Bootcamps also teach you how to learn

Recently ComputerWorld in NZ published 2 articles ("Bootcamp approach won't create IT professionals" & "http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/developer-bootcamps-good-or-bad") comparing a 3 year university degree versus a 3 month bootcamp. They asked the question would a bootcamp work in New Zealand?

One of the commentator's opinions is that in university you learn how to learn, but in bootcamps you simply get technical training and that's it. I beg to differ.

I decided to explain in the comment section just how bootcamps teach you how to learn as well:

The best developers I find are the ones that are self-taught. It doesn't matter whether they are university trained or bootcamp trained or both. In the end everybody has to commit to life long learning, especially in the development world when technology changes so fast and your current skills become outdated in 5 years or so.

Therefore my bootcamp endeavours to teach how to learn. The students of Polycademy "learn how to learn" as well. While we may focus on a particular technology stack, that stack is simply used in order to illustrate or demonstrate a concept. Yes the students of a bootcamp hit the ground running. But they hit the ground with the understanding that there is so much more to learn, we don't teach them everything in 3 months. It's impossible. I doubt a university teaches them everything in 3 years either. However the 3 months gives them confidence, an overview, and skills to take themselves forward in their career, startup or whatever life goals they want to pursue.

I think the comparison between a 3 month bootcamp and a 3 year uni degree is somewhat unfair and apples vs oranges. In a 3 year uni degree, you do not spend 24/7 studying. A lot of that time is spent partying, working, procrastinating, daily life stuff and finally a bit of studying. In our 3 months, there's a reason why it's called a bootcamp. It's intensive. In that 3 months time, I've calculated myself that it was worth (in terms of just contact hours) more than 4 uni 6unit courses (Australian terminology). We don't have the advantages of time that university has. We have barely the kind of funding a university has. We only have 3 months, so we focus on what we do best. Teaching and learning and collaborating. I'm sure if our students spent 3 years with us, they would learn more if not comparably with a university. Think about in this way. After those 3 months, they can pursue other paths, perhaps more learning, perhaps on the job learning. But we have definitely condensed their learning time and made them a lot more productive and confident versus spending 3 months at university.