no, i actually think this is a valid idea. every one who will finish school will use computers, they should know basic stuff, like how to connect the bloody thing to a projector.
the work today is hell due to huge amount of people talking out of their arse. the lady came today with a sony netbook on which she had some weird mp4 files that wouldn't play on anything else then her machine. i said 'this is why i hate windows' and she went 'oh no, no, i like windows, i can customise everything!'... sigh
"customize everything"??! We used to get people like that all the time, never mind hang in there. I was being serious that I thought the basic IT education was a good idea too ;)
she customised it so that it wouldn't work on any other machine than her own. Another one of my favourites came today asking for a bigger camera, because he 'needs better quality'... always tempted to give them VHS - they're the biggest ones we've got :D
Whatever happened to "good things come in small packages"? You should give them the VHS or even better an old reel-to-reel, tell them it's state of the art digital tape reels, nobody else has them yet, they'll love it :)
yeah, but i mean basic that is actually useful, as opposed to teaching people how to program an app that would add 2+, which as far as i remember they tried to impose on us in high school...
You really don't need three years of MS Office; 1 yr is more than enough to teach everything on needs to know for Word, Excel, PPT, Access, and OL.
I agree though that there should be a signifiant IT-based curriculm in the high school years. At least three years (basic computing hardware and software, MS Office and Basic Web Design, and then an option of programming languages or intermediate web design). It would really make meetings a lot easier when folks know how to use stuff in the professional ranks.
You know what's even more scary is I have a degree (BSc) in Computer Science and we didn't even cover that much about hardware on that 3 year course. We mostly talked about theory and sat in lecture theatres looking a presentations on "how a CPU works". I think it was expected that you would do all that on your own if you were truly interested. There's just no substitute for practical experience
@dantheman: Agree, I'm a firm believer in practical learning rather than this sitting around, listening and reading bs. Kids don't pay attention to that. @arjw Excel should be taught to those who want to learn it, it's used many jobs and an expert in Excel and mysql could land lucrative jobs in any market in London - everyone wants an analyst and actuary.
@bishop This was at university (college in the US I think) and was the most technical course going, we didn't have any distinction for computer engineering. The other IT courses were combined with Business Studies and even less technical. The only other thing would have been straight electronics I suppose.
This was at Virginia Tech. Granted, when I was in Computer Engineering it was only the second year of the program, and that was in 1987. I actually studied how to make processors and stuff. :)
Office productivity tools and a little bit of web dev (my PhD professor has a website that looks like it was coded in notepad) should be a given but I think programming is more of an elective course.
As for hardware, as long as they know where everything is supposed to be plugged in, they'll be fine.
23 comments so far
@ana Here here! Good day at work so far then? :)
11 months, 2 weeks ago by dantheman
no, i actually think this is a valid idea. every one who will finish school will use computers, they should know basic stuff, like how to connect the bloody thing to a projector.
the work today is hell due to huge amount of people talking out of their arse. the lady came today with a sony netbook on which she had some weird mp4 files that wouldn't play on anything else then her machine. i said 'this is why i hate windows' and she went 'oh no, no, i like windows, i can customise everything!'... sigh
11 months, 2 weeks ago by overpills
"customize everything"??! We used to get people like that all the time, never mind hang in there. I was being serious that I thought the basic IT education was a good idea too ;)
11 months, 2 weeks ago by dantheman
she customised it so that it wouldn't work on any other machine than her own. Another one of my favourites came today asking for a bigger camera, because he 'needs better quality'... always tempted to give them VHS - they're the biggest ones we've got :D
11 months, 2 weeks ago by overpills
Whatever happened to "good things come in small packages"? You should give them the VHS or even better an old reel-to-reel, tell them it's state of the art digital tape reels, nobody else has them yet, they'll love it :)
11 months, 2 weeks ago by dantheman
I think you experiencing what's called DRM there... ;)
11 months, 2 weeks ago by fabsh
They do have basic IT teaching schools, but it is VERY basic! :D here is a keyboard....
11 months, 2 weeks ago by adonisdemon
@abul A keywhat? :P
11 months, 2 weeks ago by dantheman
hehe "can I use it to open my door with?"
11 months, 2 weeks ago by adonisdemon
I my 4 years in high school we had IT;
1st Year: Basic Operation 2nd Year: MS Word 3rd Year: MS PPT 4th Year: MS Excel
So yeah...total crap.
11 months, 2 weeks ago by GeekSpeaker
yeah, but i mean basic that is actually useful, as opposed to teaching people how to program an app that would add 2+, which as far as i remember they tried to impose on us in high school...
11 months, 2 weeks ago by overpills
@overpills: you should have paid attention! You could have become an actuary or analyst! :D
11 months, 2 weeks ago by adonisdemon
You really don't need three years of MS Office; 1 yr is more than enough to teach everything on needs to know for Word, Excel, PPT, Access, and OL.
I agree though that there should be a signifiant IT-based curriculm in the high school years. At least three years (basic computing hardware and software, MS Office and Basic Web Design, and then an option of programming languages or intermediate web design). It would really make meetings a lot easier when folks know how to use stuff in the professional ranks.
11 months, 2 weeks ago by arjw
an analyst is my all time dreaded job :D
11 months, 2 weeks ago by overpills
yes, the hardware is completely omitted, and then you get people with PhD who can't set up a power point presentation...
11 months, 2 weeks ago by overpills
You know what's even more scary is I have a degree (BSc) in Computer Science and we didn't even cover that much about hardware on that 3 year course. We mostly talked about theory and sat in lecture theatres looking a presentations on "how a CPU works". I think it was expected that you would do all that on your own if you were truly interested. There's just no substitute for practical experience
11 months, 2 weeks ago by dantheman
Hey, what's wrong with being an analyst??? : p
11 months, 2 weeks ago by Texrat
@dantheman: Agree, I'm a firm believer in practical learning rather than this sitting around, listening and reading bs. Kids don't pay attention to that. @arjw Excel should be taught to those who want to learn it, it's used many jobs and an expert in Excel and mysql could land lucrative jobs in any market in London - everyone wants an analyst and actuary.
11 months, 2 weeks ago by adonisdemon
Hardware is for Computer Engineering students, not Computer Science students. At least that's how it was at my school. :)
11 months, 2 weeks ago by Bishop
@bishop This was at university (college in the US I think) and was the most technical course going, we didn't have any distinction for computer engineering. The other IT courses were combined with Business Studies and even less technical. The only other thing would have been straight electronics I suppose.
11 months, 2 weeks ago by dantheman
This was at Virginia Tech. Granted, when I was in Computer Engineering it was only the second year of the program, and that was in 1987. I actually studied how to make processors and stuff. :)
11 months, 2 weeks ago by Bishop
Office productivity tools and a little bit of web dev (my PhD professor has a website that looks like it was coded in notepad) should be a given but I think programming is more of an elective course.
As for hardware, as long as they know where everything is supposed to be plugged in, they'll be fine.
11 months, 2 weeks ago by GeekSpeaker
@bishop Sounds cool I'm jealous, we didn't get any of those options we just had tons of theory which is ok but a little dry
11 months, 2 weeks ago by dantheman