Each Wednesday we shine a spotlight on five student activities that support a broad range of learners. In this week’s roundup of accessible activities, we invite students to explore the world of skateboarding, write a six-word memoir about their pandemic experience, and try their hand at the New York Times Spelling Bee game.
Note: To learn more about this new weekly feature, read our introductory post. Please share your thoughts in the comments section or by emailing us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.
1. Learn about skateboarding and reflect on communities where you can express your full self.
This Lesson of the Day brings students into the world of skateboarding through photographs and poetic language. Then, it asks students to explore the cardinal rule of skateboarding — “dare to be you” — as they think about a community where they feel supported and respected.
2. Write a six-word memoir about your pandemic experience.
In this Student Opinion, students learn about the six-word memoir, and then write their own about the last 19 months. In the comments section, they can submit their pandemic six-word memoirs and read hundreds of examples written by other students.
3. Watch a conversation with Native Americans on the topic of race.
This Film Club focuses on a 2017 documentary featuring seven people with a range of perspectives on what it means to be Native American today. Students will watch the film and respond to the questions, sharing their reflections in the comments section.
4. Participate in a New York Times Spelling Bee game.
While The New York Times’s best-known word game may be the Crossword, educators should not overlook its younger, less intimidating cousin: Spelling Bee. The hive-shaped Spelling Bee challenges readers to make as many words as they can from a set of seven unique letters. Students can try the five puzzles in this resource, organized from easiest to hardest.
5. Share what “spooky season” means to you.
In this Picture Prompt, students react to an image and describe what they love — or hate — about October, and this spooky time of year. They can share their descriptive writing in the comments section.
Technology has become a large part of the day-to-day operations of most businesses and government agencies. As a result, the security of data has become a priority for these organizations.
Ethical hacking involves identifying vulnerabilities and working to prevent malicious hackers from penetrating and obtaining sensitive information. In the U.S., the average salary for an Ethical Hacker is $101,750 a year.
Still, that rate can vary widely depending on factors like certifications, education, experience, and additional skills. Below, we’ll take a closer look at how these factors influence an Ethical Hacker’s salary and job opportunities.
Experience
Experience plays a huge role in an Ethical Hacker’s salary. While many jobs in ethical hacking don’t require a specific degree, many do require a substantial amount of job-related experience.
According to PayScale, an Ethical Hacker with less than one year of experience can expect to earn around $67,000 a year. Someone with a bit more experience, at 1-4 years, can expect about $81,000 per year.
Mid-career Ethical Hackers who’ve worked for 5-9 years earn an average of $100,000 annually. Finally, the highly experienced 10-19-year-long Ethical Hackers take in about $115,000 annually.
As an Ethical Hacker, with every year you work, your pay will increase as you learn new skills and techniques along the way. As an Ethical Hacker solves more problems and helps find new ways to protect an organization, their value within the company increases accordingly.
Location
Ethical hacking jobs in the United States vary depending on the region you’re working in. Just as with other jobs, when the cost of living is higher in a particular area, the pay rate generally increases to match.
For example, an Ethical Hacker working in New York City can earn 10.7% higher than the national average at $112,637, while someone in San Antonio, Texas, could earn 23.7% less at $78,652.
Some areas, like California, vary greatly even when their towns are only a short distance from each other. If you work in San Jose, you could make 27% over the average annual salary. But, if you live just a few hours south in Los Angeles, you’ll be making closer to 2% higher than average.
Job Title
Having a job as an Ethical Hacker can involve many responsibilities that often get categorized under different job titles. Along with the factors above, your job title may influence your salary. Here are a few examples of the different pay scales for Certified Ethical Hackers:
Network Security Analyst: $41,362 – $106,823
Penetration Tester: $50,845 – $127,714
Cyber Security Analyst: $48,086 – $118,991
Forensics Computer Analyst: $42,684 – $118,616
Information Security Manager: $73,241 – $153,163
Security Engineer: $56,017 – $132,536
Information Security Analyst: $48,522 – $107,004
Each of these positions has different requirements and responsibilities, so your salary can vary greatly depending on your specific role.
