Weekend Review - 2 Weeks at MATC

It has been two weeks of class' here at MATC and I couldn't be more motivated. What I've found I enjoy more than just learning new things is the massive amount of resources that is provided by the college and instructors.

Of course we know that "the Google" reins supreme when it comes to providing information, but when it comes to having material taught to you I have to say that MATC really has a great understanding of what it takes to mold minds into the plug and play model.

While every class does have a book assigned to it, there are a lot of compliments to them as well. Two of my courses have access to CBTNuggets which is an awesome video tutorial series helping guide you along the course material.

Also, being enrolled at MATC (in an IT program) gives you access to DreamSpark which allows you to download free full versions of programs that relate to the course material. This is great so that most of us don't have to use our "work-a-rounds" to practice on applications that give us experience using up to date tools in the industry.

Then of course there are very specific tools related to the Cisco classes. By far the most challenging of the classes but with the most resources to offer. I hands down love how they've developed their program. You have online quizzes, pretests, interactive tutorials, and what must be their crowning achievement, the packet tracer program. This program simulates active, real time network traffic and is remarkably thick. There are guides that walk you through processes and a checker button to analyze what you have and haven't accomplished in any one practice. If I could meet the team that had the idea to put this together I would give them all a hug...for real.

Aside from the amazing amount of resources I find the instructors lectures increasingly helpful. There's an honest sense of wanting to make sure we succeed and they all seem to genuinely care if we need help on a topic. They all have real world experience and they appear to grasp the course material in a way to present it in a meaningful manner. That and they all have a sense of humor. Even if the majority of the material is technical its refreshing to see how they can toss a joke in here and there while referring to something.

The last and I dare to say the most valuable resources I found that we have is each other. One of our classes we are strongly encouraged to work with each other, inside and outside of class. There are so many tools at our disposal that I have never thought of using but now see how remarkable they can be. Specifically the ability to work on documents live with another person. If you never have, let me tell you, there's something extremely exciting about sharing information in real time with someone who's right there on your screen. Checking notes, bouncing ideas back and forth, it's really something.

There's much more to learn as I progress though the semester. I plan on sharing some of the things I learn along the way. Until next time!