At TripleTen, Learning Online Doesn’t Mean Learning Alone

When someone tells you they learned something online, what exactly do you imagine they did? Watch tutorials on YouTube? Participate in an online institution with set times for digital lectures and labs? See, “learning online” can encompass a remarkably wide range of approaches to education, making it difficult to know exactly how much assistance you’ll get.

So here, we’re going to set our flag in the soil and say it clearly: with TripleTen, yes, you’re learning online. But in no sense does that mean you’re learning alone.

Here’s what we mean.

More than instructors

First off, yes, we do have instructors. Any institution of learning that offers more than basic access to a series of videos will have people filling this role. These people do what you’d expect — assist students through the learning process. They answer questions, host Q&A sessions, and keep students engaged in the material. But the human-centric TripleTen approach goes beyond that.

Tutors and reviewers

We’ve grouped these together because they share a core focus: they’re all about making sure you grasp the material itself. But they have their unique focuses:

Tutors

These are industry-seasoned experts who merge tech theory with practice by sharing need-to-know info and infusing it with hard-won practical knowledge and tricks. They:

• Conduct webinars: At least once a week, tutors bring real cases from the industry as well as examples from their own professional experience to connect the material students are learning with the tech role they’ll land down the line.
• Host one-on-one mentoring sessions: Tutors assist students with whatever they need — untangling an issue on the project they’re working on, hosting mock interviews, or even providing been-there-done-that career advice.

Want to hear more? Check out this post from one of our dynamic QA tutors_{Meet the TripleTen Tutors: Ulyana Yeryksonava}.

Reviewers

These are the coders, QA engineers, data scientists — in short, the technical specialists — who dig through student projects to give feedback on what’s working and what needs more attention. They:

• Highlight the good, the things to be aware of, and the errors to fix: Without feedback, it’s more difficult to effectively master a new skill. Since skills are what our students are looking to gain, these professionals are key to enabling the learning process. Thanks to reviewers, students get precise and actionable feedback that will help them see how they’re growing and uncover what areas might need a little more attention.
• Help identify the students who could use a little extra assistance: As part of that, reviewers are often the first people to see if a specific subject or project is stumping a student. As such, they can be the first line in helping students find extra mentoring, and this helps make sure every student gets the attention they need.

Learning coaches

These specialists also support students, but their work differs from the content-focused roles of tutors and reviewers. They’re not the ones who’ll help you untangle a bit of code or sharpen your understanding of a digital tool. Instead, they make sure students have the learning and study skills that fuel a successful learning experience. They’re guides for the learning process in general.

What does that mean? Well, let’s get some specifics. For example, learning coaches help students develop sustainable time management and online learning skills. They also onboard and stay in touch with students, proactively checking in to see how they’re doing. They see if students are on track with their deadlines, and they arrange extensions or breaks_{Yes, Our Bootcamp Is Flexible. Here’s Why That Matters for Students.} if needed (real life happens, after all).

The community at large

Now, we have many, many more people who help students throughout the TripleTen journey (including career coaches_{Career Coaching at TripleTen: What It Is and How It Helps You Land a Job}), but we want to focus this third section on the wider community we foster as a baked-in element of our bootcamp.

Aside from all the help we provide from our side (which is truly robust), we build an internal network of fellow learners. This allows students to help each other out — like Natasha Bagramian_{A New Country, New Career, and New Sense of Belonging: Natasha Bagramian’s TripleTen Story} did.

During her time at our Quality Assurance program, she found APIs difficult to master. She reached out to tutors, got the help she needed, and was soon a complete master in the tech. Then, when she saw other students struggling, she came in and helped.

In the group chat, somebody would say ‘Hey, I’m having a problem with APIs,’ and I would say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna help you.’

Natasha Bagramian TripleTen grad

And she’s not the only student who was moved to lend a hand to fellow community members. Before enrolling, Dillon Arnold_{Cleared for Career Takeoff: Dillon Arnold’s TripleTen Story} wanted to know more about the bootcamp, so he got in touch with a few of our senior students. These are learners who have a strong grasp of the material and volunteer to take on a community-focused advocacy and aid role. When talking to them, he liked what he heard, so he enrolled. Then, down the line, he became one himself.

I found myself getting really involved. I became a senior student. I really enjoyed helping other people.

Dillon Arnold TripleTen grad

It goes beyond current students, too. Even grads like Sheldon Kinsler_{From Sales to Tech: How Sheldon Kinsler Found a New Career and Community} come in with advice and encouragement.

I'm still part of the Discord even though I'm not doing TripleTen anymore. But still, just being able to congratulate everyone, see all the good news that they post, and root them on is an awesome feeling. I just feel like these are like friends that I've always had, even if they're pretty new.

Sheldon Kinsler TripleTen grad

This grad support was crucial for Kyle Kolodziej_{In QA and Never Looking Back: Kyle Kolodziej’s TripleTen Story}. He just couldn’t untangle an error he was getting, so he went to the community for pointers. An alum worked closely with him, and it turned out that Kyle’s issue had nothing to do with his project. “With their help, I figured out it was my computer that was the problem,” Kyle said.

So when we say we foster a learning community, we mean it. You’re absolutely not going to be learning alone.

Why this matters

We nurture a thriving learning community because research has shown it to be a crucial aspect that improves educational outcomes. According to an International Journal of Lifelong Education article, “learning itself is [a] social interaction among individuals.”

It goes on: “Learning is not only a matter of individual agency and situational context (e.g. having time to learn, money to pay for it, and learning opportunities at hand), it also depends on the wider social context and the communities a person is part of that trigger change or support learning.”

If a student wants to succeed in an educational journey, it’s crucial that they inhabit a community that encourages learning and gives aid. So we provide that community. We make sure it’s populated by both learners and experts to make sure we maximize the likelihood of students landing the professional pivot they’re looking for.

Find out more 

Curious about TripleTen? Learn more by booking a call with one of our advisors.