I can imagine two possible curriculae in which a textbook could work. The area I have been researching might lend itself to a supplemental text (far easier to get approved for a course than an actual text book) within a Computer Science, Information Systems, Database-y curriculum specifically for the purpose of showing that not all databases are SQL-DBMS's (or deriving from the RDBMS wave). Simply showing the video I mentioned is helpful to giving students who have spent half a semester normalizing data a broader perspective. If your book would fit into that curriculum, I have already given some thought on how to pursue that, enough to decide it was not worth it to me, but it might be to you and your publisher. Some of this has to do with what the current reach and goals of your publisher are.
The second area would be an introduction to programming, to give non-CS majors more of a clue about the profession of software development than they would get by coding Excel macros. Sam Anderson and others worked with Martin at Ladybridge to get an OO implementation in OpenQM, making it a good candidate for such a course. Students can then learn both procedural and OO programming. I have less knowledge of what the business curriculae are like across the US, recognizig they vary greatly, to have a clue how to market to this crowd. They are more likely to listen to what industry is telling them they need in student skillsets and also perhaps more swayed by magazines on what the trends are in computing, so I'm not sure how easy it would be to break in with BASIC at this point, but if it is positioned well and your pilot site has good success, I can imagine some others possibly being interested. You likely know this, but the requirements for textbooks these days include such things as integration with BlackBoard and Moodle, with an adjustable syllabus, powerpoints for each day of class sometimes and even online quizes and tests, as well as possibly both an instructor and student web site with working examples and such. If your publisher is not set up for textbook sales, it could be difficult for instructors to find your offering. Java is currently the language that incoming Freshman need to know in order to get college credit for any programming efforts from their high school years. It is not an easy language to get into, however. So, I can imagine getting students started with something else, such as BASIC (although Python or even Ruby come to mind, but are not as easy for data processing) Now, I just talked to you on the phone the other day, Chuck, and we chatted about a lot of your various jobs, but this one didn't even come up. You sure are keepin' busy! --dawn On 5/11/07, Charles Barouch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Mark, Not a class on MV, a class on introduction to programatic thought, using MV as a clean, graspable BAISC. - Chuck "Stealth" Barouch MAJ Programming wrote: > I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any college courses for MV. > I have 2 kids, aged 20 & 17. When the 20 yr old was in 7th grade (7 years > ago) they were exposed to Microsoft Office items like Word, Excel, > PowerPoint, Publisher and even Access. Likewise for the 17 yr old more > recently. > >From that point forward, the kids are incredibly immersed in everything > GUI/windows/internet. The endless hours of IMing, downloading, surfing and > everything else GUI seems to point forward in the right direction. > Thus, imagine a college student considering such courses as Cisco > Certification, MCSE and other highly visible entities also considering an MV > course if it were offered. Upon the first day they would quickly drop the > course as MV offers neither an entertainable/WYSIWYG environment, a familiar > data structure (to those weened on everything MS), a practical purpose for > the individual nor any seemingly useful employment opportunities. > > Sorry for the dark cloud but I can't imagine even the most purposeful young > adult considering MV. I teach the Computer merit badge in the Boy Scouts and > even that course outline is heavily MS. I even took the brightest kid in my > class, a senior at a local High-Tech (Gifted & Talented) high school and > fired up one of my D3 systems to show him how I make a living. > > I spent way too much time trying to make analogies in MV to what I know he > knows about MS Access. This kid is Cisco Certified from his school and > capable of understanding the MV model. But since it was different, it was an > uphill battle to illustrate some of its superior features. > > I saw the look in his eyes that he was being polite in letting me speak but > he was clearly not interested in something that looks like DOS. While I know > that there are many 4GL's and GUI overlays for MV, it still is a huge amount > of command-line stuff. > > We are the best kept secret in the computer business. Virtually zero people > have heard of Pick, MV or any of the old or present flavors. Yes, everyone's > heard of IBM but that's about it. Honeywell makes air conditioners, Mcdonnel > Douglass makes airplanes and Sanyo makes consumer electronics. > > I believe there is a delicate balance between proficient MV programmers and > MV environments. The newer MV programmers may have gotten thrust into > supporting a MV environment when their employers added that slight > responsibility to their otherwise IT (network/Ms/unix) list. > > I'm sure actual mileage may differ but not by much. I'm glad I'm an > independent programmer as a few of my full-time MV programmer > acquaintenances are now looking at their MV jobs disappearing with each MV > system being replaced. Hopefully they are professionally versed in other > environments as I am endeavouring as well. ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
-- Dawn M. Wolthuis Tincat Group, Inc. tincat-group.com Take and give some delight today ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
