Date: Tuesday, 07-12-2017 at 15pm-16pm CET
Mentors: Paul and Marat
I have a question I haven't done much of the current course I've been busy with the other courses on Udacity to get better at javascript so I can pass this course, will the fact that I didn't do the current course yet affected me even though I've not been slacking but been studying on different courses and through books to finally crack this course, Thank You, basically my question is will the other courses iv'e done also be reviewed and be placed in as what iv'e done during the 3 months.
As long as you complete the course material before February 6th, you won't be marked down for haven't not made much progress so far. That said the extra courses won't be taken into account since it's not part of the current Scholarship program. Not to fear though, there's still 2 months left to go!
We're a third of the way through, and I have no idea if I'm doing well or if I'm doing poorly. 😖 Is there any way to evaluate my standing in the course, or is the choice of who moves on a 'black box'? I know that staff have said "Do your best and it will be fine" in the past, but I prefer to have more concrete metrics, if they are available. Thanks
As of right now there aren't any concrete measurements you can use. When the course ends in February we enter a selection phase where we examine multiple metrics to narrow down our selection. We look at how long you've spent in each lesson (to make sure some people aren't zooming through them and not reading), how active you are in the forums, and your Slack activity. There are a lot of different things we look at and the biggest advice I would give is take the time to help other and engage with the community when and where you can. 🙂
Yes, you can apply to any future scholarship you’re eligible to. To be fair, participation in this one won’t get you any additional credits though. But it’s way too early to be worried about this - let’s focus on completing this one first! 🤓
Considering the lack of activity on slack an forum of the students in the last days (weeks), what the community managers will do to engage the community back to activity?
I'd say now that a month has passed, people have become somewhat more comfortable with the classroom and forums but I wouldn't say it's inactive. That said, we do have future activities planned that we will roll out in the coming weeks (webinars, technical AMAa, etc). With the holiday season approaching, we also need to think of a schedule that would maximize on students' availability. So please stay tuned for future announcements.
I find it difficult to engage with others on the forum, is it going to hurt my chances of getting through to the second round? Most questions there are answered before I even get to them and leaving an answer 'so that I show involvement' seems wrong.
When we look at forum activity, we don't only look at your ability to give the correct response. We also look at your participation in discussions and your willingness to engage with the community. I'd say to not chase being the first one to respond and just be part of the conversation. I hope this helps.
Hello! That's the material developed outside slack and forum, like blog posts, related to course subjects, will be considered? For instance, I write a post in a blog solving some question and reference the post in slack for helping someone...
We absolutely love and support it when students go the extra mile and do additional things like you described! So yes, please be proactive, show engagement, contribute to the general good, tell our story forward. However, we monitor only the course forum and Slack, so we won’t know about this unless you tell us. So let us know about the amazing stuff you do, whether by writing us about it directly, sharing it here or on social media (don’t forger to tag) - and we’ll kudos you and help you spread the word. 🙌
Dear Udacity mentors - Is it at all possible to edit the original application essays we wrote since they are also considered for entry to phase 2, and well, my enthusiasm for Udacity courses has grown a lot since I wrote it
Unfortunately not, but actions speak louder than words, and if you demonstrate an eagerness to lean through the course completion and community engagement then that message will come across in February.
I have a question regarding the email address we used for registering on slack. Since it might be different from the one I used to register Udacity scholarship, and the name is different. How does Udacity know that I am participating actively??? Should I use the same email address as the one registered in Udacity and the forum?
As long as your Slack and Forum information matches in some regard (First/last Names, username, or e-mail) then we can identify and moderate user activity. 🙂
That's the material developed outside slack and forum, like blog posts, related to course subjects, will be considered? For instance, I write a post in a blog solving some question and reference the post in slack for helping someone...
I'd like to say that if you can relate this activity to the community and use it to motivate others, then yes, I can make a note of it. Share it on the forums and Slack and bring it all back to a public view where the course mentors can see this activity when the selection process comes in February.
I watch the course material at 2x speed. According to your answer above "We look at how long you've spent in each lesson (to make sure some people aren't zooming through them and not reading)" it seems like my learning cycle aka. Watching course material, trying to do it, go for external sources will get me penalized. Can you verify that is the case? Due to the large amount of courses the back-end feels cluttered, so I delete completed courses from there. What happens if I complete the course and delete it so it doesn't clutter my dashboard?
You won't be penalized for watching the videos a 2x speed. I just meant this as we can tell who is looking at the course material and reading through it as opposed to skipping through it just so that it gets checked off on their list. As for your second question, I'm uncertain at the moment but I can follow up on this and get back to you. 🙂
Due to the fact that I spend most of my free time studying, and going through other courses I mostly have a LOT of questions and little to no answers to help others, especially on the forums does that affect me in any way, I feel like the answers I can answer will not be as good as the answers of those who have already spent years in the business of Web Development.
When we say “participation” - we mean it in the widest meaning possible. It doesn’t just mean being an expert and teaching others, asking questions is a valid and welcome type of participation as well. We acknowledge that our many students come from different backgrounds and levels of experience, and we see it as a good thing for our learning community. Everyone can contribute something - sharing your expertise and helping others is good, but also asking questions, so others who have the same issues can learn from the answers - is very good as well. Later, when you’re more advanced yourself or already finished with the course, you can help others as well. That’s the cooperational learning process we’d like to encourage you to get used to, as this is also how this industry functions actually - it’s all about teamwork and learning from each other. BetterTogether
This program is entirely self-paced. We give you three months for Phase 1, and it’s entirely up to you how you schedule your learning. So obviously, if you’d like to have some well-deserved rest during the holidays, we’ll be happy for you. But there won’t be any official break from our side. Actually, from our experience we know that the holidays are a quite productive period for many students, as then they have a lot of free time to considerably advance with their learning. But if you want to put it rather on your list of New Year’s resolutions - go for it, you can give some gas after the holidays. But as with everything else in life, it’s all about finding the right balance that works for you, right? 😉
If I consider myself as a ES6 ninja, I still have to finish all tasks from there ? Even though I've already knew it ?
We ask that students take the time to complete all tasks. Even if it's material you're well versed in, I personally believe that repetition reinforces learning and can only strengthen your understanding. Also, look at this as an opportunity to share you sick ninja skills with students who are still Genin ninjas. 😛
When I started this course, I saw that my ES6 part is already completed. I think it's because I'd just completed it in my React Nanodegree course. Do I need to pass it again?
Any progress you’ve previously made in lessons and concepts that form part of this scholarship course, will reflect as such in your classroom.
Would it be considered an advantage if we plan to apply for a job in Google? Does Google even have any job openings that seek people who possess this skillset? (I so want to ask this question anonymously… you can’t see me you can’t see me…)
For those selected for phase 2 with the full Nanodegree program, there is a complete suite of career support and resources, including CV reviews, GitHub profile reviews, LinkedIn profile help and more. We also have curated jobs with our various hiring partners, such as Google. That said, we also see many jobs being recommended through the community - of course, our students and alumni have a much wider network than Udacity can have on it’s own so we encourage everyone to share tips and career help with each other where they can. Also after completing the program you may go on and do the Google Developer Certification Exam, but that’s an external program.