Business Career Hub transitions to online Bootcamps
As millions of Canadians adjust to the need for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to acquire necessary skills for future employment continues. The Ted Rogers School of Management has barely missed a beat in adapting to the situation by taking its popular Bootcamps online.
Launched by the Business Career Hub (BCH) two years ago, Bootcamps help better prepare students for the workforce by providing them with industry-level technical training, such as Excel and Salesforce. The program uses the peer-learning model which employs students with expertise to train their fellow students on platforms and tools coveted by industry. This year, the program has grown to over 10,000 participants.
With growing concerns about COVID-19, the BCH began planning for the online delivery of Bootcamps in early February. Thanks to this preparation, after Ryerson announced on Friday, March 13, 2020 that all in-person events were cancelled, Bootcamps were up and running online on Monday, March 16, 2020.
Since launching virtually, BCH has run sessions on Microsoft Excel, Python and Salesforce, and is adding to their events calendar every day. Excel is their most popular offering, and more than 100 students have participated in the Python session. “This means we reached more students than we could in a traditional format given space constraints in the Bootcamp Lab,” says Graham Sogawa, Executive Director, BCH. Since moving online, more than 1,000 students have registered for Bootcamps.
“The biggest challenge when moving to an online model was how to retrain our facilitators and finding creative ways to address student questions during the sessions because Bootcamps have always been interactive,” says Sogawa.
“To get our facilitators comfortable, we had to include more "co-facilitators" when hosting sessions. This allows the lead facilitator to focus on the content, while the assistant facilitators can address questions that come in from participants,” he explains. “In a virtual format, we needed to find ways to deliver the same quality experience and combination of group learning with individual coaching.”
“We are also working on training for our facilitators focused on delivering great online sessions,” Sogawa adds. “Presenting to a webcam is a new challenge, but our facilitators have done a remarkable job adapting.”
The feedback from students about the online Bootcamps has been very positive. Some have said how grateful they are for these sessions and others have said they help break up their day and allow them to continue learning.
“When I saw that there were now Virtual Bootcamps, I was truly amazed,” says BTM student Nour Mousa. “I’m sure it was not easy, but I want to thank everyone at BCH for such a successful and speedy transition.”
“From Day One, BCH was able to reassure students, and was ready to operate online shortly after that, still offering all the services students at the Ted Rogers School heavily rely upon,” explains Mousa. “I have seen many other workplaces and businesses struggle immensely with this transition.”
“Our online Bootcamps have been successful because of the tireless efforts of our staff and student facilitators,” Sogawa explains. “I am extremely grateful to our facilitators who, in addition to balancing their studies or work placements, are sharing their expertise with their fellow students. For many, hosting webinars was a new experience, and they bravely accepted the challenge.”
Once the situation with COVID-19 settles, the BCH thinks it will continue to offer Bootcamps both in person and online formats. “In any situation, businesses must learn and adapt,” says Sogawa. “What we are learning is that students value this type of engagement. We will continue to enhance the online Bootcamp sessions and find creative ways to engage our students.”