Creators School's first edition took place in September and I have to say, it was mind-blowing.
When we launched this project, the assumption was that in two weeks we could teach 15 people, with or without any technical background, how to launch their own web project, including writing the code for it. We knew it wouldn't be an easy task.
We divided the course in four modules: business development, product development, web design and web development.
With each of these modules, we tried to introduce the necessary content to successfully go from an idea to an MVP, through a build-measure-learn cycle.
Since the only real way of learning something is by practicing, the participants were divided in groups of three and asked to develop a project.
It was an extraordinary experience to see how they dedicated themselves to the task at hand, how they engaged and got so far out of their comfort zones, really craving to learn and embrace this new world of web based products.
The last day was dedicated entirely to evaluations. We divided it in two parts: an individual exam and a group presentation of the project they developed.
This part was crucial for us since we needed a way to both evaluate their knowledge and our teaching. At the same time, we showed them we cared, since we really wanted to know if they actually learnt something, it wasn't all about the money.
Now that it's all said and done, we can confidently say that this was a remarkable experience.
We say this because:
- everyone had a positive score;
- everyone got enough knowledge to build a basic web site;
- every group took an idea and produced an MVP in two weeks (and way better than we expected);
To account for the success of the course, we already got testimonials by some of this edition's participants, here is an example:
At CS, I've developed new knowledge on new methodologies and technologies that I didn't learn in the University. Recently I attended the Leadership Tournament 2013, organized by AIESEC, where I was able to apply some of the things I've learned at CS. The end result was great and we actually won the competition!"
This was one hell of a ride. Witnessing their evolution was a really inspiring and humbling process. One we will never forget.
The impact on the team was greatly noticed and teaching is something that we want to keep doing in the future.
This project will have a new edition soon and I can guarantee it will be even better.
If you are interested on the next edition, take some time to answer this survey.