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Class Central

Free Web Development Bootcamp

Learn the fundamentals of web development with weekly live streams and earn a certification.

Oct 1: The Bootcamp ended up with just under 8000 enrollments!

Nov 8: We’ve announced two new bootcamps: A JavaScript and a Web Development bootcamp! They start on Jan 10. Learn more and enroll here.

 

Class Central is launching a web development bootcamp — free, online, and open to all. It’ll be structured around freeCodeCamp’s web development certification. And it’ll include weekly live streams with technologist Jessica Rose. We’re starting on August 23. Enroll here!

Concept

Over the past few months, we’ve been running an experiment at Class Central: we’ve been taking online courses with learners worldwide, supporting each other via a discussion forum, and holding weekly live sessions with course instructors. We called these “Study Groups”.

Study Group for the online course A Life of Happiness & Fulfillment
Study Group for A Life of Happiness & Fulfillment

In our first Study Group, we took Mountains 101, and in a follow-up Study Group, we took A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment. Both were 5–6 weeks long. As we worked our way through the courses, we felt a genuine sense of community emerge, motivating us to keep going.

Our Web Development Bootcamp will be like our Study Groups, but more ambitious. It’ll be twice as long, with twice as many (and longer) live streams, and designed to support a larger learner cohort toward an actual webdev certification. That’s why we’re calling it a “Bootcamp”.

Components

Components of the Web Development Bootcamp

The Bootcamp will have several components on separate platforms. These include:

  • The Bootcamp Portal. This is the heart of the Bootcamp. It’s where you’ll find the study schedule as well as links to all the other components of the Bootcamp.
  • The Course, Responsive Web Design Certification, on freeCodeCamp. This is the course you’ll be taking. It’s very hands-on and leads to a certificate of completion.
  • The Forum. This is where learners will support each other. You’ll be able to discuss the course material, ask questions, and reply to other learners’ questions.
  • The Live Streams on Twitch or YouTube. This is where you’ll meet Jess for weekly two-hour sessions, where she’ll discuss the course material and answer questions.

Let’s go over some of these components in more detail.

Prerequisites & Curriculum

The Bootcamp is structured around the Responsive Web Design Certification offered by the nonprofit freeCodeCamp. The program is an introduction to web development. It has no formal prerequisites: all you need is a computer, an internet connection, and the desire to learn.

The program covers:

  • Two fundamental languages of the web: HTML and CSS. It doesn’t cover JavaScript.
  • Important concerns in modern websites: visuals, accessibility, and responsive design.
  • Popular web layout models: CSS Flexbox and CSS Grid.

The program is practical, rather than theoretical. You’ll write code from the very beginning, complete coding tasks throughout, and tackle web development projects toward the end.

freeCodeCamp’s in-browser coding interface

Workload & Certificate

The Bootcamp involves a considerable workload. It leads to a certification after all. We’ll cover the program in 12 weeks. This should represent a workload of 10–20 hours per week and 120–240 hours for the full Bootcamp — or up to 300 hours if you count the final projects.

We’ll start on August 23 and end in mid-November. Here’s the study schedule:

  • Week 01 (Aug 23 – Aug 29): Basic HTML
  • Week 02 (Aug 30 – Sep 05): Basic HTML
  • Week 03 (Sep 06 – Sep 12): Basic CSS
  • Week 04 (Sep 13 – Sep 19): Basic CSS
  • Week 05 (Sep 20 – Sep 26): Applied Visual Design
  • Week 06 (Sep 27 – Oct 03): Applied Visual Design
  • Week 07 (Oct 04 – Oct 10): Applied Accessibility
  • Week 08 (Oct 11 – Oct 17): Applied Accessibility
  • Week 09 (Oct 18 – Oct 24): Responsive Web Design Principles
  • Week 10 (Oct 25 – Oct 31): CSS Flexbox
  • Week 11 (Nov 01 – Nov 07): CSS Grid
  • Week 12 (Nov 08 – Nov 14): Review & Projects Overview

If you stick to this study schedule, by the end of Week 12, you’ll be ready to tackle the final projects on your own. Once completed, you’ll receive a certificate like the one below.

Responsive Web Design Certification

Instructor & Live Streams

The Bootcamp includes weekly live streams with Jessica Rose. Jess is a self-taught technologist and advocate for better access to technical education. She used to work with FutureLearn and Mozilla. Now, when she’s not working in technical outreach with CodeSee, she likes to do weird projects like this Web Development Bootcamp. She always wants to hear about what you’re learning or working on. Come say hi!

Jess’ Twitch Channel, where the Bootcamp live streams will take place

Each week, Jess will welcome you for a two-hour live stream. During the stream, she’ll discuss the week’s course concepts and coding tasks, and answer questions. The sessions will be streamed on both Twitch and YouTube, and recorded for learners who can’t make it live. The YouTube stream, at least, will include closed captioning.

