Is this the future of education?

Education is one of those sectors that has not innovated much in the last century, or better said, has not been allowed to innovate. We can see that in many fields things have changed a lot in the last 100 years, for example in transportation, computing, manufacturing, building, etc… but education nowadays is quite similar to what my grandfather was able to get in his small village in Asturias. That is changing now thanks to the internet and the development of new technologies and business models. In this article, I’ll write about some of these new education models, the good and the bad.

Disclaimer: I’m not endorsing the company, I don’t know enough about it, I’ve read posts by students, both negative and positive. What I think is interesting is the business model and the company is just an example.

I would like to start talking about Lambda School, which is an online academy for programming where in less than a year you could get enough knowledge to start working as a web developer for example. The business model is simple, you get the classes and support for free but once you get a job that pays more than 50.000 dollars you have to pay 17% of your salary for two years (up to 30.000 dollars), but if in 5 years you don’t get to that salary you pay absolutely nothing.

The different programmes available are data science, full-stack developer, iOS developer and UX design, these are some of the most demanded positions right now and it would be easy to find a good job with the knowledge provided, especially in the United States. Also, in 9  months, studying full time, or 18 months studying part-time is more than enough time to acquire the knowledge to get your first job if you are made for coding, which they will try to know before accepting you.

Companies, just like people require incentives to modify their behaviour, and educational institutions don’t have the incentives to give you the tools to thrive on the job market because once you are enrolled, once you have paid, they already have what they wanted. Obviously, there is a reputation system in place and things are more complex than that, but once you have graduated you are on your own and they have almost no incentive in helping you. What changes here is that the company is investing in you, they need you to succeed in order to get back what they invested, and that is a powerful motivator for the company to give you the best education they can, if you win, they win.

This kind of education is total game-changer for low-income families in the US for example, where higher education is very expensive, and gives the opportunity to bright working-class kids to get the necessary tools to get a high paying job to get a better life and help their family and possibly their community.

I have to admit that not everything is as perfect as it seems because I should also say that what they are teaching is already available for free on the internet and a person with enough motivation and willpower to study on his own could learn by himself all this too. Nonetheless is a good option for those you have trouble studying without pressure, those who really need a person to ask questions and doubts, or those you are not good at researching and learning by themselves.

Not all industries are the same, and maybe coding is the best fit for this kind of online teaching, but in my experience studying an engineering bachelor and now a masters in management, these are also fields of study that could be studied online, I’ve always thought about it, that internet should allow the democratisation of knowledge, but not only learning but also getting diplomas and certifications from reputable organisations. And this is slowly happening, for example I’ve got a friend who is studying her masters in aeronautical engineering remotely, but it is not as common as it should be and the prices not as low as they could be if there was a massive adoption of this.

In Spain, the on-site coding bootcamp company Ironhack recently has developed a similar program in partnership with Bnext (a Spanish fintech company), but adjusting the price to the salaries in Spain. This company I know better because I’ve known them since their first year because a friend of mine was working there, and this one I can endorse and recommend, but obviously being on-site classes is less accessible, but they have campuses in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Ciudad de México, Miami and São Paulo.

This is not the panacea for education, but in my humble opinion is part of the solution and it is important thinking about it because education is one of the pillars for growth and prosperity in our society.

References: 

• Lambda School: https://lambdaschool.com/

• Ironhack: https://www.shorturl.at/bBQV1