Education
There are many paths you could take to become an Ethical Hacker. Every company has its own criteria for what they’re looking for and what certifications (if any) they want you to have. But, if you want to stand out in a job interview and end up in a higher salary bracket, specific training will help.
Certifications related to ethical hacking that can give you an edge in the job market include:
Knowledge is key to getting the salary you want, so taking courses related to ethical hacking can boost your resume and show your value to an employer. Ethical Hackers have many technical skills under their belt, such as:
How to become an Ethical Hacker
Employers’ top desires, especially with tech-related jobs, are knowledge and experience. To get started on your path toward ethical hacking, check out our introduction to cybersecurity. Then, start learning the programming languages Ethical Hackers use in courses like:
Even a new hire working in ethical hacking can make a solid yearly salary — one that’s sure to go up as the years pass and the need for Ethical Hackers increases. So get started with the learning process now to start making money (and make a difference) as you protect organizations from cyber threats.
C++ is a programming language that was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs in 1982 as an extension to the C programming language. Anything you can do in C, you can also do in C++ and then some.
One reason developers love to use C++ is because it uses object-oriented features, which gives more flexibility while building applications.
C++ is used for many types of development projects, including game development, machine learning, operating systems, GUI applications, smart devices, database development, embedded systems, and much more. And, if you’re pursuing a job in any of these areas, you’ll probably be expected to know C++.
An interview for a C++ developer job will have a few parts to it. There may even be multiple interviews. The first interview is just to get to know you. It may be with a recruiter, and there’ll be few (if any) technical questions. After you and the recruiter decide the job might be a good fit for you, the next step is the technical interview.
In this article, we’ll cover the types of technical questions you may be asked during a C++ interview.
Since there’s a wide variety of questions that could be asked at the interview, you might not run into these exact questions, but they’ll give you a good idea of what to prepare for. Studying them will also give you confidence that you can answer whatever the interviewer has in store for you.
1. What are some differences between C and C++?
If you’re asked this question during your interview, here are some concepts to cover in your response. Keep in mind that there are quite a few other differences, but these are the main ones.
C++ is a superset of C. Most C programs will run in C++. C is only a procedural language, and C++ is both procedural and object-oriented.
C++ also supports exception handling at the language level, while in C, you have to use conditionals to handle errors. C++ supports references and C does not.
2. What are the differences between references and pointers in C++?
References and pointers are similar because both can be used to change the local variables of one function from inside another function. Both can make programming more efficient by saving the memory needed to copy an object and create another variable.
But there are differences. A reference can’t be changed later to reference another object, while a pointer can. References also can’t have a NULL value, while pointers can. And, references must be initialized when declared, while pointers do not.
3. What is a namespace in C++?
C++ added namespaces that C doesn’t have. Namespaces give you another level of hierarchy in your code beyond classes and methods.
You can assign classes to namespaces in your C++ code to organize your code into modules. When you use namespaces, classes within a namespace can have the same name as classes within other namespaces without causing errors or name clashes.
4. What is meant by the std namespace in C++?
The std namespace is where all the standard libraries that come with C++ are stored. To use methods in the C++ standard library, you can either add namespace std; to your C++ files or prefix all the methods you want to use from the C++ standard library with the std namespace like std::string.
5. What is a constructor in C++?
A constructor is a method in a C++ class that has the same name as the class. This method is automatically called when an object of this class is created. Programmers put the functionality needed to instantiate the object in the class, like setting class variables and configuration values.
6. What is a destructor in C++?
A destructor is a method in a C++ class similar to a constructor, except it’s called whenever the object will be destroyed. This method has the same name of the class with a ~ symbol in front of it.
So, in a String class, the name of its destructor would be ~String. This is where a C++ developer deallocates the memory used in the object and does other cleanup tasks.