Forum & Support

The Bootcamp includes a dedicated discussion forum. There, you’ll have the opportunity to:

  • Discuss the course material
  • Ask and reply to questions
  • Share useful resources
Creating a topic on the forum: topic editor (left) — live preview (right)

We set up the forum using Discourse, a modern software solution well suited for online learning communities. Besides creating and replying to topics, you’ll be able to write code snippets, copy and paste images into your posts, mention specific learners, and more.

Expectations & Commitment

The Bootcamp is entirely free: the course is free, the live streams are free, the forum is free. By contrast, regular bootcamps typically cost upward of $10K. So what’s the catch?

Let’s set realistic expectations: if we can offer this Bootcamp for free, it’s because it doesn’t include all the bells and whistles of regular bootcamps. Let’s go over the main differences:

  • Self-learning: In regular bootcamps, instructors may walk you through the entire course material. In our Bootcamp, you’ll largely drive your own learning. Even if you were to attend all the live streams (24 hours), these would represent less than 10% of the certification’s total workload (300 hours). You’ll get out what you put in.
  • Accountability: In regular bootcamps, instructors and deadlines keep you accountable. In our Bootcamp, while the community might help motivate you, ultimately, you’ll be the only one that can keep yourself accountable and on schedule.
  • Support: In regular bootcamps, timely support may always be available. In our Bootcamp, while we’ll monitor the forum and try to answer questions, the bulk of the support will come from your peers, and it may not always be timely nor accurate.
  • Career: Regular bootcamps may offer career advice and job placement. Ours doesn’t.

That said, if you can take responsibility for your own learning, keep yourself accountable, and take full advantage of the support available, then you’re ready to tackle this Bootcamp.

And needless to say: completing this 300-hour certification is a considerable accomplishment. You’ll gain skills required in most entry-level web development jobs. Many learners continue their study by learning JavaScript before looking for their first role in technology.

How to Enroll

The Bootcamp enrollments are open. Remember: it’s free, online, and open to all. If you’d like to enroll, here’s how:

That’s it! You should receive an email confirming your Bootcamp enrollment. Once you do, you’re all set. The Bootcamp starts on August 23. But we’ll be in touch before then with details.

Manoel Cortes Mendez Profile Image

Manoel Cortes Mendez

Software engineer and online graduate student in computer science passionate about education, technology, and their intersection.

Comments 47

  1. Nik

    Will there be another similar group cohort for the other certifications on FCC, such as the front end which covers JS?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      It’s too early to say for sure, but if things go well in the inaugural bootcamp, we’d really like that. The fact that freeCodeCamp has other certifications that would make for great follow-ups isn’t lost on us. 😉

      Reply
  2. Enjando Pazvakavambwa

    This is awesome!

    Reply
  3. Isaac Omo-Ehiabhi Eranga

    Can one effectively participate in the course using Android phone?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      I think so. You can watch the live streams through the Twitch Android app. Discourse forums work well on mobile too. And freeCodeCamp went to great lengths to make their platform responsive: they use a tab layout on mobile. Writing code on the phone is definitely not ideal, but it’s doable.

      Reply
  4. Eli

    Cannot wait! This is exactly what I’m looking for and just at the right time. Right now I’m finishing up FreeCodeCamp’s JavaScript course and then I was going to RE-start (on my own) the Responsive Web Design course and re-do my final projects as there were some things I just could not get worked out. Now that I’ve studied more and learned more, its time to revisit the FCC course and perfect my skill set. Thanks for offering this–its in a much better format than doing it by myself.

    Reply
    • Johanna Alfonso

      It would be amazing to do the others FCC courses too! They’re making greats guidelines with Data Analysis Certification and hope they make the same with C.

      Reply
  5. Susan Nelson

    Looking forward to it….

    Reply
  6. Chris

    I still can’t find the blue button to enroll please someone should help me out

    Reply
  7. pragya

    Hi. I have a question. What if due a learner falls behind/ isn’t able to complete the course on schedule?

    Is there any flexibility about completing the course?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      The course is always open on freeCodeCamp, the forum will remain accessible, and the live streams will be recorded. So you won’t lose access if you fall behind. But you might lose some of the benefits of synchronicity: motivation, peer support, etc.

      Reply
  8. saysetha

    what are the times on the classes? are they all live stream everyday?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      I believe the live streams will be on Monday at 7 AM (PT), 4 PM (CET), 7:30 PM (IST). They’ll be recorded for those that can’t make it at that time.

