A few weeks ago, 10gen announced that we would be offering free, online training on MongoDB. We are offering two courses in collaboration with edX (the non-profit consortium between Harvard, MIT, and Berkeley), starting on October 22: MongoDB for Developers and MongoDB for DBAs.
Education has been key to encouraging adoption of MongoDB. It’s why we value and invest in training, MongoDB days, and MongoDB User Groups (MUGs). Online courses take that strategy to the next level by enabling us to scale our educational offerings. Last year our in-person, public training courses enabled us to educate 1,000 people on MongoDB. Through education.10gen.com, we’ve already enrolled over 10,000 people for the online classes.
Yet, we also value the real-world interaction that our training, MongoDB conferences, and MUGs provide. The face time is important for the community to get to know and learn both from 10gen and from one another.
Hence, I was thrilled when my colleague Francesca had the brilliant idea of incorporating our new online education platform with our user group network. One of the biggest challenges the MUGs face is coming up with new content on a regular basis. The launch of education.10gen.com provides the MUGs with the perfect set of content for weekly study groups. As each course is released on a weekly basis, the groups can work together on the material and assignments, and hopefully encourage a higher rate of completion of the course.
Francesca met with several of the MUG organizers over Google Hangout to discuss this idea, and they were extremely enthusiastic. And I’m excited that 10gen will be hosting a study group in NYC, which I plan to participate in. Hope to see some of you there!
You can find a complete listing of MongoDB User Groups on mongodb.org. If you are interested in starting a MUG and/or organizing your own study group, contact meetups@10gen.com.
