Collaborating Table for Coding Co-op

A response to the The Collaborative Dining Table Activity
created by Simon Moll (@smoll)

Number of views: 158

Working with an edtech startup and highschool co-ops who were giving a bootcamp to learn an Apple coding language (Swift) on new macbooks, was a powerful experience. However the temporary/pilot nature of the project resulted in a limited administrative frame which resulted in challenges for the workers and participants who were very invested in medium/long term collaboration. The startup design of the delivery team was lean and this resulted in the conditions where limited offline contact enabled a lack of accountability from project admin. One key takeaway from this experience is to be cautious with lean digital internships which can result in exploitative early career experiences for workers and interns where a lack of administrative accountability is normalized and ‘hype’ about substance evaporates. Participants and delivery staff were extremely interested in the symbolic value of doing a project adjacent to the Apple brand, and learn to use Apple tools, however follow through planning for a container of their ongoing momentum was limited by the management method of a pilot project and the ephemeral nature of a fully online experience.