Since Microverse was started, our team has been able to positively impact thousands of lives around the world. Throughout this time, we’ve learned a lot about how to improve our unique peer-to-peer, collaborative learning model. We’re excited to announce that after many months of planning, designing, and building, we've used these learnings to create a new version of Microverse - Microverse 2.0.
Microverse 2.0 is an updated version of our full-time Full-Stack Web Development Program. We officially launched it with our cohort that started on May 31, 2021.
I can’t wait to share more about it and the changes we’ve made, but I’ll start by explaining why we made these changes.
Previously, our program focused on mastery learning and while it was full-time, it had a more self-paced model in that students could take different lengths of time to complete projects. We realized that Parkison’s Law rang true as students were taking longer than necessary to complete the program. This created problems for some students, as the longer they are in the program, the more pressing the need to take on jobs to support themselves and their families.
Microverse was always designed to be intensive. It doesn't allow room for part-time studies or work, so that students can gain all the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed as international software developers. So, we knew we had to update our program to reduce this problem and incorporate more certainty for all students in order for them to succeed.
Further, Microverse is a global school, with students from more than 100 countries. This past year, and the pandemic, showed us just how fragile many of the underprivileged communities we work with are. Predictability in life is a privilege. We caused more hardships in our student’s lives by not having enough predictability in our program.
The core reason we decided to make changes to our program was to improve the learning experience for our students. We made changes to add more certainty to when students can expect to finish the program, to hold them more accountable, and to improve their overall experience. We also made changes to help reduce the struggle for students to stay motivated and make faster progress.
Our goal has always been to create and foster an incredible learning experience and community for our global students. Microverse 2.0 will help us provide an even better experience.
While many parts of the Microverse Program experience remain the same, we’ve made a lot of changes to improve things that weren’t working as well. When designing Microverse 2.0, we doubled down on our belief that content is a commodity. We very intentionally curated the most exceptional pieces of content for each specific learning goal, instead of relying more on one open-source curriculum.
The process of creating Microverse 2.0 was a labor of love. We rebuilt our entire curriculum from scratch, and backward, starting with market data from hundreds of employed Microverse alumni.
A key change we introduced in Microverse 2.0 is weekly deadlines. We’ve provided more guidance for students to meet program goals and make consistent progress throughout the program. This will ensure students can complete the technical curriculum within seven months, then move on to job searching.
Microverse 2.0 works to provide both predictability and a much higher level of accountability. We've done this by designing project requirements and deadlines to only be possible to achieve if students are dedicated full-time to the program. We’ve also balanced our deadlines with mastery-based learning by introducing repeat weeks and repeat module options for students that need an additional week to master concepts.
Collaboration always has been, and remains, core to Microverse. That’s why we’ve included even more collaboration in Microverse 2.0. We’ve doubled down on our collaborative learning approach because we firmly believe that technical knowledge is not enough to prepare students for a global market. We’ve added new types of collaboration, such as group projects where students learn through building technical projects collaboratively with peers around the world. We’ve also integrated our technical curriculum with our professional skills curriculum to guide students to face the challenges of multi-cultural collaboration. This new structure mimics the real-world environment of a global remote team.
This past year has been incredibly challenging for everyone. We see the importance of what we’re doing more than ever before and continue to focus on the foundations of Microverse; collaboration, and changing the lives of talented individuals globally. We shared more about how we see the future of work and learning here.
With more than 300 employed alums from all around the world, we are making a global impact. The below stats are as of October 2022:
With thousands of applicants each month from more than 200 countries, and full-time students from more than 100 countries, we can’t wait to see the impact Microverse 2.0 will have on our global student population.
We have an amazing international, fully distributed team who works tirelessly to provide the best experience for our students. And we’re growing! Learn more about our open positions here.
We continue to be on the leading edge of remote work, and instil best practices in our team and students. If you’re looking to hire exceptional web developers, skilled in remote work, learn more about hiring Microverse students. If you’re interested in joining Microverse and becoming a remote software developer, get started below.
Ariel is the founder & CEO of Microverse, an online school for software engineers. Read more about Microverse and how it can help you.
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