7. What is the difference between a struct and a class in C++?
In C++, a struct and class are similar but have some differences. Members of a struct are public by default, and members of a class are private by default.
When deriving a struct from a struct or class, the default access specifier for a base class or struct is public. When you derive a class, it’s private.
8. What is a virtual function in C++?
A virtual function is a member function of a base class that can be redefined in a class derived from it. Virtual functions are declared with the virtual keyword. With virtual functions, C++ determines which function should be invoked based on the type of object that’s pointed to by the base class pointer.
9. What is an inline function in C++?
When you create an inline function in C++, the compiler puts a copy of the function wherever it‘ll be called in your program instead of referring to the function definition. This feature can add performance to your program by reducing the overhead involved in traditional function calls.
10. What is the difference between a call by value and a call by reference?
If a C++ method is called by value, then the parameters are passed to the function by their value and not by a reference to the original variable. If the value is changed in the method, the original variable doesn’t change.
If a C++ method is called by reference, then we pass a reference to the original value into the method, and when that’s modified within the method, the original variable is modified.
Learn more about C++
Technical interviews have many parts and take some preparation. To prepare for the technical questions in a C++ interview, it’s a good practice to review as many questions as you can before the day of the interview. We hope the questions above will help you get started.
Another thing you can do to prepare is to practice C++ coding challenges. If you feel you need a refresher after reviewing these interview questions or trying some of the coding challenges, then we can help out with that. Our Learn C++ course will teach you the fundamentals of this powerful programming language so you can ace that interview.And, if you still need more tips for passing technical interviews, check out our Career Center.
When it seems like more and more companies value data above all else, you might wonder what they do with so much information? Who sits down and turns all that data into something that saves organizations time and money?
Enter the Big Data Engineer.
This article will go over what a Big Data Engineer is, what they do, and which technical skills they need most to succeed on the job.
What is a Big Data Engineer?
A Big Data Engineer is a type of data science specialist with expertise working with extremely large data sets known as big data.
And what exactly are data science and big data? Let’s explore these two concepts one by one.
What is data science?
Data science involves finding insights and patterns within data sets using scientific methods, algorithms, and computer processes. Different data science professionals use different methods to work with many types of data sets, but Big Data Engineers focus on particular types of data sets known as big data.
What is big data?
Even though a lot of people have heard of big data, many have different ideas about what it is exactly. That’s because the definition of big data is fairly general.
When a data set is so big that it’s impossible to store, process, or analyze using traditional data science methods, then the data set can be considered big data.
Most big data sets have three characteristics in common, also known as the three Vs.
Volume
Big data sets are made up of hundreds of thousands, millions, or even billions of data points that can take up petabytes of storage. For example, it’s estimated that Facebook alone stores 250 billion images.
Velocity
Another feature of big data sets is the speed at which new data comes in. Think of remote sensor data, which might provide updated measurements every few seconds or more.
There must be a way to capture, filter, pre-process, and store this constant stream of new data. That’s where big data methods come in.
Variety
It’s a good feeling when everything in a data set can fit neatly into a database with pre-defined attributes. But big data is messy. Big data means variety.
A great example of this is email. No two email messages are alike. Every email has its own text and timestamp, along with other relevant information like hyperlinks, threads of past messages, and attachments. These attachments contain additional data in the form of PDF files, spreadsheets, audio, or video.
What separates Big Data Engineers from other types of data science professionals is that they’re trained to work with big data sets using specific extraction methods, algorithms, and frameworks. These tools are designed to handle large volumes and varieties of data that update and change constantly.
What can a Big Data Engineer do with big data?
Big Data Engineers incorporate these two concepts — data science in general and big data in particular — to turn enormous amounts of data into useful models and insights that help an organization succeed.
Examples of success for different organizations using big data might include:
A streaming service improving movie recommendations based on users’ preferences and viewing habits.
