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As the first of its kind in the Valley, a new accelerated tech program at Okanagan College will streamline students as specialized tech coders to help meet a significant resource gap here in British Columbia and the Okanagan.
Through a partnership between Okanagan College and Accelerate Okanagan, the new Mobile Coding for Android and iOS program will allow students to engage in a more hands-on, targeted course that works on developing the foundational skills required to have graduates hired quickly.
“Students actually get embedded into a company, meaning the skills that they’re learning throughout the course will be put into action right away. It also helps industry by being able to test out these students before they fully hire them,” explained Brea Retzlaff, Community Manager with Accelerate Okanagan.
The program is only four months long, followed by a four to five week co-op at the end. As a student in the program, individuals will learn how to create an app specifically for Android and iOS systems. The app will include responsive and functional technology that can be converted from one platform to another, meaning it should be adaptable to be functional on a smartphone, tablet, and desktop computer.
According to Retzlaff, this program will work toward meeting the substantial tech industry demand here in the Okanagan.
“We’re in a shortage of demand for students that are graduating that can take these tech jobs. There’s a lot of tech jobs that are available, but we just can’t find people to fill those positions, and having a shorter program like this, that’s tailored to a specific need that the community is wanting, it allows the students to graduate and get hired quite quickly and help to fill that resource gap that we’re experiencing,” said Retzlaff.
“This program answers the expressed needs of the region’s technology sector,” added Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton. “With financial support from the province, we’ve developed a curriculum that will enable students to advance in their careers, and give them the job skills training necessary to excel in the field of app development.”
With only 16 students admitted into the program, Okanagan College is now accepting applications for this specialized program set to begin in October.
The college received $50,000 in funding from the B.C. government to create this specific training course, and the program was designed and developed with the help of Accelerate Okanagan.
This targeted program, which is specifically for tech coding, is the first of its kind here in the Okanagan Valley.
For this program, applicants are required to have some programming experience, a demonstrated foundation in object-oriented programming, a clear understanding of databases and libraries (such as MySQL),and an established aptitude for math.
For more information and to apply for the program, click here.
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