AWS Educate Brings Cloud Training To High Schoolers

Well, if you’re to learn something, better learn early! Some of you may be familiar with AWS Educate, an Amazon initiative to teach students cloud literacy and skills. Well, the program just got expanded.

It is now available to students age 14 and up.

Which is to say that high school students can now join in, learn about, and build cloud related skills, just like their peers in college. Amazon Web Services calls this recent expansion of AWS Educate, a program to teach the cloud workforce of tomorrow, today.

Students will become familiarized with cloud computing and the technology concepts, including advanced ones related to artificial intelligence, voice recognition, facial recognition and gaming.

The cloud giant confirmed plans to expand this cloud initiative to include students aged 14-17 at its recently concluded re:Invent conference in Las Vegas last week.

And while the idea, for now, is to provide these students access to resources that explain the basics of the cloud, AWS plans to roll out full academic courses in 2018 that will allow students to earn both high school and college credits.

This is being done, following input and partnerships from a number of high schools and colleges.

In addition to this, AWS is also in the process of releasing other, unspecified features over the next few months. The details of which the company will provide closer to release. For now, though, students can already work through AWS Educate materials and earn micro-credentials called digital badges.

This material is said to be suitable for a range of skill levels.

Amazon launched the AWS Educate program initially in 2015, and today it has grown to include over 1,500 educational institutions as members as well as hundreds of thousands of students.

What’s even more remarkable is that the cloud giant is even open to reaching students younger than the age of 14, after it receives and assesses feedback from those who join the expanded program.