By KIMBERLY ROSS
With technology advancement on the rise, people are putting aside print media and flocking to electronic gadgets and the Internet as never before.
For students desiring to become more technology savvy or seeking a career change, St. Petersburg College may be the right place to turn. TheComputer Web Programming and Analysis Degree(CWPA-AS) and the Computer Web Programming Specialist Certificate(CWPS-CT)are two areas of study that interested students can turn to in the computer field.
Taught by Professor Brad Yourth of SPC’s Clearwater Campus, the purpose of the program is to “prepare students for entry level jobs at a web site firm, technology firm, or to start their own freelance business. The Computer / Web Programming & Analysis A.S. degree is longer in terms of credit hours and affords students the flexibility to choose from several programming language tracks. On the other hand, the Computer / Web Programming Specialist Certificate program provides basic programming skills and can be completed in one year,” Yourth said.
Professor Yourth, who has been teaching for about 16 years, started his career teaching Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and Practical Extract and Reporting Language (PERL). Once he realized that the web “wasn’t just about static pages,” the programming field became more exciting for him.
The program receives enrollees who are first-time-in-college (FTIC) students; students who are currently employed in the field; or people who are returning to the field.
The course is taught in three modalities: Online, face-to-face and blended (a course that is taught online and face-to face). Yourth says the online version is best suited for experienced individuals in the programming field, those who find it difficult to learn from books or examples, those who find the face-to face format or the online format too difficult, or those who find it more convenient.
For most programming courses, Yourth and students work together with hands-on projects, giving them a better grasp of concepts. For the online version, Yourth adds short videos to achieve the same outcome.
Though these courses have no entrance or exit exams, there are prerequisites that must be followed.
“If you like designing or making new things, this is a great profession,” Yourth said. “This is a field that is still in its infancy stage and it involves skills that are portable around the planet.”
The best way to proceed in this course is to experiment, he said. Students hoping to learn code should write code.
“Acting on the thought, ‘I wonder what will happen if I try this?’ is the key to becoming fluent with a programming language,” he said.
Since its beginning, the program has been successful, and many graduates have been placed with local firms as well as municipal and county governments.
The field “is a great way to get paid and have fun,” Yourth said. “Find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life.”
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BRAD YOURTH: My teaching philosophy is “Living is Learning,” or “Learning is Living” (is there a difference?). I love learning, especially about Web development, computer programming, and networking. I enjoy the creative process of taking an original idea and turning it into a working, useful computer program. I spend far too much time online. In fact, I can’t remember what I did before the WWW was launched. For a break, I like a long bike ride along the beach or Pinellas Trail, a game of chess, or 18 holes of disc golf.