Our bootcamp curriculum is currently 12 weeks. Read more about it latest curriculum here.

Over the past few months we’ve been hard at work on the latest iteration of our Bootcamp programs. We are thrilled to announce some exciting changes to our Web and iOS Development Bootcamps including longer 10-week programs, computer science content, a hybrid form of education delivery and even more career services support.

Since opening our doors in 2013, Lighthouse Labs’ mission has always been to find the best way to train software developers and rethink the way tech education is delivered. Over the past four years, we’ve had the privilege of graduating over 1000 developers who entered the industry competing against applicants with more traditional backgrounds, and our grads have landed jobs again and again. Our students already make amazing developers. They are gritty, passionate and come with the hands-on technical proficiency to contribute on the job from day one. That said, our philosophy has always been to push students beyond their comfort zone and ensure that they are ahead of the curve. We treat our curriculum like software developers treat their product; as a continuously iterative process. We’ve created a closed feedback loop with our students, alumni, mentors, employers and the tech community at large. All of our curriculum iterations, like the change last year in our Web Development Bootcamp to more strongly focus on Javascript, were born out of this approach.

Our commitment to producing amazing developers, pushing students beyond their comfort zones and ahead of the curve, combined with our iterative approach has led us to the latest iteration of our curriculum. Ultimately, it allows us to provide even more value to students while keeping our pricing the same.

So, what’s new?

In a nutshell:

  1. Longer and more comprehensive 10-week Web & iOS programs.
  2. Inclusion of Computer Science Fundamentals content giving students an advantage in technical interviews and on the job.
  3. Introduction of self-guided hybrid education weeks (week 5 & 10) providing students opportunities for added personalization, self confidence and self reliance - it is our job to build confidence and teach students how to learn on their own.
  4. Even more support from our Career Services team.

A longer program with the addition of Computer Science content:

One of the most exciting changes is the addition of our Computer Science module. Covered during the 5th week of the program, students will be exposed to computer science fundamentals through hands-on projects. This will give grads a stronger advantage on the job hunt, especially during technical interviews. The foundation built in this week will also be useful to students when dealing with more advanced concepts on the job, and will allow them to produce more complex and scalable software solutions.

Topics covered during the Computer Science Module include:

  • Recursions
  • Algorithm Complexity
  • Advance Data Structure
  • Object-Oriented Programming
  • Automated Testing

Even More Career Services Support

Student interaction with the career services team will begin early in Week 5 where they will come in for the Introduction to Career Services. We’ve also added extra career services programming for Week 10 of the program to help accelerate each student’s transition from Bootcamp to their first job as a full stack developer.

Hybrid Self-Guided Content Because our Ultimate Job is to Teach How To Learn

Given the ever changing nature of technology, developers must be lifelong learners. We often say that the main goal of Bootcamp is for students to “learn how to learn” so they can continue learning on the job and on their own. Our Bootcamp curriculum was created not only to build strong technical skills but also to help students develop self - confidence and self- reliance in their abilities to learn, problem solve and build. This newest iteration of our curriculum, including the remote work during Week 5 and Week 10, will allow students to learn how to learn by applying the skills that they learned in the Bootcamp on their own. In turn, they will be even more ready to take on the challenges of being a Professional Developer. During the brand new week 5, students will complete computer science assignments remotely at a self-guided pace using our internal learning management system: Compass. During the last week of the program, students will be working with their team at their own pace while preparing to present their final projects employers, friends and family in Demo Day.

Last but not least, with the addition of these two weeks we’ve also added a space for students to take a breather. Isn’t it a bootcamp, why rest? We often say that bootcamp is like driving 140km/hour on a highway. We expect a lot from our students and push them way out of their comfort zone. Our programs are rigorous and fast-paced, which means that the vast majority of our students spend 10-12 hours a day at the lab learning to build full-stack applications. After running the program for the past four years, we have learned that while accelerated and immersive learning is an essential part of learning how to become an amazing developer and building student confidence, taking rest and breaks to avoid fatigue and burnout is equally important. First and foremost we want to make sure that students at Lighthouse look after themselves and take rest when they need it. Therefore, this will be a lighter week- with the total work expected will be around 30 hours. The lighter and more self-guided format of week 5 will allow students to take a breather after the intense first four weeks of bootcamp and gather energy recuperate to come back full-force for the second sprint.

What Stays the Same:

The core of our program doesn’t change with the new longer curriculum. Our entire curriculum is designed to make students learn, think, build applications, and solve problems like a professional software developer. The addition of computer science concepts, we believe that self-guided material and having two more weeks at Lighthouse will allow us to even better prepare students to become well rounded full stack developers. Our approach remains the same: software development is best learned by doing. Our 10-week curriculum aims to accelerate learning and build confidence through a project based approach. Students will cover concepts and then immediately apply their learnings to develop real world applications and students will leave the program with a portfolio of work to impress employers.

Our program still has all the pieces to support the journey of becoming a full-stack developer:

  • Focus on teaching core web development skills, principles, best practices and problem solving
  • Industry relevant technologies with a focus on JavaScript and Ruby on Rails for Web, Swift and Objective-C for iOS.
  • Hands on, accelerated and immersive education that pushes students way beyond their comfort zone
  • Community driven education that is vetted and delivered by a community of 150 developers across Canada
  • Strong commitment to student outcomes and support through amazing career services

As a celebration of our new curriculum, we put together a brand new curriculum package for both the Web and iOS Development Bootcamp that provides an in-depth look into the student experience at Lighthouse Labs. Short of coming to our space and talking to our community, this is the best place to learn about the Bootcamp experience at Lighthouse Labs. You can download it here.