In October 2016 has opened the first university without any teacher in California, trying to do to education what Facebook did to communication and Airbnb to accommodation. It’s called 42 – the name taken from the science fiction series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Goal is to train students a year in coding and software development. The educational approach is in my opinion high promising for coders and software developers:
- no tuition fees
- free accomodation
- ignore previous academic qualifications in the selection process
- catch passionate students who failed in the mainstream education system and feel frustrated by being told what to do and how to do it
- suits individuals who are very disciplined and self-motivated, and who are not scared by having the freedom to work at their own pace
- peer-to-peer learning by seeking help from their fellow student, who work alongside them in a large open-plan room full of computers; another student will then be randomly assigned to mark their work – so it’s guaranteed that they learn from learners
- project-based learning through projects that might be set in a job as a software engineer
- study online via resources freely available on the internet
- with social benefits of coming to a physical building and interacting with others every day
With refugees{code} we started a similar project focused on refugees in July 2015 in Vienna. We offer short, intensive courses to integrate them in the Austrian labour market and to react on the high demand for software developers. Our educational approach corresponds to 42. We also think that this is a good educational model for coders and software developers.
: University opens without any teachers, October 26, 2016
Alastair Creelman: There is no university of the future, November 6, 2016