CIT Paper
Created: 21 February 2007 Modified:Originally published on chrislynch.info website.
The course I enjoyed the most was a team project while attend ECPI College of Technology. It was designed to give us a taste of how to work with others on an Information Technologe (IT) project. I did not enjoy it for any of the information that the school was trying to impart to us. Rather I had become obsessed with the file formatting of FoxPro 2.6. One of my text books gave an explanation of its file format. I started writing programs in C to analyze its format. By manipulating the file and then analyzing its changes I was able to fully determine how the format worked. Most of the details are gone from my mind but I do remember that the number of records was stored in the first four bytes of the database file in base 256. I then proceeded to write a program in C to manipulate the database files directly.
Other courses which are close runners up were “Critical Thinking”,”Family Science” and a religious studies class. In my opinion the technically oriented often dismiss the softer sciences to their own detriment. Different disciplines and ways of thinking can bring insight into your own work. More importantly you will be happier and more productive if you are able to manage your life as well as you do an information system. I found these other areas to be of great value. My only regret is that I didn’t take them when I was younger and could take greater advantage of what they taught me. It is always better to meet challenges prepared whether the information system is digital or social.
In the area of “digital challenges” Information security will be one of the greatest of the future. There seems to be a continuos stream of viruses, worms and trojans pouring into the world-wide information network. Thriving cultures of crackers, whether working for fun or profit, proliferate all across the globe. The strength of Open Source (OS) software is our weakness when it comes to information security. The number of people building protections and patroling the “information highway” are far outnumbered by cyber-criminals.
Volume of information, its organization and how to communicate it to others is another challenge that already exists and will exist in the future. While storage capabilities continue to increase it is easily matched by an increase in the amount of information being stored. Information that is stored in a broad array of formats. Consider the storage implications of tens of thousands of security cameras being stored electronically even only for a few months. How readily accessible is it? How searchable is it? How do you share it with other organizations within the police state?
A smaller challenge will be Open Source (OS) software. OS software is in many minds “free”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many OS projects have paid programmers and designers working on them. Such as the Netbeans and Eclipse Integrated Development Environments (IDE). These IDEs are sponsored by Sun and IBM respectively. I think this model will mature and expectations of it will come down to a more realistic level.
Another concern could be the loss of advantage for the United States if the best and brightest put their brilliance into OS projects. I have read that main advantage of the United States is its ability to innovate. Will this free sharing of ideas and innovations mean a loss of advantage for America?
I am interested in the Computer Information Technology (CIT) program primarily because it is an online program. The online degree program provides flexibility which is of great benefit for the working professional. These students can then schedule “class time” around themselves. I have taken several online courses through the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and have found the online courses to at least match traditional courses and in some cases exceed them.
Secondly the CIT program compliments my years of experience in the Information Technology (IT) field. I have been working with IT for approximately ten years. Most of that experience has involved web technologies. On Kathy Sierra’s blog (http://headrush.typepad.com) she talks about the difference between those who are average and those who are experts. The difference being experts are average people who continually work on improving skills and knowledge in their field. I have chosen the classes I would like to take accordingly.
Originally I intended to take classes about subjects I knew little about. The main reason I changed my mind is because those classes were mainly useful to System Administrators (SA). Having performed SA type work before I know that it is not something I am interested in.
I will have to complete the four core classes: On-Line Training Foundations; Web Development; Database Systems II; Telecommunications II. I will most likely already know a majority of the first three classes. Telecommunications might be a different matter. I maintain my own small network at home which has land line and wireless connections. I am far from a TCP/IP expert. I barely managed to configure my Linux server with a static IP.
The rest of the courses I chose based on the two classes I wanted to end up with later: Advanced Database Administration; Web System Development II. I already have a great deal of experience in these areas. I have years of development experience working in an Oracle environment. I have even more experience in web development which include such technologies as PERL, Java and VB.NET.
I look forward to joining your program. I intend to use in my quest to become more expert in my field.
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