Since I left college in May 2002, I have been involved in numerous teaching activities around my home county of Roscommon. I commenced teaching in October 2002. The following is a brief outline of my teaching activies, my employers and the kinds of people that I was teaching.
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Employer
Number 1: The Commercial Academy
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At the start of October 2002, I was fortunate enough in finding employment as an ECDL (European Computer Driving License) tutor with the Commercial Academy in Goff Street, Roscommon town. The principle of the Commercial Academy school is Mrs. Mary Feeley. The Academy offered me morning and evening courses whereby my job was to teach the seven module ECDL course to groups of students. Some of these students were retired teachers, more were retired from the bank, others were school and college students that wanted to earn themselves a recognised certificate in the fundamentals of computers and Information Techology (I.T) computer applications (i.e. Microsoft Office 2000) and the rest of the students were normal hard-working people who simply expressed a genuine interest in learning about computers and how to use them effectively in a more productive and efficient way. The morning courses took place from 11:00a.m to 2:00p.m and the evening courses took place from 7:00p.m to 9:00p.m.
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MODULE
NUMBER
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MODULE
DESCRIPTION
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Module 1
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Basics of Information Technology |
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Module 2
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File Management |
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Module 3
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Word Processing |
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Module 4
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Spreadsheets |
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Module 5
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Databases |
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Module 6
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Powerpoint Presentations |
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Module 7
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Internet, E-Mail and Communication |
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Employer
Number 2: The Roscommon Vocational Educational Council (V.E.C) Board
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At the end of October 2002, I was fortunate enough in finding employment as an ECDL (European Computer Driving License) and Introduction To Computers tutor with the Roscommon Vocational Educational Council in Lanesboro Street, Roscommon town. The current head of the Adult Education Committee is Mr. Tom Costello. A few weeks after I left in my application form and CV for a computer teaching position, Tom rang me and offered me morning and evening courses whereby my job was to teach the seven module ECDL course plus an Introduction to Computers course to groups of students. The Introduction to Computers course had no course outline so therefore Tom told me that I had to design my very own course composition material for this section of teaching. Most of the people I had to teach with the VEC were normal hard-working people who simply expressed a genuine interest in learning about computers and how to use them effectively in a more productive and efficient way and also wanted to earn themselves a recognised certificate in the fundamentals of computers and Information Techology (I.T) computer applications (i.e. Microsoft Office 2000). The morning courses took place from 11:00a.m to 2:00p.m and the evening courses took place from 8:00p.m to 10:00p.m.
The following is a little information about my plans with regards to teaching and publishing my very own course material that I have been spending more time working on with every chance I get - especially when I have time off from teaching - more or less hobby time.
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Teaching
and Publishing Plans For The Future
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At the minute, I am looking into publishing my own course material for various levels of computing - from Beginners to Intermediate to Advanced levels. This take a lot of work and commitment. When I left the Letterkenny Institute of Technology in May 2002, I started looking into teaching as I always had an interest in lecturing computers at Institutes of Technology (ITs) and Universities.