[plug] MS Curriculum at schools and TAFEs ...

[Simon Scott]

	Yup, but I think youre missing the main point :)

	To put it simply, it has always been this way. Maybe not with MS
specific curriculum, but in general univerisities no longer are places for
advanced tech. They just teach you how to code ADA, a bit of C, a little
design, and you go and do it in the real world. Never do they teach
free-thought, forward thinking or even a little philosophy. They simply
churn out Java coding clones by the dozen.

	Whether the curriculum includes MS specific stuff is irrelevant. The
whole system is broken. 

	Dont get me wrong, I hate MS products, but if unis and tafes are
weak enough to side with MS just for some more $$$s it just proves my point
that I wasted 3 years in what effectively turned out to be an extended
high-school. I went thru in the early 90s and even the cracks were showing
then, and if not for the brilliance of some lecturers the whole scheme
wouldve fallen to shit much sooner. Learning to think was extra-curricular,
not part of the course. As long as you can hack out some small program in
ADA you were right. Question the lecturer as to technique or alternative
solutions? Dont be stupid.

	In fact, Ive come to the realisation recently that large sections of
what they taught us were just plain wrong. I am especially questioning the
Relational Database paradigm and its utility in solving real-world problems.
Not only that, but with the benefit of hind-sight I am left wondering why
the lecturers tried to drum into us very early 'design is 90% of the job,
the remaining 10% can be done by monkeys with a strong design', yet only 20%
(if that) of the course was centred on design?

	Anyway, I think you are panicking for the wrong reasons. It is a
much deeper problem which brings into question the independence (esp from
commercial concerns), usefulness and adaptability of most uni's/tafes. 

	It does have one positive tho: those of us that have taught
ourselves to think independently will always be one step ahead of the
competition :)



	From:	Richard Sharpe <sharpe at ns.aus.com> on 22-04-2001 12:26 PM
	Please respond to plug at plug.linux.org.au@SMTP at Exchange
	To:	plug at plug.org.au@SMTP at Exchange
	cc:	 

	Subject:	[plug] MS Curriculum at schools and TAFEs ...

	Hi,

	I wanted to share a concern I have at what I view as both an
insidious and
	particularly effective business strategy on the part of Microsoft to
ensure
	their total dominance in the computer industry for years to come ...

	It seems that Microsoft has been very effective at getting parts of
their
	MSCE and MSxx taught at schools and TAFEs (and perhaps institutions
of
	higher learning) around Australia, and perhaps the whole world.

	While this is a legitimate business strategy, it has profound
implications
	for the future of the Australian computer industry and our children,
in my
	view.

	Perhaps the biggest effects are:

	1. It creates a perception among future technologists that there is
only
	   one solution, one way of doing things: The Microsoft way.

	2. It creates a nation of technology users, not technology
producers. 
	   It seems to me that these people are then totaly dependent on 
	   someone else's technology, and are far less likely to create
their
	   own technology for our future benefit.

	Perhaps I am wrong; perhaps Microsoft is the best thing since sliced
bread,
	and I have a perverse and wicked desire to find something bad in
	Microsoft's generosity in having shared their wonderful technology
with us
	all, and if so, can someone please tell me so?


	Regards
	-------
	Richard Sharpe, sharpe at ns.aus.com
	Samba (Team member, www.samba.org), Ethereal (Team member,
www.ethereal.com)
	Contributing author, SAMS Teach Yourself Samba in 24 Hours
	Author, Special Edition, Using Samba





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