I recently found an article that said that around the world about 5% of the public were very skilled in using a computer. I passed a bachelor of science degree in business information technology in 1997 which is nearly 25 years ago. I have kept abreast of many developments but I am really just a hobbyist now but I guess back then I would have been an expert and even by today’s standards it probably wouldn’t take me long to learn what was needed to be in that 5%.
I started by taking a degree foundation in technology which taught me amongst other things how to use a desktop computer, I then studied a higher national diploma in business information technology (94/96) I remember the computer labs were called 386 and 486 and one lab was running Windows 3.1 and the other was running Windows 95 and the internet wasn’t even on the syllabus. I wasn’t funded for my HND as I had already had one go at university but dropped out. In my second year of the HND I did a multimedia module and I remember the most powerful computer in the multimedia lab was a Pentium 66, how times have changed. Me and two colleagues on my course did a project for the local police constabulary making a program to help learner drivers and when it was completed the two police officers who we liaised with and ourselves appeared on local BBC radio and in the western daily press.
I went on to top up to the bachelor of science degree in business information technology (96/97) I was given funding for the top up by the local education authority in Devon as I had done so well in my HND. I remember that the degree was over 3,000 hours in total including the HND, I studied about ten level ones at 3,000 words each, ten level twos at 4,000 words each and four level threes at 5,000 words each for an ordinary bachelor of science without honours. My subjects included project management, systems analysis, IT law, ethics, IT and society, accounting, programming with packages, and I even did French 1 and European studies as electives. I should add that at the time about 4% of the adult population has a science degree in anything.
I think it was a good degree and worth feeling proud about, when I looked into entry requirements they were in the region of B, B, C in A levels which is pretty high, then you’ve got your three years of increasingly difficult learning on top of that.
Actually, I should also mention that I met my wife while studying my HND and I also worked for the college as a night porter for more than two years during my study.
This is my transcript:
The story in the western daily press:
My HND results:
My staff card as a night porter working seven nights on, seven nights off for two years.
The statistics for computer use today around the world:
A video of me explaining myself
