Today, more than a million people use freeCodeCamp each day. Together, we learn about math, computer science, and programming. People from many cultures and walks of life help one another to expand their skills.

Data Science Courses Update

Last year, the freeCodeCamp community ran a fundraiser to support development of Data Science courses. Together, we raised more than $300,000 for research and development.

Today, I'm thrilled to share some of our progress.

We've used some of these funds to commission experienced university instructors to develop coursework.

We've also built several powerful computers and acquired cameras we can use to capture 4K video lectures and coding environments.

We've started filming courses and developing their labs.

And that's what I'm excited to share with you next.

We are Incorporating these Data Science Courses in our 4-Year Bachelor of Computer Science Degree Program

Last year I mentioned our long-term goal of launching free, accredited university degrees.

Specifically, we are now developing:

1. An Associate of Science in Mathematics degree, which also serves as the first half of...
2. A Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree

I am thrilled to announce that we have an initial list of the course titles for each of these degrees.

These degrees represent a single, continuous, linear learning path. We estimate that together, completion will require 4 years of full-time study. (Though they are completely self-paced and learners can take longer if they need to.)

These degree programs have no prerequisites beyond a high school-level command of the English language*. We will teach learners mathematics, computer science, and a variety of real-world skills from the ground up.

• Note that the English language skills requirement is only temporary. We plan to eventually translate these courses into many world languages, like we've done with freeCodeCamp's core curriculum.

These 40 courses represent 120 credit-hours of coursework. We planned and sequenced them based on our in-depth cross-analysis of 20 top US computer science degree programs and their curricula.

freeCodeCamp developer and 20-year university instructor Ed Pratowski teaching foundational math in 4K at the whiteboard.

Learners will not only learn mathematics the traditional way – with pencil and paper – they will also learn how to leverage the power of Python and its ecosystem of math tools.

A screenshot of what the Foundational Math course will look like, and a small handful of the many concepts it will cover.

Each of these courses will involve:

• 90 hours of self-paced video lectures with comprehension check questions and hands-on labs (mainly inside Jupyter Notebooks)
• A timed final examination

These courses will make heavy use of Python and Jupyter Notebook tools for solving equations. And ultimately for analyzing datasets.

Here is the full list of courses we're planning to develop for each of these degrees:

Associate of Science in Mathematics

1. Philosophy of Knowledge
2. History of Computation
3. College Algebra
4. Foundations of Critical Thinking
5. Precalculus
6. Ethical Reasoning
7. Calculus I
8. English Rhetoric and Composition
9. Probability and Statistics I
10. Health and Wellness
11. Calculus II
12. Probability and Statistics II
13. Professional and Technical Writing
14. Calculus III
15. Discrete Mathematics
16. Economics of Technology and the Labor Market
17. Linear Algebra
18. Theory of Computation
19. Organizational Behavior
20. Applied Quantitative Reasoning

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

1. Introduction to Computer Science
2. Data Structures and Algorithms
3. Electronics and Embedded Systems
4. Software Design and Engineering
5. Computer Systems and Architecture
6. Relational Databases and NoSQL Systems
7. Fundamentals of Computer Networking
8. Algorithmic Design and Analysis
9. Applied Computer Graphics
10. Full-Stack Web Development
11. Principles of Information Security
12. Human-Computer Interaction
13. Foundations of Data Analysis
14. Applied Data Visualization
15. Foundations of Data Engineering
16. Supervised and Unsupervised Machine Learning
17. Deep Learning Methodologies
18. Applied Natural Language Processing
19. Applied Computer Vision
20. Software Industry Interview Preparation

We aspire to the level of rigor of top university programs. We also aspire to give learners exposure to the traditional liberal arts that have served as the foundation for university learning for more than 1,000 years.

We hold deeply our belief in the importance of fundamental skills: mathematics, logic, rhetoric. And once we've helped learners build that foundation, we can equip them to effect change with the powerful tools of today.

