Adrianna and Kyrie are applying what they learn from SkillsBuild courses, such as Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals, to competitions and everyday schoolwork. Their reflections demonstrate the value of not only earning micro-credentials, but also gaining skills that enable deeper learning, collaboration, and innovation both in and outside of the classroom.
Keep reading to hear from Adrianna and Kyrie how SkillsBuild has expanded their knowledge and prepared them for future careers in technology!
Recently, my class was assigned to complete and earn a credential in the Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals course on IBM SkillsBuild. We were given a whole month to complete it, which allowed us to learn at our own pace. The platform’s features let us tackle the material bit by bit at a rate that suited us and provided enough essential knowledge of the topic between breaks. No matter what course you choose, there are multiple mini modules in SkillsBuild that give you opportunities to check your understanding—quizzes, match boxes, tests, and more that you can redo as many times as needed until you feel confident in the selected subject.
During this time, we didn’t just earn a digital credential; we learned how to differentiate the types of AI and understand how to use them resourcefully. We gained a skill, and not just one to use only for a technical job in the workplace, but one we can apply in our everyday lives and help with our school work. And we don’t mean using it to complete our work for us, but rather as a guide, a stepping stone, a tool for research and reference, and sometimes even just to help us write or revise our grammar—like for this blog!
What we learned from SkillsBuild also helped us and our peers during a recent cybersecurity competition. Together with our teammates, we used the skills we gained to solve difficult questions and break down the step-by-step logs to locate certain items within the virtual machines we used. Even if we didn’t win, our approach helped us gain extra points and valuable experience thanks to the skills and resourcefulness built through SkillsBuild.
A friend in our class also earned her AI Fundamentals credential and hopes to enter digital forensics one day. What we learned through SkillsBuild could be a very important aspect of that career, helping her improve the quality and understanding of her work so she can solve problems more effectively.
IBM SkillsBuild does more than just teach, it helps to hone and build lifelong skills that can be used daily. We’re very thankful to have access to such a helpful platform as students because when we close the tab, we know we’re leaving with more skills and knowledge to help guide us through the rest of our high school career and beyond.
