I agree with everything you said, as this seems to be a more solutions-oriented approach than most. I would add three more:
6) Communication
At many organizations, there are rooms full of programmers who are technically brilliant enough to make computers dance on command, but those aren't the ones who talk to customers and often aren't the ones who are promoted. The most effective and valuable technical professional is one who is great at what they do AND can communicate intelligently in a variety of media. This course would cover technical and business writing, public speaking, speaking and listening aspects of discussion, and persuasion.
7) Documentation
(prerequisite: Communication)
This course would cover two types of documentation: inline code comments for future programmers who may edit your code, and user documentation in html (or another readable form). Inline comments would cover things like explaining what certain identifiers stand for, prefaced explanations (inputs/outputs is a good place to start) and anything that you would want to know when editing someone else's code. User docs will teach how to identify one's audience and write to that user level and at just the right pace.
8) Security Theory
Needless to say, keeping its information secure is one of the biggets concerns of any organization, and it will continue to be so. Students need to know general concepts of keeping a network secure, not just the latest Cisco-specific DeVry offerings, and need to understand that most the specifics they learn may be obsolete before they have a chance to apply them. This course would take a very diverse network running on several different platforms and simulate attacks to test the proactive and reactive concepts that students have learned.
I hope this was helpful! Let me know if you agree/disagree.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with everything you said, as this seems to be a more solutions-oriented approach than most. I would add three more: 6) Communication At many organizations, there are rooms full of programmers who are technically brilliant enough to make computers dance on command, but those aren't the ones who talk to customers and often aren't the ones who are promoted. The most effective and valuable technical professional is one who is great at what they do AND can communicate intelligently in a variety of media. This course would cover technical and business writing, public speaking, speaking and listening aspects of discussion, and persuasion. 7) Documentation (prerequisite: Communication) This course would cover two types of documentation: inline code comments for future programmers who may edit your code, and user documentation in html (or another readable form). Inline comments would cover things like explaining what certain identifiers stand for, prefaced explanations (inputs/outputs is a good place to start) and anything that you would want to know when editing someone else's code. User docs will teach how to identify one's audience and write to that user level and at just the right pace. 8) Security Theory Needless to say, keeping its information secure is one of the biggets concerns of any organization, and it will continue to be so. Students need to know general concepts of keeping a network secure, not just the latest Cisco-specific DeVry offerings, and need to understand that most the specifics they learn may be obsolete before they have a chance to apply them. This course would take a very diverse network running on several different platforms and simulate attacks to test the proactive and reactive concepts that students have learned. I hope this was helpful! Let me know if you agree/disagree.