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Code BurstIn the Appalachia region of the U.S., a region on Author: Produced in collaboration with eLearning Inside News and CKUT 90.3 FM
In the Appalachia region of the U.S., a region once dominated by the coal industry, mines have continued to close one after another. In answer, two tech consultants have established a free coding bootcamp called Mined Minds to retrain out of work coal miners and others for work in tech. What they promise seems like it could improve the socioeconomic status of communities around the world. But some believe they arent as beneficial as they come off. Several ex-learners have criticized the bootcamp, saying they were promised employment upon completion of the program and were fired days later. Others have filed a class action lawsuit against them on charges of fraud. Code Burst investigates Mined Minds, their efficacy, and whether their model can work for others. Code Burst is produced as a collaboration between CKUT 90.3 FM and eLearning Inside News. Language: en Genres: Technology Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Michael Moore Walked Away from an IT Job to Learn to Code with Mined Minds. It Didn't Go Well.
Monday, 23 September, 2019
This podcast investigates Mined Minds, a coding bootcamps that received a huge amount of community support and federal and state tax dollars to re-educate out-of-work coal miners and others in Appalachia for jobs in the tech industry. Last week, we heard about the experiences of Susan Graves, whose experience as a CPA lent her a unique perspective as she learned and then worked with the organization. The week before, we heard from Billyjack Buzzard. Due to his background as a seventh generation coal miner, he served as an effective and charismatic spokesperson for Mined Minds. Like almost everyone else who went through the program, both were fired without warning and for dubious reasons. This week, we hear that narrative repeated again, but with its own twists and details from Michael Moore. Mike, as you will hear, is a busy professional, and he was not able to get in touch for an interview. Instead, he sat down and recorded his experiences with Mined Minds on his own. I have done little more than edit his clips together. I would like to thank all the former Mined Minds learners and apprentices who have been in touch with me lately, especially Mike Moore, Susan Graves, and Billyjack Buzzard. Katrina Gibbs designed our logo, and the music you heard was written and recorded by Dan Monkman. He currently plays as Zoon, and you can find his music on SoundCloud and elsewhere on the internet. If you would like to get in touch with me, please follow me @henry_kronk on twitter. you can also email me at henry@elearninginside.com. Thanks for listening.
