A. You and your grandson are in a heartbreaking predicament for which there are no complete or satisfying solutions. I cannot tell you how much I wish this weren’t true. Above all, I want to acknowledge the painful reality of the circumstances you describe.
Even though there are no perfect remedies, it may still be possible to improve the situation at least a little bit. First, let’s note that you are contending with two distinct, albeit related, challenges. One is that the pandemic has uprooted your grandson’s budding social life. The other is that his perfectly warranted distress about falling out of touch with his new friends has ruptured his relationships at home. On the first front, you may be hard-pressed to offer your grandson more social opportunities than you already have. On the second front, however, there may be ways to repair your connection with your isolated teenager, who needs loving support now more than ever.
Empathy, empathy, empathy is the place to start. The situation in which he finds himself is miserable and not of his creation. It may be true that he is acting out and upsetting everyone around him, and that many other young people find themselves in similar straits, and that we are starting to catch glimpses of the light at the end of the tunnel. Try not to let these factors sap your sympathy for your grandson. The adjustments that we have been asking adolescents to make, both in how they conduct their social lives and how they learn, take almost all of the fun out of being a teenager and have been in place for nearly a year. No amount of compassion for this is too much.
Without any other agenda, deliver to your grandson the message that you are deeply sorry that the pandemic has wreaked havoc on his social life. Tenderly communicate that you grasp how painful it must be to know that his friends are getting together without him. Let him know that you cannot believe that the pandemic has gone on for so long (roughly one-tenth of the lifetime that he likely remembers) and that you understand that for teenagers in particular, the support of family cannot make up for losing touch with friends.
Compassion won’t alter the lousy circumstances, but it can still help to relieve his emotional suffering. Feelingalone with psychological pain is a lot worse than believing that your distress is seen and validated. So, do all you can to help your grandson know that you are entirely on his team.
The idea makes sense, so much so that at least two governors, a national union leader and President Biden are behind it: extend this school year into the summer to help students make up for some of the learning they lost during a year of mostly remote school.
By summer, more teachers will be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Transmission rates might be significantly lower. And it will be easier in warm weather for students and educators to spend time in the open air, which is safer than being indoors.
Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia promoted the idea on Friday, saying that schools should make summer classes an option for families. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Randi Weingarten, the powerful president of the American Federation of Teachers, have offered similar endorsements. Boston teachers and the district have started talking about summer options. And Mr. Biden is expected to ask Congress to approve $29 billion to fund summer programs and tutoring as part of his pandemic stimulus package.
The article includes possible objections to summer school:
Governors have few ways to compel districts to expand summer offerings. Local contracts typically make it impossible to require teachers to work over the summer, and a recent poll of educators found that only 19 percent support a shorter summer vacation in 2021 or 2022.
Teachers who did agree to work over the summer would need to be paid at a time when districts are already stretching their budgets to cover costs such as updating ventilation systems, hiring school nurses and testing staff and students for the coronavirus.
Kimberly Adams, president of the Fairfax Education Association, the teachers’ union in Virginia’s largest school system, said that reactions from teachers, parents and students to the idea of extending the school year were “definitely mixed.”
Her union in the suburbs of Washington has fought efforts to reopen schools before teachers are vaccinated, clashing with affluent parents who have pushed to get their children back in classrooms. But many of those same families typically send their children to pricey summer camps, or travel when school is out, and may be unlikely to sign up for a longer academic year.
Stephanie Fox, a high school math teacher in King George County Schools, where only a small number of students in the district have the option to attend in person, said she doubted that many educators in her district would be willing to teach summer school.
“Many of us are exhausted,” she said. “We’re only halfway through the school year, and I probably put in as many hours the first half as I normally do in a full year.”
The article ends by considering how summer instruction may help address academic gaps caused by economic disparity among families:
Research has shown that while upper-middle-class families often use the summer for structured activities like camp, athletic programs and visits to museums and libraries, children from low-income families can fall behind academically, in part because their parents cannot afford expensive enrichment programs and may not have time off from work to facilitate other activities.