      Reply
  9. GR

    Do you think you’ll offer this training again sometime in the future? I’m quite interested but the timing of it won’t work for my schedule this time around. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      If the Bootcamp takes off, we’d certainly like to do more. But I don’t know if we’d be revisiting the same course, at least in the near future. At this point, I guess we’re leaning toward the idea of a follow-up Bootcamp. But it’s too early for specifics.

      Reply
  10. Pawel

    Hi! Please let us know what time You’ll stream live. Idea is great, i hope it won’t be at my working houers or in the middle of the night in my time zone.

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      I believe the live streams will be on Monday at 7 AM (PT), 4 PM (CET), 7:30 PM (IST). They’ll be recorded for those that can’t make it at that time.

      Reply
  11. Cara

    Are recordings of the sessions available? As the live time zone doesn’t usually work for us. Many thanks

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      Yes, the sessions will be recorded and made available.

      Reply
  12. Rami

    Please ,can you help me to enroll,
    Sent a link for me

    Reply
  13. Kayla

    Are the live classes a must-attend or can we skip them or watch it once the recording is available?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      It’s up to you. The course is always open on freeCodeCamp and the live streams will be recorded. That said, if you can, I encourage you to attend the live streams to help keep you motivated and on schedule in the long run.

      Reply
  14. KNESSEN SOORIAMOORTHY .

    Hi!

    Congratulations & Thanks for holding this free Bootcamp. I am really interested.

    Regards

    Knessen.

    Reply
  15. Johanna Alfonso

    I can’t wait! I already started the first freecodecamp steps of the Basic HTML&CSS. I hope you get in the mood to apply this experience with the “CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science” (edx platform). 🙂

    Reply
  16. Donald Sandler

    I have enrolled but will only be able view recordings. What is link to achieve this and when will this link be live for the first time?

    Reply
  17. amy

    I dont see a link to the Forum. Has it been posted?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      The forum isn’t live yet, but soon will be.

      Reply
      • Erin

        I still do not see the forum. Can you please post where people can see it? Do you have the link for the forum? Thank you!

        Reply
  18. Dalibor

    Is it going to be a 2nd cohort after this first finished? I’m interested but have some other obligations right now.

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      We’d like to do a follow-up Bootcamp. But it would probably explore a different course rather than revisite the same one. Or maybe we’ll be able to do both. It’s too soon to say.

      Reply
  19. Eddie R.

    Looking forward to it! I’ve been looking for free resources all weekend and this eventually made its way to my screen.

    Reply
  20. smishprg

    I’m so excited for this. This is my first time taking an online bootcamp, so my self-learning and self-reliance are put to the test. Hope to see everyone at the final project and certification.

    Reply
  21. Tomas

    Hallo, its to same certification how freecodecamp.com had on they webside (responsible weppage) ? Or its something special ?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      Yes, it’s the same. The Bootcamp is a support structure built around freeCodeCamp’s curriculum.

      Reply
  22. Edwin Onah

    Hello My Dear People!

    I’m short of words: This is, no doubt, an amazing offer. And the platform is incredibly all-inclusive. I’m pleasantly surprised to learn, just now, that nearly all my burning questions have already been asked by my colleagues — and answered comprehensively by our Mentor.

    On behalf of all of them (my co-learners worldwide), I send in my appreciation to all of you at Class Central and freeCodeCamp. And, in a special way, my gratitude goes to Ms Rose, our Anchor on the Programme. We can’t thank you enough.

    And as you have volunteered to give us this great gift when we need it most in life, so the Almighty God, the Author of all good gifts, will, I trust, come to your aid at your own points points of need. May God bless all of you. Thank you for being there for us.

    Reply
  23. Okereke Chidozie Prince

    Please how do I join this class ?
    I just found this today 28 August 2021 and I wish to join.

    Reply
  24. Rose

    What sort of laptop is required? Would a Chromebook be sufficient?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      Yes, any laptop that can run a browser and play videos should work.

      Reply
  25. Charlotte

    Hello! I can’t find any other way how to reach out, but I just got through my e-mail and found this tip from Quincy. ^^;

    I’d love to join in, now I have the time. However I cannot enroll anymore. Is there a way to join manually?

    Reply
    • Manoel Cortes Mendez

      We sent you an email.

      Reply
  26. Amanda Faulkenberry

    Hi,

    I know that there are only about 5 weeks left of the current training and I noticed that someone asked early on if there would be more training like this in the future. I’m just wanting to see if anything has changed and whether a new session is set to begin when this one ends or not?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  27. Monica

    This bootcamp has been amazing! It was the final push I needed, and got me to stay honest about giving programming a real try. Jess is delightful and patient, and I’ve gotten so much out of the group approach. I’m so glad I’ve done this program and learned how much I enjoy coding in the process. Thanks Class Central & Free Code Camp!

    Reply

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