Not only will learners build math, programming, and machine learning skills. They'll also learn how the tech industry works. They'll learn how to forge a sustainable career in tech. And they'll learn how to reason about the ethical conundrums they encounter in the field.

The Long Road Ahead

We still have an incredible amount of work to do planning these lectures, developing these labs, and seeking accreditation for these programs.

I urge anyone who's reading this: if you are currently in school, stay in school. Assume that this could take a decade or even longer to reach completion.

This said, we will release these courses and their labs as we complete them, and make them freely available online.

We will also release a number of open source tools we use to develop these courses, including our secure environment in which learners will sit for exams.

And for learners who already have a Computer Science degree: we will also incorporate many of these courses into new, stand-alone Data Science certifications you can add to your résumé or LinkedIn. You'll be able to earn these certifications without needing to complete the full university degree coursework.

How You Can Get Involved

With each of these 40 university courses representing 90 hours worth of coursework, we are developing more than 3,600 hours of additional learning resources.

All this will translate to thousands of hours of instructional design work, including:

• scripting, filming, and editing lectures
• developing interactive problem sets and labs
• designing evaluation rubrics
• developing procedurally generated exam questions
• expanding freeCodeCamp's learning platform itself to track and authenticate learner progress
• and eventually translating all these videos into major world languages, and re-recording each of the video lectures with instructors who speak those languages.

In short, this degree program will likely cost millions of dollars to complete, even at our charity's high level of operational efficiency.

We will be agile about this. We'll release each of these courses as we complete them. Several of these courses will go live in 2023.

And even though it may take a decade or longer before we're able to get this program formally accredited, the coursework should be completed sooner than that.

So the most immediate way you can help is to donate to our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity. Most people set up a $5 / month recurring donation. We also welcome larger one-time gifts. I will personally prepare a donation receipt for your taxes if you need one.

Donate to support our charity and our mission here.

Another way you can support our efforts is to become a beta tester of the new coursework. If you're interested, fill out this form and I'll reach out to you when the first few courses are ready. You can be one of the first people to make use of them.

Sign up to beta test the upcoming courses here.

And finally, if you have experience teaching some of the topics listed here at the university level, I would welcome your thoughts. I am very much a practitioner and not an academic. As such, I spend as much time as I can learning from professors and university administrators.

Thanks again to the many, many developers, professors, instructional designers, and beta testers in the freeCodeCamp community who have given us feedback on these upcoming courses.

9 years in, our community is just beginning its quest to develop free resources for ambitious learners around the world.

There is so much work to be done. And we are all jazzed to be doing it.

– Quincy

Many companies give their premium services to students for free, and others offer discounts on their products.

If you're a student, basically all you need to take advantage of these discounts and offers is your student email.

Having a student email will come in handy especially if you can't afford expensive products or premium services. In this article I'll give you a run down of the benefits that are withing your .edu email and how to get access to them to help you in your education and career.

Some of the general benefits include:

• Free access to online educational courses
• Free access to content and streaming tools.
• Free software.
• Access to premium entertainment services.
• Access to graphic design tools.
• Access to discounts on products.

Let's get started.

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. – Malcolm X

1. GitHub Student Developer Pack

To begin with at the top of the list is one of my all time favorite packs with tons of deals in it.

In order for you to qualify for this deal, you must:

• Be in school, enrolled in either a degree or a diploma program.
• Have a verifiable school-issued email address.
• Have a GitHub account.
• Be at least 13 years old.

Now depending on the different companies that have partnered with Google for this particular program, terms and condition may vary and some point the service may not exist in every region. But for now you will still be able to get a majority of the benefits.

Some of the companies that have partnered with GitHub for this particular program include: Canva, DigitalOcean, namecheap, educative, datacamp, Drovio and others.

