Education/training

Lambton student Web sites impress IT community

A panel of judges from the information technology industry were impressed recently by the quality of Web sites developed in a competition by Lambton College students.


[ 2002-06-05 ]

The Web development competition was held this year as part of the Introduction to Web Development course, taught by professor Jim Cooper to first-year students in the two-year Computer Programmer (CP) program and three-year Computer Programmer Analyst (CPA) program.

The optional competition, with 12 of the programs' 35 students entered, was the first of what is to become an annual event.

"The competition was a great opportunity for employers to participate in our CP and CPA programs and see first-hand the quality of work that our students are capable of producing," Cooper said.

"Since the judges were from industry, this provided an opportunity for industry professionals to supply direct feedback into the content of the course material. This is one way for our CP and CPA programs to stay current with the needs of industry."


"Their resumes will be enhanced by noting the Web sites they have created, and will certainly give them an opportunity to display their work. This will give prospective employers an opportunity to evaluate their skill level," said judge Anna Caro, IT Applications manager, Veltri Metal Products.

Several companies from the college's program advisory committee donated the awards, including IBM Canada Ltd, Veltri Metal Products, Inc., PFW Systems Corp. and Lambton College.

The students were asked to develop a Web site using IBM's WebSphere Studio product and publish it through the college's IBM Series Server that runs an HTTP Apache server. Check out competition results at students.lambton.on.ca.

The Introduction to Web Development course is part of the two-year Computer Programmer and three-year Computer Programmer Analyst programs. Both programs use IBM's Partners in Education (PIE) curricula with emphasis on software development and Internet technologies.

The CP and CPA programs provide opportunities to learn software development, database design and implementation, computer operations and system administration, programming languages, systems analysis and design, networking, and Java and the Internet. In addition, students develop business application, workplace, and career skills.

The three-year co-op Computer Programmer Analyst program includes an optional co-op element. In addition to providing the same skills as the CP program, the CPA program provides the additional skills required for career advancement in the field of information technology including systems administration, project leader, systems analyst, and consultant.

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College Boreal will soon be offering French-language career education and training programs at Centennial College's Centre for Creative Communications, on Carlaw Avenue in Toronto. The goal is to meet the needs of the francophone community in the area, following several consultations.

Centennial College has earned a reputation as one of the most diverse postsecondary institutions in Canada, and the College Boreal programs promise to contribute to the rich multicultural mix at the college.

Toronto receives approximately one-half of the country's annual influx of new Canadians, some of whom are from francophone regions of the world.

The French-language programs being offered this fall will include business and health science-related studies.

For more information about francophone programs at College Boreal, visit www.borealc.on.ca; for Centennial College information, www.centennialcollege.ca.

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Graduates of DeVry College of Technology will demonstrate their IT prowess at an upcoming tech fair.

The graduating classes of the electronics engineering technology, computer information systems and business information systems programs will be on hand today from 1 p.m. to demonstrate their senior projects to professionals in the technology industry, DeVry faculty and staff and local senior elementary and secondary school teachers and students.

The projects represent hours of research and development, and provide an opportunity for students to put their newly acquired technical and business skills to use. This year's graduating class will demonstrate several projects.

The event, which is partly open to the public, is taking place at DeVry's Mississauga Campus at 5860 Chedworth Way.

For more information, call Judy Fraser at 905-502-5193 ext. 6116.