But attempts to reform the school calendar to close these gaps have often run into opposition from parents who do not want to give up what they see as the birthright of a traditional long American summer.
Some education advocates hope that the disruption of the pandemic will help shift attitudes over the next several years, making it more palatable to help students who are struggling by keeping schools open over the summer, and by introducing longer school days and weeks all year round.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
Do you think summer school is a good solution for students who have fallen behind academically this year? Would you choose to participate in summer instruction if it were offered?
If expanded summer school is available, should it be mandatory? Explain your answer.
To what degree, if at all, do you think remote or hybrid learning has hindered you and your classmates academically, socially or developmentally?
How do you think other students — students at different grade levels or with different learning needs — have been affected by this challenging school year? Would summer school benefit them, and if so, in what ways?
The article says that there is no consensus on the form summer instruction should take, but it notes that experts have recommended enrichment activities in art, music and sports as well as a focus on core academics. What aspects do you think an expanded summer school should include? What qualities do you think might help entice reluctant students to embrace an extra semester in school? Explain.
By Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer at Coursera
At Coursera, we believe that learning is the source of human progress — that it has the power to transform our world. In 2020, we strengthened our commitment to address systemic racism through learning. We focused on creating social justice and anti-racism content and elevating Black voices in our instructor community. Today, during Black History Month, I’m proud to announce our partnership with Howard University — a historically Black college and university (HBCU) with a distinguished legacy of educating Black communities.
Howard is the only HBCU listed among the top 100 universities in the U.S. Since 1867, Howard has been an engineer of change in U.S. society and teaches students to advance social justice and preserve human liberty. Notable alumni include Vice President Kamala Harris, Toni Morrison, and Thurgood Marshall.
Howard will build a job-relevant course catalog on Coursera starting with Information Systems for Business and Linear Algebra for Data Science Specializations, which will launch later this year.
University president Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick has also joined Coursera’s University Advisory Board, which approves all new university partners and provides strategic counsel.
“I am really excited about this partnership with Coursera, one of the preeminent purveyors of educational content in the 21st-century learning landscape,” said Dr. Frederick. “Historically, there has been a disconnect between companies and top-level talent from underrepresented communities who don’t have the same access and resources as other job seekers. These kinds of partnerships can help enhance opportunities for people of color by aligning their education with the needs of businesses. This initiative is good for job seekers, good for business, and good for the country. In addition, it will help us spread the vision and mission of Howard University beyond our campus. Exposure to our world-class faculty will empower people to fight systemic racism, combat inequality, and pursue a life dedicated to servant leadership.”
Coursera is also excited to announce several new social justice courses from other university partners, including content that has been funded by Coursera. The courses include:
In the coming months, 40+ additional courses on topics such as overcoming bias, systemic racism, effective allyship, and diversity in the workplace are expected to launch on Coursera. Additionally, learners can enroll in 20+ courses taught by Black instructors featured in our Black History Month collection.
To broaden access, we are working with Facebook Elevate and nonprofit partners to help Black learners enter the social media marketing field. Together, we are offering up to 10,000 scholarships for the Facebook Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate on Coursera. The certificate has no prerequisites and helps learners go from beginner to job-ready in about five months. The initiative will provide high-touch career services to learners in the Facebook Professional Certificate program. We are also partnering with Black Girls CODE, a nonprofit focused on bringing tech education to Black girls, to provide up to 2,000 girls with free access to the Coursera catalog.
We are honored to work with our partners to increase access for Black learners, including connecting people around the world with leading experts at Howard University. Together, we can empower millions of learners with content that can truly transform their minds, their lives, and the world.
Meet Bravin, a passionate learner from Kenya who decided to enroll in the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative. During a challenging time of unemployment, Bravin was determined to make the most of his time to upskill and prepare for re-entry into the workforce. See how he’s using his new skills and knowledge to pave a new career path:
When COVID-19 hit, the company I was working for had to cease operations because most of the clients had stopped funding projects. As a result, I became unemployed.