A hospital using medical records to provide better diagnoses and prescribe personalized treatments.
A large retailer being able to group different types of customers to targeted marketing campaigns and increase sales.
An autonomous vehicle using live road conditions to optimize routing.
Common day-to-day tasks and responsibilities for a Big Data Engineer include:
Gathering and processing raw data sets.
Processing unstructured data into a form that can be analyzed.
Designing and developing big data applications and systems.
Maintaining, updating, and testing those systems.
Performing common data-related tasks, including writing SQL queries, writing scripts, and calling APIs.
Analyzing processed data.
Reading, extracting, transforming, and loading data to and from frameworks and tools.
Integrating their work with the rest of the technical teams’ processes and systems.
Supporting the business team to make sure results are relevant to improving the organization’s success.
What technical skills does a Big Data Engineer need?
Whether working for an app startup or an established hospital, there are some common tools and technical skills that every Big Data Engineer should know.
Machine learning
Machine learning is the cornerstone of working with big data because it helps Big Data Engineers make sense of a lot of data quickly. Big Data Engineers should understand the basics of machine learning, including the types of machine learning approaches and how to account for machine learning biases.
SQL
Any Data Engineer is likely to spend a lot of time working with databases, and Structured Query Language (SQL) is the industry standard for reading, updating, and searching through databases.
Python
Anyone interested in data science should know Python. Big Data Engineers are no exception. The open-source language is flexible, easy to learn, and boasts a huge worldwide community of contributors.
Java
Java is another popular programming language with Data Engineers because of its efficiency and object-oriented nature. It’s commonly used to build data sorting and machine learning algorithms.
Java includes dozens of libraries and frameworks, and Big Data Engineers should focus on libraries like Java ML for machine learning.
Hadoop
One common approach to saving time with big data is to work with many servers in parallel rather than a single server. Hadoop is an open-source Apache framework that helps Big Data Engineers do just that.
What’s the next step toward becoming a Big Data Engineer?
If you have a particular big data engineering job or company in mind, the first step is to look at the job description for specific technical and skill requirements. If you’re missing one or two key skills, our online programming courses will help you fill the gap in no time.
If you’re just starting out in your new career as a Big Data Engineer, we’ve got you covered. Our Data Scientist Career Path will help you get started with the skills you need to land your first big data engineering job on your schedule and at your pace.
Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this illustration — or, tell us about a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of.
Want more Picture Prompts? Find them all in this column.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, 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.
But it’s clear by now that all this expensive enrichment won’t ensure kids’ success. Despite middle- and upper-class millennials mortgaging their childhood to get into college and then toiling through early adulthood in unpaid internships, they are unable to acquire the levels of economic and social security still held by their baby boomer parents.
Perhaps that’s why Gen Z has shown astute awareness of the dangers of overwork, with some high-profile Zoomers demonstrating acts of radical self-preservation. The Gen Z tennis star Naomi Osaka, for example, recently chose to prioritize her well-being over her career’s demands when she dropped out of the French Open after officials fined her for declining to participate in its post-match news conferences. Gen Z seems to have accepted that no matter how much you love your job, your job won’t love you back. Their parents — Gen Xers and even older millennials — were late to this lesson, and if they learned it at all, it was often only when they hit a wall with burnout.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word astute in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how astute can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Now that kids are back in the classroom, there’s a very real possibility that they may be exposed to the coronavirus, and may need to be tested — or isolate. This can be alarming for parents, and frightening for some children. Kids may also be disappointed if they have to miss out on certain activities.
Dr. Klass writes that it is important to understand your school’s safety protocols:
First, ask children what they already know and understand about the rules that the school has in place for keeping them safe, and welcome their questions, said Dr. Anna Miller-Fitzwater, a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.
What have your kid’s teachers and administrators “officially” said in school? What have kids been hearing from friends or on the news? If your own understanding of the school’s policy is different from how your child is explaining it, you might want to clarify with the school — and if there is misinformation floating around, correct it.
