Cuomo Hires Coursera.org to Provide Unemployed New Yorkers with Access to Training Programs

Coursera.org signed up this month a partnership with The New York State Department of Labor in order to provide unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers with free access to 4,000 courses, programs, and professional certificates in business and technology. The announcement–made by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on November 17th—focuses on training on high-growth and in-demand sectors like advanced manufacturing, technology, and health care, among others. "The war against COVID-19 is one taking place on multiple fronts, and while we are doing everything we can to protect the health of New Yorkers, we must also take the steps necessary for building back a strong economy," Governor Cuomo said. "Whether it's taking a refresher course or learning a new skill, I encourage all New Yorkers in need to consider taking advantage of this free program." This is a range of classes offered on Coursera: How to Manage a Remote Team Business Writing Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design and ManufacturingMachine Learning Motors and Motor Control Circuits Generative Design for Additive Manufacturing Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects Marketing in a Digital World Supply Chain Operations Influencing People The Science of Well-Being Data Science Specialization Project Management Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills Python for Everybody Cybersecurity Google IT Support Professional Certificate The Business of Health Care Specialization Epidemiology for Public Health Specialization Medical Neuroscience Financial Markets Facebook Social Media Marketing Entrepreneurship Introduction to Game Development The Art of Negotiation AI for Everyone Programming Foundations with JavaScript, HTML and CSS Introduction to HTML5 Understanding User Needs Use Mailchimp to Build an E-mail Marketing Campaign Developing An Entrepreneurial Mindset: First Step Towards Success Introduction to iOS App Development Principles of Game Design During the pandemic, Coursera has reached agreements with 330 government agencies across 70 countries and 30 US states and cities to provide training to impacted workers. Coursera says that since it launched its Workforce Recovery Initiative, more than 1 million workers have enrolled in over 7 million courses to gain critical skills. We're honored to partner with @NYGovCuomo and the New York State Department of Labor to provide free retraining to unemployed workers across the state. #WorkforceDevelopment #CourseraForGovernment https://t.co/QQjhkBwsWa — Coursera (@coursera) November 18, 2020

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Udacity Will Fund 100,000 Scholarships As Part of the Pledge to America's Workers

Udacity announced yesterday its Pledge to America’s Workers job training initiative. Over the next five years, Udacity will fund 100,000 tech and analytics scholarships on its learning platform. With this move, Udacity is joining more than 350 companies and organizations, including Google, Apple, and IBM in signing the White House’s Pledge to America’s workers –a project undertaken by the Trump administration. "Udacity’s scholarships will equip America’s workers with the skills they need to succeed in high-paying, future-proof careers in fields such as front-end web development, mobile app development, and data analytics," said Udacity's new CEO, Gabe Dalporto. The program will initially revolve around front-end web development, mobile app development, machine learning, and data analytics. (See image below) The recipients of scholarships will be, according to Udacity, "low-income individuals looking to learn the in-demand skills needed to land higher-paying jobs and advance their careers." Applications will open in early 2020, although the company offered the possibility of pre-registering now through a website.

Google Expands Its IT Support Certificate Program to 100 Community Colleges

Google announced on Thursday plans to offer, through a $3.5 million grant, its IT Support Professional Certificate program to 100 community colleges by the end of 2020 in eight new states, including Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia and West Virginia. Those states come in addition to schools in Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, and Wisconsin, which have offered the program since earlier this year. The online program consists of six modules, costing $49 each. It takes an average of six months to complete and is designed to prepare learners without a degree or tech experience for an entry-level job in IT support –which has a median salary of $53,000. Launched at Coursera in January 2018, the program is part of the Grow with Google initiative. More than 95,000 learners enrolled in these classes and thousands of people have found jobs because of them in large companies such as Wal-Mart, Ricoh, GE Digital and Google. Leah Belsky, Senior Vice President of Enterprise at Coursera, wrote a blog post analyzing the first year's impact of the program. Speaking at an event on October 3rd in Dallas, Texas, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, said the company's goal is to "make sure that the opportunities created by technology are truly available to everyone." Along with Pichai, President Trump's senior advisor and daughter, Ivanka Trump, was on hand to discuss the importance of retaining workers in the U.S. During the event, Pichai signed a pledge to the White House to help retain workers in the American tech industry.   • IBL News, Sept 22: Google and CompTIA Create a Dual Credential for Learners Seeking for Entry-Level Jobs in IT • IBL News, June 15: Coursera’s Google IT Support Certificate Program Gets a Good Response

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A MOOC that Teaches How to Create Viral Content Gets 86,000 Enrollees

Over 86,000 learners have enrolled in the "Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content" MOOC at Coursera.org. This free, 6-hour course, developed by the University of Pennsylvania, explains how to apply viral marketing ideas and be more effective when developing brand and product campaigns. Drawing on principles from his best-selling book, "Contagious: Why Things Catch On", Professor at Wharton School Jonah Berger [in the picture] illustrates successful strategies and explains how to craft stickier content, generate more word of mouth and create viral campaigns.

IBM Releases a Video Tutorial Series and Textbook to Educate on Quantum Computing

IBM announced last week the release of a video tutorial series, an open-source textbook, and a university hackathon program, in an effort to massively educate on quantum computing. This set of features are available on IBM’s Qiskit learning platform. A part of this education push is also the new 5-qubit systems for educational use, as well as a new feature to reserve uninterrupted time on one of IBM's quantum computers for running experiments. "Our team is committed to making quantum sciences more approachable by investing heavily in the education to support this growing community and establishing the emerging technology as the next generation of computing," Jay Gambetta, Vice President of quantum at IBM, said in a blog post. "We need more students, educators, developers, and domain experts with 'quantum ready' skills. This is why our team is proud to release educational resources and tools, while also increasing the capacity and capability of our IBM Q systems," he added. Quantum computers use qubits, not bits, and programming them is quite different than traditional computers. However, IBM's Q System can be programmed using Python. IBM launched the IBM Q Experience quantum cloud platform in 2016, making 5-qubit quantum processors and a simulator available online to the public. Since then, IBM has released the Qiskit framework to enable users to more easily write and run code for quantum devices as well as providing a more advanced 16-qubit processor. Over 28 million of experiments and simulations have been conducted to date, IBM says. Aiming at Self-Learners and Educators The ‘Learn Quantum Computation Using Qiskit’ open-source textbook allows students to learn quantum computation through practical problem sets run on real systems. It is aimed at both self-learners and educators. The co-author of the book said that a strong background in quantum mechanics is not required. IBM is also offering a ‘Coding With Qiskit’ video series. Lastly, IBM is featuring a series of events: The IBM Q Award Challenges are semester-long competitions on various topics, open to everyone. The University Hackathon Partnership Program lets universities partner with IBM’s global teams to host a hands-on Qiskit experience, where students get to collaborate with IBM Q experts for developing quantum software programs. International Qiskit Camps in Asia, Africa, and Europe for competing in teams. Early this year, IBM showed the IBM Q System One at CES, in Las Vegas. It also announced plans to commercialize a 58-qubit quantum computer within the next several years.

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