Three fundamental concepts of learning IT in the modern era
IT professionals are rocking the 10 most in-demand tech jobs for 2020. And yet the industry is still struggling with supply for these positions.
Clearly there’s a major issue, and it’s this: how can we ensure that IT professionals are receiving quality training and education so that the companies that need them can have newcomers operating at full capacity from day one? This supply-demand dilemma originates from fundamental issues in the foundations of the IT education system.
Google (being Google) is making a major move to change the job-seeking landscape, the future of work, and the future of higher education with its new 6-Month Certificate program.
Meanwhile, other companies are doing whatever they can to attract top tech talent. They lure them from other companies or invest in in-house training and empower their junior engineers to grow faster.
But ultimately, a critical problem remains: the tech education system still hasn’t found an effective way to equip future juniors with the real-world skills they need to survive and thrive in a tech workplace from day one. Instead, the burden is left to the IT professionals themselves and the companies they end up working for.
But Turing College is stepping in with a radical alternative based on EdTech innovation - a teacher-less, data-driven IT college that offers ISAs to cover tuition fees. This self-paced learning platform is built on top of the concept of supervised peer-to-peer learning and is designed specifically to develop the hard and soft skills that will get students hired by big tech companies on graduation.
Here’s a breakdown of the key methodological elements that make Turing College different.
#1 Supervised peer-to-peer learning
Learning can be seen to have these 3 levels:
- Level 1 is when you simply receive information and repeat it back.
- Level 2 is when you understand how to use the information that you’ve learned.
- Level 3 is when you know how to explain this information to somebody else.
Standard universities traditionally focus on levels 1 and 2 - repeating information and using it to solve relatively simple practice tasks.
However, research shows that by teaching others, which is level 3, you understand the topic in a much deeper way. It allows you to notice things you hadn’t noticed before, explain your ideas clearly, give and receive feedback, and work together to solve problems. Peer-to-peer learning is how we help our students reach this level.
At Turing College, students are constantly encouraged and empowered via our platform to share their knowledge with others. This is done through - among other things - dedicated chat channels, internal stackoverflow, events, and regular peer reviews.
Peer reviews are a central part of how you progress through our courses:
- To complete a project, your work must be peer reviewed by both senior supervisors - who are industry experts - and other students.
- The peer review process confirms that you have really understood the topic. This also means that you will be reviewing others.
- Scheduling these reviews is easy. Based on your availability and level of experience, our platform matches you to peer reviews automatically.
Doing these peer reviews not only results in better learning. It also prepares students for an integral part of real-world work - code reviews and eventually becoming team leads.
#2 Self-paced learning
Being the owner of your own learning process: this is a critical skill to have in order to continue learning and improving throughout your whole career.
Self-paced learning is where the student goes through the material at their own speed and is not pushed to move forward with the course until they're ready. This is possible because there are no lectures or scheduled classes in our courses - the primary means of learning is through working on projects.
This means if you want to blitz through the course and graduate in 4 months, you can. On the other hand, if you want to spend time focusing on certain tasks and areas of the course, you can do that too.
How does it work?
- Instead of forcing people to move at a predetermined pace, our platform focuses on allowing each learner to master every step of the course.
- You get access to our platform which takes you through the whole learning process - but you can choose when to go onto the platform and how long you spend learning at any one time.
- There are no lectures or scheduled classes as you learn from peers and practical tasks.
- You get an assignment sent to you every morning. Then it's up to you to manage how and when you complete it.
#3 Soft skills
Soft skills is a general term for "non-technical" skills - it covers things like teamwork, communication skills, and problem solving. Soft skills can also include things like your attitude and mindset. At Turing College, we encourage our learners to have a "growth mindset" - this is where they treat challenges and feedback as opportunities to learn and grow.
According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends report, “soft skills have always been important, and they’re increasingly vital today. The rise of automation and artificial intelligence means that hard skills alone are no longer enough to be successful”. Moreover, research in the report shows that 91% of hiring professionals emphasize soft skills.
Soft skills are very important because these are the skills you will actually need in the workplace. Beyond being great at coding, employers are looking for people who know how to manage their own workflow and work well with others.
The Turing College
Here at Turing College we believe that IT education providers and the tech industry should work on innovative ways to adapt to the fast-growing demand for versatile data science and full-stack programming professionals.
We encourage our learners to have a "growth mindset" where they treat challenges and feedback as opportunities to learn and grow.
Interested in joining your dream tech company or upgrading your current position? Then join the Data Science program at Turing College.