Benefits offered by these companies range from access to production tools, credit cards, and even hosting services. This means that as a total beginner you can get:

• free access to premium learning materials.
• free design tools.
• free domain names for one year.
• free hosting plans with credit from organizations like Microsoft and DigitalOcean.
• Access to streaming platforms

...just to mention a few.

If you haven't yet gotten your pack, Check out the GitHub education page and get your own share of these amazing resources.

2. Figma for Students

Even though Figma is freely accessible to anyone on the internet, it does have a proffessional plan. This gives you extra benefits like:

• being able to create private projects
• being able to work with teams without limits
• being able to share private prototypes with clients and also get access to the audio conversion feature.

Now, in order for you to be eligible for this plan, you need to be at least 13 years old and a student.

An important thing to note is that, when you apply you will be required to provide some proof like: your school name, school website, and a valid .edu email. Once you've done this your verification process for the plan will begin.

Once approved, your education status will be valid for two years. If you are still a student at the end of the two years, you can reapply for education status again.

To get access to this, check out the Figma for students and educators page.

3. Office 365 Education

You've likely used some Microsoft product either for school or a personal project. And all of them require a product activation key in order to use them – which means you need to buy it.

But with a .edu email, you are able to get some of these products at no charge. I am talking about products like Microsoft Teams, Office on the web, OneDrive, content creation tools, and desktop apps like word, Excel and PowerPoint.

To get started all you are required to have is a school email. To get access to this plan, check the Office 365 Education page.

4. Microsoft Azure for Students

Azure is a cloud platform with more than 200 products and cloud services designed to help you bring new solutions to life — and to solve today’s challenges and create the future.

With the Microsoft Azure for Students pack, you will be able to get resources to help you build, run, and manage applications across multiple clouds, on-premise, and at the edge, with the tools and frameworks of your choice.

Azure has two programs running for students:

Azure for Students

This pack will get you a $100 credit valid for 12 months and more than 25 free services. To be eligible for this pack, you must:

• be 18 years of age or older.
• Attend an accredited degree granting institution.
• Be a full-time student.
• And finally, verify your academic status through your organization's email address.

Azure for Student Starter

This is different since you don't get as much compared to the former. With Azure Students Starter, you will be able to get started with the Azure products you need to develop in the cloud.

This benefit provides you access to a free tier of services like: Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Azure Notification Hubs, Azure Database for MySQL, and others.

This pack is available to verified students at no cost and without any limit. To be eligible, you must be:

• age 13 or older if in USA and age 16 if outside the USA.
• You must verify your academic status through your organization's email address.

To get access to these plans, check the Azure for Students page.

5. RoboForm

As a developer (or anyone using the internet, really), having a secure way to store your passwords is essential. Much of the work you do will be online, so internet security is very important.

Because of this, it helps to have a service that will allow you to keep track of your passwords without having to memorize them.

Most companies do charge for password management services, but with a .edu email you can get the service from Robo for 1 year. Your student email will help you get premium features such as:

• Syncing across all your devices
• Cloud backup
• Two Factor Authentication
• Secure Shared Folder
• Web access

To get started, check out the official RoboForm site.

6. Autodesk

Autodesk is a global leader in design and they make technology dedicated to preparing the next generation of tinkerers, makers, designers, engineers, and revolutionizers to lead in the Future of Work.

If you are a student studying any of these fields, you'll likely encounter AutoCAD in your studies. Well, thankfully with a student email, you can get access to more resources.

Once you've registered and provide proof that you're a student, the subscription will remain free as long as you are eligible.

To get tarted with Autodesk, check the registration Autodesk educational products page.

Other Student Packs include

• AWS Educate
• Adobe creative cloud
• SquareSpace
• Amazon Prime Student
• Spotify Premium Student
• HP Student Store

Conclusion

One difficult part of being in college is being able to get access to all the right learning materials. But with your school email you are able to cut down the costs for these services.

I hope this article helps you manage and get access to useful resources that will help you in your career.

I appreciate your time reading. Enjoy Coding ❤.

