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4 Ways to Connect With the Codecademy Community

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4 Ways to Connect With the Codecademy Community

Here at Codecademy, we believe that learning with and teaching others is the best way to learn. That’s why we pride ourselves on our active community of learners. Even though learning to code can feel like a solitary activity, there’s a whole community of people you can go to for questions, support, to share stories, and to make new friends.

Wondering where to connect with fellow learners? We have a variety of community spaces you can join and participate in. Read on to learn more about each community space and what you can expect.

Chapters

Codecademy chapters are a network of community-led groups from all around the world. Join virtual meetups hosted by your local chapter to stay motivated, get support on your learning journey, and participate in a variety of events.

We recently launched an official Full-Stack Chapter for anyone who’s currently taking the Full-Stack Engineer career path, already working in the industry, or simply curious about where to start. The Full-Stack Chapter will meet five times a week for hour-long study sessions. It’s a great way to stay accountable to your goals and connect with other people who are learning the same things as you.

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Each chapter is organized by a chapter leader (or multiple leaders) in charge of determining the mission and topic for the chapter, in addition to scheduling virtual meetups. Past meetups have included study groups and focus sessions, fireside chats, hackathons, and how-tos diving into topics like web development or specific languages.

Curious about what our chapters are up to? Head over to view the full calendar or visit our community page to browse local chapters by region to find the one closest to you.

Code Crew

Code Crew is our super user program made up of passionate learners and seasoned developers who devote their time and know-how into making Codecademy the warmest, most helpful, and fun place to code. These folks really know the nitty-gritty of our platform, and they’re your go-to crew for leading discussions, tackling questions, contributing to Docs, and throwing some awesome events.

You can apply to join the Code Crew and our Code Committee will review your application. Learners of all levels can apply, but some coding knowledge is ideal so you can lend a hand to other learners.

The Forums

The ​Codecademy forums are great for reading about others’ experiences, asking questions, and getting help from your peers when you’re stuck. In the Forums, you’ll find in-depth articles and discussions on learning to code, working through course projects, landing a job, and everything in between.

The Forums also provide an opportunity to solidify what you’re learning. Ask for feedback, help someone else with their question, or share stories about your own learning experience. After all, teaching someone else is a great way to gain a deeper understanding of a subject.

And if you’re new to coding, the Forums will help you get an introduction into the world of code. From catching up on code lingo to learning to think like a developer — you’ll find lots of beginner-friendly resources to help you get started.

Check out our article about the Codecademy forums to learn more.

Join us in the Codecademy forums, or peruse the “Getting Started” category to get acquainted with this corner of our community.

Discord

The Codecademy Discord server is a place to hang out and chat with your fellow learners. Here you’ll be able to meet and socialize with your peers, chat about coding and non-coding related topics, and find code buddies to co-program with.

If you meet someone in the forums or from a chapter’s virtual meetup, keep the conversation going in Discord!

The Discord server is also great for joining conversations around specific programming languages and career or skill paths. In fact, you’ll find set channels for each of these conversations.

To learn more, see our article about the Codecademy Discord server.

To join the Codecademy Discord server, follow this invite and start participating!

Whichever community space you choose, we have the perfect way for you to introduce yourself: your Codecademy profile. Your profile contains all of your certificates, badges, and course completion percentages, so you can share where you are in your learning journey quickly and easily. To find your Codecademy profile, just log into codecademy.com, click on your profile picture in the top right, and click “Profile” in the dropdown menu.

Our community spaces are open to everyone. And thanks to our team of moderators, super users, and learners, the community spaces continue to be an inclusive and friendly place for anyone learning to code.

Join the Codecademy community by following the links below:

We look forward to connecting with you!

This blog was originally published in April 2021 and has been updated to include new community offerings.

What Is a Tech Stack? 

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What Is a Tech Stack? 

If you’re a beginning developer, you may have heard of the term ​”​tech stack​”​ and thought, Is it a programming language or a framework? What should be in my tech stack? 

A tech stack is shorthand for the collection of different tools a company or developer uses. Choosing a tech stack is ​an​ important process for organizations or independent devs making their own apps. Ahead, we’ll go over how people choose their tech stacks and some of the most popular.

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What does tech stack mean? 

A tech stack is the set of tools and technologies that developers ​and companies ​use to build an ​product or ​application. These tools include languages, frameworks, and databases used together to make the app function.  

With the exception of command-line applications and utility strips, most modern apps depend on more than one technology to function. Sometimes a tech stack will be used to describe the full-stack of tools required for the application, from the database to the dynamic effects you see in your browser. Other times, an application will be divided into front-end and back-end stacks, and the set of tools used in each will be called a tech stack.​ Some organizations might use common tech stacks while others may rely on in-house tools in theirs.​ 

Choosing a tech stack is important because it can be hard to switch out parts​​ once they’re baked into the codebase and the application is live. Also, a tech stack can consist of many parts, and the resulting application is a synergy of these parts. Each choice comes with potential tradeoffs, so it’s vital to find tools that fit the requirements of a project. 

Mobile vs. web development tech stacks 

​​W​hen you ask developers about their tech stack, you‘ll get a different answer from a web developer than from a mobile developer.​ This is because different platforms usually require different kinds of technologies.​ 

​​Web applications​ and most mobile apps​ depend on the internet and can be accessed by any browser.​ ​​ 

Code from one of many possible programming languages and frameworks is executed on the web server to send data to your browser for web applications to work. Then, JavaScript code is executed in the browser through one of many possible frameworks. All of these technologies belong to a tech stack, some for the front end and others for the back end. 

