Systems Administration Education in the Modern Computer Age

No field has witnessed more advancement in the last decade than information technology. With the continual onset of technological breakthroughs, change seems to be the only constant in the vast system of hardware and software that constitutes the modern computer age. The boom in technology has accelerated to such a rapid pace that administrators of database systems are often mired in the wasteland of yesterday's systems analysis while trying to incorporate the inevitable changes of tomorrow.

The educational community has been historically slow to react to changes in the instructional methods by which systems administrators are taught. Now, however, many institutions of higher learning are taking an all encompassing approach to information technology related training by focusing less on the actual protocols in current use and more on the theory that all technological advancements share. The end result seems to be an increased capacity for recent IT degree program graduates to understand the fundamental relationships between old and new technology. This new understanding has allowed many newly appointed systems administration professionals to flourish where their predecessors have failed. As is the case in almost any field of employment, adaptability is the key to survival.

Institutions who offer distance learning programs, in particular, appear to be at the forefront of the new instructional methodologies that are turning out skilled and highly sought after graduates. Perhaps the very nature of online learning has hastened the transition from teaching industry standard curriculum to instruction on the fundamentals of modern IT systems. As online degree programs update their course materials more frequently than their campus based counterparts on average, it may well be economics that has fueled the fires of change. In all likelihood, distance learning institutions have long ago realized that trying to incorporate the myriad of changes to modern IT infrastructures into their curriculum is not only impossible, but a waste of time as well. Those who learn what is current will only have their knowledge become obsolete within a few years, while those who understand the base elements and grasp the concepts which function as the building blocks of systems technology will succeed. The ultimate beneficiary of these curriculum changes will be the students whose knowledge is still viable long after the technology of today is no longer in use.