What is an LMS?

Imagine you have hundreds and even thousands of students, employees, or customers located throughout the world — and you are looking to either educate them, train them, or service them. Trying to communicate with all of them can be daunting, let alone managing their knowledge and understanding. This is where today’s technologies give you the power and reach to manage all your stakeholders.

For the past ten years, I have worked with a variety of Learning Management Systems (LMS) as a student, instructor, and as an administrator. These include Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas, eCollege, Cornerstone, SumTotal, Epic, and WebCT (now owned by Blackboard).

Learning Management Systems have been around for almost two decades, but have become more prevalent due to the expansion of the Internet and to the growth of for-profit colleges and universities. They are used to house information and create opportunities for individuals to learn.

Originally learning platforms were used to document and deliver online, asynchronous, computer-based training via the web.

Today, these types of platforms have the capability of offering not only those just mentioned but live streaming or synchronous teaching.

In addition, they have the ability to generate analytical reports that can assist organizations in identifying performance indicators.

Are there different types?

Yes. Learning Management Systems are utilized by all types of educational institutions from K12 through Graduate school. They are also used by organizations to train their employees. Although most of these learning platforms can be used within each of these types of organizations, they do tend to cater to one or the other.

Much of this is due to the fact that learning occurs in different ways based on whether you are an educational institution or private business. In addition, educational institutions track user performance by grades — whereas a private business may offer certifications and/or badges that show accomplishments.

Educational institutions are using learning platforms for a variety of reasons. These include the ability to enroll students who are not near the campus, thus increasing admissions. Classes are not limited to the size of the classroom. It also aligns with how many prefer to learn; at their own time and pace as well as utilizing the chunking strategy of delivering learning into manageable parts or modules.

Organizations on the other hand are using the LMS to drive employee training, skill development, and succession planning. In the beginning organizations used the learning platforms for compliance training that may have been required by a government agency as well as an onboarding tool for new hires.

Savvy organizations are now beginning to realize that their learning platforms can be used as a tool for continuous improvement offering training that goes beyond compliance and onboarding.

How much do they cost?

The cost of an LMS can be anywhere between free to several thousands of dollars. The Moodle LMS, for example, is free but requires the ability to configure it. The fact that it is also an open source program allows for easy upgrades and customization. There is still a cost factor to consider — that is the time it takes for a programmer to develop and configure it.

For those that do have a price, the cost can vary greatly depending upon the number of users. Most of these types of LMSs have the option to purchase the system as an Enterprise solution in which there are no recurring costs regardless of the number of users and data is stored on your own servers. In other words, it is a WYSIWYG.

The other option is to purchase it as a SAAS (software as a service) where your data is stored in a cloud or on the vendor’s servers. This option usually includes vendor assistance and automatic upgrades.

The features and benefits of an LMS

This is where your homework occurs, and it is important that you ask all the right questions. Be sure to consider whether it is scalable and can grow with your organization. It is also important to recognize not only how you would use it today, but in the future as well.

Furthermore, there are several different types of learning platforms where you can add plug-ins to enhance its functionalities.

One area to consider closely is the ability for the LMS to analyze data and report on it. You should also consider whether it can communicate with other systems such as an HRIS (Human Resources Information System) or an SIS (Student Information System) since this may be tied directly to the user.

Some LMSs are very robust in what they have to offer — such as built-in quiz makers and course authoring tools that allow you to design your courses that are loaded onto the system. If they don’t have these built-in tools, then you need to consider the ability for the LMS to integrate with other software tools and accept different types of file formats such as SCORM and xAPI. Also, a good LMS should be mobile device friendly.

But what may be the most important aspects to consider are the UI (user interface) and UX (user experience). You want your users to feel comfortable when working with your learning platform. Remember to also consider the different types of users that will be working with the LMS and their respective UI and UX; such as trainers, managers, and administrators.

How do you leverage your LMS?

