Artificial intelligence
AWS Machine Learning University Launches Free AI Instructor Program
Beginning in January 2023, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Machine Learning University (MLU) will offer a free AI Educator Enablement program that will serve community colleges, minority serving institutions (MSIs), and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States to help these institutions prioritize instructional database, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) approaches for historically underserved students. The program will feature six educator boot camps in 2023, based on the same content Amazon uses to train its own developers and data scientists.
The bootcamps will introduce educators to the program and will include lecture slides, hands-on coding exercises, exams and teacher guides based on feedback from school systems that piloted the early program. Educators who complete the program can earn continuing education credits and an AWS scholarship, along with year-round professional development, technical lectures, Slack study groups, virtual learning sessions moderated by AWS teachers, and regional events.
The idea came from Raymond Brown, a professor at Houston Community College, who had adapted early MLU materials for his classes. He wrote to AWS asking if they would consider helping set up an associate degree program in AI. Other technology industry executives also contributed, and the study program was launched in Fall 2020. Now, HCC will be the first community college in the US to offer a bachelor’s degree in AI in the fall of 2023, subject to final approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Colleges Commission. AWS offers students free hands-on experiences in a cloud-based sandbox to apply AI and ML concepts and experiment with a range of AWS services, data analysis, and ML cloud computing tools.
“Our goal in launching this program is to make database, AI, and ML education widely available to all community colleges and universities in the US — not just elite institutions,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of databases, analytics, and machine learning at AWS. “We need the best minds from every field to enter these fields. The Educator Enablement program is designed to make it easier for any educational institution to start teaching advanced technology by removing the cost and training barriers.” In 2021, AWS also launched the AI & ML Scholarship Program, which has helped more than 20,000 learners become familiar with AI and ML technology.
Visit this page to learn more about the Educator Enablement program, to register, and to be notified of course content availability.
About the author
Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher, and college English teacher.
