships ensure that the skills our students are mastering are the same skills top employers want to see in their candidates.

These nanodegree curriculum partnerships ensure that the skills our students are mastering are the same skills top employers want to see in their candidates.

One of the more interesting aspects of the courses delivered by Udacity is the fee structure. I really appreciate the model used by Udacity (i.e. freemium or paid) as this provides a great leveler for a global audience. The paid versions of the courses provide additional support and review for any assessments performed.

Note the course work remains the same between the freemium and paid versions, it is only the level of support that differs.

Being part of a global community of students presents a unique opportunity to share and learn from different cultures and perspectives. The fact the same course-ware is available for free means I can sample the content before subscribing to the paid version, without loss of quality or context. In fact, Udacity makes it very easy for you to do just this, which is wonderfully freeing in a capitalist world.

Working through technical courses and sharing queries and help with fellow students provides a legitimate University feel. As the course progresses, you can push yourself or take a more relaxed approach, it totally up to you.

Get more information by looking at the Udacity blog.

I would highly recommend anyone thinking about learning a new technology to give online training a try. The course-ware is excellent and provides a really decent challenge, in terms of learning new materials and focusing on delivering against deadlines.