What i have learnt about computers is self-taught.Is this the best way to learn?

Question

when you look at all the courses, they are just so full of jargon and general geekiness....what better way is there to move on fast than kind of muddling through a bit at a time? Thanks for all sensible answers from those WHO HAVE A REAL heart- empathy FOR EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Answer 1

Do what I did for 6 years, work in I.T to get hands on experience and at the same time study courses in college at nights or day release.  Its hard but worth it in the end.

Answer 2

Self-taught means that you have had opportunity to focus on the things that you want to know. In over 90% of the "self-taught" people who I hire, there are incredible gaps in their knowledge and experience.

You need to know the jargon in order to communicate effectively in the IT industry. The jargon and tasks at hand are no more "geeky" than the jargon and the tasks at hand for a HVAC professional or a mechanic. The only different is that IT guys go to work clean and usually go home clean. Oh, and there's far more riding on the IT guy doing his job perfectly.

Despite the defficiencies in the "self-taught" people I've hired and despite having to lay off more than 20 of the approximately 30 self-taughts I've hired in the past 6 years, I still consider them because they tend to bring a different perspective in with them. Considering the massive amounts of hardware and software my business maintains, fresh ideas and perspectives are always welcome.

However, it is also important to note that I will not normally consider a self-taught person for a job opening. The jobs I list have specific requirements in terms of education, training and experience which I will not compromise to "give a guy a break".

If, on the other hand, you never have any intention of going to work in an enterprise, but rather spend your career in small business or mom-and-pop shops, then maybe self-taught could be appropriate.

Answer 3

yes, and no. Hands on will give you a lot of knowledge, but courses will add to that, giving you information not available to your hands on approach.  

I feel that a mixture of the two is best.

Answer 4

I worked in computers for 10 years and it was all hands on.  Yes that is the best way to learn, the people who come out of college don't know much, it is almost funny to watch, but they think they do.