Edhesive

[Roadrunner]

Does anybody what what is happening with them? I went to look at their homeschool page and poof, it’s gone! I wonder if they stopped offering all of their courses to homeschoolers and not just the stats. 
 

[UmmIbrahim]

Oh boo! I am hoping to do their AP CSA class with my youngest this coming year. The email they sent me in early May told me to check in with them in early June about homeschool registration. Fingers crossed that they are just setting things up for early June registrations (I hope)!

[Roadrunner]

15 minutes ago, UmmIbrahim said:

Oh boo! I am hoping to do their AP CSA class with my youngest this coming year. The email they sent me in early May told me to check in with them in early June about homeschool registration. Fingers crossed that they are just setting things up for early June registrations (I hope)!

I am hoping they are just updating the system as well, but I remember somebody saying they got a refund for AP Stats class with an email saying they won’t be offering it to homeschoolers anymore (can’t find the thread though). I am just worried that same fate befalls the rest of their offerings. 

[UmmIbrahim]

6 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I am hoping they are just updating the system as well, but I remember somebody saying they got a refund for AP Stats class with an email saying they won’t be offering it to homeschoolers anymore (can’t find the thread though). I am just worried that same fate befalls the rest of their offerings. 

Yep. I was shocked by that too, because my email from Samantha at Edhisive on May 3 absolutely mentioned AP Stats as one of their homeschool offerings. Then, two weeks later they are cancelling the course and issuing refunds. We'll just hope for the best and see what happens over the next week or so. That refund definitely took some of the wind out of my sails, though.

[Roadrunner]

They won’t be offering anything for homeschoolers. Confirmed. 

[UmmIbrahim]

Shoot, it's as we feared. Back to the drawing board with AP CSA. Good luck finding what you want elsewhere!

[daijobu]

What a loss.  Those were solid classes, and let's be honest, they pretty much run themselves.  (Handouts and prerecorded lectures.)

[Roadrunner]

On 5/28/2021 at 12:21 PM, daijobu said:

What a loss.  Those were solid classes, and let's be honest, they pretty much run themselves.  (Handouts and prerecorded lectures.)

I wonder if there are online schools that resell them. Sort of how many online language courses end up using Middlebury platform. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Roadrunner

[freesia]

We are using CompuScholar next year.  They are upgrading and revising their course and adding a computer graded project component like Edhesive had.  My ds is going to take it next year.  That was always my plan since Edhesive got so expensive. https://www.compuscholar.com/homeschool/courses/java/

[Roadrunner]

7 minutes ago, freesia said:

We are using CompuScholar next year.  They are upgrading and revising their course and adding a computer graded project component like Edhesive had.  My ds is going to take it next year.  That was always my plan since Edhesive got so expensive. https://www.compuscholar.com/homeschool/courses/java/

Do you know anybody who has used it and scored well on the exam? 

[freesia]

No, I haven't.  But this is my techy son who has multiple friends who know java and a brother who scored well on the exam.  He is going to start working in Java this summer and I'm going to have him do practice tests.  Idk if I'd feel as confident without a kid I feel confident in--but then again I tried Edhesive for my first ds without any reviews.

[UmmIbrahim]

3 hours ago, freesia said:

We are using CompuScholar next year.  They are upgrading and revising their course and adding a computer graded project component like Edhesive had.  My ds is going to take it next year.  That was always my plan since Edhesive got so expensive. https://www.compuscholar.com/homeschool/courses/java/

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to look into this. We have plenty of support at home as well (dh and I were both CS majors), so maybe this would be a good course to work through. My younger ds has already spent some time working through the free lessons on the Runestone CSAwesome page (https://csawesome.runestone.academy/runestone/books/published/csawesome/index.html), so we might not really need much more course structure in addition to CSAwesome, which is pretty decent.

[Farrar]

I've heard some good things about Compuscholar. But what I loss with Edhesive! What the heck! There are more of us than ever and they drop the courses? I don't get it.

[Roadrunner]

30 minutes ago, Farrar said:

I've heard some good things about Compuscholar. But what I loss with Edhesive! What the heck! There are more of us than ever and they drop the courses? I don't get it.

I guess they got enough schools now to shell out $$$ that they don’t need us. 😢

 

[Farrar]

2 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I guess they got enough schools now to shell out $$$ that they don’t need us. 😢

 

I guess? As someone pointed out, those courses run themselves with pretty limited involvement so it's weird to me. Whenever local groups drop a homeschool offering I always think, ugh, I'll bet homeschoolers were super annoying to them. But in this case, I doubt that's it. You're probably right. Probably just easier bureaucratically or something.

