Lessons from training teams to use React Native
Article Summary
Coinbase trained 27 engineers on React Native in 3 days during COVID lockdowns. Here's what they learned about scaling technical education.
Harry Tormey from Coinbase shares how they built a custom React Native training program from scratch, pivoting to remote delivery when the pandemic hit. The program scored 4.5/5 and is now recurring.
Key Takeaways
- Surveyed engineers first: 27 responded from diverse backgrounds (web, native, etc.)
- Segmented curriculum into beginner/intermediate/advanced based on pre-class surveys
- Interactive breakout sessions with TAs beat passive lectures hands down
- Real-time Slack feedback let them adjust session length mid-training
- Retrospective revealed: stretch to 5 half-days instead of 3 full days
Custom curriculum with interactive workshops and real-time feedback loops achieved 4.5/5 rating and became a recurring program.
About This Article
Coinbase had over 1,000 employees with different technical backgrounds, from web to native mobile development. Getting them up to speed on React Native projects was hard without a structured training program.
Harry Tormey's team worked with instructor Devin Abbott to create a three-day curriculum. They built it with different difficulty levels, interactive breakout sessions run by teaching assistants, and a Slack channel where instructors could get real-time feedback and adjust the course on the fly.
The program got a 4.5 out of 5 rating from instructors. It's now a regular offering at Coinbase. Based on feedback, they changed it from three full days to five half-days to help people avoid remote learning burnout.