Home » Blogs » Maxed Out

Maxed Out

Because the System i can run at redline speed all day long . . .

«Previous Main Next »

December 11, 2007

Traditional Teaching

One of the blogs I read* is one by Aaron Bartell of MowYourLawn fame, and he has an interesting post I'd like to note. Here's why: Last week we published a news story about programmer/analyst/instructor/author Jim Buck and his efforts at teaching System i-focused curriculum at Gateway Technical College. In Bartell's blog post, he mentions using a book co-written by Jim Buck -- Programming with RPG IV, 4th Edition, which is available from Penton, published by the same organization that publishes Maxed Out, etc, etc. The point is, Bartell is using the book to teach three "students" the latest features and techniques of RPG IV.

Why? Because the three are current and future employees so they can aide the company Bartell is working for on future projects and support. Here's a snip:

The three people I am training are very diverse - one has extensive experience in Unix and related scripting and programming languages (over 40 yrs old :-), another is a yung pup (24 yrs old) who has done some gaming programming and a little Unibasic (yowie mama), and the last is a recent mother that is at the VERY beginning of learning about programming.

We are about two weeks into using the book where they (my students :-) do some reading and then we have a web meeting (GoToMeeting.com) to ask questions and I go over some real-world RPG and how I develop using my favorite tooling (WDSC). So far the book has been given excellent feedback from the readers to the point where we are going to get more copies so they can each have their own :-)

Bartell's post focuses more on the book, but what I find cool is the non-traditional RPG training going on here -- then again, maybe this type of training is more akin to the history of the System i -- the in-house, on-the-job training that gave rise to our current pool of System i pros.


* I really must publish a blogroll on Maxed Out. I've neglected this far too long.

Posted by cmaxcer at December 11, 2007 10:42 AM

«Previous Main Next »
Comments

If all training were formal, institutional, and curriculum based, it would be easier for analysts to gauge the success of a technology by looking at the number of students, courses, schools and so forth. Unfortunately for analysts, there's no way to gauge the amount of learning that may be going on via Internet searches, on-line books, discussion forums, and so forth.

My first exposure to the AS/400 was when I checked out and read about 20 manuals from the library of the IT department where I was working as a contractor, which eventually led me to a programming position with American Express which bought a couple AS/400's in 1988.

In 1989 I got a job with an IBM ISV and taught myself RPG. At American Express we used COBOL, but the transition to RPG was easy.

After I developed an ILE based framework for Web applications my role shifted more to mentor and trainer for in-house colleagues and customers who had developers. I had some curriculum materials, but most of the training was done through practical exercises and informal settings.

There seems to be an underground ecosystem for training.

Posted by: Nathan M. Andelin at December 12, 2007 11:01 AM

In-house and on-the-job training are definitely part of the life of an IT professional. In the IT field, we see a small revolution every 3 years and a major revolution every 5 years. RPG has evolved over time too. Therefore, education and training in colleges and institutions are only part of the "life-cycle" of an IT professional.

At universities, we train students in theories, concepts, and learning skills so that the students can continue to adopt, adapt, and learn new things in their professional careers. For courses that involved System i, we definitely welcome internship opportunities and hands-on training in companies for the students. There are only so many credit hours a student wants to take before graduation and so many contact hours between an instructor and students for a course. In-house and on-the-job training for students working part-time in companies supplement and complement classroom training, and are definitely welcome by instructors.

In this holiday season, we send our warm wishes for a happy holiday season full of the love of System i *smile*.

Posted by: Keng Siau at December 16, 2007 1:07 PM

Post a comment




Remember Me?

(you may use HTML tags for style)

Chris Maxcer
Blog Feed

September 2008
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30        

Blog Policy

We welcome your comments and opinions and encourage lively debate on the issues. However, Penton Media reserves the right to delete or move any content that it may determine, in its sole discretion, violates or may violate its Terms of Use or is otherwise unacceptable. For more information, see Penton Media's Terms of Use.

ProVIP Sponsors