Foundation Degree in IT Buisness and Networking

[somabc]

Originally Posted by wizzard

Open University is very good.

These courses are certainly good value, to put it in perspective some other universities are very expensive for computing courses.

Take a look at some post-grad courses

eg. MSc in Computing for Industry

This MSc course is specifically designed for people already working in computing. It gives computing professionals an awareness of current technologies, and the principles behind them, so that they can lead effectively. Students are able to specialise in state-of-the-art methods in a wide spectrum of areas of software engineering and related tools and technologies. This gives them an understanding of emerging research trends and an awareness of how they may be adapted in industrial applications. Entry to this course requires at least a second class Honours degree and current employment experience in the IT industry.

Cost = £18,000

MSc Computing for Industry

Or consider doing the undergrad degree BSc or BEng in Computing - most uni's in England will charge you up to £3,000 a year (£9,000 total) plus you cant work full time while you are doing it so say you are on £15,000 as a tech that's £45,000 in lost earnings and £9,000 in fees add in living expenses and you are approaching £75,000 for your degree.


Its then that I am thankful I'm Scottish and can study at uni with no fees whatsoever :P
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Ed...financial-help

If I were doing it all again I would probably choose one of these courses (Lancaster, OU etc) combined with on the job training. Now If only I could save up enough for an MSc or convince my employer to invest in me.

[AlexPilot]

The one I have chosen to do the FdSc Business Information Technology and Networking. Is part time two nights a week for three years and is £800 a year.

[petectid]

Originally Posted by john

Care to give a general over view as you've done the complete thing? Also are you stopping at that point or doing the final year of a main couse with Lancaster to get your BSc?

Its two years part time to continue on to complete the BSc after finishing your foundation degree at Lancaster. I've just completed the foundation degree graduated on the 16th of July. Absolutely great course with what I can only describe as a very hard third year followed by a even harder final year, (very very hard). But well worth the effort, three routes available that lead to an FdSc, see there site. We had one students travelling from Edinburgh to do the course.

[john]

Cheers for that info, didn't know you could do the BSc part time, thats good to know

[altecsole]

Originally Posted by john

Care to give a general over view as you've done the complete thing? Also are you stopping at that point or doing the final year of a main couse with Lancaster to get your BSc?

I found that NASA and CASA were pretty straightforward. When I did them the main emphasis was on Windows based systems, but I think there's much more generic type information now.

CANE was another step up, but pretty manageable. It's much more focussed on specific areas than the two previous courses.

CSNP was pretty hard. The workload was quite high and fitting it in around work and home was tough sometimes. The whole thing was based on software development and culminated in a project where we had to produce a demo of a working application. This was done as a team with various members taking on different parts of the coding. Prior to coding there was a module on software development to introduce project management; useful for other things, not just software development.

Coding was done using C#. This was especially hard for a couple of our team who were novice programmers. Fortunately, myself and one of the others (only four of us on the course) had a bit of programming experience so we assigned areas based on ability.

The focus of the coding was on network aware applications. We had to code a Battleships game that could be started on two machines and played across the network. We also coded a paint type program that included a chat facility and the ability to share your drawing with the person you were chatting to. The final program was a football based client app that included fixtures, news, travel information. Live streaming of football matches. Chat client for football based chat. Option for the user to upload pictures and video taken at matches and tag uploads for other users to search and display.

The help and support of the tutors at Lancaster was fantastic and I would very highly recommend any of the courses that Lancaster offer.

[petectid]

Altecsole our final year was much the same, didn't have a group with much programming experience though. As you mention the support from the tutors was second to none, they seemed to be available 24/7.

[somabc]

I would welcome some advice. I want to do an MSc in IT (or related subject) in the London area and I have been researching the various options and come up with this so far. Has anyone undertaken part time/evening study like this before. Would you recommend it? It seems a lot of money to pay up front but if it lets you get into the really well paying areas of IT it seems worth it?

I currently have no formal qualifications in IT but I am working alongside people who have both undergrad and postgraduate qualifications, so I am hoping that they will take experience into account when deciding on admissions.

