Effective Java training - the bootcamp approach
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2007-12-09 09:17:42 - Graham EllisOur public Java courses:
Java Bootcamp- 4 days
Java Programming for the Web - 5 days
Deploying Java Apps under Linux / Unix - 5 days
Apache httpd and Tomcat Deployment - 2 days
Our courses are modular and we have further material - please ask about private courses if you have a group of delegates as we can tailor to your needs
Employers want to get the very best out of their employees' time (which is their money) ... and if an employee is away on a course, it's not only costing one lot of time and money in immediate salary, but a second in terms of having someone else stand in, and a third in terms of course fees ...
Do I sound like I'm selling myself out of a job here, as a course provider? Maybe, but I'm pointing out the considerations that companies like ours should make in order to provide the most effective service to our customers. I'm passionate about training ... I believe that it's a vital part of staff development, and the staff make the company. An investment. And one we ourselves make in our staff - carefully weighing up factors such as whether the course content is appropriate, and whether our delegate will be able to ask extra questions / get specific help if necessary, or will be left to flounder or with issues unresolved. And it's not always easy to know, ahead of time, how a new course supplier will "pan out" with regard to these issues - good, bad, or patchy.
The word bootcamp is flavour of the month at the moment. The free dictionary defines it as:
1. A training camp for military recruits.
2. A correctional facility that uses the training techniques applied to military recruits to teach usually youthful offenders socially acceptable patterns of behavior.
and that worries me a little, as it's slightly off the way the IT industry uses it, so let me try my own definition:
3. A course on which intensive techniques sometime applied to military recruits are used in order to provide the maximum of effective, targeted training in a short period - usually just a few days.
and that definition really suits our courses well ... to the extent that one or two of the most intensive are now described as "bootcamp"s.
Features of our Java Bootcamp include:
* A residential course at our own hotel where you have access to the computers you're working on 24 x 7
* Lessons run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the tutor available to you from 8 a.m. (or earlier) until 6.30 p.m. (or later) if you have any questions
* Group size typically just 4 or 5 delegates to ensure maximum attention for everyone's requirements
* Course materials include background information and additional optional sections to ensure that the presentation can be tailored to suit the individual group
* Wide range of examples and notes provided to meet everyone's targeted applications.
* "Buddy system" encouraged during practicals, where delegate may work together to resolve issues encountered
* Library of some 600 technical books on hand, together with internet access from the training room, and from delegate's bedrooms too. You can even take the workstation you're using during your course up to your room ...
* After course access to tutor via forum, via email, and via all the examples from the training notes on line for your use.
* Course agenda carefully prepared to include all vital topics that are hard to pick up from a book, but to exclude too much repetitive coverage of elements that you can easily read up on - ("Once you know what Chicken Curry is, and you know what Beef is, you can work out Beef Curry for yourself!")
Our 4 day Java Bootcamp course follows the above philosophy to a tee. For delegates who wish to go into some of the subjects a little deeper (and add in topics such as Applets, Database connectivity, and coding standards) our extended - 5 day - Java Programming for the Web follows the same agenda for the first four days but gives you those extra topics (and a chance to get in some more practice) on the fifth day.
Both the courses run every couple of months (as do our deploying Java applications under Linux and Deploying Apache httpd and Tomcat courses). Click on the links for the individual courses for forthcoming dates.