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A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

foundersandcoders.org

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Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#21

Post by dsofer »

woodylondon wrote: post #17

Great idea! However, have you thought about a weekend / evening version for people working, but wanting to get out and do their own thing? I would so love to do this, but work full-time in a management role and the impossible just to not work for 7 weeks. I have so many ideas, but never really coded before and struggled with self learning.

Thank you for the feedback. We will be doing more stuff later in the year. I struggle with self learning, too. Peer pressure makes such a difference. Please follow @selforganising for updates.

Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#22

Post by dsofer »

atat wrote: post #13

This looks like a great initiative! How much competition per space are you expecting? Any chance of accepting text applications as well as video?

At this point we are not sure, but since the HN posting the odds may be about to lengthen. We will accept text applications if you have a good reason for not doing a video.

Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#23

Post by Alex3917 »

paul_f wrote: post #3

Who is funding this project? Hard to believe anyone would run a free 7-week course because they like to teach. This is similar to a course taught by General Assembly here in the US, but that course costs $11,500.

"Hard to believe anyone would run a free 7-week course because they like to teach."

Seth Godin ran a full-time free six-month MBA program because he likes to teach. There are a ton of smart people who really enjoy teaching, most just don't have the money to do it full time for free.

Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#24

Post by mrcdima »

netcan wrote: post #6
dsofer wrote: post #2

This is a course I am involved in, but I am hoping a free course of this kind is unusual enough to be of interest to Hacker News readers.

It is, but this is a little light on information. The course : What's the ciriculum. What's the structure. Will it be focused on building a project? Is this one-on-one instruction, classroom based, mentorship based, mostly self taught? What's the target/prerequisite level of student experience? The Free : How is it free? Donors? Volunteers? Is this the pilot for a for profit project?

Here's another useful link http://camdencollective.co.uk/academy/ There's a video in there and some other current info.

The main website should incorporate more of this information though. Right now details are scattered around twitter feeds, multiple websites, semi updated pages and this thread (hn is probably the best source of info right now).

Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#25

Post by ruggeri »

We (App Academy) did a free iOS course in 2013. It was fun and helped kick-start our business. I hope you have the same experience!

We broke even because we were able to collect some placement fees from companies that hired students. Even if we hadn't, the financial risk was not super high, since our time was the biggest investment.

If people from the US are interested in a similar program, you might want to look at [App Academy](http://appacademy.io). Our class is no longer truly free, but beside a refundable deposit, we don't collect any tuition until a graduate finds a job (and none if they don't).

Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#27

Post by [deleted] »

dsofer wrote: post #9
paul_f wrote: post #3

Who is funding this project? Hard to believe anyone would run a free 7-week course because they like to teach. This is similar to a course taught by General Assembly here in the US, but that course costs $11,500.

We have a bit of funding from Collective, which is a project in Camden Town offering free workspace and support to creative startups, which is in turn funded by the Mayor of London. I am not sure that what we are doing is exactly comparable to an offering like General Assembly, which is a very well-structured course and has many links with industry. What we are doing is much more seat of the pants. We are grabbing le…

[deleted]

Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#28

Post by andrey-p »

This is excellent, a friend of mine based in London was specifically looking for a way to learn programming on the cheap. I've sent him the link.

One thing - you should probably add a loads more prominent link to the foundersandcoders.org/intro page on the entry page - my friend isn't a sceptical HN reader, and he would've missed that link (and loads of useful information) very easily.

Re: A free full-time 7-week coding course in London

#29

Post by keithpeter »

alexpogosian wrote: post #14

This is a very interesting project. I wouldn't qualify since I've been working as a web developer for several years. But I'd love to see something like this in my home country (Republic of Georgia). I wonder if it's possible to do it without any teaching experience?

I am a teacher and I have been involved with teacher training in the UK at College and University level.

If you have been working with others as a Web developer, you will have acquired coaching skills and the ability to explain technical information.

I would suggest that you start with small groups of people (4 to 6) in a local coffee bar gain experience as to the things they find difficult by using materials easily available in the appropriate language.

A couple of workshops will give you an idea of what you need to focus on.

Basically, start and iterate. I hope the OP posts their materials as I think this is a nice idea to start in other cities.

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