[Roadrunner]

21 minutes ago, Farrar said:

I guess? As someone pointed out, those courses run themselves with pretty limited involvement so it's weird to me. Whenever local groups drop a homeschool offering I always think, ugh, I'll bet homeschoolers were super annoying to them. But in this case, I doubt that's it. You're probably right. Probably just easier bureaucratically or something.

I think this is true. I am guessing everybody else has a school teacher they can run to with questions. Homeschoolers must have been the only ones relying on their support (?). 

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Roadrunner said:

I guess they got enough schools now to shell out $$$ that they don’t need us. 😢

 

 

45 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I think this is true. I am guessing everybody else has a school teacher they can run to with questions. Homeschoolers must have been the only ones relying on their support (?). 

https://patersontimes.com/2019/04/18/amazon-funding-computer-science-courses-at-15-paterson-high-schools/
“Last week, school officials estimated it would cost $1.35 million ($18,000 per school) to Amazon to provide the courses over a five-year period. But the estimate was inaccurate, according to both school district and Amazon officials.

Amazon does not break down the cost for specific schools and it can vary depending on need and program use. School officials scrambled to have news organization take down the stories mentioning the inaccurate figure.

“Through this grant, our students will be benefiting from resources and knowledge that are rooted in 21st century practices and applications,” said assistant superintendent Eric Crespo. “They will be getting the best computer science education possible at the high school level, and the best preparation for competitive assessments such as AP exams.”

Schools will have access to Edhesive’s online computer science training and professional development courses.

Teacher training will improve instructions in Introduction to Computer Science, Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles, and AP Computer Science A courses.

30 teachers, two from each high school, will receive computer science education training from Edhesive. Those teachers will have access to Edhesive’s online teachers as needed, according to the district.

Every high school will have a contact person at Edhesive.

Students at the high schools will get a 24/7 online tutor to aid them with all course work as well as an Amazon engineer as a mentor. Students will also take a field trip to an Amazon fulfillment center.

Those who successfully complete the courses and major in a tech-related field will be able eligible to apply for $10,000 grant from Amazon to help with college costs. They will also be eligible for Amazon internships.”

[Roadrunner]

3 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

 

https://patersontimes.com/2019/04/18/amazon-funding-computer-science-courses-at-15-paterson-high-schools/
“Last week, school officials estimated it would cost $1.35 million ($18,000 per school) to Amazon to provide the courses over a five-year period. But the estimate was inaccurate, according to both school district and Amazon officials.

Amazon does not break down the cost for specific schools and it can vary depending on need and program use. School officials scrambled to have news organization take down the stories mentioning the inaccurate figure.

“Through this grant, our students will be benefiting from resources and knowledge that are rooted in 21st century practices and applications,” said assistant superintendent Eric Crespo. “They will be getting the best computer science education possible at the high school level, and the best preparation for competitive assessments such as AP exams.”

Schools will have access to Edhesive’s online computer science training and professional development courses.

Teacher training will improve instructions in Introduction to Computer Science, Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles, and AP Computer Science A courses.

30 teachers, two from each high school, will receive computer science education training from Edhesive. Those teachers will have access to Edhesive’s online teachers as needed, according to the district.

Every high school will have a contact person at Edhesive.

Students at the high schools will get a 24/7 online tutor to aid them with all course work as well as an Amazon engineer as a mentor. Students will also take a field trip to an Amazon fulfillment center.

Those who successfully complete the courses and major in a tech-related field will be able eligible to apply for $10,000 grant from Amazon to help with college costs. They will also be eligible for Amazon internships.”

So how to homeschoolers get on this thing? 

[Arcadia]

6 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

So how to homeschoolers get on this thing? 

Amazon also collaborates with community colleges.
I just link the New Jersey news article because of your comment about Edhesive earning enough money from schools to not have to cater to homeschoolers.

[AEC]

"So how to homeschoolers get on this thing? "

AFAIK, there isn't a path to joining that program as a homeschooler. THAT SAID, Amazon offers internships to tech college students - mostly, but not exclusively, software engineering internships to CS majors. I've worked with dozens of them, and it's a pretty great gig. You get paid (rather a lot, honestly) and Amazon funds a cost-of-living for apartments, and about 50-60% get an offer for a full-time role once you graduate.

I can get more specifics if someone's interested, but I believe the filtering is based on where you're going to school, grades you got, and an online programming test. I don't know how it works for internships, but it's worth noting that Amazon (and most big tech) do not recruit new grads from all universities. There's just too many and too many applicants, despite the fact that I have unfilled hiring recs every year. We pretty much only hire from the top ~30 colleges/university engineering programs when hiring new college grads.

