BrainStation

I took the 10 week Data Analytics Course via their 'Online Live' platform. My entire experience was awesome! I'm glad I made the decision to learn with them again, after already completing the Product Management certificate.

My instructor was excellent.... Read More He was an expert in the field and provided industry examples for all of the tools and concepts we learnt. He was organized, engaged, and truly cared that we were getting the most out of the course material.

I would definitely recommend the course and would encourage trying an 'Online Live' course if you can. It's a great way to level up your skills in a more flexible and accessible way. Looking forward to applying my new knowledge to my career!

I took the 10 week Product Management course via Online Live and it was awesome! The Brainstation team made it easy to learn online and provided the flexibility for me to take this course anywhere, the course material was super relevant to my role and... Read More I could implement my learnings at work every day as a product owner. My instructor was super knowledgeable and provided such relevant industry knowledge and expertise. I'd recommend Brainstation for anyone looking to upskill their tech skills or trying to kickstart their career in tech.

Enrolled in the course to learn some new things and to become a better marketer. I’ve taken a few other courses at BrainStation so I was already very familiar with the structure and quality of the curriculum. This course was a fantastic dive into the... Read More world of data analytics. Aside from the theoretical concepts of data analytics, I was able to gain hands-on experience using tools such as advanced Excel, SQL, and Tableau. Very quickly, I applied the skills I learned in class to real-life challenges at my job.

I took the “Online Live” version of the course, so there was a bit of adjustment in the beginning. A few things you might want to consider when choosing online live over in-class:

Pros:
— You can attend class from anywhere. Although the instructor is based in Vancouver, we had individuals who checked in from other cities and time zones.
— The format of the online live version is just like the in-class version. No worries about feeling like you’re missing out on the BrainStation experience.
— Things were easier to see because it was happening right on your computer screen instead of squinting at a monitor at the front of a classroom.

Cons:
— You miss out on some of the spontaneity and organic conversation that occurs in a real-life classroom. People in the class seemed to be apprehensive about chiming in because it’s a video conference.
— Since data analytics is a very hands-on type of class as opposed to something like digital marketing which involves a lot more explanation of concepts, you miss out on some of the benefits of having an instructor physically present. For example, many students ran into some tech issues when using SQL or Tableau, but they couldn’t easily show their screen to the instructor.

Overall, the instructor dealt with these issues to the best of his abilities. Despite these small hiccups, I definitely recommend this BrainStation course and Online Live!

I am still processing and learning after having completed a 1-week accelerated in-person Product Management course at BrainStation. I am so glad I took it as it was enriching and worth it in ways I didn’t even expect! I mean, who knew I would become so... Read More interested in Marketing as a result of taking this course.

I had had some exposure to Product Management concepts and aspects of it in my work already, but it really made a difference to my confidence and knowledge depth to take the course with other professionals, and taught by an instructor with a long trajectory in both larger well-known tech companies as well as startups. While some of the course was lecture-style, much of it was interactive and hands-on with teamwork and role playing with classmates from a variety of roles in small and large organizations (including product managers). I appreciated and learned from these immersive parts the most, as I got to apply the concepts with other team members by building an MVP (minimum viable product) pitch deck for a real-life problem. We even had to present the pitch at two different stages – and got really useful feedback!

I had some surprise learnings – I gained a deeper understanding and newfound appreciation of marketing, which including an introduction to product marketing. I liked digging deeper into how market research is carried out, why it’s so vital, to understanding a problem space and people's needs, and how it can differ from or overlap with user research.

As someone with a rich and diverse professional background, what I most appreciated was BOTH gaining new super-relevant skills AND seeing my existing critical thinking and design thinking abilities from a different perspective. I now better understand how I can leverage and build on these to ask the right kind of questions of users, colleagues and leaders, define problem spaces, make better and faster decisions, and work to build human-centered solutions that improve people’s lives. I loved having other classmates that work in different parts of tech, from a variety of different functions and disciplines. It made the discussions and teamwork even richer, and more applicable to different scenarios that come up in a product management role, or other role where this highly cross-functional skillset is essential! I would recommend this course to both seasoned professionals looking to pivot or enhance their careers or those in earlier stages of their careers.

