[nfbcs] Trade schools

Wed Mar 27 17:38:03 UTC 2013

I am not sure you can completely blame the school...you said it John....you
get out what you put in.......you can go to the same school and someone
learn a lot and another not.....
Denise

On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 1:16 PM, John G. Heim <jheim at math.wisc.edu> wrote:

> By trade school do you mean for-profit tech schools  like the University
> of Phoenix   or Upper Iowa University? I think state-sponsored technical
> colleges are okay. But I have a story about the for-profit places.
>
> A few years ago, I talked the owner of the small consulting business I was
> working for into contacting my state's Department of Vocational Rehab and
> having them send over someone to fill a vacancy. They sent over a
> middle-aged man who had lost his voice in a car accident and therefore had
> lost his job as a salesman. This man had gone back to school at one of
> these for-profit tech schools for a degree in computer programming. On his
> first day, I gave him an assignment and came back a few hours later to see
> how he was doing. He hadn't even gotten started. He didn't know how to get
> started. So I figured it was my mistake and I'd given too difficult of an
> assignment. So I gave him an easier one. When I came back a while later, he
> hadn't gotten started on that either. So I asked him to write a program
> counting from one to ten. Just display the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
> 9, and 10.  He couldn't do that either. He was fired before the day was
> done.
>
> It was heartbreaking. He already had to deal with the accident and it's
> aftermat. Now he was going to have to come to grips with the knowledge that
> the effort he'd put into putting his life back together  was wasted.  I
> have no idea what happened to him but I only hope he somehow managed to
> pick himself up off the mat one more time and give it another try.
>
> There was no way I could excuse or even hide his lack of knowledge. It was
> embarrassing for me but mostly I just felt bad for the guy. And it was bad
> for Voc Rehab because there was no way my company was ever going to work
> with them again.
>
> I talked to the guy toward the end of the day abouthow his lessons worked.
> It sounded pretty much like a normal classroom situation. He sat through
> lectures, got assignments, tests. It was unclear how he managed to pass
> without learning anything. Honestly, I  wanted to tell him that he should
> demand his money back.
>
> I always say that life is like a vending machine, you don't get anything
> out of it unless you put something in. Maybe the school worked that way. I
> know the guy didn't deliberately avoid learning anything. But maybe he
> didn't try very hard either. But I do not think that is what happened. I
> think he was ripped off. I think the school was just a scam to seperate
> particularly vulnerable people from their money.
>
> On 03/26/2013 09:38 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:
>
>> Pursuant to our discussion a few weeks ago about whether a 4-year CS
>> degree is required to find employment, I wonder about the results from
>> trade schools.  I hear ads for many places that say they will teach a
>> person programming.  Are any of them worthwhile?
>> I am trying to advise a young blind man who wants to get into programming.
>>   My first piece of advice was that he should join this list, where he
>> will
>> get lots of different perspectives.  He's thinking he'll go to a community
>> college, then get a 4-year CS degree.  Sounds fine.  But, with the huge
>> cost of 4-year colleges these days, I was wondering if he might do equally
>> well, and be less in debt, if he went the trade school route. Or is that
>> all a huge scam?
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________**_________________
>> nfbcs mailing list
>> nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org>
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nfbcs:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/**
>> jheim%40math.wisc.edu<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/jheim%40math.wisc.edu>
>>
>>
> ______________________________**_________________
> nfbcs mailing list
> nfbcs at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org>
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nfbcs:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/**
> deniserob%40gmail.com<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/deniserob%40gmail.com>
>

-- 
*Dr Denise*

Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D.
CEO, TechVision, LLC
Specialist in Technology/Training/Teaching for blind/low vision
423-573-6413

Website with hundreds of informational articles & lessons on PC, Office
products, Mac, iPad/iTools and more, all done with
keystrokes: www.yourtechvision.com

"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it." --Chinese Proverb

Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid: humans are incredibly
slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond
imagination.
--Albert Einstein

It's kind of fun to do the impossible.
--Walt Disney