Certificate courses feature a mix of online and in-person elements. In-person sessions will be hosted at the UM Detroit Center located on Woodward. Online elements are provided through Michigan Online and Coursera. Learners will have access to wrap-around services such as career counseling, peer mentorship, and free laptop loans for those who need one. Successful completion of these courses will earn you a non-credit certificate from the City of Detroit and the University of Michigan. All programs are free but learners must commit to attending the in-person sessions to be eligible for the certificate.
Winter Course Offerings
inter course registration will open the week of December 15th. Get notified of when courses are available by signing up for our notification list.
Python I: Getting Started with Python
Time: 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m, 7-week Course
Location: U-M Detroit Center, 3663 Woodward Ave #150, Detroit, MI 48201
Starts January 17
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Instructor: Dr. Chuck Severance, Clinical Professor, School of Information
Course Facilitator: Tamara Qawasmeh
This course aims to teach everyone the basics of programming computers using Python. We cover the basics of how one constructs a program from a series of simple instructions in Python. The course has no pre-requisites and avoids all but the simplest mathematics. Anyone with moderate computer experience should be able to master the materials in this course. This course will cover Chapters 1-5 of the textbook “Python for Everybody”. Once a student completes this course, they will be ready to take more advanced programming courses. This course covers Python 3.
Python III: Using Python to Access Web Data
Time: 11:30 a.m – 1:00 p.m., 7 week Course
Location: U-M Detroit Center, 3663 Woodward Ave #150, Detroit, MI 48201
Starts: January 17
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Instructor: Dr. Chuck Severance, Clinical Professor, School of Information
Course Facilitator: Tamara Qawasmeh
This course will show how one can treat the Internet as a source of data. We will scrape, parse, and read web data as well as access data using web APIs. We will work with HTML, XML, and JSON data formats in Python. This course will cover Chapters 11-13 of the textbook “Python for Everybody”. To succeed in this course, you should be familiar with the material covered in Chapters 1-10 of the textbook and the first two courses in this specialization. These topics include variables and expressions, conditional execution (loops, branching, and try/except), functions, Python data structures (strings, lists, dictionaries, and tuples), and manipulating files. This course covers Python 3.
*Prerequisite: Take this course only if you have completed at least Using Python to Access Web Data or have gained equivalent programming knowledge.
Python V Capstone: Retrieving, Processing, and Visualizing Data with Python
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 7 week course
Location: U-M Detroit Center, 3663 Woodward Ave #150, Detroit, MI 48201
Starts January 17
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Instructor: Dr. Chuck Severance, Clinical Professor, School of Information
Course Facilitator: Tamara Qawasmeh
In the capstone, students will build a series of applications to retrieve, process and visualize data using Python. The projects will involve all the elements of the specialization. In the first part of the capstone, students will do some visualizations to become familiar with the technologies in use and then will pursue their own project to visualize some other data that they have or can find. Chapters 15 and 16 from the book “Python for Everybody” will serve as the backbone for the capstone. This course covers Python 3.
*Prerequisite: Take this course only if you have completed at least Using Databases with Python or have gained equivalent programming knowledge.
Apple Code + Create Professional Learning
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 8 week course
Location: UM Detroit Center, 3663 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Starts January 17
Apple Code + Create Professional Learning offers a hands-on introduction to Apple’s “Everyone Can Create” and “Everyone Can Code” curricula through Saturdays in the D. Designed for both classroom teachers and informal educators, the program builds comfort with Apple software, provides ready-to-use strategies for fostering youth creativity and digital literacy. Those who complete the training will have the option to apply for paid facilitation opportunities, making this a practical and energizing way to expand your toolkit and your impact.
Up to 16 SCECHs are available for all formal educators, based on the number of sessions/hours that you attend.