IT150 @ Carlow

I think we can all agree that IT150 is not a blow-off course.  Even though everyone was forewarned that this class would be a lot of work, I don’t think anyone really understood the extent of how hard this class would be, or else most people would have opted out of it.  Within the first week of class we were given assignments that, much to everyone’s surprise, took hours to complete.  Those of us who waited until the last minute to complete these assignments quickly learned that this would not work for this type of class.  As time passed it became common for the majority of the class to be in the lab an hour before class, getting extra help or trying to complete the assignments due for that day.  Although the homework led to a lot of late nights, eventually I learned how to manage my time to complete them.  This helped with my time management skills.

Once we started the Google AdWords project, it became clear that this class was going to be extremely hard.  Not only did we have to do the regular assignments, but now we also had to do the work for the AdWords campaign.  One good thing about the Google project is that it does look good on resumes, but at times the tasks did become complex.

For any students considering IT150, I will share some information that may have helped me had I been aware in the beginning of the semester.  It is imparative that all of the assignments are at least half way completed the night before they are due, or else you will be up until morning trying to figure them out.  It is always a good idea to read the text carefully, not only does this help with the quizzes, but it often times relates to either the project or the homework in some way.  I do think this class is interesting, but I probably would not recommend it for a person who has absolutely no interst in technology, or a person with extremely basic computer skills because this could create problems.

Overall, this class forced me to work harder, and manage my time more wisely, and anything that allows me to do that is worth taking, in my opinion.

Gabrielle Ilochi

How much new knowledge and insights can we gain from following, not 100, but 100,000 kids from before birth to the time they complete college? One of the most ambitious government research studies launched in January 2008 promises to offer exciting opportunities for new scientific discoveries by 2030 when babies born new begin to graduate from college.  Read the rest of this entry »

Fran shared with me this really nice article about Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to build a comprehensive database of U.S. border crossings:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/19/AR2008081902811.html

Like many discussions of data collection efforts, this news piece focuses on security issues and privacy rights. These are important questions and there are no easy answers, but I want to think about something else. Read the rest of this entry »

Good morning everyone!

We are getting ready to wrap up the module on database management. As you are probably aware by now, relational databases underlie most of the modern information systems. Ecommerce websites, hospitals and college admissions offices would be in big trouble if their databases are not working properly. Read the rest of this entry »