Mobile applications require you to download an app to your phone instead of depending on a browser. The tech stack here includes all the frameworks and languages used to build the app. 

An Android tech stack will always differ from an iOS tech stack and ​uses​ different programming languages. There are also cross-platform mobile frameworks, like React, that allow you to write code in one programming language and build an app for both mobile platforms. But behind the scenes, the resulting app will still use the native language of the specific platform. 

The back-end services, like databases and APIs, are the one part of a tech stack that could be the same across mobile and web development. ​Additionally, m​obile and web apps will often access the same API to retrieve data. 

Types of web development tech stacks 

As we learned in the last section, a web development tech stack can be viewed as a whole and divided into front-end and back-end tech stacks. 

Front-end tech stacks 

A front-end tech stack is all the technologies that go into rendering a web page in a browser. At the lowest level, a front-end tech stack always consists of HTML. But a web page without style or dynamic features is pretty boring, so developers usually include CSS and JavaScript in their websites. 

​​Web apps are rarely built from scratch these days. You can create styles with just CSS, but many developers have created tools that make styling feel less like reinventing the wheel.​ 

​​The front-end tech stack may include​ technologies like:​​ 

  • ​​​​Sass, which allows you to use functions, nesting, and variables in your styles.​​​ 
  • ​​​Bootstrap, which gives you pre-styled components and grids to use in your project. 

Both of these libraries can speed up development time and streamline the experience, but to include Sass and Bootstrap in your stack, you need developers who have solid CSS skills to use the two tools effectively. Want to ramp up your CSS knowledge? Check out our course Learn Intermediate CSS, then dive into Learn Bootstrap and Learn Sass.  

Vanilla JavaScript is also rarely used in front-end development anymore. Most of the time, developers will use a JavaScript front-end framework or library. Front-end developers may add jQuery to their tech stack if all they need is some dynamic features because they can get that done by writing less code. 

When developers need the front-end to act more like an application and interact directly with back-end services, they will usually add a front-end framework to their tech stack. Here are some front-end frameworks along with scenarios when they’d be useful:

  • React​:​ When you need reusable components and want to pick and choose the other JavaScript libraries for the other functionalities you need in your app, like making requests and handling data. 
  • AngularJS​:​ When you want a complete front-end framework that gives you everything you need in one package and provides an opinionated approach for how to write applications. 
  • Vue.js​:​​ When you want a lightweight framework that gives you most of what you need for front-end development and allows you to pick features to use and choose other libraries if you want. 

Back-end tech stacks 

In front-end development, you only get to choose the libraries and frameworks you use — otherwise you’re stuck with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In back-end development, you have many choices, beginning with the language. Here are some languages you have to choose from in a back-end tech stack, the common frameworks they have, and a reason why you might include them in a tech stack:

  • JavaScript is often used ​by​ developers ​who want to ​write with the same language in the front-end and back-end. Express.js is a popular library in JavaScript. 
  • Python is often used because it’s easier for beginners to learn and integrate with Python data libraries. Flask and Django are popular frameworks in Python. 
  • C# is often used on Microsoft Windows Servers or where strict types are preferred. 
  • PHP is often used for quick development, on shared hosting, and in popular CMS platforms.
  • Go is often used where performance and concurrency are needed. 
  • Ruby is used where quick development and deployment are a priority. Ruby on Rails is its popular web framework. 
  • Java is used in enterprise development and big data processing and often with the Spring framework.​​ 
  • MongoDB is used to store information in NoSQL databases. 

Many of these languages have web development frameworks designed to generate the complete web page on the back end and use JavaScript only for dynamic effects. Unfortunately, much of modern web development doesn’t follow this pattern. 

​​Most​ web apps only use back-end code to send data to the front-end, and the front-end code handles generating the web page you see. These services are called APIs. When APIs are used, your back-end tech stack can also be part of your mobile tech stack because they both use the same data. 

Full-stack tech stacks 

A full-stack tech stack includes both the front-end and back-end web stack. There wasn’t much advantage to considering one in relation to the other for many years. They are essentially two separate applications that communicate over the internet. That changed in 2009 when the first version of Node.js came out. This meant choosing it as part of your back-end tech stack would not require two teams of developers or developers to know more than one programming language. 

Types of mobile development tech stacks 

At one time, there were three mobile platforms that you had to ​work with to ​make sure all users could use your app: iOS, Android, and Windows. Windows stopped making phones, but that means developers still have to consider two separate operating systems when choosing a mobile tech stack. The first choice is whether to develop native apps or a cross-platform app. 

Native mobile development tech stacks 

​​The advantages to choosing a native tech stack are that​:​​ 

  • ​​​Y​ou will have a more performant app​.​​ 
  • ​​​The app ​will be more stable​.​​ 
  • ​​​Y​ou won’t have to depend on developers of third-party libraries as much. ​​​ 

The disadvantages are that you will need two teams of developers to build the apps or require developers to know two technologies well. 

If you decide to go with a native tech stack in Android, you also have another decision to make about your mobile tech stack — whether to write code in Java or Kotlin. Even Google, who developed Android, recommends Kotlin, but developers also know the language. Since Java is also used for a wide variety of other things, you will find more Java developers to do the work. 