Ideally I would be looking for a course designed for people who have done a degree other than computing but are working in industry and want to gain an IT qualification on day release / evenings / weekends / or possibly distance learning.

Thanks
(sorry for the thread hijacking)

[altecsole]

I think if you've already got a degree (in any subject) and some good experience in IT then you might not gain much by doing an IT specific degree. I haven't got a degree so the Foundation Degree from Lancaster along with my experience was well worth it. I haven't made a decision yet on whether to do the extra two years to gain an MSc. That depends on the options available; transferring to an OU degree is one option though.

Because the Foundation Degree is focussed on those people working in IT it's very relevant; the programming side is necessary to for the higher level (level 3?) part of the course and would help when moving on to an MSc. The other big bonus for me was that I managed to get my employer to pay for all the courses and give me to time off to attend one day per month.

I'd say it's worth looking at jobs in the area that interests you most and see what qualifications/experience they're asking for. You may find that a lot of jobs specify 'Educated to Degree Level or equivalent' without specifying a degree subject.

[somabc]

Originally Posted by altecsole

I think if you've already got a degree (in any subject) and some good experience in IT then you might not gain much by doing an IT specific degree. I haven't got a degree so the Foundation Degree from Lancaster along with my experience was well worth it. I haven't made a decision yet on whether to do the extra two years to gain an MSc. That depends on the options available; transferring to an OU degree is one option though.

Because the Foundation Degree is focussed on those people working in IT it's very relevant; the programming side is necessary to for the higher level (level 3?) part of the course and would help when moving on to an MSc. The other big bonus for me was that I managed to get my employer to pay for all the courses and give me to time off to attend one day per month.

I'd say it's worth looking at jobs in the area that interests you most and see what qualifications/experience they're asking for. You may find that a lot of jobs specify 'Educated to Degree Level or equivalent' without specifying a degree subject.

I see what your saying, and I have not really put it to the test by applying for really 'high powered' IT jobs yet to see what they say about my qualifications & experience.

I think the kind of areas that I would like to get into though are the 'suit' style roles i.e. Project Management / IT Analyst / Business Consultant / Operations Manager type roles where you can command a very good salary and have responsibility for leadership and development of IT. I think they will expect more from me than the qualifications I already have?

[altecsole]

Any of the jobs that you mention are probably going to want a degree of some sort and/or lots of relevant experience.

What I meant about looking at jobs is to keep an eye out the kind of jobs that you'd like to move into and then see what qualification and experience they're after. A lot of jobs advertised on-line will allow you to download the person specification that should include essential and desirable criteria. For jobs in papers/magazines you can always ask for the job pack to be sent to you - you don't have to apply; just get a feel for what the employers are looking for. Then you can decide on the best way forward for you.

[ashleyrobinson]

I do a Foundation degree in IT and Technical Support, We Take all of the materials but dont take the actual certified exams (be aware).

Its a great course, I do it once a week on a wednesday after evening. But as far as i know, not alot of the industry don't recognise it as a qualification and would prefer MCSE/MCSA

Ash

[StewartKnight]

I'm doing a BSc(hons) in Secondary Education ICT with QTS and I can tell you, the foundation degree from ICT Focus was a heck of a lot harder and more technical.

I miss it!!!!!

[AlexPilot]

If anyone is interested I will share my experiances so far with my Foundation Degree.

I have just finished my first module which was Oracle & SQL. Basicly it was Entity Relationship Diagrams, Tables, Keys and so on. Not the most fun I have ever had but it was okay. There were two assignments and the two came together to give me a grade (B). After Xmas I will be doing System Analysis on a Wednesday evening.

Alsongside all this is the networking portion, which is the CCNA. I just passed the final exam for Networking Fundamentals. Three more exams until im a CCNA, and needs no extra study, altho as im doing a degree I had to do two network assignments.

[tosca925]

I'm doing a BSc(hons) in Secondary Education ICT with QTS and I can tell you, the foundation degree from ICT Focus was a heck of a lot harder and more technical.

Is there anywhere i can get more info on course like this?