Semi Rant About IT Classes/Majors...

As some know, I have been completing an IT/Software Engineering Bachelor's degree for the past year. I have a little less than a year left. They are accelerated 5 week courses, all online. Therefore there is a lot of self-taught material (all of it really).

I have been hanging onto a 4.0 since I started. I work hard, read the material, and do a fairly decent amount of outside research to complete my assignments. I strive to not only finish with high marks, but to understand the material and find useful applications for it. My most recent classes have required me to use and become semi proficient with programs I have never used before such as MS Access, Project, Visio, and SQL Server.

I am no genius, IMO. I understand Windows and Linux pretty well as evidenced from past threads and posts here (My friend calls me the Windows Whisperer). I consider myself an average knowledge IT guy that has had low level IT jobs in the past.

My latest class is a SQL For Business class and is a 400 level class (Senior B.S. class). It requires for the students to install and learn how to use SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer. I actually installed it in a VM on Windows Server 2008 R2 and then gave myself remote access because most of my work is not done at home. You can use a remote access virtual version, but it is slow and unstable. That is where the focus of my rant begins.

The biggest issue with this class so far is that few seem to be able to install it. I can understand the confusion a little, but:

• There are install guides on the net.
• There are install guides on the net.
• There are install guides on the net.
• Did I mention install guides on the net?

Some of them are even blow-by-blow screenshots. So I get that folks are not 3rd degree blackbelts in Google-Fu. So I post links for them. Comprehension is at an all time low. Folks were not understanding how to download it even (using ww.dreamspark.com, which uses an MS download manager). Once downloaded, they didn't know how to start the install (double-click setup.exe, anyone?). Some didn't know how to handle iso/img formats. This is a class on how to use the server software, not install it!

I just don't understand how you can go through an IT degree program this far like this and be this computer illiterate. I am not looking down on folks, but if there is ever a group of people who should be an expert on computer usage, this is it. A friend of mine thinks I am overqualified for the class, despite me never seeing SQL Server before (I find it easy, if not a little fun though).


tl;dr version:

How are so many IT degree majors so computer illiterate, even in their final year of class?

For those working in the field:

Do these people actually exist in the workplace?

 

Re: Semi Rant About IT Classes...

One question i like to ask how much info did you all ready know be for you took these classes.

You probably new more stuff be for you went in.

And less when you come out lol.:-D

Alot of times you really know more then the teacher does witch its funny but true.:-D

 

Re: Semi Rant About IT Classes...

Hopefully I didn't come off too rude or condescending with this. I have been out of touch with civilized forums for quite some time.

 

Re: Semi Rant About IT Classes...

There is that, but really before I went in, I was a mad keyboard masher who had one C class and one VBA for Excel class under his belt. I am not really taking my OS troubleshooting/fixing skills or Linux and Android knowledge into consideration.

I am of the mindset that when something doesn't work as expected, you read the user manual/help system/Google the sucker for info. That is how I have learned most things. Maybe I am assuming too much that this is a common way of thinking.

 

Re: Semi Rant About IT Classes...

I guess its a welcome back then.

Yeah i haven't seen you around in a while.

 

It's not a recent development as evidenced by some of the examples my wife tells me about from her workplace.
These supposed "professional" e-learning instructors build classes for different products at her work-place. Some of them can not follow simple guidelines on the structure that has to be followed per company policies for these classes. Also, the level of writing skills and formatting involved in some of the examples she shows me are mind boggling in what is supposed to be a professional level job from college educated employees.
The grammar can be atrocious at times in what should be basic classes for new hires and re-certifications on products. This, in a world wide company's learning structure? She spends as much time correcting basic crap as actually inputting the classes in the system. Very scary to say the least.
And all this is after the education process (that you are semi ranting about) that should have given them these skills to allow them to get high paying professional jobs in their field.

 

There is no excuse for that. One of my first classes was technical writing; before I learned anything we were creating our own RFPs and so forth.

Alas, I have had instructors that couldn't be bothered to use their/there/they're or your/you're properly. I am no expert typist or grammar nazi, but come on, we learned this in 1st grade.

 

I blame a lot of it on the 'Power Point' style teaching that is prominent these days. The teacher reads the Power Points, and the test is based on them, not overall understanding of the material. (in my experience.) A good example of this was the 'teacher' I had to explain how she was teaching sub nettting wrong. Two days before the final... :confused

And some fairly recent college grads I have dealt with don't have basic problem solving skills. One young couple was going from Baton Rouge to Florida. And could not read a map, they had to constantly call their father who would Google driving instructions. Two college grads, can't find Florida. :-D

I have my own conspiracy theory on the education system's changes over the last 20 to 40 years, but I think it would be a bit controversial for this forum.

 

When i was taking cisco router courses, there was two older gentleman, very nice people, but they couldn't even figure out how to logon with putty to the routers to start doing configs, and constantly had to be helped. I just couldn't understand how they thought they could handle configuring routers, if they can't logon to em.

 

I know several people who have taken some kind of "computer skills" class. Only two I would put in the same catagory as you in that they can actually perform well. One girl who is highly intelligent signed up for the same course my buddy was taking (programming,but I'm not sure which) because her friends called on her to help them with social network site problems. She only attended one evening class he said. I think because so many people use computers there are many who think they know much about them.

Yes, problem solving skills are sorely lacking

 

Strongly agree!

 

I don't have a real point of comparison, but I LOVE Windows Server 2008 R2. It is like Windows 7 on steroids.

 

Maybe that is the difference for me. I have a facilitator, not a teacher. They enable you to learn, but don't really teach you. I don't have tests, but I do have weekly deliverables that must be given each week. In that respect it is a lot more like a work environment.

 

I am torn about Windows 8 anything.

Metro? Really? I don't want a phone UI on my desktop or non-touch laptop.

 

I remember my 2nd IT job as a deskside support tech, everything in the company was rather cutting edge with a myriad of advanced programs I'd never even seen or heard of. But I was able to get by and get the job done, what was scary though is that the actual users of said programs didn't know squat about basic PC usage. It is unbelieveable how these supposed "programmers" didn't know how to do even basic functions in a windows enviornment. I've been doing IT work for over 10 years now and that has seemed to hold true everywhere I've worked.