If you go native in iOS, you also have a choice of languages here: Objective-C or Swift. Apple recommends Swift, but again, your choice depends on which technology you know. 

Cross-platform mobile development tech stacks 

The other option is to use a cross-platform framework in your mobile tech stack. These frameworks allow you to write your code in one language and then compile apps from your code base that run on each platform. The advantages to using one of these frameworks are speed of development and that many of them use a programming language that other types of developers, like web developers, are familiar with. 

JavaScript is a common language used in cross-platform mobile frameworks. Frameworks that use JavaScript include React Native, Apache Cordova, Ionic, and Xamarin. 

Learn to build applications using complete tech stacks 

Any application is built of more than one part. In web development, you have back-end code and front-end code. In mobile development, you have the mobile app and the services the mobile app uses for data. A tech stack is the complete set of technologies used to build an application. Because of the wide variety of technologies available for each layer of a tech stack, most at least have some unique parts. But here at Codecademy, we’ve put together coding courses that focus on the most popular, in-demand tech stacks in the industry. 

For web developers who want to work on the full stack, we have the Full-Stack Engineer Career Path that will teach you to build a full-stack web application in the most efficient way possible. It introduces you to React front-end development and Node.js back-end development, so you only have to learn one programming language, JavaScript, to get the job done. We also teach each technology separately in our Front-End Engineer Career Path and Back-End Engineer Career Path. 

For mobile developers who are investigating which tech stack to use for building native mobile apps, we have Build Basic Android Apps with Java for future Android developers and Build iOS Apps with SwiftUI for those who prefer iPhone development. And for mobile developers who want to build cross-platform apps and current React developers who want to try out mobile development, we have Learn React Native.

How to Write a Machine Learning Engineer Resume That’s Polished & Impressive 

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How to Write a Machine Learning Engineer Resume That’s Polished & Impressive 

Getting that dream job as a Machine Learning Engineer involves more than writing good code and building effective machine learning models. To stand out in the field of candidates who are trying to break into the competitive AI space, you’ll need an exceptional technical resume. Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll want to include in your Machine Learning Engineer resume to get a hiring manager’s attention.

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What to include in a Machine Learning Engineer resume 

Here are the main sections your machine learning resume should have, starting at the top: 

Contact information 

Recruiters can’t contact you unless you give them a way to, so your contact information should be easy to find and read. Put it directly under your name at the top of the resume or in the top right corner. Include your name, phone number, and email address. You can also include a link to your portfolio website and (optimized) LinkedIn profile. 

Also, use a professional email address — one that has your name or some variation of it. 

Summary 

Some people include summaries in their resume, others don’t. They’re not required, but you can use them to add context to your story and the accompanying info. Your summary is a brief (think one to two sentences) statement about who you are and what you do that you can include right after your contact info. You can also succinctly mention the job you’re applying for, the skills you have that make you a good fit, and what you would like to accomplish with the role. 

Need some help writing? Here are easy tips for writing a concise professional bio, plus a few examples. Another helpful hint: Some people find it easier to write their summary last, after they’ve filled out and completed their resume.  

Programming skills 

Here are some skills you may need in a machine learning role: 

  • Model development 
  • Data mining 
  • Predictive analytics 
  • Clustering and classification
  • Web scraping 
  • Statistical modeling 
  • Data visualization 

These are the programming languages that are typically used for machine learning: 

  • Python 
  • R 
  • Java 
  • JavaScript 
  • C++ 
  • Shell 
  • Go 

Along with general machine learning skills and languages, list specific tools you use, like TensorFlow, Keras, or scikit-learn, and any skills that are listed as “required” in the job posting. Need to brush up on some of these key machine learning tools? Check out our catalog of machine learning courses to fill in your skill gaps.  

It’s important to look at the job description you are applying to when you list your skills because the role may have more responsibilities than building machine learning models. Some may require that you have other skills like back-end development if the job requires you to build a machine learning pipeline or front-end development if the job includes data visualization tasks. 

Experience and work history 

In this section, list your work experience in reverse chronological order. Start with your most recent job and work your way back in time. Each listing should have: 

  • Your job title 
  • The company you worked for 
  • The city and state the company is located 
  • A description of what you did at the job 

For each description, highlight how you contributed to company goals. If you’re tailoring this resume to a specific job, emphasize responsibilities you’ve had that are similar to those listed. Even if your previous roles weren’t in tech, there are lots of transferrable soft skills that can make you stand out as a candidate.  

First-time job seekers or career switchers may not have a ton of work experience to list. But keep in mind that you can highlight any courses, projects, or experiences that are relevant to the role you’re applying to.  

Education and courses 

This section will use reverse chronological order again to list the colleges and schools you attended and the courses you took. If any of this education resulted in a degree or certificate, make sure to mention that. 

If you haven’t been to college, don’t worry — list the online courses and paths you’ve taken, including our machine learning courses. If you earned one of our professional certificates for completing a path, be sure to list it. Hiring managers just need to know you have the skills and dedication to do the job, and a degree isn’t necessary for many roles. Read this blog for more tips on how to get in the door without a formal degree. 