[Kassia]

@AECI'd be interested in more info for summer internships (2022).  My dd is a CS major.  

[AEC]

8 hours ago, Kassia said:

@AECI'd be interested in more info for summer internships (2022).  My dd is a CS major.  

https://www.amazon.jobs/en/teams/internships-for-students is the primary page.

also https://www.amazon.jobs/en/business_categories/student-programs. As a CS major, she'd probably be looking for a Software Development Engineer internship. If she can't find the application process, DM me and I'll help get it sorted out. It's a pretty great experience, IMO. They're assigned to a team that owns something in Amazon/AWS, have a specific project to work on, a mentor assigned, and there's usually a number of fun interns-activities scheduled. I've worked with many, and by the end of their summer they've designed and implemented a thing or feature, shipped it, and some customer is using it....which is pretty exciting as a young engineer.

 Note that all big-tech will have something similar, so you might as well take a look at all of them.

 

[Kassia]

@AECThank you so much!  She has an internship this summer and I'll pass this info on to her after she's done since she'll be looking for something for next summer!  🙂  

[Farrar]

On 11/24/2021 at 4:36 PM, Kyle Tower said:

Hello! 🙂

I have been teaching Computer Science and Programming since 2011. When I was introduced to the AP CSA Edhesive curriculum in 2015 it was a clear winner. To this day, 11/24/2021, it is one of the best curriculums I've ever used. I personally know Mrs. Dovi and she is an excellent CS educator. Not only is she great at teaching students, but she also has a gift of teaching teachers. I've received numerous trainings from her and her team at Code Virginia.

I don't know why Edhesive isn't offered to homeschool students anymore. However, I am in the process of developing a few Computer Science courses for the homeschool community.

Below are the courses I'm currently developing inside the Canvas LMS by Instructure:

1. Introduction to Programming in Python (1 Year Course)
2. AP Computer Science A in Java (1 Year Course) [highly inspired by Mrs. Dovi's course as well as CSAwesome and the Purdue CS180x courses on EdX]
3. Game Design and Development in GameMaker Studio (1 Year Course)

I have taught each of these courses since 2011 public school setting, since 2019 in a virtual setting, and since I became a homeschooling parent myself in 2017.

Is anyone interested in gaining access to my course(s) for the purpose of feedback and improvement? I would prefer students and/or parents who have taken at least one computer science course to provide me with the feedback so as to provide a contrast with any previous experience you have had with a computer science homeschool course.

 

Thank you for posting those links. I've also been hearing good things about CSAwesome. Where are you teaching? For yourself or for another provider? Will your course have instructor support? 

My own kids have aged out - alas - but I routinely have clients who are looking for better CS options than what's out there right now - in particular, things that are more interactive and have more teacher support.

[Roadrunner]

OP here with an update 
My kid ended up taking a CC course for Java and will self study for the exam. 
It’s good to know that homeschool community will have more options going forward. Thank you for all those links. 

[TheAttachedMama]

I know this is an old thread, but I am replying in hopes that you can share some more information on possible alternatives to edhesive or updated reviews.

 

Thanks!

[Farrar]

Edhesive is just a no go now.

The only course I know that has teacher feedback is the one at PAH. Some people love that course and others really don't and I've had a hard time getting a handle on why.

For doing it at home, the CS Awesome course mentioned above is the one I've heard is best (and it's free). For a teacherless course, I've seen lots of people say their student performed great on the exam after taking the course on Compuscholar.

Since so many CS interested students surpass the level of CS A pretty quickly, I think most students are better off going with dual enrollment anyway because they can typically go further. A lot of colleges don't take AP CS A or Principles anymore.

[TheAttachedMama]

4 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Edhesive is just a no go now.

The only course I know that has teacher feedback is the one at PAH. Some people love that course and others really don't and I've had a hard time getting a handle on why.

For doing it at home, the CS Awesome course mentioned above is the one I've heard is best (and it's free). For a teacherless course, I've seen lots of people say their student performed great on the exam after taking the course on Compuscholar.

Since so many CS interested students surpass the level of CS A pretty quickly, I think most students are better off going with dual enrollment anyway because they can typically go further. A lot of colleges don't take AP CS A or Principles anymore.

RE the PAH CS class:  I have not taken the class, but I just had a review from a friend I know IRL.  She said that the class is mostly run by TAs.  She also mentioned that class was often canceled at the very last minute, etc.  (Basically, it wasn't the most professionally run class in the world.   She also questioned the quality for the price.).    Another friend I know IRL had a student who took the class years ago.  She had mostly positive feedback.  

Edited June 2, 2023 by TheAttachedMama