Our Methods
You can do it. Everyone can, with the right kind of help.
The Idea Behind Useractive Learning
The O'Reilly School of Technology has developed an online learning technique for courses, called useractive learning. This means that you, the user, are actively engaged in building and creating projects while material is being presented. We avoid the use of presentation-heavy videos and simulations, and instead provide you with tutorial-style content and Learning Sandboxes® containing easy-to-use, real, and open programming environments in which to try examples and work on projects.
Of course, besides you, the most important part of each course is your Instructor, who coaches you with feedback, motivation, and encouragement throughout. It's our goal not just to teach you about Information Technology, but to help you become an Information Technology expert who enjoys programming and system administration.
Learning Skills through Practice and Coaching
From the moment you enroll, you'll get started by programming simple examples, learning by doing as you go. You'll be actively engaged in our Learning Sandbox® where you have permission to play, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. As you progress, you'll build more and more complex programs or sysadmin tasks. We'll help you through every part of this process, step by step, until you get it right.
Of course, you'll reinforce your skills by working on challenging projects and open-ended quizzes that you'll hand into your Instructor, who will evaluate them and hand them back to you for improvement until you have grasped the concept thoroughly. Once you master each project, it's on to the next step.
In this fashion, you'll continue to climb the ladder of success until you're ready to apply your skills on the job. And when finished, you will have built an online professional portfolio that you can be proud of, to keep even beyond coursework if you like -- to list on your resume, or to keep brushing up on your skills as you see fit.
Have questions about our revolutionary methodology? Contact us.
