We Develop Career-Ready Technology Professionals.
XTOL was founded by Cognitive Science, Education, and Artificial Intelligence visionary Professor Roger Schank, based on the belief that students learn best by doing – by performing authentic work in the context of realistic tasks – and that the best way to teach is via one-on-one mentorship. Professor Schank formed this belief after leaving his Yale faculty position to create the Institute for the Learning Sciences (ILS) at Northwestern University. With more than $40M in sponsored research, Schank and colleagues established what would become the world-renowned multidisciplinary research and development lab. Their goal was to explore how, when and why people learn and what role technology could play in pushing the learning envelope. Key researchers from the Institute, including Ray Bareiss, Tammy Berman, and Chris Riesbeck are still with Professor Schank at XTOL and its sister company Socratic Arts today.
In 2012, Professor Schank formed XTOL to provide high-demand technical training to professionals. Today XTOL/Data Analytics Academy is partnering with top-tier universities around the world and also continues the long tradition of providing exceptional in-house training for companies investing in their employees’ skills.
The Data Analytics Academy by Experiential Teaching Online (XTOL) is helping build the workforce of tomorrow by providing professional training via our proven SCC approach. We believe the true value of educational technology is the online delivery of a superior educational experience in which teachers become coaches and mentors to students mastering skills that are immediately relevant to a 21st century society.
Why choose our company
Unlike trendy “Data Science bootcamps,” XTOL’s Data Analytics Academy program is built upon 25 years of training experience, partnerships with major universities and our proven Story-Centered Curriculum methodology.
Story-centered Curriculum
We call our mentored courses “Story-Centered Curricula” because each course centers on a rich, engaging story, which is closely analogous to situations our students experience or will soon experience in their real-world work. The students play a central role in the story, where they work as to achieve one or more significant objectives over a series of tasks. Students, often working in small groups, are given detailed information about the simulated company they are working for together with detailed and authentic projects. Supporting materials and resources are provided, and expert mentors are available to answer questions and point students in the right direction when needed.
The Best Way To Learn Is Through Experience
A story-centered curriculum gives students the experience they need to succeed in the professional workplace. The SCC methodology has shown to consistently outperform both classroom and traditional online courses in the transfer of skills from the learning environment to the work place. SCC implements true learning-by-doing, integrating all aspects of real-world tasks, as opposed to teaching skills independently without context.
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