The reason for this question has to do with the concept of acceptance or buy-in. Acceptance reflects how well your users will respond to working with a new piece of software and buy-in reflects as to the level of support that management gives for purchasing the LMS. Therefore your systems’ reporting capabilities are important since they may help to identify how well your users are responding and whether there are any gaps or deficiencies in their training or education.

To secure buy-in from management you will need to also communicate its ROI (return on investment). The reporting tools can assist you with this and other challenges to the effectiveness of using an LMS.

One of the most overlooked strategies when choosing to implement or purchase an LMS has to do with connecting it to your organizational goals. In fact, this should be one of the first things that you consider. By using this strategy you improve your chances of acceptance or buy-in.

Any pitfalls in using an LMS?

The first potential pitfall that comes to mind is whether you choose the right learning platform for your organization. The time and cost factors that go into developing it as well as learning to use it can be high. Switching from one LMS to another is not as easy as it sounds. Consider how you will utilize your system in the future since this will take into account its ability to add features.

Another concern is its scalability. You want an LMS that can grow with your organization. It needs to be able to add users quickly. Remember that the cost of an LMS is often tied to the number of users, so your costs will rise as the number of users increase.

Probably the most overlooked pitfall is the inability to use the system at its optimum level. This can include how you set up your courses to curating your data. In other words, “Is it easy to find what you are looking for?”

Perhaps your system has a built-in calendar that allows for easy scheduling of live sessions. Some learning platforms allow you to send push notifications to the users to remind them or encourage them to register for specific courses or training.

In addition, some learning platforms can configure the landing pages and search capabilities which can enhance the UX. Perhaps you are not using some of the features that are built in to the system such as discussion forums or reporting capabilities.

By using all the tools that your LMS can give you, you increase the chances of acceptance and buy-in.

Final thoughts

When the time comes to consider purchasing an LMS, remember to ask yourself many of the questions that were posited in this article. A good learning platform vendor should also have the capability for you to demo the LMS as in a sandbox, so you can better understand its abilities and functionalities.

If you choose to go with an open source LMS or develop your own, consider the time factor for developing it. If you choose to go with a vendor, read the fine print and look to see that they have a good support system in place which can include tutorials as well as the ability to keep your data secure.

With the advent of the Internet and the ever-growing field of technology, your ability to reach your workforce or students globally is now a reality. Consider investing in a Learning Management System today and watch your learning and development be but a click away.

SWAYAM, an upcoming online course platform by the Indian government, has ambitious goals. It’s the one platform that would bind together Indian higher education — both online and offline.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have already helped millions of Indians informally continue their education for free online, and in their free time. But SWAYAM — the Hindi word for “self” — promises to formalize this learning the way university degrees do.

Here is one line in the The Gazette of India (basically an authorized legal document of the Indian government) that got me really excited about SWAYAM:

No university shall refuse any student for credit mobility for the courses earned through MOOCs.

At launch, SWAYAM is expected to have over 2,000 courses, 250,000 hours of content, and over $30 million paid to instructors. Students across all universities in India will be able to earn credits on SWAYAM.

A Brief History of SWAYAM

At Class Central, we were the first ones to write about SWAYAM when it was first announced back in August 2014. It was part of the educational initiatives launched by the newly-elected Prime Minister for India, Narendra Modi.

Since then, SWAYAM seems to have hit several roadblocks. It was supposed to launch in October 2014 with three MOOCs. But it never launched.

SWAYAM is finally moving forward again, and it might even launch on August 15 2016 — India’s Independence Day.

Introducing the University Grants Commission (UGC)

The UGC is the government body responsible for “coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education in India.”

Last month, the UGC published a couple of documents on its website:

1. a list of MOOCs, and
2. its credit framework for online learning courses through SWAYAM

On further digging by Class Central, we also found another document entitled “Guidelines for Development and Implementation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).”

