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Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) Online will now be offering short courses in artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), thanks to a new partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Announced at the AWS Public Sector Summit in Canberra on Wednesday, the AR/VR courses will be using Amazon Sumerian, a service that allows developers to quickly create AR, VR, and 3D apps suitable for use online, as well as mobile devices, head-mounted displays, and digital signage.
RMIT’s newly launched courses — Developing AI Strategy, Developing AR and VR Strategy, and Developing AR and VR Applications — are adapted from the AWS Educate global program and are designed to address tech-driven changes in the workplace, AWS added.
“They are intended to provide embedded pathways for professionals to gain AWS Cloud computing skills and prepare them to gain micro-credentials and AWS certifications,” the cloud giant continued.
According to RMIT Online CEO Helen Souness, the short course offerings are expected to help address the skills gaps in the AI and AR/VR fields.
“What we see in all of our industry conversations … everyone is saying the thing that will hold us back is a skills shortage,” she told the public sector-focused audience.
“My team’s mission is to build a community of lifelong learners, successfully navigating the world of work … yes, sometimes your degree is the right solution education wise for a person, but throughout our lives, certainly I know in my digital career, constantly we need to be updating our skills and understand the new, emerging technology and talk with experts.”
Souness said RMIT is very conscious that AR and VR use is on its way to mass adoption.
“We’re already there and people need to get their heads around it,” she said. “We know there will need to be more people that know how to actually build these apps.