Real-World Experts Make Real Learning Impact
Behind the success of Georgia Tech FlexStack are the program’s instructors, whose personal experiences help them meet learners where they are
In the year-and-a-half since the launch of the Georgia Tech FlexStack program, it continues to empower professionals to advance their skills and careers. This intensive certificate program offers a modular, guided approach to education that allows learners to build credentials one course at a time.
The program initially offered certificates focused on training in high-demand fields like Python, Structured Query Language (SQL), and data visualization, and most recently the Python AI Fundamentals Certificate has been added to the program's roster.
Behind the success of this innovative learning modality are the program’s instructors — professionals who know what it means to grow, change, and keep learning throughout various stages of one’s career because they have all personally done just that. Their backgrounds shape how they teach and inspire learners across different industries and times in their lives.
Teaching from Experience
For Peter Graening, FlexStack academic program director and lecturer, teaching isn’t just about transferring knowledge, it’s also about helping people overcome apprehension — something he has experienced firsthand.
"While I was always good with computers, I was never great at math, and I felt that something more complicated like programming was too advanced for me since I believed computer science required intimidating math,” he says. “My business school’s information systems program required taking a single programming course, and if I wanted to graduate, I'd need to overcome my apprehension. Compared with what I work with today, it was a very primitive course. But that positive and enjoyable experience with something new was one of the best ways to form an intrinsic motivation to learn and motivates you to push further, to where I am now.”
Adrian Gallard, a digital learning data analyst with the College of Lifetime Learning, has also led some classes, and he notes how his personal experiences shape his work in the classroom.
“Firstly, I think about my current role as a data analyst and all the small habits that build up to a competent workflow and try to ensure that students are headed in the right direction,” he shares. “Secondly, when I worked as a tutor some years ago, I learned to understand that students sometimes need a ‘different angle’ to view the material from to finally grasp the content. I try my best to showcase the material through a few different examples to ingrain the content more thoroughly for the students.”
For lecturer Theodore J. “TJ” LaGrow, the most recent addition to the FlexStack instructional team, a longstanding passion for teaching has followed him while he worked in different areas, including Alzheimer’s research and establishing a business that offered diabetic retinopathy screenings via iPhones in order to connect primary caregivers in rural areas to specialists.
Even while pursuing entrepreneurial goals, he maintained a love of sharing knowledge with others, and previously taught several computer science classes at Georgia Tech before joining Graening and Gallard on the FlexStack team.
“With my education, pedagogy, and practical experience with the business that I developed — it really complements the ideas and goals that we have with FlexStack,” he says. “I am so excited and privileged to be a part this, especially as we continue to grow and refine this program.”
Taking Advantage of Opportunities
Each instructor brings personal lessons into their style of teaching. For Graening, an unexpected opportunity in the workplace helped him find his pathway.
"My team needed someone to take over a corporate reporting website after the original developer retired,” he says. “I was the only person with some programming experience, so I had to learn to work with something very unfamiliar, and rapidly. Drinking from the firehose sounds like a cliche, but that's definitely what it felt like!”
That experience taught him the importance of communication and preparation — lessons he now shares with his students.
“I always tell learners to write every line of code as if an absolute stranger will need to read it one day,” he explains. “Documentation and context are as important as the code itself — especially in a collaborative environment, and especially if you have artificial intelligence looking at your code. That extra context can be the difference between a great AI-proposed solution, or one that you have to manually rework.”
Ensuring that FlexStack learners are able to take advantage of the unexpected opportunities the classes afford them is also key — and it comes from letting each person know that they have the ability to be successful as they build their credential.
“If I can empower students to see themselves in the larger picture — to use these skills to make their own lives better — I will have done my job,” Gallard says.
Meeting Learners Where They Are
Being successful also means adapting — and that goes for learners as well as instructors. Graening has come to understand the value of this lesson as he leads the program.
"A universal lesson I learned was to better communicate the level of effort I put into something,” he says. “Sometimes, you need to demonstrate a process to someone else for them to realize how time-intensive it is. One of my TAs explained it best: ‘If you had told us you were running this task every day, we would’ve helped you with it a long time ago.’”
The instructors take this attitude of constantly learning and adapting into the classroom, where they tailor their approach to meet learners’ needs and are able to adjust in real time.
For LaGrow, FlexStack represents a new model for professional learning that can help break barriers to technical education.
“Many learners in finance, HR, or operations want to gain technical skills but don’t want to return to school for a four-year degree,” he says. “FlexStack allows us to meet learners where they are and provide access to high-quality, applicable instruction.”
This level of accessibility is key to helping adults as they build their skillsets, and Gallard acknowledges that many of the individuals enrolling in the courses come from various backgrounds.
“They come from all walks of life,” he notes, “and it’s amazing how capable and motivated they are to become experts in their own right.”
Through the instructors’ guidance, learners gain not just technical skills but the confidence to apply them in their work environments.
Delivering a Transformative Product
LaGrow describes FlexStack’s outcomes in three words: confidence, portability, and progress.
By the end of a course, we want students to have the confidence to apply their new skills, portable assets they can demonstrate to employers, and a next step forward in their career or education,” he says, comparing the program to building a house: “You need a foundation before you can build. FlexStack provides that foundation — the concrete, the flooring, the modeling — so learners can continue building their skills in ways that fit their goals.”
Gallard says he is particularly excited about how FlexStack can help change the future of how education offerings are delivered.
“It’s modular, guided, affordable, and effective,” he explains, “but most importantly, it’s personal — and that real-time human guidance is invaluable for student success.”
Through their collective experience and dedication, the FlexStack team is able to deliver high-quality, practical education that empowers individuals to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
“Technology evolves and so do people,” Graening says. “Our role as instructors is to make sure that students aren’t just keeping up with the rapidly changing world of technology, but have the proficiency and fluency to shape what comes next. FlexStack provides the fundamental building blocks to make that possible.”
Whether you’re considering changing roles within the workplace, upskilling at your current job, or exploring what’s next for you, FlexStack's courses meet you where you are. Register now for an upcoming info session and learn how these guided, stackable certificates can help you gain confidence, demonstrate your skills, and move forward on your own terms.
Instructor Insights: A Hell of an Imagineer
