Re: [NOVICE] PostgreSQL Training

On Thu, 2003-12-11 at 04:39, Keith C. Perry wrote:

> I think what the real religious argument here is that many, many people feel
> "skills assessment" should NOT be linked to a product. It should in fact be
> linked to the underlying material a product is designed to manipulate.
>
> If someone is more of an academic, I seriously doubt that they are going to seek
> certification in a product. 9 out of 10 times, someone like that is going to be
> able to pick up a product manual and be off and running. However, if you are
> new to the feild, 18-36 months at a tech school is going to be more appealing
> than 48 to 60 months at a college. Lets not forget that human being want what
> they want when they want it. Sooner for *most* people is better, especially
> where money is involved,

Agreed. However-- there is a push in the IT world (much resisted here)
to try to make sysadmin/DBA positions more of a technician-oriented
rather than academic oriented. The idea here is that it reduces IT
costs (perhaps, though, at the expense of returns).

>
> The true motivation for certification is/was marketing. Its just a different
> piece of paper- some people go to traditional educational institutions and some
> people chase certification for these newer tech schools. Its all in the name of
> being able to market oneself.

Exactly, and this is a reason why we SHOULD look at moving in this
direction.

>
> In one case however, education is product neutral which means you have a strong
> base knowledge ready to be applied. So you build product knowledge from there.
> In the other case, you learn products and in doing that you tend towards having
> a strong base knowledge. Of course, products also come and go and change much
> more frequently than the base knowlege.
>
I don't disagree. But the advocacy issue is still there.

I do not think that we can/should try to develop certifications at this
time. However, I think that it would be a good idea, provided there is
sufficient interest, in pooling resources to develop a general
well-rounded curriculum base from which other curriculums could be
built. Perhaps this will lead towards certification. I think that we
should work with the advocacy team, etc. and build on a base of
product-neutral information.

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers