Friday, June 27, 2014

Nanodegrees Offer New Way for Students

Last year, Udacity promised a new path for students to earn a diploma. The online education provider is delivering on that promise by developing nanodegrees, online learning that is vocationally focused and can lead to a degree within 12 months.

Learners will acquire bite-size chucks of information through select hands-on courses with an emphasis on skills that can be applied to a job. AT&T partnered on the program, will accept the nanodegree as a credential for entry-level jobs, and has reserved 100 internships for graduates, according to a report in The New York Times.

The first nanodegrees to be offered this fall will focus on front-end web developers, back-end web developers, iOS and Android mobile developers, and data analysts. It should take a working student six to 12 months to complete the degree.

“We will teach all the necessary skills together with why those skills matter along with career guidance,” Clarissa Shen, vice president, business development and partnerships, wrote on the Udacity blog. “In other words, you won’t just learn ‘how’ to code, but also ‘why.’”