News, Views & Insights
After a few months of brainstorming ideas, developing notebooks and scripts and refining videos through several rounds of editing and refilming, we are pleased to announce that the Visual Explorations in Data Science massive open online course (MOOC) is now available.
Over a thousand new individual Wolfram Certifications were awarded in 2020 since the launch of new and updated online interactive courses and Daily Study Groups from Wolfram U. Students and professionals around the world have developed their skills and demonstrated proficiency in Wolfram technologies, as well as several topic-specific applications. We're excited to now offer expanded achievement opportunities for certification in more areas and more levels.
Students are spending countless hours online for classes this year, pushing educators to offer more engaging and worthwhile virtual content. We debuted Wolfram Daily Study Groups in early April with this in mind, and the results have far surpassed our expectations! Throughout this ongoing program, we’ve been able to keep students, professionals and lifelong learners engaged and connected in an enriching online community. With several Study Groups completed, and more in the works, we thought we’d share some of our successes so far.
Our second year of the Wolfram Data Science Boot Camp (and the first fully virtual edition) wrapped at the end of July. After completing final project assessments last week and issuing certificates, we can confidently say it was a success! Wolfram U mentors helped dozens of budding data scientists learn the multiparadigm approach and develop valuable skills in analysis, visualization, interface construction and more. Campers collaborated on projects of their own design, earning certifications along the way.
We’re proud of everyone who participated, and their efforts deserve some recognition! So without further ado, here’s a quick recap: how we ran the camp, what kinds of projects we saw and the lowdown on our new Level II Certification program.
A few months before I accepted a Wolfram Research internship—around March—I was very fearful, and so was the majority of the world. We knew very little about the novel coronavirus, and the data was just not robust. In addition to the limited data we had, the scientific process necessarily takes time, so even that was not used to its full extent. In a world where not enough data can quickly become data overload, the question didn’t seem to be finding more data, but rather how can one extract useful and meaningful information from the available data?
A worldwide pandemic is definitely stressful, but a worldwide pandemic without accessible and computable information is much more so. Using Wolfram technologies in coordination with several internal teams, I created a Wolfram U course called COVID-19 Data Analysis and Visualization to try and cut through the informational fog and find some clarity. I saw this course as one that gives power to everyone to be able to look at data and gain insight. After all, data is knowledge, and knowledge is power.
Schooling looks a little different in 2020. Whether it’s technical issues with the transition to online courses, decreased physical attendance or delayed and last-minute openings, we’re all feeling the pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Wolfram Research, we've been involved in education for decades and count millions of parents, teachers and students as both our customers and our friends. Because of this longstanding commitment to learning, we have content, experts and platforms at the ready to help parents and students who are looking for ways to augment their learning.
Linear algebra is probably the easiest and the most useful branch of modern mathematics. Indeed, topics such as matrices and linear equations are often taught in middle or high school. On the other hand, concepts and techniques from linear algebra underlie cutting-edge disciplines such as data science and quantum computation. And in the field of numerical analysis, everything is linear algebra!
Today, I am proud to announce a free interactive course, Introduction to Linear Algebra, that will help students all over the world to master this wonderful subject. The course uses the powerful functions for matrix operations in the Wolfram Language and addresses questions such as "How long would it take to solve a system of 500 linear equations?" or "How does data compression work?"