You’ve shed light on something I’ve wondered about for a long time. My first computer was a Commodore 128. I took my first computer class in 1985. I taught myself DOS. The internet (we called it USEnet back then) was accessed via 9600 baud AIM modem.

Back in 1985, our class covered (to my recollection) hardware, machine language, binary and hex coding, and processes, i.e., clocks, registers, etc. The only routers I saw in my school were over in wood shop! For what computers did at that time, the course was adequate.

What I’ve wondered about over the years as the internet boomed and Cisco became the first of many missed investment opportunities, is what does an intro computer class look like today? My suspicion is that the elites Mr. Genereux refers to, and whom I’ve worked alongside, are almost entirely self-taught. They went to a trade school, got their Microsoft, Novell, Cisco certs, and carved out some comfortable careers for themselves.

This is not to bash the schools. The technology has evolved so quickly that most could not stay ahead of the changes under the best circumstances. It’s time for curriculum managers to consider that evolution and revisit what is meant when we speak of computers and computing. In any event, I certainly agree that we need to standardize the basic elements of a computer science class so that it better reflects the state of the industry.

Kudos on your thought-provoking post!

Alfonse Nobile
Communications Dir.
The V.I.E.W. Program
http://www.viewprogram.org

You raise some interesting questions here. When I was your age, ALL computer courses involved programming. There were few off the shelf applications to learn like we have today. If you wanted to study computers, you HAD to study programming. With the rise of Microsoft & others, it made sense to have students start learning these applications. But you are correct, it’s not Computer Science, it is Office Technology.

There has been a long debate about computer science curriculum at the college level. Do you teach breadth of knowledge first (theory)? Do you teach depth of knowledge first (projects)? Should you teach objects first or constructs such as decisions, looping, etc? So what you are asking hasn’t been resolved, even in higher education.

Personally, if you are doing any programming at all in high school, you should count yourself fortunate because you are among a small minority. We usually make no assumptions of prior experience when you get to a college computer science program.

If you are studying and learning on your own (as you are doing) then you should count yourself among the elite, who will actually be successful in computing and information technology. Every computing professional I know who is good at what they do is an ongoing self-learner. This is perhaps the most difficult concept to teach.

I’m not trying to excuse a teacher or curriculum that doesn’t challenge you, but it is a fact that this style of learning is good career preparation for you to be exploring and learning on your own since that is what you will continually be doing throughout your career.

Good luck & keep working hard. You’re going to be great!

Bill Genereux
Assistant Professor
Computer Systems Technology
Kansas State University at Salina