Acknowledge frankly to children that exposures may happen. But remind them that following the procedures for when they do occur helps them protect their friends and classmates and, ultimately, should help keep schools open.
She also writes about how students may feel if they are exposed to Covid:
For many children who are glad to be back in school, close contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus will mean inconveniences and disappointments — getting tested, missing school, staying home from planned activities if isolation is required. You want your child to feel free to discuss those feelings with you.
If your child needs to isolate in such a situation, they may react in a variety of ways, said Louise Dalton, a consultant clinical psychologist at the University of Oxford department of psychiatry. “Some may feel really anxious and worried, some may feel really angry with the person they think exposed them,” she said. Some children will be furious that they have to stay home, but others may be happy about it.
Parents should “validate and normalize their child’s response,” said Melissa Cousino, a psychologist and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. “I often say, ‘This worry that you are feeling or this anger that you are feeling, it’s a normal response to the abnormal,’” she said. The pandemic is what is strange — and wrong — in the world, not the child’s emotions.
Children in middle or high school are more likely to be upset about the social impact of an exposure, such as missing time with friends, school events or sports. “Life was starting to return to some kind of normalcy,” Dr. Cousino said, and now that’s been interrupted. Understand what is most upsetting for that particular child, and if possible, work with the school to recover the opportunity: “It may not be the worry of getting sick, it may be the worry of missing tryouts for that sports team.”
What safety measures has your school implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus? Do you think your school is taking the right steps? Are the protocols in place working?
Have there been Covid cases at your school? If so, what happens when someone tests positive?
Have you or any of your friends contracted coronavirus since going back to school? Have you been exposed to someone who has? What was that experience like?
Dr. Klass writes that teenagers may be more worried about missing out on their social lives than getting sick. Do you agree? Have you had to stay home from any planned activities?
More than a year and a half into the pandemic, how are you feeling? How are you managing the current state of our battle with the virus, which may continue indefinitely?
What do you think of Dr. Klass’s advice for parents on how to support their children through this stage of the pandemic? How do you think adults should talk to teenagers about Covid?
Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, 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.
Featured Article: “See How the Dixie Fire Created Its Own Weather” by Nadja Popovich, Noah Pisner, Nicholas Bartzokas, Evan Grothjan, Daniel Mangosing, Karthik Patanjali and Scott Reinhard
The Dixie fire that has ravaged Northern California since July is finally contained — after having destroyed nearly one million acres, an area larger than the size of Rhode Island, making it the second largest fire in state history.
In this lesson, you will learn how the Dixie fire grew so intense that it powered its own weather systems, spawning towering storm clouds, lightning and even some “fire whirls,” spinning vortices of flames.
In the Going Further activities, you will learn how California started a military-style campaign to fight the Dixie fire and explore the human impact of the largest blaze of this past year.
Warm-Up
Part 1. Reflect on the following questions:
What do you know about the wildfires in California and the Northwest this summer — some of which still burn today?
Do you know anyone who was affected by them?
What more do you want to know about the wildfires?
Part 2. Make a prediction.
Look closely at the above video of a storm cloud created by the Dixie fire from July. (Rewatch several times if needed).
Based on the video and what you already know about wildfires and the weather, how do you think the Dixie fire was able to create its own weather systems, with storm clouds, wind, lightning and rain?
1. Look at The Times’s 3-D model depicting the creation of a firestorm on July 19: What do you notice? What do you wonder? What did you find most fascinating or surprising about the model?
2. In your own words, explain how the Dixie fire powered its own weather systems, including storm clouds, lightning, wind and rain. What role does heat, condensation and moisture play in this process? What is a Pyrocumulonimbus, or pyroCb for short, cloud?
3. Compare your prediction from the warm-up activity with the actual process. What predictions, if any, did you get right?