These documents contain a lot of details like the formal definition of a course, the recording format for videos, how much headroom to maintain in each video (hint: 6–8%), how the credit transfers would work, and so on.

How the courses will work

With 2,000 courses expected to be available at launch, SWAYAM will have the largest course catalog among all MOOC providers from its very first day.

The courses will range from high school to post graduate level.

Soon, we’ll publish a list of the courses that will be part of the SWAYAM platform.

Much of the content for SWAYAM is content that has already been created by Indian institutes, and which will be re-purposed for SWAYAM. One instructor whom Class Central spoke to had created his videos and sent them to the UGC more than three years ago.

NPTEL (a group of seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institutes of Science (IISc)) will contribute about half of the courses. NPTEL has already been putting its courses online on YouTube, and it also hosts its own MOOC platform.

All the videos created for SWAYAM will also be also be available on a platform called e-Acharya. E-Acharya already hosts educational video content created by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. These videos are also available on its YouTube channel and might be re-purposed for SWAYAM.

The guidelines also include how much the course instructors will get paid. For the first run of the course, instructors will get paid ₹9 lakhs ($13,500) for re-purposed content, or ₹12 lakhs ($18,000) for newly-created content.

With 2,000 courses, in total over $30 million will be paid to instructors. Instructors will also receive ₹1.5 lakhs ($2,200) for each subsequent run of the course.

How credit mobility works

SWAYAM’s biggest impact lies in its potential to increase the quality of higher education across India.

The courses on SWAYAM will be free to take for anyone in the world. But SWAYAM’s biggest impact lies in its potential to increase the quality of higher education across India.

Not only can students learn from the best universities and colleges in India — they can now earn credits from them via SWAYAM.

The UGC credit framework allows students who are enrolled in higher education programs across India to earn credits via SWAYAM.

Each credit will be the equivalent of 13 to 15 hours of learning activities.

Any academic institution in India can offer up to 20% of its catalog in a particular program via SWAYAM. The institutions also need to provide any resources that students need in order to take SWAYAM courses — like computers or lab space — to those students for free.

To earn these credits, students will need to do all the required assignments and homework for these courses, and then attend a final proctored exam. The exam will be held either in the local institute where the student is enrolled, in a nearby institute, or in a proctored center.

The cost for each exam will be ₹1000 ($15).

Upon successful completion of the course, the institution that taught the MOOC will issue a certificate, along with the number of credits and grades. The student can then get credits transferred into their marks certificate (transcript) issued by the institution that they are enrolled in.

SWAYAM’s strange technology choices

This is the most worrisome part about SWAYAM.

SWAYAM was originally supposed to be built using Open edX, but now it seems that a team at Microsoft is building them a closed-source platform using proprietary technologies.

Earlier in June, Microsoft was selected as a technical partner for SWAYAM. The deal is worth ₹38 crore (~$6 million), and Microsoft will deploy a team of dedicated people to develop and maintain SWAYAM.

When The Indian Express asked R. Subrahmanyam, Additional Secretary for Technical Education at the Ministry of Human Resource Development, about the choice of Microsoft over Open edX, he replied that, “All that appears ‘free’ is not always free!”

You can read more about the entire saga here.

Building a fully-fledged MOOC platform is a major undertaking that other providers have already been doing for years. By not re-purposing a platform that already exists, and which is used by a global community (like Open edX), the SWAYAM team will have to start right from scratch.

They will have to learn everything that the MOOC provider community has already learned. This might cause quite a few hiccups in the first few iterations of SWAYAM.

At the time of writing this post, I was not able to find out which domain SWAYAM will be hosted on. We will be updating this article as soon we know.

Stay up to date with SWAYAM by signing up for MOOCWatch, a monthly monthly digest of everything related to MOOCs — https://www.class-central.com/moocwatch

Dhawal Shah is the founder and CEO of Class Central, the most popular search engine for online courses. You can see which courses he is taking here — class-central.com/@dhawal