This project entails creating a curriculum, processes, platforms, and brand materials to support students on their journey through mastery-based learning in an online, remote environment.
I worked as the sole designer alongside our executive and management team to deliver design solutions for V School’s website, internal tools, UX/UI design program, and marketing team.
When it comes to V School’s user base, it is safe to say that no one student is like the other. The primary groups of users that make up our user base can be defined as follows.
This user group includes individuals who have launched a previous career through traditional means (University, College, etc) and are now looking to transition into a career in tech. Career transitioners are motivated by factors such as current income, job satisfaction, and job security.
The opposite of your "Ivy League Tech Bro". V School works directly with population groups that historically have not had access to pathways to enter careers in tech. These individuals are motivated by factors like current income, scholarship opportunity, Income share agreements, and other financing options.
Around 40% of V School's students are active or former military service members. These individuals are looking to transition from military to civilian life while launching a meaningful career. These individuals are motivated by job security, work community, and military benefits (G.I. BIll, Vocational Rehab, etc.).
V School initially launched as a 12-week in-person bootcamp program. We learned during this period that a time-based approach to learning made it extremely difficult to create consistent student outcomes.
Every student that arrives to our program arrives with a different aptitude or ability level in the skill or profession they plan to pursue. Aptitude levels can effect overall performance in the program and had a direct impact on how long a non-time-based program will take to complete.
Every student that arrives to our program arrives with different previous experiences. Some of these previous experiences support a future career in tech, while other experiences don't. For example someone with a marketing background may have relevant experience for working in a design related role while an individual who worked as a bartender or mechanic, will need more professional experience in order to make a successful career transition into tech.
When students aren't being watched in a classroom, they are left to be personally accountable instead of relying on instructors and TA's. A remote learning environment makes it difficult for students to stay motivated because they are missing the community aspect that they get from a physical classroom.
To ensure consistent student outcomes we transitioned from a time-based learning model to a mastery-based learning model we call "Responsive Learning"
The following methods are used to ensure consistent outcomes and skills for the students who complete our program:
Stage 2 - The Experience Stage
To help solve the problem of students arriving with varying levels of related work experience, we developed stage 2 of the program "The Experience Stage".
This stage helps us solve the following problems:
Motivation and Accountability in a Remote Learning Environment
We have attempted to re-create the in-person learning experience as much as possible in a remote environment.
We increase motivation and create accountability with our students by:
The next step to improve the student experience even further is to move the curriculum and course content onto our own learning management system.
This will allow us to track student behavioral data to gain a better understanding of how and when we can help students stay on track.
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$72,000/yr
