Watch Demo Videos and Compare Online Coding Bootcamps

Table of Contents

• Brainstation Remote Web Development
• Covalence Catalyst and Atomic Bootcamps  
• Flatiron School Learn-Verified
• Fullstack Academy Remote Immersive
• General Assembly Web Development Immersive Remote
• Springboard
• The Software Guild
• Thinkful
• Further Reading

What is it like to study at an online coding bootcamp? How will you interact with your instructors, mentors and other students? And will your learning portal be a place you look forward to learning each day? We have done the research and asked some of the most popular online bootcamps to give us walkthrough demos to answer all your questions about studying online.

Tell us in the comments which online coding bootcamps we should demo next! We will continue to add more demos.

• BrainStation online demo
• Covalence online demo
• Flatiron School online demo
• Fullstack Academy online demo
• General Assembly online demo
• Springboard online demo
• The Software Guild online demo
• Thinkful online demo

Brainstation Remote Web Development

BrainStation launched a new full-time Remote Web Development Course in 2017 as part of a goal to empower one million people with digital skills by 2025. BrainStation Educator and professional software developer Jamie was involved in building the curriculum and figuring out how to make the online experience as successful as the on-campus experience. See how BrainStation helps students stay engaged and motivated while learning online.

• The online curriculum is the same as in person, but it's been adapted for the online environment.
• The course uses video conference software and the students are online all day.
• They also use Slack to communicate, so the students are able to speak with each other and instructors.
• The digital classroom has lectures in the morning, with the daily schedule, and you can also browse through curriculum for future weeks.
• The community tab allows students to see profiles for other students, colleagues or educators.
• BrainStation’s online course is 10 weeks, full-time.

Covalence Catalyst and Atomic Bootcamps
 

Covalence chose to create a full-time, 9-week immersive course that is more affordable and accessible to students after running in-person coding bootcamps in Nashville, TN and Birmingham, AL for a few years. They now have new online-only coding bootcamps, the full-time Catalyst program and the self-paced Atomic program. Founder Matt Landers tells us how Covalence classes differ from other online coding bootcamps, and what lessons from in-person teaching he is bringing to the online classroom.

Highlights:

• Covalence’s learning platform is called Gravity. Students can watch recorded videos of instructors teaching in the portal, and see the layout of the curriculum. 
• Students watch the content individually, then come together as a cohort with the instructor via a video call on Discord to ask questions, share screens, and bring the concepts together. 
• Students submit all their labs and exercises through GitHub. Every module has assignments, from drills, right up to a full-scale project. 
• Employers will be able to create accounts and post jobs that only students who have gone through our curriculum will be able to see.
• The Catalyst program is designed to mimic an in-person bootcamp, it’s 9-weeks, full-time with a dedicated instructor and strict timelines with daily projects.
• The Atomic program is designed for you to study on your own time, at your own pace.

Flatiron School Learn-Verified

Flatiron School started as an in-person full-time coding bootcamp, but launched their fully online program in 2015. The online curriculum contains all the same material students learn at Flatiron’s NYC campus, but as a self-driven program, students can learn at their own pace either full time or part time in 5 to 9 months. We spoke to Sarah who had been studying part-time with Learn-Verified for 5 months, without quitting her job.

Highlights:

• Students study through a custom-built online platform where students find all their lessons, labs, progress, and streaks.
• All the labs are integrated with GitHub so students open Github through the Learn platform.
• Students can see the tests for each lab they are working on through the platform, and interact with them.
• Students communicate with instructors through the “ask a question” feature, and also through a Slack channel.
• Students communicate with other students through Slack, and often pair together.
• Flatiron Learn can be completed part-time or full-time, so this is a great option for those who need some flexibility. 

Fullstack Academy Remote Immersive

Fullstack Academy coding bootcamp started in NYC two years ago, and launched their women's coding bootcamp, Grace Hopper Academy in January 2016, and their Remote Immersive program in August 2016. Founders Nimit and David created the online program to cater for the half of the US population which lives outside of metro areas. The Remote Immersive program is based on the in-person immersive program, and has very similar requirements, hours, and outcomes.

