Talent Crossing: Transitioning New Non-traditional Learners into a Digital Workforce in 2021

“You must learn about Strategic Inflection Points, because sooner or later you are going to live through one.” - Steve Jobs, Only the Paranoid Survive

This New Year’s Eve was different, to say the very least. I watched four New Year’s celebrations virtually. A ball drop in New York City, the local show here in Dallas at Reunion Tower, and two back-to-back fireworks celebrations in the game Animal Crossing. Within my own home and amongst my own family, I saw firsthand the ways we have adapted to our current, increasingly digital environment. The third decade of the third millennium brings us a tremendous amount of work. We must bring a semblance of normalcy to cope with our drastically altered reality. What will our post-COVID world mean for the future of classrooms and the future of work?

Here at Divergence, 2020 was a year of many transitions. At the beginning of the year, we moved into a new, 10,000 square foot space here in the great Town of Addison; it was designed to harbor bigger and better experiences for the learners in the five cohorts that started in mid-January 2020. We were so looking forward to seeing everyone in person in a whole new way this year. But it turned out 2020 had other plans.

On March 23rd, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we entirely moved to remote live training on Microsoft Teams. Thanks in no small part to the great efforts of my team, 2020 ended up our biggest year yet. It was a bittersweet success. Our school was doing better than ever, but it came with a caveat: it was because of the difficult times that came about due to the virus that more people than ever found the time and drive to attend our immersive programs, the Cybersecurity Professional Penetration Tester (CPPT) and Data Science Immersive (DSI). By November 30, 2020, we crossed ~320 learners in twelve months, eight times the growth we experienced the previous year.

The move to remote live delivery meant implementing old-meets-new process models. We had to accommodate our learners who had limited desktop real estate to watch a live class while completing their labs.

We took one of the spare classrooms and converted that into a shipping room with branded boxes, complete with labels, brought together through a wonderful shipping partnership. Daily class recordings, shipped books, small group projects, study sessions for cert preparations, and virtual graduations attended not just by learners, but their families. This became our new normal. We have not stopped learning to match this old meets new world philosophy. We are excited to bring life to more old-meets-new tech-driven experiences in this new year.

Another inflection point knocked at our doors twice in 2020. The funding for the Veterans Technology (Vet Tec) Program was exhausted twice in a period of 5 months due to its popularity – first in May 2020, and then again, within a month of a new federal fiscal year start in October. This came as a huge surprise to us: we had moved to our new location in large part to accommodate learners coming to Divergence with this financial instrument. We had to adjust both times – once for the increased numbers and then without them. Our Admissions Team, Academics Team, Career Services Team, Finance Team – all of them had to learn faster than ever to handle the operational yoyos of the academy through innovation. I had learned from my experiences at Microsoft that Execution Excellence is Strategic Excellence. I am tremendously proud of my team, who burned the midnight candle to deliver to the promise through innovations.

We are excited about taking our new Bowsprit Program to the next level. Bowsprit is born out of realization that we have to make continued investments to help our graduates entering IT for the first time. 

Extending forward from the bow of a sailing vessel, to which stays for the masts are secured.

Cybersecurity Support Technician, Business Intelligence and Data Technician are two Department of Labor approved apprenticeships we launched in 2020. We believe in an opportunity to increase the number of apprentices hired at Divergence for the two roles but to also provide an end-to-end talent solution that includes apprenticeships. 

The idea is to provide the Earn & Learn model with an opportunity to receive a Certificate of Completion from the Department of Labor. Last June, on the 26th, the President signed an executive order removing a requirement to have graduate degrees for federal jobs. This order focuses on vocational certifications and apprenticeships for the new kind of remote work coming in the near future.

Many industry leaders now say that it took a virus to fast-track digital transformation efforts. But while this renewed focus was prompted by the unique challenges brought about by COVID-19, the intent to highlight certs and apprenticeships has been in existence for the last 8 years. As such, while no one can see the road ahead, we will find our way through this; just as others have before us. At the end of that road, trust me, we are going to have another grand celebration.

What’s Next

We are all about intentionally facilitating human interactions with the help of technology. This means that we are continuously exploring the latest in advanced technology to generate authentic engagement learning environments. At Divergence Innovation Labs, we have invested in the following technologies to explore, expand and innovate our classrooms of the future:

1. Telepresence Providers: As a trailblazer for innovation in education, we are looking to partner with Telepresence providers to leverage their connected classroom experiences. As we ask questions around what the future of classrooms will look like, we foresee the inclusion of hybrid learning spaces that take the best of both in-person and remote classrooms to better the overall learning experience.
2. Haptic Suits & HoloLens: With the development of technology that can provide sensory input and create simulations from a virtual standpoint, it now becomes possible to explore the creation of authentic simulations that allow learners to experience and process their learning. With the aid of haptic suits and AR, we look forward to providing learners with the unique opportunity to get deep inside the infrastructures of information technology and better understand the machinations from even the micro level.
3.  Telepresence + Holograms: One of our future goals is to implement a dedicated Divergence Academy classroom in multiple locations, including spaces closer to military bases across the country. This will allow our instructors to reach, engage, and collaborate with more of our active and veteran military learners to help them along their IT career journeys. Through the use of telepresence and holograms, we are out to bridge distances and bring our classrooms to wherever our learners need them to be.

Final Thoughts

I have grown up in a technological industry.  Most of my experiences are rooted there.  I think in terms of technological concepts and metaphors. But strategic inflection points, while often brought about by the workings of technology, are not restricted to technological industries. The things I tend to be paranoid about vary. In a current pandemic environment, I am thinking about the enrollment management practices that are constantly changing to accommodate the evolving expectations of non-traditional students. Our demographic is older than the 18- to 22-year-old. They have heightened expectations, less free time and, in many cases, very different needs. I am thinking about building new institutional practices that help enhance learner engagement and satisfaction through effective immersive program launches and delivery.

Placing ourselves at the intersection of AI, cloud, and cyber, Divergence Academy is out to empower learners with the knowledge and tools necessary to successfully land a job. We believe that provided opportunity, support, and guidance, our learners can step out of their comfort zones, push themselves to embrace challenges, and learn something new. In addition, the future of the classroom embraces the idea that technology can not only allow for broader access to the most in-demand skills for today’s rapidly evolving landscape, but it also forwards the belief that we can ensure exceptional and authentic learning experiences that equip each learner for true success.

I am incredibly proud of the way our team has come together over this difficult year, not only to continue to deliver on our promise to our learners, but to propel our academy to serve more non-traditional learners in 2021.

From all of us at Divergence Academy, we wish you a Happy New Year.