Switched Keys

<posted on it-toolbox.com>

After a few decades in the workforce, I'm going back to school in the Computer Information Systems degree program at The University of Texas at Tyler. I already subscribe to several lists here and elsewhere and follow several blogs in a number of IT fields, but haven't really seen one from the perspective of a student. So, this will contain my observation of IT Preparation from an older student's perspective. Some of it may be personal, but most will deal with preparation for expanded IT career opportunities.

After a little more than a week of classes, I have a few observations about what school is like these days. When I attended college in the 90's, there were a lot of classroom limitations. Classes and labs were designated for only the software in the course and anything else was prohibited. That was also before the publicly accessible Internet. I often thought, if I could only have access to this or that, I could learn a lot of things and be able to develop better software solutions.

In addition, in the very early days of the PC, development software such a compilers for various languages was readily available. You had to purchase them, but they were on the shelves of the few computers stores that existed. Later, the availability of development software became more limited as vendors began selling application software.

Now, over the Internet, development software for the individual user (amateur) is readily available again, and much improved. Much of it, such as the Microsoft Express editions is available at no cost. And there is a wealth of open-source development software that is invaluable. In addition, you don't have to pay tuition to use and learn from it.

But, Microsoft and the college that I attend have gone one step farther. Through the
MSDN Academic Alliance, I can get several software packages at little of no cost, including Visual Studio Professional, SQL Server 2005 and Exchange Server. I suspect the offering is probably due to being in a computer degree program. Of course, it just makes sense that if Microsoft wants you to develop Windows applications that they would make it easier for students to gain some experience.

As a student, you can also get application and development software from Microsoft and other vendors at extremely low prices, either on campus (at a fraction of the cost) or at an on-line vendor (at a more moderate price reduction) for educational use.

Now with legacy computers going for less than $50 a piece, I can buy a few of them, download some software, set up a simple network, and really test what I'm learning. The demands of an IT professional are constantly expanding, but the opportunities for preparation for it today are growing just as much.