Very clever Udacity and Google, very clever.
Back in December some clever marketing material caught my eye from Udacity about an EU Scholarship programme that they were going to offer in the New Year with funding from Google for new Android developers.
We are very excited to announce 10,000 new Android developer scholarships, funded by Google! This new scholarship initiative is specifically for EU residents who want to become Android developers. 9000 of the available scholarships are earmarked for absolute beginners, and the additional 1000 will be offered to more experienced developers. So whether you’re eager to build your very first app, or ready to take Google’s Android exam to earn your Google certification, we’ve got an amazing new scholarship opportunity for ALL aspiring Android developers in the EU!
The post went on to say:
Relatively new to programming? Never written a line of code? No problem! We have 9000 scholarships specifically for aspiring Android developers who are motivated, and ready to complete our beginning curriculum. Scholarship recipients will be enrolled in Android Basics: User Interface, which is designed for students with no programming experience. You’ll have access to course materials, support from Udacity staff to answer your questions, and a vibrant community of your fellow scholars. Plus, the top 1000 in this class will receive an additional 3 months of study in our Android Basics Nanodegree by Google program, allowing you to take your Android education even further.
They asked us to commit to 10 hrs a week of learning over a three month period.
Roll forward to the present day, I was awarded a ‘scholarship’ in the 9000 batch (entirely my fault for writing a single line of text on my application form) via email on 12th January and was feeling pretty chuffed with myself and the opportunity this might give me.
Congratulations! You have been selected for a scholarship to learn Android with Udacity. Based on your application, you have qualified for the Android Beginners Path. This scholarship will cover all the fees required for you to study the Android Development for Beginners course on Udacity with support from our mentors and staff for three months. You’ll soon learn to code and be on your way to creating your first app on Android.
Note: The confirmation email referred to “Android Development for Beginners”. Just saying!
Sure enough upon logging in the Udacity dashboard, I had access to the Android Basics: User Interface course, which contains 2 lessons, a coffee break challenge and a project — 2 days later I was finished. Surely there was more to come?
The lessons covered, LinearLayout and RelativeLayout via a web based editor before installing Android Studio and then producing my own version of a greetings card in Android Studio. For the final project we could build any layout and submit screenshots of it the forums for feedback and then we iterate on it based on the feedback received.
AND THATS IT…..
So now what? Well, they have 9000 (maybe?) people posting screenshots of their work and Udacity then want you to remain active in their forums and via Slack as this will benefit you to possibly get the further nanodegree scholarship (only 3 months access!). Where’s the rest of it? Some material referred to the Android Basics path and some to the Android Basics:User Interface….but it seems it’s definitely only the latter we got.
To top it all off, and this is the best part, Android Basics is an ENTIRELY free course that’s available to the public so the only benefit of the scholarship is that you can ask questions in forum which has mentors available in. Oh, and the fact that Udacity now have increased their user database and maybe Google can claim to have more active developers??
So I’m not the only one upset about this — the forums are full of people asking where the rest of it is…I feel rightly hard done by, let down….but it turns out it’s entirely my own fault.
Moral of the story — READ, READ AGAIN and READ AGAIN what you’re signing up for, Udacity’s T&Cs (https://www.udacity.com/legal/eu-scholarship) only ever mentioned the Android Basics: User Interface course.
Doh!
