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Home > Archive > Server + > October 2002 > Self Study vs. Class Room Instruction
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Self Study vs. Class Room Instruction
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| Lunatic Fringe 2002-09-29, 10:56 am |
| I am interested to know how many people prefer self study as a method of preparing for certification exams to classroom instruction.
It seems to me that most of the people that post on this board lean toward self study.
I have only tried classroom instruction once, several years ago, for the Novell CNA 3.1x exam. I never took the test even though I studied for it. (I was promoted just after completing the training and did not spend sufficient study time to feel confident enought to take the test.)
Anyway...
The certifications I have are all self study. Even though I believe I understand the material. Am I missing anything by not learning in a classroom environment? | |
| twister166 2002-09-29, 1:44 pm |
| it is always nice to see someone else talk about the subject, you can always pickup differenct perspectives... | |
| Tech Ranger 2002-09-29, 9:21 pm |
| If you are going to try classroom, you had better be fortunate enough to have a teacher that knows the material, and who knows how to teach. | |
| namrak 2002-09-29, 11:35 pm |
| Awhile back, I shelled out some money to attend some web development classes and a colleague of mine attended as well. However, we had two different instructors teaching XHTML. Mind you, XHTML is slightly different from HTML. Unfortunately, our experiences were vastly different.
Whereas I had a great time brushing up on XHTML with an excellent instructor with several years of experience building websites for clients. My friend had such a distasteful experience that he almost ask for a refund on the other classes. It turns out that the guy taught HTML and told the class do what the book says and modify my HTML examples in class. This instructor continued to talk about HTML and demonstrated no inclination as to whether the class actually learned XHTML or not.
I think if many of us have the finances, instructor led training would the top draw. However, as we are all frugal and try to save money, self-study is the route commonly travelled. For me, my only option right now is to self-study as I do not want to take out loans to pay for classroom training right now. | |
| mrucker 2002-10-02, 9:20 pm |
| I've taken many classes at New Horizons. (Company Paid) I've always been fortunate to get good teachers who knew the material. One of the great benefits of classrooms training is that you get some tidbits of information from folks that have been in the trenches.
On the other hand I'm ALWAYS studying for something. You have to be disciplined to do this. It's hard work, but I find it pays off personally and professionally.
Of all the certs I have, A+ and N+ are the only ones that I had classroom training for. Everything else was self study and experience. | |
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| ace123 2002-10-03, 7:35 am |
| I away do self study | |
| Luchnia 2002-10-03, 8:03 am |
| This is a great topic. For me, I have taken class and self studied, so I have the best of both worlds at my exposal.
Class room instruction is lacking big time in my book. I can name off a list of reasons that would be very long. If the cost of the class were spent on a home lab and various types of study materials, and the individual is able to discipline themselves to study can you imagine just how much they could learn?
Home study should equal less distraction, better organization of time scheduling, better concentration, etc. Not everyone is able to do this, of course. I have learned ten times more with my lab and various study materials as I ever did in the four classes I attended. I did get a little from a CCNA class, but really not that much. Definitely not 2600$ worth.
Now if classes would incorporate apprenticeship programs it would be very valuable to the candidate. When you can combine hands on and classroom instruction you can really learn the concepts.
There is one plus to classroom training that I utilized. I made some critical contacts that have proved to be beneficial to me at this time. That is worth volumes to some people. I have made friends with the entire staff and am on first name basis with them. Of course, I always try to be a blessing to all I come in contact with 
Peace up! | |
| Supertech 2002-10-03, 9:05 am |
| I always self study. It requires much more disipline. | |
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| Tech Ranger 2002-10-03, 7:52 pm |
| I took 2 six hour classes by a highly respected and qualified instructor with a great reputation. The sessions were filled with misinformation. I researched many issues relating to information taught which I found definately incorrect or questionable, and I was right in almost every case. I sat in on an A+ class taught by fellow with A+, MCSE, and MCT. The guy spent most of the time talking about his job and bragging about his Microsoft Gold Card. I felt sorry for the students who were there to learn Windows 9X, which was supposed to be the topic. I taught A+ part time until my school closed recently. I put my heart and soul into every class I taught. I don't know how many instructors there are out there who are capable and who care. | |
| namrak 2002-10-03, 9:09 pm |
| You pretty much hit the nail on the head Tech Ranger. The main negative about instructor-led classes is when the instructor is all show, but no substance. My friend felt cheated out of his money after the 5 days on XHTML/CSS. It seemed like the only thing the instructor did was talk about his vast experience with HTML. In fact, that was all he taught...just HTML and not XHTML. He didn't even change his HTML examples to reflect the XHTML rules. Lets hope there are more trainers out there who are more passionate about their work and want to see their students learn as much as possible. Its all about being professional. | |
| Luchnia 2002-10-04, 4:59 am |
| You really have to be careful. The instructors I had, knew the material backwards and forwards, however, they really did not know the best methods to teach the material. This is more the problem I noticed. The material was CRAMMED in a week and it could have easily took two weeks.
