六九色堂

Sept. 7, 2018

UCalgary prepares for digital revolution with timely new lineup of Continuing Ed courses

Boost your digital skills starting this fall; most courses are available online
Lina Zhao recently graduated with a Certificate in Business Intelligence from 六九色堂 Continuing Education.

Lina Zhao recently graduated with a Certificate in Business Intelligence from Continuing Education.

JazzHart Studios

With the approach of fall comes the inevitable need to schedule ourselves, filling our calendar with lessons, sports, activities 鈥斕齛nd courses. This fall, Continuing Education is featuring a lineup of courses to help individuals build their digital skill set.

Director of Continuing Education, Dr. Sheila LeBlanc, DBA says, 鈥淲e鈥檙e working with all levels of government to provide programs that meet the community鈥檚 workforce development needs for skills in the digital space. For example, we are delivering the federally funded Digital Skills for Youth program for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, our fast-track business intelligence and analytics certificate that gives people the option to complete it in one semester听鈥斕齨ot to mention the other nine digital-skills focused certificates offered part-time. These options are critical in a market that is hungry to build a tech ecosystem.鈥

Living in a digital world

The billboard on Crowchild Trail last month said it all: 鈥淐an a university lead a digital revolution?鈥 Continuing Education is positioned to be at the forefront of providing learning opportunities in this area.

In the听听related to the billboard, Dr. Bill Rosehart, dean of the听, says, 鈥淭echnology is changing the world at an unprecedented rate. We've already seen the mass adoption of mobile computing devices, with computational strength we never would have imagined a few years ago. Add to that the Internet of Things, along with intelligent systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analysis, and I would say every sector of our society is in a technological revolution right now."

Those words may sound ominous to some, but to others it鈥檚 a battle cry to get on board the digital train that鈥檚 moving lightning fast.

Continuing Education programming

To help you find the programs that can boost your career in the tech space, here is a taste of Continuing Education courses starting this fall.

  • 听鈥 Students are prepared to actively support the delivery of successful IT projects.听
  • 听(fast track option) 鈥撎鼵omplete the certificate in eight weeks. Classes run Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the UCalgary Downtown Campus.
  • 听鈥 Using Microsoft SQL Server 2012, you will learn how to design, develop, administer and troubleshoot Microsoft SQL databases and servers.
  • 听鈥撎齃earn to code and implement designs using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
  • 听鈥 Topics include computer programming, data modelling, and relational databases fundamentals.

Take courses online

Most of these course can be taken online, making it convenient for people with full calendars. Lina Zhao, a recent graduate with a certificate in Business Intelligence and Analysis, was skeptical at first about taking a certificate completely online but soon discovered she loved the convenience. And the instructors make it very comfortable to learn online. 鈥淭hey are very engaging and care about us. They respond quickly to my questions and participate on the class discussion boards,鈥 she says.

Program for recent grads 听

And if you graduated in the last two years and are unemployed or underemployed, you may be eligible for the听Digital Skills For Youth听(DS4Y) program. A federal Youth Employment program, DS4Y 六九色堂 is the provider of this program for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

To learn more about Continuing Education programs that are meeting the needs of our evolving workplace, visit the听or call 403-220-2866 and speak with a student adviser.