Highlights:

• The primary platforms students and instructors use to communicate are Zoom, Full Bits, a whiteboarding tool, and Learn Dot.
• Zoom is used for video conferencing and interactions between students, instructors, and other students.
• Full Bits facilitates pairing and group work among students.
• Learn Dot is a proprietary Learning Management System used for content, workshops, and assessments.
• Remote Immersive instructors are the same instructors who teach the in-person immersive class.
• Remote Immersive students are considered part of their own campus, so they will interact with each other, and not the in-person students.
• Class starts at 10am EST (7am PST) each day.

General Assembly Web Development Immersive Remote

General Assembly has been running an in-person Web Development Immersive for a few years, but just launched an online version – Web Development Immersive Remote. Students who don’t have a General Assembly campus in their area can now participate in this full-time program from anywhere in the world. We spoke to Adi Hanash, the lead of Online Education at General Assembly, who took us through the ways students interact with staff, students, assignments, and tools.

Highlights:

• The primary platforms through which students and instructors use to work and communicate are Slack, Zoom and Cloud 9.
• Slides and content are shared with students and are searchable via Slack.
• Through Zoom, students can see their instructors and classmates and participate in group learning sessions.
• Students are required to have a second monitor so they can work on one, and see lectures or slides on the other.
• Students code in a Cloud9 development environment which allows them to pair program with other students, and syncs up with students’ GitHub accounts.
• General Assembly's WDI Remote is full-time, so expect to devote as much time and effort as you would an in-person immersive.

Springboard

Springboard offers online, flexible, mentor-led courses including the Data Science Career Track with a job guarantee, Digital Marketing, UX design, and Cybersecurity courses. Kristoffer has been a graphic designer for six years but decided to enroll in Springboard’s part-time online UX Design program to upskill and pivot towards something he was more passionate about. Check out Springboard’s online learning platform for UX design.

Highlights:

• Students receive weekly phone calls from their mentor and they can also use email.
• The learning portal has a combination of PDFs and links that students can review, and there’s also Lynda.com and Skillshare videos.
• You can submit projects and tasks through the portal and it will mark when submitted.
• The course is part-ime and flexible based on your schedule needs.

The Software Guild

The Software Guild first launched as a 12-week in-person coding bootcamp in Cleveland, Ohio in 2013. The Guild now offers a part-time online program so students from all over the country can learn to code using .NET or Java. We spoke to Kathy who is learning .NET remotely through The Software Guild's online program, and she walked us through the online platform and some of her assignments.

Highlights:

• The primary platform is called Acatar where students can log in, see their progress, and find exercises and readings.
• Students complete projects using Visual Studio, Git Bash, and Bitbucket. They use Jira to track issues and Crucible to submit code reviews.
• Students communicate with other students and instructors through HipChat.
• Online students take part in two classroom sessions per week, which are then published on Acatar for students to refer back to.
• Students have weekly one-on-one meetings with an instructor.

Thinkful

Thinkful is an online-only coding bootcamp offering both full-time and part-time Career Path coding programs. We spoke to Melanie, a student studying the part-time program, who told us all about how she learns through the platform, without quitting her job.

Highlights:

• Students study through a custom-built platform where all their lessons, progress, and assignments are contained.
• The main dashboard shows her progress, goals, milestones, learning streak and number of commits.
• Students use GitHub for projects, and then submit them through the Thinkful platform.
• Each student is paired with a mentor.
• Students can communicate with mentors through a video chat system built into the Thinkful platform.
• Students also communicate with students and instructors through Slack.
• Thinkful Career Paths can be completed part-time or full-time, so this is a great option if you need some flexibility. 

Further Reading

• Which online Coding Bootcamp is Right for you?
• Webinar: Choose an Online Bootcamp and Get Hired
• 5 Tips to Acing an Online Bootcamp
• 10 Must-Do's for an Amazing Online Experience
• Coding Bootcamp vs Self Study
• Read BrainStation Reviews
• Read Covalence Reviews
• Read Flatiron School reviews
• Read General Assembly reviews
• Read Springboard Reviews
• Read Thinkful Reviews