How to make sure your Machine Learning resume gets noticed 

As more companies and recruiters utilize AI tools to review resumes, it’s important to tactically format and word your resume. The tips below will help your resume get past scanners and boost your chance of landing an interview: 

  • Customize each resume: It’s a good plan to have more than one resume. Keep one as your template and create a new custom resume for each job. Each role you apply to will have different job requirements and responsibilities. Customizing your resume based on the job descriptions gives you a chance to emphasize your skills that fit the employer’s needs. (You can even use ChatGPT to tailor your resume for different roles.) 
  • Save it as a PDF: Unless the posting says otherwise, the best format for your resume is PDF. Keep the original in Word or whatever format you prefer so you can edit it, but the PDF format guarantees your resume will look the same on any device. 
  • Use action verbs in your work experience: Use words like “led,” “created,” “developed,” and “wrote” when you describe what you accomplished in each past role to show employers what you can do. 
  • Format it well: The right formatting can make your resume stand out and easier to read. Make sure the fonts you use are readable, and use columns, if you can, to use the space you have effectively. You can find many free templates and examples online. 

How to prepare for your Machine Learning Engineer interview 

Once you’ve polished your resume with the tips listed here and submitted it to hiring managers and recruiters, you have completed the first step towards landing your dream Machine Learning Engineer job. Next, you should build a machine learning portfolio and prepare for your interview. 

Check out our blog to pick up tips for taking the technical and behavioral interview. We also have blogs that will help you prepare specifically for answering machine learning interview questions. And if you need a refresher, check out our Learn the Basics of Machine Learning course or our career path Machine Learning/AI Engineer.

What Teenagers Are Saying About Their Role in Fighting Climate Change

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What Teenagers Are Saying About Their Role in Fighting Climate Change

First, younger generations have to start using one of their most neglected yet important tools, their ability to vote. We have to vote for politicians that actually address climate change instead of burying their heads in the sand. Second, we have to start changing the narrative around nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is commonly believed to be one of the most environmentally destructive and dangerous forms of energy, but in reality it is the most sustainable and effective option that we currently have. Third, we need to start using and investing into more sustainable and efficient technology and infrastructure, such as using buses or trains instead of individual cars. Finally, we need to be doing all of these things as soon as possible. We might not be seeing many effects of climate change now, but the longer we wait to address climate change, the more harm we do to the environment and to humanity.

— Hamza, Claremont High School

I think our generation is motivated to stop climate change because we will be faced with it all our lives. I am unsure if we can stop it. Protesting on social media and in the streets does force our government to think about climate change. But until we elect a large group of committed activists to Congress and other legislative bodies, we cannot stop large businesses from continuing to pollute the environment. I believe previous generations are too forgiving and accommodating of the fossil fuel industry. We need to research practical alternatives to fossil fuels, pass laws to replace fossil fuels with these alternatives, and resist corporate lobbyists. Recycling and using paper straws reduce waste that damages the environment, but are they doing much if oil companies pump out smoke into the air every day, making more plastic straws and cellophane cups? It is possible for our generation to stop climate change, but only if we make a determined effort.

— Cole, Central Coast, CA

How am I supposed to help fight climate change if I can’t even vote? I ask myself this question almost every day. We cannot change others’ actions, only persuade them to think differently. Even though we cannot control the people who mass produce plastic materials or use gasses harmful to the environment, or even the people who can make laws against them, we can still use our voices. We can use our voices to get people to open their eyes and look around.

— Pfannenstiel, Chicago

Individual actions such as turning off the lights, carpooling and using less plastic doesn’t matter all that much in comparison to the factories that are pumping out millions of tons of carbon a year. Young people recently have been campaigning for updated climate policies, which is the way to go. Getting infrastructure and industry to a place less harmful for the planet makes all of our actions more impactful. The best way to achieve this change is through litigation, which young people have been campaigning for. I personally don’t believe that we’re “doomed” as humans always find a way to thrive, but certainly a lot of people’s lifestyles may be altered in the future if nothing changes.

— Matthew, Glenbard West HS

Climate change is a very significant issue in the world today. We can help fix it in many different ways, starting with recycling. Recycling is one of the best ways to help our environment. It is helpful because the recycled item can be reused instead of thrown away and dumped into the ocean. Another matter is the mass production of products. Many companies produce large amounts of what they are stocking, and then the products that do not get sold get thrown out, which pollutes the sea and can kill off much fragile wildlife. Younger generations can stop littering, buying fast fashion, and start recycling to help save the planet.

— Georgia, J.R. Masterman

Five Mini-Lessons on Latino Cooking, Community and Culture

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Five Mini-Lessons on Latino Cooking, Community and Culture

If you’re hungry, stop reading right now.

If you’re not hungry, keep reading … and you will be soon.

To honor Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated in the United States from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, we have compiled five New York Times articles that celebrate Latino people and their cooking with a range of foods across the country.

Here’s the menu:

1. Croquetas
2. Tacos
3. Mexican pizza
4. Barrio bread
5. Buñuelos

To accompany each article, we have designed a basic lesson plan that features a warm-up, discussion questions and a post-reading activity. Teachers might have students choose a lesson to complete or assign them to small groups for a jigsaw. At the beginning, we offer an idea for a warm-up for the whole class and, at the end, some options to extend learning.

In these mini-lessons, students will explore the relationship between food and cultural identity and appreciate how food can both preserve traditions and inspire innovation.

Let’s eat!

Before reading | What do you know about Cuban culture, history and food? Take this short quiz to test your knowledge. What is something new you learned?

During reading | Read the article and respond to the following questions:

1. What are croquetas?

2. What is the history and cultural significance of the croqueta?

3. What are some of the innovative ways chefs are modifying croquetas? Why are these innovations significant?

Before reading | What makes a food “authentic,” in your opinion? Make a list of attributes and then come up with a definition of “authentic” food. What are some restaurants you know that would be considered “authentic” or “inauthentic” according to your definition?

