Northeastern Technical College recently added a new certificate, Web Page Development, for students who desire a career designing, developing and maintaining web sites.
"Many computer training companies are pushing the value of certifications, and employers are looking for individuals with this certification. Our students enter a job market, which looks highly upon individual certifications and not just degrees. We initiated the Web Page Development Certificate in order to give our students a specialty, something extra to go along with their associate degree," said J. Heath Milligan, NETC’s Dean of Business and Technology, and Computer Technology instructor.
Currently, NETC’s Computer Technology program focuses largely on specific programming languages, such as COBOL and Visual Basic, and applications such as Microsoft Access, Excel and Adobe PageMaker. The students also have the option of choosing Internet programming courses.
With the addition of two new courses in this certificate, students will be able to learn new web authoring software such as Macromedia Flash and Microsoft ExpressionWeb in conjunction with creating business-oriented and e-commerce-based web sites.
KEY ELEMENTS
"Since so many companies are using the Internet in addition to traditional media to promote their services and company, there has been a wave of web-based careers to hit the job market. The World Wide Web has opened a whole new niche in the computer field, which in turn caused us to change our entire department," said Milligan.
The first core course, "Internet Programming," began in the fall of 1999 as an elective for students in the Computer Technology degree program. This course taught students the basics of HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the key element to any web site. NETC introduced students to JavaScript in its course, "Intranet Programming", building upon the basics taught in "Internet Programming".
The other two core courses are "Intermediate Website Design" and "Advanced Tools in Website Design". The first of these two courses focuses on Macromedia Flash, a web authoring software, enabling students to create web-based videos to make a company’s web site more visually appealing.
"Advanced Tools in Website Design", the second of the two new courses, will show students how to create e-commerce web sites using a combination of HTML, Javascript, Flash and Expression Web, another popular web authoring tool. This software package allows users to create web sites, including forms and buttons, without keying the complex HTML code. Students who know basic HTML can make this package do even more!
In order to obtain a Web Page Development Certificate, students must complete a total of 30 credit hours, including two general education classes, four additional major courses and the four core web development/design courses. Students can apply all of these courses to an associate degree in Computer Technology. Students who have already earned an associate degree may return for this certification, without repeating previously completed classes.
Northeastern Technical College has a new certificate, Cisco Internetworking, for students who want to broaden their computer knowledge.
"The Cisco Internetworking certificate enables our students to choose between two tracks: networking and programming. Right now, there is a tremendous shortage of people who know how to maintain and troubleshoot routers, the hub of a network. This certificate enhances the employability of our students. It gives our students more options," said Diane Dyches, NETC’s Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Computer Technology instructor.
Currently, NETC’s Computer Technology program focuses on the programming aspects of personal computers. This degree program includes COBOL, Visual Basic and RPG programming with the option of also choosing Internet programming.
With the addition of the Cisco Internetworking certificate, students will have the opportunity to explore the networking field. Students will learn about routers and switches, which define the path data takes from one computer (sender) to another computer (receiver) and how to maintain these components.
Students also learn how to install network hardware, calculate cabling requirements and troubleshoot problems relating to Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs). This certificate will prepare students for the national Cisco exam, which students must pass to become a CNA (Certified Network Administrator).
CERTIFICATE COMPONENTS"Cisco is the leader in router production. The company set up a nation-wide educational partnership several years ago because they saw a need for router-trained individuals, in order to provide an educated workforce", said Ms. Dyches.
"Internetworking Concepts", IST 201, is the first core course beginning this summer. This course builds upon the concepts taught in IST 220, "Data Communications", because it breaks the open systems operation (OSI) model down into parts and describes how each part relates to the other.
The subsequent core courses are IST 202, "Cisco Router Configuration", IST 203, "Advanced Cisco Router Configuration", and IST 204, "Cisco Troubleshooting". Each of these courses builds on IST 201 because they detail how routers communicate with one another on each level of the OSI model.
In order to obtain a Cisco Internetworking certificate, students must complete a total of 30 credit hours, including two general education classes, four additional major courses and the four core Cisco courses. Students can apply all of these courses to an associate degree in Computer Technology. Students who have already earned an associate degree in Computer Technology may return for this certification, without repeating previously completed classes.
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