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Eduardo Porter writes at the NYT that AT&T and Udacity, the online education company founded by the Stanford professor and former Google engineering whiz Sebastian Thrun, have announced something meant to be very small: the "NanoDegree," intended to teach anyone with a mastery of high school math the kind of basic programming skills needed to qualify for an entry-level position at AT&T as a data analyst, iOS applications designer or the like. "We are trying to widen the pipeline," says Charlene Lake, an AT&T spokeswoman. "This is designed by business for the specific skills that are needed in business." Nanodegrees are designed to be completed in less than a year, at a cost of just $200 a month. Udacity's non-accredited nanodegrees aim to be a series of what CEO Sebastian Thrun calls "stackable" programs that complement different skills. "By putting in half a year of work, less work that you put in for a regular degree, we can get you from one point to another," said Thrun in an interview. "For instance, if you're a skilled programmer, we can turn you into a mobile programmer, and for mobile programmers, there's an endless number of open jobs right now. Or we can take you from programmer to data scientist."
"We are designing nanodegrees as the most compact and relevant curriculum to qualify you for a job," says Udacity. "The sole goal is to help students advance their career: whether it's landing their next job, their next project, or their next promotion. It should take a working student about 6-12 months to complete without having to take time off. We will teach all the necessary skills together with why those skills matter along with career guidance. In other words, you won't just learn *how* to code, but also *why.*"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Geotti on Friday June 20 2014, @12:58AM
I've got an idea, let's call nano-degrees certificates and fire all the marketing crews that came up with this term.
(Score: 1) by Hyperturtle on Friday June 20 2014, @01:18AM
I am intrigued with your concept and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
This nano-degree is just as dumb as the "yo" application that received $1m in venture capital funding, yo.
I have more certifications than I even claim on my resume, but this nano-degree thing... Actually it may be a good way to filter out applicants. Nano-degrees are held by folks that do what they are told, certifications are held by people that might know what they are doing. (I hope I know what I am doing)
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Friday June 20 2014, @01:32AM
No, I think the "nano-degree" should stay! What does "nano" mean? Nano-seconds, nano-meters, increments that are too small to be perceived. So a "nano-degree" is just like a regular college degree, only so small as not to be perceptible.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by len_harms on Friday June 20 2014, @02:06PM
Are the credits transferable? And more importantly are these schools accredited. My wife has one of these sorts of degrees. *NO* one cares. They consider her to have a high school degree and that is it. Thousands of dollars later she is retaking many classes just to get the credit. These sorts of schools are not new.
If either of those 2 things are not there, run away from this sort of degree especially the second. They are useless long term (and long term being > 1 year). No matter how much BS they will tell you about how they have job placement. They point you at a electronic job board and say 'good luck'.
The only reason to use these sorts of schools is if you want to learn something quick and cheap and do not care about accreditation. I usually use them for particular skills that I know will be useless in 2-3 years time but I need in the next couple of months.