Grow with Google: How to Get Started

Earlier this fall, we announced a new training program that will provide educational opportunities for thousands of Arkansans. The program is called Grow with Google, and it represents the growing partnership between Google and the State of Arkansas.

State officials from the Office of Governor Sanders, the Arkansas Department of Commerce, the Arkansas Department of Education, and others collaborated on the program launch. The program is managed by a small team at the Department of Commerce that reviews and processes applications daily.

Anyone who is an Arkansas resident and is at least 18 years old can apply to participate in the program at no cost, thanks to the scholarships provided by Google through this partnership. Users would normally be charged $49 per month for basic access to this content.

The only eligibility requirements are that applicants must be Arkansas residents and should be at least 18 years old. While access to a computer and high-speed internet will make participation much easier, some of the content will operate on mobile devices.

The content available through this program is entirely self-paced and covers a wide range of topics. After successfully completing a course, participants earn certificates that can be shared online and in a resumé. Applicants can find more details about the course offerings on this page: https://commerce.arkansas.gov/arkansas-grow-with-google/

The  are single, stand-alone courses that should take around hours of work to complete. The curriculum for these courses - AI Essentials, Prompting Essentials, and Agile Essentials – includes short videos, quizzes, and assessments. The content is intended for people that have little or no previous experience with the topic.

The program also offers nine different Google Career Certificates which are intended to give learners the skills they need to apply for jobs in high-demand technology fields, like cybersecurity, data analytics, and user experience design. The Career Certificate curriculum is more technical and comprehensive, with multiple courses making up each track. This content includes videos, quizzes, assessments, assignments, and capstone projects. Completion of these will earn participants an industry-recognized professional certificate. 

More than 1,400 people from 157 Arkansas communities have applied to participate since the announcement. Of those, more than 700 people have joined the program in Coursera and nearly 500 have enrolled in a specific course. About 60% of applicants indicated that they are currently employed full-time, while about 20% said they are unemployed. The highest educational attainment of applicants varies, with about 25% having earned a bachelor’s degree (figure below).                                           

Arkansas residents who want to participate should follow the steps outlined below. We ask for patience in this process – reviewing applications for eligibility and generating Coursera invitations is done manually by a small team. It may take a few days to complete enrollment after submitting the application form. Applicants can send questions about this program to: <[email protected]>

1. Submit an application form to request access to the program: https://formstack.io/68EC7

 Applications are reviewed daily, Monday – Friday, by a small team within Commerce. Application data is stored by the State and is not shared with Google. The only information shared with Coursera is individual names and email addresses.

2. If approved, applicants will receive an automated email from Coursera with an invitation link to join the platform. Participants must use the email address that was shared in the application form to create a Coursera account.
   

3.  After creating an account, look for the option to join the Grow with Google learning program. You should not provide any payment information to Coursera to join the program.
   Note: Coursera hosts much more content than is covered by the State’s partnership- not everything is included. The courses outlined on our program webpage are the only ones offered at no cost. If you are prompted to enter payment information, you may be looking at content that is not covered.
   

4. After joining the program, users can review and select a specific course or certificate track to enroll in. Course materials will be available after enrolling in a course.
   

Google offers a similar program for colleges and universities called the Accelerator. In the most recent application window that closed on October 6, multiple Arkansas colleges and universities applied to participate. The Higher Ed Accelerator will provide access to the same Coursera content for students and faculty at participating campuses, with some additional benefits. We plan to update the Commerce Grow with Google webpage with links to higher education partnerships as they are announced.