During reading | Read the article and respond to the following questions:

1. What makes Veracruz All Natural unique?

2. How have Reyna and Maritza Vazquez, the owners of Veracruz All Natural, influenced dining in Austin, Texas? Why do they feel conflicted about their success?

Before reading | Do you eat pizza? If you could assemble your perfect pizza, what toppings would you put on it and why?

During reading | Read the article and respond to the following questions:

1. What is Mexican pizza?

2. What were some of the different factors that prompted the chefs profiled in this article to make their hybrid pies?

3. What can we learn about culture, food and identity from this story?

After reading | The chefs interviewed for the article combined South Philadelphia’s deep Italian roots with their own Mexican heritage to create their versions of Mexican pizza. What new dish could you invent that combines the foods of two or more cultures, perhaps your own and another in your community? Write a recipe that explains how to make it.

Local-Grain Bread

Before reading | What do you know about making bread? Watch a few minutes of the short video “How to Make Homemade Artisan Bread” with Don Guerra, the baker featured in the article you’ll read. What did you learn about making bread?

During reading | Read the article and respond to the following questions:

1. What is the local-grain movement? Why is it significant to Mr. Guerra and other Latino bakers?

2. What does “assimilation” mean as it’s used in the article? Why did Mr. Guerra’s father encourage it? How is Mr. Guerra challenging that practice now?

Before reading | What foods are part of your holiday traditions? Do you have a favorite dish? What is it and why? Write about these questions or discuss them with a partner.

During reading | Read the article and respond to the following questions:

1. What are buñuelos?

2. Why are there different versions of buñuelos across Latin America?

3. The article said that buñuelos are “a food that connects people to their parents and grandparents no matter where they are.” How can food connect people to their family or culture? Give an example from the article or from your own life.

After reading | Write about a memory you have of preparing a holiday dish with your family. What images, sounds, smells, textures and tastes come to mind when you think about this moment? Why do you think this memory has stuck with you? What did this moment mean to you?

Looking to take what your class has learned about Latino culture and food further? Here are some ideas:

Share learning with the class.

After students have completed one of the activities above, facilitate a discussion with the whole class or within small groups about what they learned. Here are some prompts to get you started:

  • What is something you learned about the food or culture you studied?

  • What are some of the reasons traditional dishes might change over time? How would you describe the differences between innovation, adaptation and assimilation when it comes to food?

  • What is the relationship between food and cultural identity? In what ways can food be power? In what ways can it be a connector?

  • What is a food that is important in your culture or family? What do you know about its history? What traditions, if any, do you have for preparing it? Why is this food significant to you?

Have a classroom potluck.

Invite students to cook a Latin American recipe for a classroom potluck. They might make something their family has been preparing for generations, something they find online or in a recipe book or something from The New York Times Cooking’s Latin American Recipes page.

In addition to cooking it, students should research the origins and history of the dish, as well as its cultural significance. Then have a day of celebration so students can share their food, as well as what they learned, with the class.

Write a restaurant review.

Students can visit a local restaurant that serves food from a Latin American culture and write a review of it using New York Times restaurant reviews as a model. Here are some recent examples:

At La Piraña Lechonera, a Machete, a Shower of Pork and Other Magic
Elegantly Dressed Peruvian Cuisine Makes Landfall in TriBeCa
Flavors From the Ecuadorean Andes and a Friendly Wave to Mexico, at Leticias

As in a Times review, students should be sure to evaluate the food, the environment and the management. They can even give the restaurant a star rating. Remember, if students are personally unfamiliar with the food and its cultural origins, they may have to do some additional research in order it to give it a fair review.

(If students choose a restaurant that is new this year, they can enter their review into our Student Review Contest.)

Explore the intersection of food, family and culture further with writing prompts.

If this lesson inspired students to want to talk more about their own food, culture, memories and experiences, they can respond to one of these prompts, either on their own, in writing, or in a class discussion:

Student Opinion Questions

Should Schools Teach Students Kitchen and Household Skills?

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Should Schools Teach Students Kitchen and Household Skills?

By the time you graduate high school, will you have had any classes designed to give you the hands-on experience that develops skills like being able to build something out of wood or cook a meal?

If your answer is yes, have these classes been valuable to you? If your answer is no, do you wish that you had taken such classes, or had the opportunity to? Why or why not?

We’ve reached that lull in the school year when the excitement of Back to School has worn off and the reality of spending long stretches staring into the laptop and Smart Board has set in. Sitting still, glued to screens, for hours.

Pandemic-era remote learning is well over, but for middle and high school students, school can still seem like an endless Zoom in the dullest sense of the word. Many schools have schedules loaded with class work, and with early starts and less frequent physical education classes, and have curtailed lunch and recess — seemingly in an effort to improve America’s woeful standing in student performance.

The kind of classes that used to cut into desk time have largely been squeezed out of the schedule. No more woodworking or shop, automotive arts, typing or home economics — classes that taught skills better learned through active doing rather than passive learning.

Instead, after decades of decline, Career Technical Education, as it’s now known, has focused on “upgrading” itself academically. C.T.E. is now likely to consist of digital design, 3-D printing, communications and computer science; in New York State, for example, what was once known as “industrial arts” has evolved into “technology education.” And forget altogether about home economics; student enrollment in the full category of Family and Consumer Sciences courses declined by nearly 40 percent between 2003 and 2012.

