Skills Development

Classes

Our skills development program provides comprehensive training in various vocational areas, designed to equip participants with practical and in-demand skills. We offer these programs during weekdays as part of our vocational skills curriculum, as well as an extensive array of weekend vocational skills programs to accommodate diverse schedules and learning preferences.

Our full-term weekend classes run from September to May, while our short-term classes are available from September to December and February to May. Enrollment for fall weekend programs takes place from June to August. Students registering after August are placed on a waiting list and enrolled based on spot availability.

A unique feature of our weekend programs is the one-on-one buddy system. In this system, each student is paired with a peer buddy volunteer who assists them with classwork and homework. This partnership is maintained throughout the entire course, fostering friendship and trust, and creating a positive and supportive classroom experience.

For detailed information on class timings for the Fall Session, please click on the Fall 2024-25 Weekend Classes Schedule.

 

 

FAQ

Inclusive World’s skills development classes are held during the school/college academic year starting in September through the year until May. Some classes are offered for a shorter duration of 12-14 weeks and some are for a longer duration of 24-26 weeks. Most of our classes are held on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). See our calendar for more details.

Each skill class session is typically for 1 hour and 15 mins. Other than the class session, one will need to make time for another 45 minutes of homework session during the week.

Inclusive World offers some skills development classes in-person at the Inclusive World Center, at Milpitas, California, and some online.

Below is the fee structure for our Skill Development Program and Small Business@IW – Products & Services Programs:

  • A non-refundable annual registration fee of $50 will be applied.
  • The fee for a single program enrollment is $150 per program, while the Annual Membership fee is $300, providing access to all available programs.
  • If you are interested in enrolling in multiple programs, we suggest choosing the Annual Membership Fee, which grants you access to all available programs.

Inclusive World’s program model is rooted in “Person-centered” practices. When members enroll into a skill class at Inclusive World, we pair each member with a peer group volunteer to support the learning process in class. Mapping is based on the profile information we collect from members and volunteers and the “person-centered” tools we use.

Yes, you can register for more than one skill class based on your availability and the schedule we have to offer.

You can reach us at info@inclusiveworld.org if you have any other specific question.

Excel Basic (Sep – May)

Pre-requisite: None

Duration: 26 weeks

In the course of 26 weeks, students explore Excel spreadsheet concepts, navigate through rows and columns using keyboard shortcuts and tricks. Students learn formulas and functions to perform calculations , features to make data presentable in a large worksheet, create dropdown lists, sort and filter data to understand and analyze datasets, summarize large data in visual form using charts and chart elements. All lessons are project-based providing students with an opportunity to explore further.

“The Instructors Janaki and Sangeetha are amazing and it’s almost like family. They were actively engaged and made the sessions very interesting. Special shoutout for going virtual too .. Thank you so much.” – Parent

Excel Intermediate (Sep – May)

Pre-requisite: MS Excel Basic

Duration: 26 weeks

Intermediate Excel is part of the continuous education plan. This class requires completion of Excel Basics. In this class, we build on the skills learnt in basic class and then expand it to add further to teach skills like Conditional Formatting, Pivot, Vlookup, Data Sort and Filter, Sumif/ Countif/ concatenate and creating charts. The focus in Excel intermediate is not only to learn techniques, but to understand what techniques to use based on the data and the questions asked about the data.

“The Instructors Janaki and Sangeetha are amazing and it’s almost like family. They were actively engaged and made the sessions very interesting. Special shoutout for going virtual too .. Thank you so much.” – Parent

Scratch Programming and Robotics (Sep – April)

Prerequisite: None 

Duration: 22-24 weeks

The 22 weeks Scratch Programming class is geared for neurodiverse students with little or no exposure to computer programming. The goal of this class is to introduce programming concepts and develop interest in programming. Scratch programming language, developed by MIT, is a visual, interactive, block based language with very little need for typing. The curriculum is roughly broken down into two sections. The first 12 weeks are focused on learning basic programming concepts such as loops, conditionals and variables. The second half of the session is focused on programming Robots.  The class will work on programs to control robots so they can move, turn, change lights and make sounds. The final project covers Robots moving around objects using the sensors and identifying obstruction. At the end of the session, students will be ready to learn the next level of Robotics.

“The program not only focuses on learning but also on friendly interaction with students. Students are made to feel important.” – Parent

Software Testing Level 1 (Sep – May)

Prerequisite: None

Duration:  24 Weeks

The Software Testing level 1 is an introductory course to software quality assurance. Students will learn about software development life cycle, importance of software quality assurance, test plan, test cases and how to execute test cases as well. They will also develop analytical thinking skills as they learn how to classify different kinds of bugs. While working with a cognitive development games application- a real time product, students will not only play a crucial role in the functional testing of the product but also witness the importance of software quality assurance. 

This class requires no prior experience to testing other than computer literacy as students will need to read test plans, report bugs, and work with software products.

“Enjoyed working together with my partner in observing, reporting on behavior of Kidzilla games through developing testcases, finding issues and passing suggestions for enhancements. Also appreciate how the Mentors gave me time to reply in chat box and how they responded to me.” – Student

Software Testing Level 2 (Sep – May)

Prerequisite: Software Testing Level 1 

Duration: 24 Weeks

Software Testing Level 2 is part of our continuous curriculum plan. Building on the introductory concepts in the level 1 class, Software Testing Level 2 will have students writing their own test plan documentation and test cases. Furthermore, this multi-part course will also cover test automation, exposure to bug tracking tools, and shell scripting. Students will have an engaging experience as they will work with a real time product in a hands-on manner. We aim for students to be proficient in the industry testing standards by the end of this course.

“It helped me learn about credit unions and get a better understanding of test cases and testing software like how a user of the credit union website would.” – Student

Conversation Skills Program

Prerequisite: None

Duration: 24 weeks

Students enrolled in 24 weeks Conversation Skills program engage in practicing scripts that help them converse with people outside their comfort zone. The scripts generally are based on day to day conversation like reserving a table in restaurants, explaining their hobbies, interest in books, etc., to their acquaintances. Once the students are comfortable with the given script, they are expected to converse with the volunteers explaining their own choice of hobbies, books, any given topic for that matter. Students are paired with different volunteers on a rotational basis enabling them to converse with new people in the real world scenario.

Python Programming

Prerequisite: Scratch Programming or any other programming language

Duration: 12 weeks

Python beginner level class is designed for students who have completed Scratch Programming class or have some experience with programming. Having some knowledge of basic Mathematics is preferable. The Python class uses a visual editor to make programming fun and engaging. The class covers introductory programming concepts such as keywords, datatypes and variables, arithmetic operators, conditionals and loops. The final project will encompass all the concepts learnt. Upon completion of this class, students have the opportunity to repeat the class to get a solid foundation or move onto learning the next level of Python programming.

Website Development

Prerequisite: None

Duration: 22 weeks

Website Development class introduces the concept “Website” to the students and the  process of developing a personal website using the popular website builder – Weebly. The curriculum includes building a personal website , creating new pages, blog, contact forms, maps and other features to make a robust website. Additionally, the class will dive into how to create a blog and how to create contact forms and maps.

Mobile App Development (NEW)

Prerequisite: None

Duration: 20 weeks

Our Mobile App Development class is specifically tailored for neurodiverse beginners who are excited to explore the world of coding. Students will use Thunkable, a user-friendly, visual programming platform for mobile (Android and iOS), to create their own mobile apps. This class is designed to build a strong foundation in app development, making coding accessible and fun.