NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Please replace the release dated June 23, 2016 with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.
The corrected release reads:
AMAZON AND STRAYER EDUCATION’S NEW YORK CODE + DESIGN ACADEMY UNVEIL NEW COLLABORATION MODEL ENABLING DEVELOPERS TO BUILD PRACTICAL ‘SKILLS’ FOR ALEXA-ENABLED DEVICES
Strayer Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) is pleased to announce the first in a series of future collaborations that its New York Code + Design Academy (NYCDA) has established with digital companies in order to provide students with real-world application building experience. Through a collaboration with Amazon, NYCDA is offering developers an opportunity to build and publish voice-enabled skills using the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK). The curriculum for the course, titled “Voice Activated Apps 101 with Amazon Alexa,” was built by NYCDA working with the Amazon Alexa team and will be the first in-person training on building Alexa skills in Ruby.
“Through our recent acquisition of NYCDA, Strayer Education has committed itself to offering innovative coding and design curricula that are built and taught by some of the best developers in the world,” said Karl McDonnell, CEO of Strayer Education, Inc. “NYCDA’s educational collaboration with Amazon illustrates the value of this model, and we couldn’t be happier to offer such a unique curriculum for NYC’s robust community of developers.”
The NYCDA/Amazon course is now open for enrollment and will run from August 9, 2016 to September 27, 2016. Meetings will take place on Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET at NYCDA’s headquarters in New York City and be taught by the NYCDA Co-Founder and Chief Academic Officer, Zach Feldman. Feldman, a highly active member of the developer community and one of the first members to access the Alexa developer preview of Amazon’s Alexa Development Program, approached the Alexa team this past spring with the idea to launch a collaborative course. The idea immediately resonated with the Alexa team and quickly turned into the eight-week long curriculum being offered today.
“As an early adopter of Amazon’s voice-activated technologies, I have experienced the way that voice-activated apps are changing the ways in which we live and do business,” said Feldman. “Being able to develop these types of apps is a powerful currency for the future, and one that the NYCDA is pleased to offer to our students. Further, empowering our students to not only build these apps but publish them for wide, global use by one of the most innovative technology brands in the world and its subscribers is a tremendous benefit for them and our academy.”
Students who participate in the Voice Activated Apps course will start by gaining an understanding of the ASK infrastructure and move on to building an Alexa skill together as a class through the developer language of Ruby and the Sinatra web application framework. The course will culminate in an independent final project and upon certification, the publishing of the student's first skill in the Alexa App.
“We look forward to our collaboration with the NYCDA, which will open the door for more innovations from developers on Alexa,” said Rob Pulciani, Director, Amazon Alexa. “It’s a first-of-its-kind curriculum, designed specifically for voice-enabled experiences, and will teach students how to use the Alexa Skills Kit to develop high-quality, fun and unique skills.”
The New York Code + Design Academy, a provider of non-degree web and mobile app development courses, was recently acquired by Strayer Education on January 13, 2016. The NYCDA now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Strayer Education, Inc. and will maintain its current headquarters and management team based in New York City.
To learn more about NYCDA or to enroll in NYCDA’s new “Voice Activated Apps 101 with Amazon Alexa” course, go to https://nycda.com/.
About The New York Code + Design Academy
The New York Code + Design Academy is a technology education provider with a mission to teach everyone to code. Founded in 2012 and now operating under Strayer Education, Inc., NYCDA provides intensive full-time and evening part-time courses for adults, and summer season camps for kids and teens. Its Web Development Intensive retrains adult learners, preparing them for careers in technology. NYCDA also teaches innovative new technologies like AngularJS and React to more experienced developers.
About Strayer Education, Inc.
Strayer Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) is an education services holding company that owns Strayer University and the New York Code and Design Academy. For more information on Strayer Education, Inc. visit www.strayereducation.com.
