Cracking the code on Australia's tech skills shortage
UTS joins Apple and RMIT to expand Australia's innovative developer community by launching two App Developer Foundation programs that will enable aspiring coders to create their first apps.
Michelle Paulosky and Dr Avinash Singh discuss coding in one of UTS's computer labs. The Apple Foundation Program will provide four-week courses on the fundamentals of Swift coding. Photo credit Wendell Teodoro.
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) will work with Apple and fellow leading university RMIT to bring coding education students across the country.
Apple, in collaboration with UTS and RMIT, is launching two new Apple Foundation programs that will provide four-week courses on the fundamentals of Swift coding. In the period of one month, students will gain the skills to design and prototype their own apps, and learn introductory coding skills. Both programs will open for enrolment later this year, with courses beginning in early 2023.
"UTS is excited to work with Apple to deliver engaging learning experiences that build skills to empower and enable future digital professionals,” said UTS Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Andrew Parfitt.
"It’s imperative that learners of all ages and backgrounds are equipped with coding skills as part of their broader education at school and later in life. Coding is as crucial a tool as literacy and maths; it encourages critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity,” said Professor Parfitt.
We are educating digital natives and creating the next generation of global citizens – career-ready professionals who are highly desired by employers.
Professor Ian Burnett
Dean, Faculty of Engineering and IT
STEM skills are predicted to be a requirement for 75% of Australian jobs in the next decade.
Professor Ian Burnett, Dean of the UTS Faculty of Engineering and Technology, said these skills must be built through school education.
“We need to start right from primary school, where it’s important that we demystify STEM concepts, especially when we’re seeking to address gender inequity in the STEM industries.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
UTS Apple Foundation Program
“At UTS, our technology focus means we deliver everything we do through a technology lens. We are educating digital natives and creating the next generation of global citizens – career-ready professionals who are highly desired by employers,” said Professor Burnett.
“Innovation and creativity define the Australian developer community, and we’re incredibly proud to expand the pathways into the thriving iOS app economy through our Apple Foundation programs with RMIT and UTS,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations & Enterprise and Education Marketing.