But there’s an argument for bringing back home ec and shop, not only for students who may be better served by opting out of college, but also for those students bent on white-collar life. These are the kinds of “adulting” skills many kids no longer learn at home, whether it’s because their working parents are too busy or their extracurriculars too onerous. And the benefits of these classes — using one’s hands, working with real-world materials, collaborating offscreen, taking risks — extend well beyond the classroom.

First, to state the obvious: Kids need a break. The advantages of getting up from one’s desk — standing, walking around, going outside, taking 15-minute breaks — are well known to adults, especially for people who spend much of their days on screens. Yet we don’t extend the same courtesy to schoolchildren. An hour or two each week grappling with wood planks or mixing batter can leaven a long and monotonous school day.

Second, kids learn from physical work just as they do from mental labor, and when the two are interwoven, academic learning can also improve. Moving our bodies and letting our minds wander bring renewed focus. According to popular educational theory, some kids are what educators call tactile learners — they do especially well with a kinesthetic instruction that involves actively doing over passively absorbing. Schools apply these ideas to early childhood education, with its emphasis on sand tables and “hands-on learning.” But older students, particularly boys and kids with attention difficulties, also benefit.

Home ec and shop skills especially make sense in light of current environmental and health challenges. For kids who wear fast fashion but care about climate and overconsumption, it’s worth knowing how to darn a sock or patch a hole. Likewise, in a country with skyrocketing obesity and high consumption of processed foods, learning how to make healthy, inexpensive meals is important.

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 and may appear in print.

Alison Publisher Spotlight: Driven By… Co.

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Alison Publisher Spotlight: Driven By… Co.

We were all born with an ingrained idea that through learning and a touch of encouragement, we are empowered to accomplish anything. This profound belief is a testament to the enduring human spirit. But somewhere along the journey of life, we lose sight of this and need people to remind us of who we are, what’re made of and capable of doing. One individual who has dedicated herself to teaching the value of encouragement and self-belief is Alison Publisher, Diondra Filicetti, of Driven By… Co. We spoke to her to learn more about what drives her.

Getting to Know Diondra

Alison: Please introduce yourself to the Alison audience.

Diondra: Hey, Alison community! My name is Diondra Filicetti, and I am a course creator and Founder of the company Driven By… Co. I am a very passionate educator and truly believe that through learning and a little bit of encouragement, we are empowered to accomplish anything!

Alison: What is Driven By… Co.?

Diondra: Driven By… Co. is a company dedicated to building engaged and motivated teams and individuals through our personal and professional development workshops, courses, and team-building programmes.

Our mission is simple yet profound: to inspire, educate, and empower individuals and teams to discover their true potential and thrive in both their personal and professional lives. We believe that every journey to success is unique, and our role is to guide, facilitate, and support you on that path. 

Alison: What inspired you to create Driven By… Co.?

Diondra: In 2017, I found myself unhappy in a job that stifled creativity and had strict procedures that left no room for innovation. When I finally decided I needed a change, I had an important realisation: I had never been taught how to make the right decisions to achieve my potential.

What was I supposed to look for? How was it supposed to feel? How was I supposed to use my skills? What was I capable of? What was I driven by? With so many questions and no answers, I realised that these were the important questions that everyone needed to answer to lead a truly fulfilling life.

So, it became my mission to ignite the engagement and motivation in people for them to achieve their full potential.  I wanted to build courses and resources that are accessible regardless of one’s background, abilities, or circumstances

Being a Publisher with Alison

Alison: Tell us about your courses on Alison.

Diondra: I currently have 4 courses on Alison:

  • Professional Resume Writing: This course is designed to help individuals craft compelling resumes, enhancing their chances of landing their desired jobs and advancing in their careers. It equips learners with the tools to effectively communicate their qualifications and experiences to potential employers.
  • Building Habits That Stick: Your Guide to Transforming Your Habits: This course focuses on the critical skill of habit formation and transformation. It provides learners with insights and strategies to build positive habits, break unproductive ones, and maintain long-term behavioural changes, which can significantly impact personal and professional success.
  • Business Planning: How to Write Your Business Plan (Canada): For aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners in Canada, this course offers guidance on creating a comprehensive business plan. A well-structured business plan is essential for securing financing, setting clear goals, and ensuring the success and sustainability of a business venture.
  • Goal Setting: The Ultimate Guide to Set, Plan & Achieve Your Goals: Goal setting is a fundamental skill for personal and professional growth. This course empowers learners with effective goal-setting techniques, planning strategies, and actionable steps to achieve their aspirations. Whether it’s career advancement, personal development, or life aspirations, this course can help individuals chart a path toward success. These courses cover a spectrum of personal and professional development needs that can allow learners to learn about and address areas such as job search and career development, habit formation, entrepreneurship, and effective goal setting.

Alison: What made you decide to create and share the courses with Alison?

Diondra: Someone from the Alison team reached out to me and introduced me to the Alison platform. I admired Alison’s mission of making education accessible by providing quality courses for free. Instead of registration revenue, publishers were compensated based on ad revenue and certificate revenue. It was a win-win, and I was excited to be an Alison publisher.

Alison: What do you enjoy most about publishing on this platform?