Just two years earlier, I had graduated from Machakos University with a degree in accounting and a minor in finance, and started my career as a CPA in Kenya. Entering the workforce was exciting, but my thirst and passion for knowledge had always been beyond the accounting profession. I started developing an interest in data science, and after taking some online courses, I switched paths and landed a role as a junior data analyst at a market research company.
Then came the pandemic.
Because of my earlier experience with online learning, I knew there were opportunities out there to learn new skills, and the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative* came as a light at the end of the tunnel. I took it as a challenge to upskill. I decided that, during my period of unemployment, I would learn new skills that could help me become a better market researcher and, eventually, an entrepreneur.
Bravin’s advice: Choose something to learn that is geared toward solving a problem. That way you can enjoy learning while solving problems in your field of interest.
Becoming a market researcher and learning how to get insights from data for decision-making was at the top of my learning bucket list. I’ve now gained skills in these courses that enable me to write well-structured requests for proposals for market research projects and help me create effective questionnaires to gather insightful data for clients. I’ve also learned how to apply R packages in data mining and scraping, especially on social media platforms and other websites.
After learning how to write market research proposals, I was approached by one of my clients to write a proposal for their charity organization. I successfully wrote the proposal, enabling them to get a funding donation of Ksh.1000000!
I’m also happy to share that the Capacity Development Programme in Africa took me in as their lead designer for all their social media accounts. Furthermore, I registered a graphic design business (b-graphics). I am awaiting my license to start practicing, but I already have clients. These are really big wins for me and I’m grateful for having been able to gain this knowledge on Coursera.
Bonus: A fun fact about me!
I actually have four components to my name: Bravin Majani Mugangasia Luvayo. Majani means “green leaves,” Mugangasia means “wizard” and Luvayo means “playful.” I’m told that I’m a pretty funny person in my community!
*The Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative concluded in December 2020. You can learn more about our Coursera for Government offering here.
Are you a front-end developer, thinking about switching from front end to back end? We talked with Arnav Luthra, a Back-End Software Engineer at Delivery Hero, to find out how he made the transition.
Making the switch from front end to back end can feel daunting. It means having to learn new frameworks, new languages, and mastering a different way of thinking. Luckily, having front-end experience can help set the foundation for becoming a back-end developer.
According to HackerRank, not only are back-end developers in high demand, but hiring managers prioritize seeking developers who have a basic understanding of all layers of a tech stack. This means that having knowledge of the front end can help you become a more well-rounded back-end developer.
In our interview, Arnav shares why he decided to make the switch from front end to back end, and how he made the switch. He also shares tips for anyone looking to make the switch themselves.
What do you work on in your current job as a back-end engineer?
To kick off our interview, we asked Arnav to tell us more about what he does in his current role as a back-end engineer at Delivery Hero. “Most of what I do relates to implementing business logic on our applications,” Arnav explains. He works with his team to build new features and maintain existing ones that power their back-end services.
“There’s a lot of communication that has to happen between us and the Product Managers about what kind of logic we want to implement,” he adds. “There’s a lot of attention to detail to make sure everything we implement works to the degree that we need it to work.”
This means Arnav and his team regularly test what they build. “It’s a lot of QA (Quality Assurance) to make sure that the logic performs as necessary. We do a lot of testing of our infrastructure as well, to make sure that our applications perform to a certain level of load or demand.”
What is difference between what a front-end engineer works on vs. what a back-end engineer works on?
“Front-end engineering is focused more on what the end user sees in an application,” Arnav explains. “So on a primary level, it’s the user interface. The work itself is more aesthetic-based, you want more of an eye for how things are laid out on a page.”
“As a back-end engineer, your attention is focused more on the logic behind what’s happening in an application. You’re providing the data that would then be displayed by the front end.”
To learn more about the difference between front end vs. back end, check out our blog post on front end vs. back end.
