At HackerYou, we’ve been teaching people to code for almost seven years, with the mission of delivering the best web development learning experiences in Toronto.
Today, we’re excited to announce a big revamp that will help us continue to achieve that goal - we’re shortening our Web Development courses from 12 weeks to 8, and making them more affordable at the same time.
When we opened our doors in 2012, the first and only courses we offered were our part-time Web Development courses. Now, almost 7 years, 140 courses, and 2000 students later, these beginner-friendly courses have become our most popular. We welcome beginners from all over the GTA to learn to code at HackerYou.
It’s time to make our Web Development courses more affordable, more accessible, and more digestible to everyone who wants to learn to code. Plus, over the years we’ve learned a lot about how to teach beginners how to code - from our instructors, our students, our alumni, and our entire community. And we’ve gotten so good at teaching the fundamentals of web development that we’re confident we can do it in eight weeks. In fact, we’re confident we can teach it even better in eight weeks.
What’s Changing?
So what do these changes mean for you? As of July 2019 we will no longer be offering our Web Development Fundamentals and Advanced Web Development courses. Instead, there will be one single Web Development course that covers (almost) all of that content in just eight weeks.
8 Week Format
Our eight-week courses will be more accessible to students who previously couldn’t make a commitment for such a long period of time. Each Web Development course will run for six hours a week, for eight weeks.
Students have the option to take this course on weeknights or weekends, or in an accelerated course format. Eight-week course options will be:
- Monday & Wednesday, 6:30pm - 9:30pm
- Tuesday & Thursday, 6:30pm - 9:30pm
- Saturdays, 10:00am - 4:00pm
- Sundays, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Updated Content
This course was designed to give students experience with web development best practices that will set them up for success in today’s evolving tech sector. When our Product Manager of Beginner Programs, Katie D'Angelo, revamped the course curriculum, she did so with the student experience and the modern developer in mind.
With an even greater focus on up-to-date best practices and the addition of brand new concepts, our students will learn how to code in a format that flows perfectly from class to class. Plus, there is extra content available as additional resources for students to continue their learning.
Some of the concepts you’ll cover are:
- HTML and CSS
- Responsive development and media queries
- Proper syntax
- Industry standard tools and methods
- Intro to SCSS and variables
- Flexbox and understanding modern layout methods
- Accessibility
- Intro to jQuery and jQuery plugins
Revised Projects
During this course, students will be assigned two projects designed to give them the opportunity to put the skills they’ve learned into action by building beautiful and functional websites based on professional designs. For both projects, students will be tasked with converting an image of a beautiful website into a fully functional site that matches the design perfectly. The second project will build on the skills developed with the first project, because we ask students to make it responsive (meaning it adapts to different devices and screen sizes). Students will receive feedback on both projects so that these projects are not only impressive portfolio pieces, but excellent opportunities for students to practice and improve. We know that the best way to become a great coder is...to code a lot!
Optimized Class Time
Over the years we’ve found that hands-on exercises are the best way for students to learn and gain a true understanding of core concepts. We’ve applied this learning in our revamp, by putting an even greater focus on practice, with a tonne of new in-class exercises, and additional exercises that students can work on at home for extra practice.
In our eight-week courses, there is lots to learn, so some of the time previously used to work on projects in class is now being used for lessons and exercises. We know project work time is important, though, so with our new twice-a-month Open Source office hours format, students will have time outside of class to work with mentors to help them solidify core concepts and complete their projects. And Open Source isn't just open to students - it's a twice-monthly event open to all alumni! Come and get help when you need it, forever!
Lower Price
Our eight-week Web Development course will cost just $2,000 plus HST - that’s just $41.66 per class hour plus HST. Plus you’ll have access to additional office hours and support outside of the classroom, and the other benefits of becoming a HackerYou alumni, like access to our amazing Slack community, invites to events, career support, discounts on future courses and so much more. And, even with this price drop, our Alumni scholarship is staying the same! Those who take this part-time Web Development course and then are accepted into Bootcamp get $2,000 of their Bootcamp tuition!
We revamped this course not only to give students a better learning experience, but also to make that learning more affordable and accessible to more students. Financing is a barrier for a lot of people - and making tech accessible, and ultimately more diverse, is our ultimate goal.
We launched Income Share Agreements just a short while ago, and this push to make our vocational Bootcamp available for just $1 upfront brought in a huge number of new applications. As it turns out - lots of people are interested in becoming developers and diving into tech! However, our Bootcamp program requires some pre-requisite knowledge of core web development concepts. While some of these ISA applicants had those skills, many were beginners who needed to master the fundamentals before taking Bootcamp. With this influx of students looking for accessible learning at every level, we knew it was time to make our courses more accessible across the board.
What’s staying the same?
Though a lot of things are changing in our new eight-week course format, the core HackerYou experience is staying the same - because we know it works! With hands-on exercises, industry-leading instructor teams, social and collaborative community-oriented classrooms, and a learning environment dedicated to diversity, inclusion and accessibility - we know you'll love HackerYou.
Plus, the core concepts that our Web Development students love aren’t changing. This course will cover the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and responsive design, and dive into advanced concepts like SCSS and accessibility. We’ve carefully crafted our new course based on real feedback to focus in on the content that will set our students up for success.
Our first eight-week Web Development course will be led by curriculum creator Katie D'Angelo, and will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 2nd to August 22nd. Click below to find out more about our Web Development courses and our new eight-week format.