Diondra: I enjoy the structure that Alison provides. Alison helps you elevate your instructional design skills by keeping key learning principles top of mind. The result is a course that supports the learning journey as best as possible and something that is searchable through the Alison SEO efforts. Plus, you are assigned to a member of the Alison team as your designated go-to person if you have any questions or need help. I LOVE being able to contact a real person instead of starting a chat with a robot to initiate a “help ticket”.

Alison: What inspired you to start a company that emphasises the importance of personal growth and professional success?

Diondra: Personal growth and professional development are highly interconnected. In your professional development, you will lean on your personal growth and expand on it by sharpening the skills that will help you achieve your personal and professional goals. In my opinion, there are two types of people: those who are unfulfilled and wish they had chosen a different path, and those who choose the right path for themselves. I recognised that there were so many miserable people in the first category. They truly needed personal growth and empowerment to choose the right path for themselves and find more satisfaction in life. I wanted to be the person to provide the tools and resources to give people the confidence to make these decisions.

Understanding Personal Growth and Development

Alison: What are the most significant obstacles people face when trying to balance personal and professional development? 

Diondra: I think the biggest obstacle when trying to balance personal and professional development is the belief that they are unrelated. When you see them as two separate journeys, they will often conflict or pull you in different directions. Instead of trying to balance the two, they must coexist. Although the first steps of personal growth may not seem to have much relevance to professional development, it will become clear later in the process if you stick to it!

Alison: How do you define personal growth, and why is it essential for individuals to work on?

Diondra: Personal growth is making a conscious effort to improve your skills, knowledge, abilities, or character in such a way that helps you become the best version of yourself and helps you fulfil your potential. The process of personal growth leads to more happiness and more satisfaction in life because you are actively improving your emotional, intellectual, physical and/or social well-being.

Alison: What are the main challenges individuals have in investing in their personal growth?

Diondra: I think the biggest challenge individuals have in investing in their personal growth is related to identity. Who you believe you are determines what you are willing to do for your growth. Many times, I will hear people say things like, “I’m not really a reader.” “I’m not a good public speaker.” “That’s not really me.” The whole purpose of development is to change and grow your skills! So, when these limiting beliefs prevent people from even working on their development, it can be a major obstacle.

Alison: Which skills should one prioritise when it comes to personal growth and professional development?

Diondra: I truly think that personal growth must begin with self-awareness. It is about facing the difficult truths about your behaviour, your attitudes, and your personality. Our unconscious habits, behaviours and attitudes are dictating our lives, and it is imperative that we become aware of what they are, so that we can decide if they need to change, and then change them!

To help with this, I wrote a self-awareness journal that includes personality quizzes, writing prompts and assessments that will guide you through the process of becoming aware of those behaviours and attitudes.

Last Thoughts

Alison: What words of advice would you give someone who would like to become a publisher on Alison?

Diondra: Go for it! Embrace the learning process, because I think you will be more than satisfied with how it turns out. Plus, the Alison team is very helpful and very invested in your growth.

Alison: What can Alison and its learners look forward to from you in the coming year or two?

Diondra: In the coming months, I will be outlining two new professional development courses! So, look out for those! In the meantime, feel free to connect with me online:

Website: drivenbyco.com

Social Media: @drivenbyco

In closing, let’s try and remember that within each of us lies the potential for greatness, which is simply waiting to be nurtured by knowledge and kind words. Let’s continue to embrace the journey of self-improvement because we recognise its value and know that with every lesson learned and every word of encouragement received or given, we not only empower ourselves but also enrich the world around us.

Word of the Day: paragon

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Word of the Day: paragon

The word paragon has appeared in 47 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Sept. 29 in the obituary “Dianne Feinstein, 90, Dies; Oldest Sitting Senator and Fixture of California Politics” by Robert D. McFadden:

Dianne Feinstein, the grande dame of California Democrats who became the mayor of San Francisco after a horrific double assassination at City Hall in 1978 and then gained national stature as an influential voice in the United States Senate for more than 30 years, died on Thursday night at her home in Washington. She was 90 and the Senate’s oldest member.

… To constituents and to a nation drawn to the story of her often difficult life, Ms. Feinstein seemed a paragon of dignity in conservative suits, perfectly coiffured and as regal as Queen Elizabeth II when the two met in San Francisco. But the resolute face was lined with hardships: a childhood of abuse by a mentally unstable and alcoholic mother, a painful divorce that left her a young single parent, and the deaths of her father and her second husband after lingering struggles with cancer.

Can you correctly use the word paragon 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 paragon 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.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.

Cool Job: I’m Duolingo’s Director of Engineering

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Cool Job: I’m Duolingo’s Director of Engineering

The process of learning a programming language is often compared to learning a spoken language: there’s syntax, unfamiliar grammar, relentless practice, and rewarding a-ha moments. Vanessa Jameson, the Director of Engineering at the education app Duolingo, knows a thing or two about both domains.

At Duolingo, Vanessa leads a team of engineers that focuses on new product initiatives. Most recently, she led the engineering team that launched the first music course on the Duolingo app. (You can watch a video of Vanessa demoing the new feature in-depth at Duocon here.)

Vanessa was first exposed to coding and technology as a teenager, long before there were language learning apps or online learning platforms like Codecademy. “I loved puzzles and problem solving,” she says. “The experiences that I had with coding early on also helped me recognize that, through coding, I could exercise that muscle and accomplish something great.”

