Out of curiosity, I signed up for the JavaScript Mini Code Bootcamp - Archive to evaluate the quality of the lectures. I've been watching/listening to the first 20+ min and so far, I'm quite skeptical of the quality of the instruction. Are the archives some sort of practice run or are they reminiscent of the actual lectures?
I see. Thanks for answering that. If you don't mind, I have some follow-up questions then (since I'm considering doing this as a way to get back into a programming career and possibly recommending this to a friend's friend who has been looking for a bootcamp to change careers):
* What is the style for the actual lectures?
* Are you using any tools aside from screencasting and chat to supplement the lectures?
* Your courses are listed as full time, 9-6 affairs. What is the typical schedule over the course of the day?
* Is there any room in the course/syllabus for the instructors to help students with questions about related topics not included in the syllabus? For example, a quick glance shows that you cover React Native's ListView but I see no mention of the newer FlatList or SectionList.
* Related, do you discuss why certain tools are chosen to be taught over others? And how to choose a library to use when presented with several seemingly similar options? For example, XMLHttpRequest vs fetch vs SuperAgent vs etc. vs your choice of axios. Same with react-navigation over other libraries. People unfamiliar with the field will undoubtedly hear about these other libraries or even get asked about them, so I'm a bit concerned about recommending this to someone without any background in programming at all.
Ok, style for the actual class: We start the day out with a code challenge, then move into a mini lecture (a few students with one instructor) and a mini project you'll work on with a pair programming partner. Then another short lecture and you'll begin working on your main project.
If you're ever stuck you jump onto our #help channel on Slack and there's instantly someone available to help out. Chances are they've seen that problem before.
Once you're finished with your challenge or project you'll submit it as a pull request (we use Github for everything) and you'll have a code review. Sometimes those are in person, sometimes they're just comments left on code.
We have frequent brown bag lectures (lectures with industry experts) and office hours with instructors to discuss, well, anything.
Thanks for getting back to me. It sounds a bit geared towards people who have enough experience to know what to ask, so I'm not sure if this is something I would recommend to someone coming from a completely different field. Would that be an accurate assessment of the learning style?
Also, I'm still unsure about what tools will be used as part of the lectures. If it's really just screencasting + chat, I can't believe that the material will be conveyed all that well. At least as evidenced by how prepared your instructors seemed in the Archive videos. Sorry if it's a bit harsh, but my expectations are a bit high since I'm coming from a background that includes 5 years of teaching ESL.