4. Understand the scale and scope of the Dixie fire by finding some numbers in this article: How many firestorms did it create over its life span? How many acres of land were destroyed since the fire began? What altitude did the largest fire clouds reach? Taken together, what picture of the Dixie fire do these numbers present?
5. “Wildfires on the West Coast have grown larger and more intense in recent years,” the Times article says. What factors have contributed to the landscape burning at record scale?
6. How was The Times able to reconstruct a 3-D model of the Dixie fire’s first massive thunderclouds? What other natural environmental phenomena would you like The Times to render in a 3-D model?
7. Media Literacy. Why do you think The Times chose to tell the story of the Dixie fire’s firestorms visually? How would the article be different if it were a traditional, text-only piece on wildfires?
Going Further
Option 1. Learn more about the fight against the Dixie fire.
At the height of the containment operation, 6,579 people worked around the clock to battle the Dixie fire. Officials spent more than $610 million over three months to bring the fire under control — by far the most expensive suppression campaign in California history.
Read “Inside the Massive and Costly Fight Against the Dixie Fire” to learn how California mobilized a military-style operation to contain the wildfire. Then, write about or discuss with a partner: How does the article add to or change your perspective on the Dixie fire? What quotation, image or video do you find most memorable, provocative or informative? What questions does the article raise for you about the costs of containing wildfires? Do you agree with experts who wonder whether California’s approach to fighting wildfires is sustainable? What alternatives would you suggest?
Option 2. Learn about the human impact of the Dixie fire.
The Dixie fire burned through nearly a million acres across the Sierra Nevada, prompting mass evacuations and destroying thousands of homes, businesses and other structures, including much of the town of Greenville. Learn more about the human toll of the blaze by reading one of the following articles:
Then, write about or discuss with a partner: How does reading about the Dixie fire from a human-impact perspective add to or change your understanding of the story that numbers and graphics alone could not communicate? What did you find most surprising, moving or memorable? What questions does the article raise for you about how we should think about the growing crisis of wildfires in America?
Option 3. Learn more about wildfires and their connection to climate change.
By nearly every metric, the wildfires in the Western United States are worsening. They are growing larger, spreading faster and reaching higher, scaling mountain elevations that previously were too wet and cool to have supported fires this fierce.
He continues:
Wildfire experts see the signature of climate change in the dryness, high heat and longer fire season that have made these fires more extreme. “We wouldn’t be seeing this giant ramp up in fire activity as fast as it is happening without climate change,” said Park Williams, a climate scientist at UCLA. “There’s just no way.”
Read the entire article, then answer the following questions in writing or discussion with a partner: What are two new things you learned about wildfires and why they are intensifying? What quote, image or statistic was most provocative or memorable? What is your reaction to the remedies explored in the article?
Want more Lessons of the Day? You can find them all here.
Edward and Mario started with recognizable parts of their words to piece together the full definitions.
endoscopy | Edward, McAllen, Texas
While researching sterilization for a school project, the word “endoscopy” stood out from an article about locating ulcers. I had definitely heard the prefix “endo-” in my biology class and the word “scope” in my everyday life, so I assumed it meant to look into some part of the body. And to my surprise, the word does actually mean to examine the inside of an organ! I guess some words aren’t too hard to figure out if you split them up into little parts.
reinvigorated | Mario, El Salvador
I chose the word “reinvigorated” from the article “A Tense Lunar New Year for the Bay Area After Attacks on Asian Americans.” “Reinvigorated” quickly sparked my curiosity because of the complexity of the word’s etymology. Although I knew that the prefix “re-” meant something like “back or again,” I did not have a clue what “invigorated” meant. Once I discovered that the definition of “invigorate” is “to give strength or energy to something or someone,” I began to see daylight. Then it became easy for me to understand that “reinvigorate” stands for giving strength to something. According to the context of the article, it relates to the racist movement against the Asian American community.
2. Look for context clues.
Amy and Christian scoured the sentences surrounding their chosen vocabulary words. Familiar words nearby clued them into what their words might mean.
torrent | Amy, Elizabeth, N.J.
