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</ICON Newsletter – April 2020>

Published on 28 April 2020 by web editor

Newsletter

Bringing you the latest news from the Institute of Coding (IoC), with information about how the IoC can help you develop or update your digital skills from home, a wrap up of our 2020 conference and our regular update from the IoC’s Director.

I hope this newsletter finds you and your families safe and well. In these uncertain times, where many of us are working or studying at home, we understand that people may want or need to update their digital skills. The IoC has worked with its partners to create accessible online courses you can complete at home, at a range of levels that allow you to find out more about digital, learn new skills, or prepare for your career by studying for a degree. If you would like to learn more, please visit our course catalogue.

The first three months of 2020 were a busy time for the IoC. Here are a few highlights from our central team:

  • We have now enrolled over 150,000 learners on our courses. This number has quadrupled since we last shared our learner numbers in December. I’d like to thank all our partners for their hard work in developing relevant and compelling courses for learners.
  • Our annual conference, held on 24-25 February in London, brought together educators, employers, government and learners to discuss how a new focus on lifelong learning could change the UK. I’d like to thank all the attendees, speakers, partners and staff who helped make it a success.

Moving forward, we hope that some of the new courses and online events that are being developed and offered by our partners can be helpful to people during this challenging time. As always, if you have comments or suggestions, please email ioc@bath.ac.uk.

Rachid


Learn digital skills while working or studying at home

Ensuring your skills are up-to-date in the increasingly digital world can be difficult. In order to make digital skills education more available, we have produced a variety of courses, including some that are short, online and free, so that you don’t have to dedicate a significant amount of time or money to gain new skills.


Our second annual conference explored how a new focus on lifelong learning could change digital skills education in the UK. With over 250 attendees, 78 speakers and 20 sessions across two days, it was clear that everyone involved was enthusiastic to discuss how to make digital skills education more accessible to a wider group of people. 


Through the IoC’s CTRL Your Future campaign, we continue to work with inspirational collaborators to encourage a larger and more diverse group of people into digital careers through higher education.


We celebrated our second birthday!

In January, we celebrated two years since the launch of the IoC with an animated video, detailing our successes and progress from 2018 to 2020. You can watch the video below.


New case studies and blogs

Ethical Hacking Sessions through Northumbria Cyber Clinic and North East Business Resilience Centre

Our latest case study from our partner Northumbria University shows how successful collaborations between universities and employers can be. The Northumbria team created ethical hacking sessions where their cyber security students gained practical experience in real workplaces and worked with the North East Business Resilience Centre as part time cyber security consultants. A student who was hired by NEBRC said of the programme: “I’m really pleased to be accepted. I think it’s a great platform to get my foot in the door and get experience, all while helping local businesses.” 

Learn best-practice strategies for working from home

Remote working is now the norm for many people in the UK. In this new blog, we outline how our free course on remote working, which was developed with the University of Leeds and FutureLearn, will help you boost your productivity and collaborate better with your team while working at home. Hannah, an assistant at the University of Bath who took the course, said, “I discovered tools that help me stay in contact with my colleagues, so it doesn’t even feel like I’m not in my physical workplace!”

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