Have you ever heard of students designing a class where the professors teach the things the students want to learn? Well, at Kent State this alternate universe has become quite real.

A group of Computer Information Systems students have developed a new course called Technology Bootcamp, a Management and Information Systems special topics course, which is set to be available for enrollment for the Spring 2017 semester.

A first of its kind at Kent State, Technology Bootcamp was created for students by students and contains relevant information that will provide students with a competitive edge and can be used as a resume builder. Students will also be able to carry the information they learn into their academic and their future careers after graduation.

Eric Curley, a senior computer information systems major, who worked on the development of the course, said they wanted to make a change from the typical stagnant courses that teach outdated and irrelevant information.  

“We wanted to create a course that can be put in place and kept for five to six years but the content can change,” Curley said. “This course can still be taught forever and still be relevant. We are building something that will last and its being built by the students every single time.”

Technology Bootcamp is available to students of all majors with the only prerequisite being an accumulative 3.0 GPA. There are 40 spots available for the class per semester and the instructor has to approve every student who applies for the course. All of the resources needed for the course are completely free and are provided to students through an online textbook.

The class is an online modularized course split up into 4-week sections. Each section will have a self-contained module where students learn a topic from beginning to end before moving onto the next topic. Currently, the module topics of the course include Mobile Development and Infrastructure and Security–both of which have never been taught before in the Information Systems Curriculum.

However, the modules will eventually change over time in order to maintain relevancy.

Amy Rohozen, a senior computer information system major, one of the creators of the course, said this class focuses on thinking competitively with technology and thinking about how it can be implemented in new and revolutionary ways.

“By creating this class, we developed a very completive course with relevant technologies, so once a student graduates they will be able to use this class in the field very quickly,” Rohozen said. “We wanted to open more doors so people could be familiar with these competitive concepts.”

Alison Graham, senior computer information system major, who helped create the class, said one of the greatest elements of this course is the final project, where during the last three weeks of the course, students will be able to create their own module they would like students to learn in the future.

“You can change the course if you don’t find something effective for your knowledge,” Graham said. “We don’t want to give information to students that they can’t use. We want this to be extremely beneficial and provide students the power to make a change.”

Geoffrey Steinberg, a Management and Information Systems professor who has overseen the development of Technology Bootcamp, said he hopes the new course will open students’ eyes to more topics in technology that they would like to pursue in their own future coursework or their careers.

“Technology Bootcamp will be a deep and rapid immersion into carefully selected current technology topics,” Steinberg said. “It will be fast paced, challenging, exciting and fun. It will benefit students in their understanding on technology regardless of their major.”

Caroline Licata is a jobs reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].