Going back to school and learning something new is a great way to kick off a brand-new year. As we look ahead to 2024, UW Professional & Continuing Education (UWPCE) is excited to offer six new programs launching this winter.
Five of the six are specializations — a new type of program that allows you to level up your professional skills in a shorter period of time. These newly developed programs are typically held online and last three to six months.
Read on to discover a program that’s just right for a new you in 2024!
Documentary Storytelling
- Type: Specialization
- Starts: January 2024
- Duration: 11 Weeks
- Where: Online
Documentary filmmaking is a dynamic field that is increasingly popular with independent filmmakers, as well as with professionals in industries such as public relations and advertising. Today’s vast array of online streaming platforms and content providers has made it increasingly easier for filmmakers to get their work in front of viewers.
But before you start shooting footage, you need to understand and shape the story. What are the keys to putting together a compelling documentary? That’s what you’ll learn in the new UW Specialization in Documentary Storytelling, taught by award-winning documentary filmmakers and producers Maria Garguilo and James Forsher.
“This specialization allows us to really focus on the documentary genre, including researching and drafting an effective film proposal, writing a solid script, and interviewing your subjects,” says Miriam Doyle, the program management director for the specialization. “Plus, we’re going to dive deep into editing techniques — how do you put the pieces together to create the best visual story?”
The 11-week program features a three-hour class once a week (on a weeknight), plus five more interactive sessions on select Saturday mornings.
“The Saturday sessions will be more feedback-oriented, like workshops,” Doyle says. “They’ll be more like show and tell — engaging and free-flowing, where students can pitch ideas and try things out.”
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Digital Badging & Microcredentials
- Type: Specialization
- Starts: January 2024
- Duration: 11 Weeks
- Where: Online
The world of education is changing, and so are the ways that schools and organizations recognize academic achievement. One of the most innovative developments in this area is the digital badge, which allows students to showcase specific educational or training-related achievements on platforms like LinkedIn.
Designed for professionals working in education, human resources, and training and development, the new UW Specialization in Digital Badging & Microcredentials prepares you to create and implement a microcredential program at your institution or organization. The specialization covers not only how to create a digital badging program, but also how to map the badges to specific curriculum and skills assessments.
“There’s a definite trend in education in which professionals are looking for shorter programs — like certificates, specializations or boot camps — to help advance their careers,” notes Bryan Blakeley, the assistant vice provost for partnerships and online learning at UW Continuum College and one of the developers of the program. “There’s a growing recognition that you don’t always need to earn a degree to boost your skills, and the rise of microcredentials and digital badges are part of that trend.”
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IoT Embedded Systems Design
- Type: Specialization
- Starts: January 2024
- Duration: 11 Weeks
- Where: Online
From smart homes to modern cars to wearable devices, embedded technology — aka “the Internet of Things” (IoT) — is a big part of our world. This trend fueled the development of our UW Specialization in IoT Embedded Systems Design, a program perfect for engineers with software development experience, technical product managers, and even tech hobbyists who want to build IoT hardware.
“This specialization is a great fit for students who have a background in embedded engineering but don’t quite have the background in networking or building cloud services,” says Mikhail Skobov, an instructor for the specialization.
The program allows you to acquire real hands-on experience with the technology. You’ll design and deploy your own IoT application on an edge device during the 11-week specialization.
“The biggest focus of this course is teaching students how to build products from scratch,” Skobov says. “We cover all the bits and pieces involved in taking a product from nothing to production.”
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Law Office Fundamentals
- Type: Course
- Starts: January 2024
- Duration: 10 Weeks
- Where: Online
Are you interested in exploring a career in the legal profession, but unsure if you want to go to law school? Anyone with a high-school diploma and at least a year of any kind of work experience is eligible for our course in Law Office Fundamentals, which offers an excellent opportunity to get exposed to the field.
In this course, experienced legal professionals will guide you in how to analyze and prepare legal documents. You’ll also learn to support attorneys and legal departments in many common aspects of civil and criminal law, such as consultations, negotiations, mediation, litigation, arbitration and more.
“Employers are looking to fill a range of entry-level legal roles, and they want to hire people who understand how a law office works,” says Shelly Langley, owner of Langley Legal Recruiting in Seattle and an advisory board member for the UW Certificate in Paralegal Studies. "Learning the basics in this UW course could help you get your foot in the door and start a legal career with great growth potential."
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People Management
- Type: Specialization
- Starts: February 2024
- Duration: 4 months
- Where: Online, Downtown Seattle (Blended)
Many successful professionals eventually find themselves thrust into a leadership role, even though they have no training or background in being a manager. That’s why UWPCE created the UW Specialization in People Management.
“This program is for professionals whose primary responsibility is not people management,” says Piyu Roy, program management director at UWPCE. “These individuals may or may not have training in people management, but their success, and that of their team, now depends on being able to think of themselves as a unit and report results as a team.”
In this specialization, you’ll learn best practices for day-to-day people management and strategies for maximizing a team’s productivity and visibility. You’ll also get valuable insights and coaching from industry leaders and veteran managers.
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Machine Learning Product Management
- Type: Specialization
- Starts: February 2024
- Duration: 4 months
- Where: Online
As the enormous popularity of generative AI tools like ChatGPT has shown, products that incorporate artificial intelligence are the next big frontier in technology. This means that effective product managers in this space require specialized knowledge of the field. Enter the UW Specialization in Machine Learning Product Management.
“Product management in machine learning is very different from normal product management,” says Roy, who also led the launch of this specialization. “It's a different way of looking at your product. The stack looks very different. The way you build your team looks very different.”
In this four-month program, you’ll learn to evaluate, design and implement machine learning (ML) applications from scratch, as well as within existing products. You’ll also learn best practices for machine learning implementation and create a product launch plan for an original ML project.
Roy notes that now is a great time for tech professionals to upskill for the AI revolution that, in many ways, is already here.
“The curriculum balances the skills required for both traditional machine learning product management and generative AI product management, which allows students to become versatile practitioners,” she says.
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Explore Programs
Check out all our certificates, specializations and courses that start this winter and find a program that is perfect for you.