I would have to say, I learned very little, and did not seem to retain any of it. If you cannot retain it, you cannot use it. I would like more classroom training maybe, but one thing is for sure, it will be known how the instruction is given before I attend, or spend the precious little money I have.
I wonder just how different stretched out classes are over a period of time for learning? I bet they aren't much different. I remember one gentleman said he had spent a year in class and felt he wasted his entire amount of money, even though he had worked very hard at trying to understand the material, he still maintained it was a joke and a scam.
Another thing occurs that I noticed. If you aren't as smart as some of the others and you ask a question, many instructors make you look really bad in front of all the class to make themselves look good and to keep you from asking questions. When this happens most people feel like they aren't capable, when this is not true.
I had to literally restudy every subject as if I had not even gone to class before I learned anything and could pass a test! Think about how disapointing this was to me. It was like starting over again.
What good were the classes? I liked the people at the school, but they have to play the system and don't know how to make it work for the students. A sad game at the hands of surviving in the IT industry.
Oh well, let me get off of this box before I write a book about this.
Peace | |
| Supertech 2002-10-04, 7:30 am |
| There's an old saying...
"Those that can't...teach" | |
| Tech Ranger 2002-10-04, 8:01 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Supertech
There's an old saying...
"Those that can't...teach"
That's an age old saying, but I have found no truth in it whatsoever. In my experience in IT I have found that many who can do it, can't teach; and many who can do it, can teach. I think that it would be hard to be a good IT teacher, if you can't do what you are teaching others to do. | |
| azimuth40 2002-10-04, 1:12 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Tech Ranger
That's an age old saying, but I have found no truth in it whatsoever. In my experience in IT I have found that many who can do it, can't teach; and many who can do it, can teach. I think that it would be hard to be a good IT teacher, if you can't do what you are teaching others to do.
Excellent comment. I have rotated between doing and teaching since 1970 and what you say holds true. In fact when I was doing hardware design, the engineers that moved ahead where the ones that could best explain their design to someone that knew nothing about the subject. Teaching now keeps me off airplanes which I can do without.  | |
| darthw 2002-10-07, 5:07 pm |
| I do most of mine as self-study. I do take computer courses regularly at a local vo-tech and community college, but the courses are geared more toward degree work, not certifications. However, some of the information crosses over well for the certs.
I prefer self-study, particularly if I can get my hands-on on some of the stuff. A drawback, the companies for whom I've worked have never paid for books or materials for self-study, but I have had a couple classes on their dime (at the community college mind you, not the high-dollar, one-week tech schools). Self-study does take discipline though, but it is the best way for me to learn most of the time. | |
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| I prefer the self-study method, although I always search for the "cheaper" methods as it's hard to afford the $2-5K courses/boot camps. I have taken SUN, IBM-Tivoli, and StorageTek courses via live instructor. Again, as noted in this post, it depends on the instructor's education, teaching style learned (ISD), etc. I've had colleagues who've taken the same SUN course at different locations and each had different experiences re the presentation. Ranges from excellent to "I want my money back." | |
| Supertech 2002-10-08, 6:55 pm |
| My wife has taught CS for thirteen years. I also serve on the advisory board of the networking program of our local state votech college. It always strikes me that the truly gifted instructors are outnumbered by the warm bodies. The good ones seem to have a passion for teaching and that comes through. | |
| Lunatic Fringe 2002-10-08, 9:04 pm |
| Thank you for all of your comments.
I know for me personally I feel more connected to the training when I self study. The one class I took I found that I would get distracted at times and it was hard to keep focused on the material. We would be moving through the material at a good clip when someone would stop the process with a question that took a while to answer. Then it took a while to get back on topic and continue with the training. When I self study I don't have to worry about me asking a question and holding up the class or for that matter anyone else. When I have a question, I can post it here and there are dozens of people that respond in an accurate and professional manner.
The positive side of taking the class was that the hardware was available to learn by setting up a network with x number of servers, printers and workstations. Too bad some of the training centers around here won't allow you to buy lab time at a reasonable fee. I know they make their money from classroom training, not allowing techs to come in and dink around with their lab equipment. Just thought it would be nice to have available.
I realize that everyone learns at a different pace and I think I can focus on the material better when I read it and do the labs at my own pace.
I will probably stick with self study because, pace of learning is important to me and I know I have all of you to help me when I get stuck.
Well thanks for the responses! I appreciate it. |
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...I have failed the CCNA twice (ver 1 & 2)...failed Server+ twice (passing #3 in Nov)...failed w2k pro & server once...so, I MAY should look into some classes 
...but I don't really get too discourage about it...I look at it as a learning experience...each test I take I seem to learn more & more about the product...