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Planet-Black0psNational Diploma IT Practitioners
This may be different for other colleges, but for where I am, this course just doesn't make sense.
Its the second year. In this year, we get a choice of three paths - business, networking, or programming. I chose programming.
For programming, the subjects we have to take really dont fit in. Two of them especially:
End-user Support
Here we learn about supporting end users. Okay, its not too bad I guess - a programmer needs to be able to support end-users of his/her software, but were not exactly doing anything like that - instead were looking at how businesses such as NTL support users.
Systems Justification
This aims at finding a solution to a problem. No, not a software replacement or so, but finding a computer package and various bits of software which the end-user needs. Things which a programmer really doesn't need to study for.
Perhaps if those were the only choices the college could have picked from the specialist units, then fair enough. But other options were Operating Systems, and E-commerce. Wouldnt you have thought those would suit a programmer more?
Next issue is about the way things are marked. not so much the normal assignments, but the key skills work. The key skills assignments have to be just perfect, all the way down to grammar, spelling, and so on. Then, it needs a tracking sheet, which needs to be filled in perfect. This all takes absolute masses of time. Then theres the worst part. Only a few of the students key skills work gets marked, and everyone in the class passes or fails that key skills module based on the work of one or two students. So, there's some of us putting in every effort for the marks, then the key skills examiners pick people in the class who could'nt really care less about key skills, and suddenly, those who put the effort in are treated like idiots.
People should be graded on their ability, and not their luck. Were marked as if everyone in the class is the same, when its absolutely NOT the case. Humans are all different from each other - were not like a pc where, once installed, it runs in the same way as each other.
Its the second year. In this year, we get a choice of three paths - business, networking, or programming. I chose programming.
For programming, the subjects we have to take really dont fit in. Two of them especially:
End-user Support
Here we learn about supporting end users. Okay, its not too bad I guess - a programmer needs to be able to support end-users of his/her software, but were not exactly doing anything like that - instead were looking at how businesses such as NTL support users.
Systems Justification
This aims at finding a solution to a problem. No, not a software replacement or so, but finding a computer package and various bits of software which the end-user needs. Things which a programmer really doesn't need to study for.
Perhaps if those were the only choices the college could have picked from the specialist units, then fair enough. But other options were Operating Systems, and E-commerce. Wouldnt you have thought those would suit a programmer more?
Next issue is about the way things are marked. not so much the normal assignments, but the key skills work. The key skills assignments have to be just perfect, all the way down to grammar, spelling, and so on. Then, it needs a tracking sheet, which needs to be filled in perfect. This all takes absolute masses of time. Then theres the worst part. Only a few of the students key skills work gets marked, and everyone in the class passes or fails that key skills module based on the work of one or two students. So, there's some of us putting in every effort for the marks, then the key skills examiners pick people in the class who could'nt really care less about key skills, and suddenly, those who put the effort in are treated like idiots.
People should be graded on their ability, and not their luck. Were marked as if everyone in the class is the same, when its absolutely NOT the case. Humans are all different from each other - were not like a pc where, once installed, it runs in the same way as each other.