What is coming up from Well House in 2013 - public Open Source / IT courses.
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2012-12-28 12:04:37 - Graham EllisWe're running public IT courses in Python, Perl, PHP, Ruby, Tcl, Lua, C and C++. Each of the programming language courses is available in two different forms, depending on the delegate's starting level - there are:
• courses for newcomers to programming, which make no assumption of prior knowledge and cover basic principles as well as the particular language itself,
• courses for delegates with prior programming experience, which allows these delegates to come on a course and start learning new material right from the start.
There are additional courses at a more advance level in PHP, Python and Perl, and also Linux / Web server deployment / Tomcat courses - associated technologies away for delegates who need to look after products and systems written in these open source languages and others, without necessarily needing to know how to do the actual analysis and programming.
All courses are scheduled at least 4 times a year, and the full schedule is published [here]. Some key course features:
• a maximum of 8 delegates ensuring excellent personal attention for the needs of each delegate
• no minimum number - you can book in confidences that course will run
• custom fitted training centre - all the facilities you need for learning
• course notes written by your tutor, who's also a user of the technology himself
• overnight accommodation available at the training centre
From a very "bold" list of slightly unusual features, other things follow and we end up with a product that's distinctly different - and for many delegates much better - in what we provide.
As well as training in our own centre, I occasionaly present or attend courses in other company's training centres, and that gives me an opportunity to learn from others facilities and methods. I can learn from their best principles, and follow those principles where appropriate. And I can also learn what doesn't work, and double-check our product to make sure it doesn't have any similar issues. Giving, or attending, a course that's in a room known as a "Goldilocks Room" (Always too hot or too cold), in a tight urban environment where there's no room outside for parking or inside to relax or even spread out your manual and set up your own laptop, and suffering "death by powerpoint" - where the tutor reads of a series of slides to you as his main delivery - isn't the best learning environment - but I see it provided all too often.
So what can I tell you about our public, 2013, courses.
• The notes we provide accompany the course, but they're not read to you (the delegate) as the main method of course delivery. The course is presented interactively - the tutor talking about, drawing diagrams, and writing programs to show tips and techniques, and using interactive feedback throughout the course. Short examples are written from scratch, longer examples may be pre-written, but the tutor will change the examples, show when they work (and when they don't), with the delegates having the opportunity to jump in, help identify what's wrong or what could be better with new code, and learning from the dynamic development environment rather than just from the static examples pre-prepared. It takes a technically very knowledgeable tutor to be able to do this, but the gains are huge. Our pre-written notes are typically skimmed through at the end of each section to ensure that the tutor hasn't overlooked any vital bullet points during the interactive presentation, and also to help the delegates appreciate the material that they'll leave the course with which is very much designed as a reference book for their later use.
• By having overnight accommodation at our training centre, we've turned a 9 - to - 5 setup where delegates arrive just in time for the course, and leave promptly at the end of the day, into something much more relaxed, and a much better learning experience - our training centre is our delegate's home for the week. And that means that, come 5 p.m. they can still ask the tutor questions, they can carry on with practical sessions for as long as they like - even taking our laptops up to their rooms if they like. And the rooms are fitted to four star standards, with our staff team being available from early in the morning to late in the evening just as in a regular hotel.
• Some delegates don't stay. It would be crazy for a delegate who lives 6 miles away in Trowbridge to stop overnight, for example. But the extended hour philosophy covers day delegates too. We're set up for people to walk in at any time from 7 a.m. if they wish, and to stick around to mid or late evening if they want to. And we find that out of "core" hours, delegates often socalise - walk into the town to eat together, perhaps play games, but also share discussions about their jobs, why they're on the course, and how the technology is helping (or will help) them. You may consider this "socialising" ... or you may consider it to be another tremendously useful facet you get from our courses - something you simply don't get in those places where you're being encouraged out of the door at the end of each day.
• Public course prices for 2013 remain as they were in 2012. That's 350.00 for the first day, plus 250.00 for each subsequent day of a course. If you're staying, add 60.00 per room per night, and I'm afraid you need to add VAT to the total bill. The course include lunch and all course materials, free parking, ... accommodation includes breakfast. There's unlimited coffee and soft drinks on tap. All you'll need to add will be an evening meal - plenty of eating places within walking distance, or feel free to order a delivery or bring in a takeaway. We're happy to pick you up if you arrive in our town by public transport, and we have 120 Mbit broadband freely available to you.
Have a look in our course schedule - [here] - at the course you're interested in; each item links to a full course description with all the details, and notes of alternative courses. If you're left with any questions, please email me (graham@wellho.net) or phone (01225 708225). We can take your booking by email or phone, and we also have online booking links from each of the course descriptions. In practice, we prefer you to email or phone so that we can discuss your needs ahead of time, ensure you're booking the right course, and so that I know when I'm presenting how to tune your particular course to best train you in the way you need.