Learn something new for free

Before joining the Duolingo team in 2017, Vanessa founded an early-stage startup and was a Senior Software Engineer at Google. “Throughout my career I’ve been drawn to ‘zero-to-one’ efforts of creating something from nothing,” she says. “That’s what really excites me.” Read on to hear more about Vanessa’s career trajectory, her day-to-day responsibilities, and her tips for people to aspire to work somewhere like Duolingo.

What got me interested in the job

“Coding was an emerging field when I was a kid. My dad was in IT, so we had probably more technology than most households back then. I loved to play with our computer or whatever he brought home. We didn’t have computer science in high school, so I pursued a couple of coding camps over the summer.

It wasn’t really until I went to Carnegie Mellon University that I actually learned to code well. In college, I was involved in the DARPA Grand Robotics Challenge, which was the very first autonomous vehicles competition to race cars across the desert. I found being connected to something that was clearly so important and such a moment for technology really inspiring and motivating.

I knew about Duolingo from the perspective of it being an impressive startup coming out of Pittsburgh, where I live. I looked up to Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, the founders of the company, and was really impressed by the early success of the company.”

How I got in the door

“Natalie Glance was leading engineering at Duolingo, and we knew each other from working together at Google. I was moving on from my startup at that time [2017], and more than anything else was looking for a break. I got together with Natalie, and she convinced me to join Duolingo full time instead of taking a break, which I’m very grateful for.

Natalie brought me into the office and introduced me around and she eased me into it. As I met people, I realized how incredibly kind, collaborative, and mission-oriented the people were here. People at Duolingo tend to be really inspired and motivated by their work having a human impact — and you can just feel that energy by being in the office.”  

Be willing to jump in on things — even if you feel you’re not 100% qualified. When I reflect on my career, the moments when I’ve done that are the moments that I learned or developed the most.

Vanessa Jameson

Director of Engineering at Duolingo

What I actually do all day

“I have two main functions in my role. One is people-oriented: making sure that teams are running well, and that the engineers are fulfilled, meeting their career goals, and working on the right things. The other piece is very strategic: driving the direction of the math and music products, making sure that we’re focusing on the highest impact work, and that we have the best chance of success.

My co-leads on new initiatives are a Product Manager and a Designer. I might be spending time with them, doing problem solving, talking about what we’re seeing in data, or brainstorming ideas. I might be working with the designer that helps to lead music or brainstorming ideas for the music product with the learning scientist. Or maybe we’re iterating on product features as a cross-functional team (design, engineering, product, learning science).

We do a lot of prototyping, so we’ll play with something to teach a new concept. There’s lots of rapid iterating, and we call this ‘dogfooding.’ We have a culture of using the products that we work on, and I think it makes the product better. A lot of folks with all kinds of different backgrounds will become opinionated about what’s working well or not working well — that’s what we love.

These days I am coding less and less, but I still read and review a lot of code. I did write all the initial code for the first versions of our music course myself. When we’re starting something new, we like to start with a very small team. If you have a larger team working on something that is really new, it is harder to move faster. When you have a smaller set of people, you can make decisions more quickly.”

Here’s what you need to get started

Want to learn how to code so you can work on a popular app like Duolingo? Vanessa’s team primarily works with the mobile development languages Swift and Kotlin, as well as Python for the back end. The team relies on tools like GitHub for code reviews and Figma for prototyping. They also use GPT to support various projects and GitHub’s Copilot for AI assistance on the coding side.

Once you’ve mastered the practical coding skills, Vanessa’s advice is to identify what excites you and what types of technical problems you’d like to solve. If you’re not sure what area of tech you’d like to work in, consider taking our free course Choosing a Tech Career.

No matter where you land, it’s important to take initiative and be a great person to collaborate with, Vanessa says. “Be willing to jump in on things — even if you feel you’re not 100% qualified,” she says. “When I reflect on my career, the moments when I’ve done that are the moments that I learned or developed the most.”

Do You Share Music Tastes With Your Parents?

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Do You Share Music Tastes With Your Parents?

What kind of music do your parents like? Do you enjoy listening to it with them, whether in the car or at home, or do you wish they would put on something else?

When Deftones’s hit “Change (In the House of Flies)” blared out of Tyson Burden’s car stereo in April 2020, he started to choke up. It wasn’t the tune’s familiar growls or the teenage nostalgia it prompted that made him almost cry; it was his 15-year-old daughter, Nia LaVey Burden, sitting in the passenger seat and reciting the words to the song.

“She knew all the lyrics, and my mind was blown,” said Mr. Burden, 39, a retail manager in Jacksonville, Texas. Turns out, Nia had discovered the band on TikTok a few months earlier. After the initial shock, he joined in, and the two threw their heads back and belted out the chorus.

“It was just this really magical moment between parent and child where we love the same thing,” he said.

Nia is part of a growing group among Generation Z that is listening to nu metal for the first time. The subgenre, considered one of the most accessible forms of metal, blends a heavy sound with elements of hip-hop, funk and alternative rock (think: Slipknot, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Kittie), and its lyrics often tackle dark subjects like pain, depression and alienation. Once popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it has now found a second life among young listeners, thanks to TikTok, the Y2K revival and, of course, enduring teenage angst.

For Asher Nevélle, listening to nu metal is inspiring. “You feel like you can do anything,” said Mr. Nevélle, 25, a musician based in Los Angeles who performs under the stage name Freak. “It’s this ‘I don’t care’ attitude. Like, you can look at me, you can stare at me, you can judge me, but I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

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