It worked so well for me that I decided to go one further and get a masters in technical communications. It’s pretty interesting as I am focusing mostly on information architecture and web layout in terms of textual placement and content. It’s kind of the perfect amalgam since I still get my programming rocks off but am exposed to a different side of the field.

Just my $.02.

Best,
Steven

There is a lot more emphasis given on Open Source Development these days at the college/university level, with some people even organizing student competitions to develop an interest and liking in the field.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said about topics related to Software Architecture / Software Project Management. Though the universities have compulsory modules related to these topics, they are mostly theoretical and on almost all occasions the lecturer never gives the actual low down on how the ideas are implemented – you talk about Agile but even something as basic as software design patterns. As a result the subject falls under the ‘boring’ category amongst the students and gets neglected.

In the current climate though, I would love to see some more attention given to User Interface (UI) design and development, especially after the ‘less is more’ adage for UIs for softwares targeted towards mobile handsets and other portable devices.

I couldn’t agree more with Skorkin’s point of view. I graduated with a B.I.T. degree majoring in Management. Thus I have been given exposure on some business courses like Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Business Communication, and so forth. Until today, however, I haven’t had the opportunity to apply these knowledge in workplace, yet (I’m a graduate student doing CS). The current degree which I’m pursuing emphasizes more on analytical thinking and technical skills. My Supervisor, of course, does hope that his students are equipped with soft skills. That’s why he also expects us to have daily discussion in the lab, mentoring juniors and joining weekly discussion between him and his project students.

Back to the other 2 points. An Agile Process is totally new to me. What I could remember from a Software Engineering course taken during my undergraduate is the Waterfall and V model. Neither did my University taught me Open Source. My undergraduate final-year supervisor was (and is still) pro-Microsoft. For some reasons, he has strong disapproval of Linux as well as open source. My second and current supervisor who comes from a Unix background does not involved in open source development either. Keeping abreast with the latest industrial technologies, he tends to cling on well-established IT companies to exploit any advantages and pull their resources (e.g. people, hardware, training, etc) to our University. Even the entire culture in my Faculty isn’t toward open source. AFAIK, only one academic staff is pro-Linux, but he has been away on three-year sabbatical. Very few students I met implemented their projects on Linux. Thus, to encourage the students here to use Linux is difficult, not to mention open source development.

Indeed, Skorkin’s post has triggered me to think about my future academic path and has raised awareness that open source projects are invaluable teaching materials too. Driving the students to open source projects is time-consuming, though. When I was once a part-time lecturer, I spent one third of the semester to allow my students to pick up basic Linux commands. Skorkin mentioned that using Linux isn’t enough. It seems that I’d need to involve myself in open source projects before being able to enlarge the sphere of influence.