This Week at Udacity, July 21 edition
What a week we’ve had at Udacity! It’s tempting to start from about an hour ago, because we just published a really heartwarming and remarkable Student Success story that you’re going to love and be inspired by, but I’m going to follow the rules, and start from the beginning!
Infinite Knowledge and Curiosity
On Monday, July 17, we received one of the shortest, simplest, but most perfectly beautiful student reviews we’ve ever received on our website. It was a review of our Android Basics Nanodegree program:
“This nanodegree has shown me a world of infinite knowledge and curiosity.”
This is exactly what every educator dreams of providing. Thank you, Elisa M., for writing this.
The Human Side of Technology
We were so excited on Wednesday to share something really special with you — an unscripted “fireside chat”-style conversation between Amazon Alexa’s Dr. Ashwin Ram and Sebastian Thrun! Our moderator was Jared Polivka, the Senior Product Manager for our Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree program, and as he very rightly noted, these two are “titans” in the field of AI, and it is extremely rare to see them talking so deeply in so informal a setting.
For anyone who’s experienced the fear-mongering currently roiling the world of AI, and felt the concern grow within themselves, we encourage you to watch this video, so you can witness for yourself the fundamental humanity that motivates these remarkable individuals.
Discovery Week!
On Thursday, we launched a first-time ever opportunity for new students to save big on Nanodegree programs! Enroll between July 20th and 27th, and you could save up to 50%! Full details here.
Puzzles!
We launched a new episode of The Drawing Board, Udacity’s new podcast, and it’s all about puzzles. And … yes! “Yes” is the answer to the question you desperately want to ask. Yes, Will Shortz is on the episode!!!
Puzzles have been around for centuries, and claims about their value run the gamut from being simple, brain-teasing fun, to potentially preventing Alzheimer’s. Companies like Google are famous for incorporating puzzles in their interviews, but can puzzle skills really predict programmer success? The Drawing Board tries to solve the puzzle of puzzles in this new episode, which features: anthropologist Marcel Danesi, New York Times Crossword editor Will Shortz, author and tech recruiting expert Gayle Laakmann McDowell, programmer Zef Hemel, and HackerRank CEO Vivek Ravisankar.
The Drawing Board. Episode 2: All About Puzzles
Student Success
And now, the story I mentioned at the beginning of this post. We talk a great deal at Udacity about embracing lifelong learning, but the truth is, becoming a lifelong learner isn’t always a choice. Sometimes, life’s unexpected changes suddenly demand it of you. That’s what happened to Jake Gornall. The story of how he adapted, and built a new career for himself, is a wonderful #StudentSuccess story.
Tweet of the Week
Finally, no edition of This Week at Udacity would be complete without the Tweet of the Week! For this week’s selection, we highlight what is a pretty awesome visual rendering of one of the lessons from our React Nanodegree program:
And THAT … is This Week at Udacity!
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This post was written by Christopher Watkins, Senior Writer and Chief Words Officer, Udacity
