Amazon Web Services has launched AWS Educate, a program that helps educators and students use real-world cloud technology in the classroom to graduate students ready to enter the cloud workforce.
Designed to make it easy for educators to quickly and easily find cloud-related course content and incorporate cloud technology into their teaching curriculum, AWS Educate aims to provide students with hands-on experience with cloud technology.
According to the tech giant, AWS Educate is free for educational institutions, educators and students to join, following AWS’s approval of their application, and is available globally starting now.
“For years, the AWS educational grants program has put cloud technology in the hands of educators and students, giving them the ability to put big ideas into action,” says Teresa Carlson, Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, AWS.
“We’ve seen students develop assistive computer vision technology in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, and aspiring entrepreneurs take a web startup from conception to launch within 60 hours.
“Based on the feedback and success of our grant recipients and the global need for cloud-skilled workers, we developed AWS Educate to help even more students learn cloud technology firsthand in the classroom.
“We’re pleased to offer AWS Educate to educators, students and educational institutions around the world.”
Carlson says cloud computing has “rapidly transformed” the way businesses and organisations across industries operate and innovate, such as researchers using the cloud to study genomics, non-profits using data analytics to better target donors, startups creating disruptive new applications, or established companies bringing new innovations to market faster.
As a result, cloud computing has become the default environment not just for building and deploying applications, but it has also become a key driver for transforming organisational innovation and business operations.
As such, Carlson says there is a growing demand for developers, information technology (IT) professionals, and forward-thinking business leaders with demonstrated knowledge of cloud computing.
“AWS Educate empowers educators with training, tools, and technologies to help students develop the skills to design, deploy and operate applications on the AWS Cloud,” Carlson adds.
By joining the program educator and student members receive several benefits, including AWS credits which allows both educators and students to apply for and redeem AWS credits for a range of Amazon services.
Carlson says additional benefits include web-based training and self-paced labs, collaboration forums, plus AWS resources and content.