When I was reading the article “De Blasio Vowed to Make City Streets Safer. They’ve Turned More Deadly,” the word “torrent” caught my eye since I had never heard it before. With the use of context clues like “unleashed” and “anger,” I came to the conclusion that the word might be related to “outburst.” As it turns out, the word did have something to do with an overwhelming number or amount.
heralding | Christian Mereyde, Hoggard High School, Wilmington, N.C.
In the article “One Man’s Endless Hunt for a Dopamine Rush in Virtual Reality,” I discovered the unfamiliar word “heralding.” The paragraph was talking about how Mark Zuckerberg and other executives were “heralding” a digital world. Based on the context of that sentence, I guessed that the word meant to announce something, and upon further research I discovered that the word “herald” is defined as “to be a sign that something is going to happen.” A few synonyms are “proclaiming,” “declaring” and, yes, “announcing.”
3. Make connections to other words you’ve heard.
Maybe a word reminds you of Latin class — or the “Harry Potter” series.
luminaries | Nicholas Wu, Hunter College High School, New York City
Toward the end of an episode of “The Daily” titled “The United States v. Elizabeth Holmes,” I heard the word “luminaries” used to describe certain Silicon Valley investors. I immediately thought of the “Harry Potter” flashlight spell “lumos,” a word whose bright connotations were startling to me when used in a dark podcast episode about fraud and dishonesty. I learned that a “luminary” is a figure who inspires and guides other people, much like the lumos spell itself.
adolescents | Hannah Reiterer, Leibnitz, Austria
I chose the word “adolescents” from an article about whether school should start later. At first glance, I immediately thought of a Latin lesson last year when we learned the word “adulescentes,” which means “young men.” When I looked up the word in the dictionary I found out that “adolescents” means “teenagers,” which confirmed my assumption that the word might be derived from Latin.
By Leah Belsky, Chief Enterprise Officer, Coursera
Students entering today’s competitive job market need flexible pathways to a college degree and opportunities to learn career-specific skills. Today, we’re proud to announce two new initiatives to help broaden access to job-relevant learning for students of all backgrounds.
Free certificates for any U.S. community college and CTE high school
Starting today, Google’s Professional Certificates on Coursera are available to US community colleges and Career and Technical Education (CTE) high schools for free. Institutions that sign up can offer industry-relevant skills training to their students. With the Google certificates, students can prepare for a range of well-paying roles, including data analytics, project management, UX design, or IT support.
In addition to receiving career services to help in their job search, participating students will be able to apply for open jobs from over 150 employers who are currently hiring, including Walmart, Verizon, and Google. Institutions will have access to skills development analytics offered through Coursera for Campus that allow administrators to track student progress against their career goals and benchmark against employees in the industry.
ACE®️ Credit Recommendation for entry-level Google certificates
Additionally, we’re pleased to announce that now, learners who complete any of Google’s entry-level Professional Certificates on Coursera—which include Data Analytics, IT Support, Project Management, and UX Design—are eligible to receive up to 12 college credits from participating colleges and universities in the US, or the equivalent of four college courses at the associate’s degree level. While each college and university has its own policies around credit for prior learning, ACE®️ recommendations enable more universities to accept the certificates for credit toward a degree.
“We are excited about this expansion of our Grow with Google Certificates program and the opportunity to partner with academic institutions across the US, including community colleges, which are critical to workforce development and economic mobility,” said Ruth Porat, Alphabet and Google CFO. “We believe that to have sustainable economic growth, we must have inclusive growth, and we are committed to continuing to help people develop the digital skills they need to participate in this economy.”
The free initiative for community colleges and CTE high schools along with ACE®️ Credit Recommendation are major milestones on our journey to build a more just world through equal access to learning. To further expand flexible degree pathways, we’re working with our industry partners to put more entry-level Professional Certificates on Coursera through the ACE®️ Credit Recommendation process.
