At Carnegie Mellon University, I’ve been lucky to teach computer science in a department that has the resources to keep my curriculum and students on the cutting edge. A few years ago I discovered AWS Educate, Amazon’s program that gives instructors and students access to their cloud technology platform used by companies who recruit students after graduation. This is a game changer.
Today, in my course at CMU, roughly 500 students per year utilize AWS Educate in both face-to-face and distance learning environments, and more than 20 of my peers teach with it. In my own classroom, AWS Educate has been transformative. My students work on real-world data, projects and infrastructure that give them practical experience. For example, they build a performant social media analytics engine as a cloud-based web service using 1TB of data without exceeding a development budget as well as a per hour budget for the running service on AWS.
My students report a “double effect,” their experience enabled by AWS Educate helps them be competitive and career-ready, enhancing their chance of success. When they interview for jobs, their experience with real-world datasets and projects makes them very competitive. And because they have used the cloud in class, their skills are transferable to the workplace, making them productive on day one.
The biggest piece of feedback is thank you. Now we can explore, innovate and offer projects at scale without buying servers to put on campus.
Amazon wants to arm students with the right skills to help them directly apply their training to relevant internships and jobs (and maybe even come work with us!). Learn AWS Educate’s new features that help marry skills development with careers. To learn more about AWS Educate, visit: http://www.awseducate.com.