I recently took the online live Product management course. Quality of learning material was great, hands-on activities, and the instructor/staff was helpful and attentive. The experience of attending an online, live lecture was a new experience for me... Read More and after a few classes, I found it to be very engaging, informative and convenient.

I completed the 10 week User Interface course in December 2019. I really liked the flexibility of the online learning environment, although there can certainly be pros and cons to this format. I think you get out of what you put into online learning.... Read More One thing that impressed me is that if I had a question, communicating on Slack was super easy with my cohort and also instructors and the broader school community. So that was great to help fill in blanks if waiting for more feedback or help from one particular person... In general I found that the course was a good foundation for theory, and hands on learning helped to build on that base. The course material was fast paced so you really needed to be on top of your learning game and attend all sessions if possible. The instructors provided good real life examples and pro tips for developing as a designer, and some career coaching. I want to say that the expectation should be not to run out and immediately get a job in UX/UI after, but this is a great kickstart on a learning journey in working in the User Experience Design field. I'd like the pace for theory slowed down a bit, and access to the course material via a down loadable format which currently ins't available. You have access to the material for 6 months but I feel this is a bit of a gap. Overall for me it was a positive learning experience and suitable for some one looking for introduction to design principles and tools, or interest in cross training to a new function in the field.

I have completed three BrainStation courses: Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, and Product Management. All have helped me secure a position with one of Canada's largest ad agencies working on their Performance Digital Marketing team. All of the skills... Read More I gained allow me to grow in my new position. For those looking to accelerate their careers or pivot into something new, BrainStation is a great option.

Served as a good introduction to different ways to analyze + present data
Due to varied skill sets within the class group, certain parts were more useful for our specific needs (ie: already very comfortable with excel + presenting data/building decks,... Read More wanted to learn more tangible SQL skills).
Would be great for someone who was looking for an entry level understanding of data analytics across all tools/platforms
Teacher was not extremely effective in my opinion. Was impatient with people's questions and spent a lot of time on 'role playing' and hypothetical thinking vs. teaching. A lot of time was also spent on working individually vs. learning by doing which I would have preferred as a better use of class time.
Some issues with tools/programs as well which made it difficult to participate.

I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to pursue product management or is just looking to refine their skills in business strategy and thinking. The flow of the course was well structured, and there were a lot of real-world examples to compare... Read More the frameworks to. I specifically found the in-class project a very useful way to apply the frameworks in a practical way.

In addition to learning all the tools and steps to bring a product (physical, or tech) to market, a lot of these tools are also applicable to strategic thinking to all types of business. The tools and insights gave me a fresh perspective on our customer profiles, our strategic offering, the SWOT and risk analysis of the future of our business and more. It was also really valuable to see how other people used these tools to apply to their product, and to learn from both our instructor and the people in the class.

The instructors were very experienced, had a clear course syllabus with an intuitive flow, and the custom platform BrainStation has implemented made it easy to follow along with the lecture material, find extra supportive materials, and to submit projects.

I would recommend this course to anyone- as there is something applicable for all.

I have been hearing a ton about AI in the media and felt it was important to understand it at a deeper level. Having never written a line of code, I knew it would be a challenge for me but felt with the right instructor I could learn. After searching... Read More through many different schools in Toronto I finally chose Brainstation. I did the once a week Saturday full day courses and the instructor (Casey) was amazing. The course covered a very wide variety of topics including Neural networks, Gradient Descent, NLP and Random Forest Models. I appreciate the depth of the course and the hands on nature of it. What was amazing is Casey's insights into how Machine Learning works in a corporate setting and laying out very practical applications for it as well as career strategies. The learning systems Brainstation use (Synapse) are very comprehensive and taff would respond to queries ASAP. By the end of the course I was able to make a machine learning/ Artificial Neural Network model to predict California real estate prices. It was definitely challenging but taking this course was the best decision I made. Highly highly recommend taking the leap, even if you are a NEWBIE like me:)