Why did you make the switch from front end to back end?
Arnav got his start coding in JavaScript. “That was my first software engineering job. When I started looking for new jobs, I figured front-end made the most sense for me because JavaScript was the language that I was most comfortable with.” At the time, Arnav didn’t realize that his work with Javascript had spanned both front-end and back-end.
His search for front-end roles eventually led him to join Delivery Hero as a Front-End Developer. Arnav soon realized, however, that he wasn’t doing what he truly enjoyed from his last job.
“I didn’t quite know the distinction at first, but I realized that I tended to enjoy back-end tasks more. I wasn’t as interested in the aesthetic side of the application, but more so the underlying logic. I found that led to problems that were more interesting and fulfilling for me to solve.”
So, how did you make the switch?
“My manager was really supportive when I voiced to him that I wanted to switch from front end to back end,” Arnav explains.
“What that entailed was learning Go (Golang), which is what we use on our back end, working more closely with the back-end developers to see what they were doing, and learning more about those processes.”
“It was also switching the way I had to think about developing. On the front end, you see the results of your work right away because you’re working on the user interface, but with back-end it’s a lot more abstract numbers that you’re dealing with, so the way that you test your work and see the results of your work is more abstract, or less easy to see.”
Do you have any advice for someone who’s interested in a career in back-end?
“My advice would be to get experience with front-end as well, just to see the difference between the two, and to make sure that you’re truly more interested in back-end. For me, that was something I wasn’t sure of at the beginning, and I valued getting that experience in the front-end first to know that back-end was something that I was more interested in.”
Do you have any advice for front-end developers interested in switching to back end?
“I think a lot of it comes down to the organization you’re working at. Some have a very distinct separation between the front-end development teams and the back-end development teams, while some have people that go back and forth. In the case of my organization, talking to my manager and talking to the other back-ends that were working alongside me helped me to understand what they were doing.”
“The best thing is to just ask your manager or ask other back-end engineers that you might be working with, and see if there are any small tasks that you can start with.”
“The biggest hurdle really was just getting the back-end environment set up. Once I’d gotten that done, there were a lot of small things that I was able to start with that helped me build up my knowledge.”
What is your favorite part about back-end development?
“My favorite part about back-end development is the problems it throws at you. When you’re dealing with powering the logic behind an application, there are a lot more algorithms involved. It feels almost like you’re solving a puzzle.”
“The challenges that back-end development presents in terms of having to architect solutions and build efficient code challenges you in a different way than front-end development does. The challenge is a bit more fulfilling to me.”
Do product managers need to know how to code? For the majority of jobs, it’s not a requirement. However, it can certainly make you more successful in the role.
Product management teams lead a product from idea to production, and when they understand the technical side, the process flows a lot more smoothly. While you may not need to code an app or write an algorithm yourself, there are many other benefits of learning to code for product managers. Read on to find out how learning to code can empower your Product Management team.
1. You’ll be able to speak the same language as your engineers
Imagine traveling to France without knowing a lick of French. Sure, you could get by. But learning some conversational phrases opens you up to places off the well-worn tourist path and earns you respect from the locals.
Knowing how to code as a product manager is a similar experience.
When you’re able to use the same terminology as the development team, it’s easier to ensure that there’s no missing holes in the requirements. Plus, the ability to relate to your engineers — to understand what goes into building even a seemingly simple feature — positions you as an ally.
2. You can ship better products
When you understand how code works, you’re able to think through the technical requirements of building your product. This helps you to better gauge which features or enhancements are feasible given your budget, timeline, and development resources. Calli, a product manager at Paradox who learned how to code using Codecademy, puts it this way:
“By learning to code, you’re able to ship higher quality products. I’m able to think through problems in a different way than if I didn’t know how to pull data from SQL or know which language we’re using to make an animation display on a screen. You can think through requirements. If a client request comes in, I have a better understanding of whether or not we can do it. And if we can, how complicated is it?”
