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New computer courses create 'job-ready' students

By Raphael Enns
Garden Valley Collegiate
Winkler, Manitoba


Think about ripping computers apart, playing with them, and working with them to your heart's content, and getting credit for it. That is exactly what you do in a new IT courses at Garden Valley Collegiate.

 
Copyright of Canada's SchoolNet

The school introduced two brand new computer courses last year -- Basics and Troubleshooting 30S and Operating Systems 30S. The Basics and Troubleshooting course deals with the physical components of the computer, taking apart and putting back together the computers. It teaches troubleshooting and then fixing many computer problems. The course also reviews how the individual components of the computer actually work. The Operating Systems course deals with the different operating systems including DOS, Windows 3.11, Windows 95, and Windows NT. The students are required to know how to install these operating systems and to know their general use.

These two courses are continuing this year, with two new additions, the 40S (or Grade 12) versions of the 30S courses (Grade 11). These new two courses will be more advanced and will focus more on the networking area of computers. Students will be able to set up little networks and learn to administer them.

These courses will allow students to leave high school and enter the workforce right away. They will be able to challenge such certifications as CompTIA's A+ and some of Microsoft's MCSEs. The students should not have to take any expensive secondary education or special classes to achieve this.

Because of the rapid change of computers, the courses will continue to change. They will be kept current with the latest technology. The hardware is updated every year and new software will be upgraded as it is released.

At the moment, the school is not planning to add any more courses. This is a brand new part of GVC's Information Communications Technology certificate program and the teacher and students will concentrate on the four present courses.



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