3. You’ll sharpen your problem solving skills
Through learning how to code, you also learn and practice problem-solving skills. The purpose of writing code is to communicate with machines, which requires breaking down a goal into smaller manageable steps so a computer can understand.
This practice is the basis of problem-solving: define a problem, break it down into smaller pieces, and explore possible solutions. It’s a process that’s helpful when you’re feeling overwhelmed by any kind of project, whether in product management or even in your personal life.
4. You’ll be trusted with more strategic projects
Understanding technical requirements puts you in a great position to not only guide the product plan, but to shape and define the product as well. Leadership will be more likely to trust your input on the vision and strategy when it shows you know the product inside and out.
As Calli and her teammates deepen their knowledge of code, the projects they’re tasked with are more big-picture. She says:
“We’re getting the opportunity to work on more strategic initiatives that involve looking at our database, looking at the data we have, and thinking about how we can potentially restructure it. I don’t know that leadership would give us that opportunity if we didn’t have a basic understanding of how the product works, what’s possible, and what’s not possible. We’re getting more opportunities, bigger opportunities as product people.”
5. You can make better-informed product decisions
A working knowledge of code can help you think through critical decisions about your product and get better at making the right ones.
For example, knowing how to use SQL, a programming language designed for managing and querying data held in databases, can help you understand how customers are engaging with your products so you can incorporate this data into your decision-making. (And, it feels pretty empowering to be able to access this information without relying on data engineers.)
Not only will you be more equipped to make better choices, you’ll be prepared to explain why you made them, making it easier to get everyone on board with your vision.
6. You’ll feel more confident
As a product manager, you’re always communicating — across teams, with customers, and up to leadership — about how a product works and why it works that way. It’s normal to experience a bout of imposter syndrome, but having a solid technical foundation can boost your confidence in these conversations.
This was the case for Calli. She started out having no idea how code actually worked, but once she started learning how to code, things changed.
“Working with other team members, clients’ technical specialists, and even leadership feels much more natural. I don’t feel like I’m faking it, I understand what they’re saying and what they’re asking.”
Supercharge your product management career
You don’t need a masters degree in computer science or a software engineering background to be a successful product manager. But knowing how to code can make the difference between a good product manager and a great product manager. And who knows, it may prove more than just useful—coding could be something you enjoy!
Learning to code can be fun (really!). Here at Codecademy, our online learning platform teaches coding skills in an interactive, flexible, and engaging way. What’s more, we recently launched Codecademy for Teams so you can provide your entire product management team with technical training and education. Request a free 2-week trial by completing the form below.
Note: Our next “What’s Going On in This Picture?” live-moderated discussion will take place on Feb. 22, 2021.
1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:
2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)
3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.
Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.
4. On Thursday afternoons, we will reveal at the bottom of this post more information about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?
Reveal
We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!
At the end of 2020, editors and reporters from the Times shared their favorite recipes, the dishes that brought comfort during a roller coaster year. Among the greatest hits: cheesy pan pizza, Momofuku bo ssam, and, of course, the year’s sleeper hit, Mark Bittman’s No-Knead Bread.
What are your go-to comfort foods? Have you or your family started experimenting more in the kitchen? Did you discover a favorite new dish? If so, what is it?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to see the complete list of culinary goodies.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Many prominent people attend the opera occasionally, but Justice Ginsburg was almost an obsessive. She saw her first opera — a condensed version of “La Gioconda” — in 1944, when she was 11, and was immediately hooked, becoming the kind of aficionado who goes to dress rehearsals, and then opening nights, and then closing nights, too, for good measure.
“Most of the time, even when I go to sleep, I’m thinking about legal problems,” she said in 2015. “But when I go to the opera, I’m just lost in it.”
![Front end to back end: Making the switch [Interview]](https://onlinefreecourse.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/14720/front-end-to-back-end-making-the-switch-interview-696x360.png "Front end to back end: Making the switch [Interview]")
