Irish Education or American, You Decide

This semester, I have been studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland through the Boston University Dublin Management Internship program.  Unlike many of the other BU abroad programs, we directly enroll in a host institution rather than taking classes at a Boston University student center.  This means we are taking the actual Irish classes along with Irish students as they work towards their degrees.  This interaction and firsthand experience has allowed me to gain an interesting perspective on differing educational systems.

Here at the University College Dublin Quinn School of Management, the curriculum, course requirements, and credit hours are very different for equivalent degrees in the United States.  There are a number of reasons that I think the educational environment is different here.  First, students do not pay for their school tuition, the government does.  As much as it is elitist to say, I think this may contribute to student buy-in as far as the educational process goes.  Since they have no financial responsibility, as compared to US students, students may not take classes as seriously as they might otherwise if there was a financial stake in their coursework.

Second, many Irish students have a three year program to earn their Bachelor’s Degree as compared to the American four year system.  When looking at the curriculums, the Irish spend their entire university career in the college of their major taking courses that relate directly to that major.  There are not the same sorts of “general education” or “elective” course requirements as we have at Boston University.  It seems that by reducing the course load of outside classes, Irish curriculums are able to graduate students a year faster than most American colleges.  I wonder whether this has an effect on the work place and hirability.  One might question maturity and experience given students are hired into firms for full time work at the age of twenty-one rather than our traditional twenty-two.

Finally, the Irish curriculum and teaching style that we are experiencing is very different from that which we are used to at Boston University.  Classes are almost exclusively lecture style with little to no classroom participation and minimal feedback.  The instructor will generally talk about notes they have prepared in a PowerPoint presentation or an Adobe PDF that then displays on a projector.  Classes tend to be about three hours long with a break in the middle and meet once a week.  In contrast, the longest class I had experienced prior to UCD was two hours, met twice a week, and was VERY interactive.  Even our large lecture style courses tended to interact either by cold-call, interactive clickers, or other real-time feedback.

I have not yet formed my opinion about what system is “better” since I have not really gone out and experienced what it is like to work alongside these students.  In a little over a week, I will be starting an internship in downtown Dublin where, among other goals, I hope to experience firsthand what it is to work in Ireland.  I personally prefer the BU system and curriculum because it works better for me, or perhaps because I have grown up with it, so to speak.

What do you think?  Does the Irish system of education sound better to you?  Is it more fun?  If you were a hiring manager, who would you rather hire?  Post a comment or drop a line to james.m.connors [dot] gmail [dot] com and let the community know what you think.

Why Do We Hate High Achievement?

I have been wondering for a while now about a simple question.  Why does our culture hate it when someone is going above and beyond?  Why is high achievement looked down upon by our peers?  Today, I experienced this very effect while at a program meeting.  Allow me to explain.

There is a project that requires a certain amount of writing.  Now this project was supposed to encompass our views from our entire job placement in Ireland within the 7-week internship.  This report is supposed to be 14 pages long… just 14 pages for almost two days of daily entries.  Anyone that has read this blog knows that I love to write so when I saw that it was 14 pages DOUBLE SPACED!  Really?  That is not enough.  Seven pages of writing are not enough to sum up the deep pontifications from almost two months.

When asking about the requirements to understand whether it would be ok to write more, my peers scoffed, laughed, and became perturbed.  Why?  Why is it so bad that I want to do a little bit more than the minimum?  You will say, “But, James, if the minimum was enough, why would you want to do more?”  Well, to that I say this: we are abroad in a foreign country for the longest time than you have ever been away from everything that is normal to you.  I have to say that there is plenty that I would like to talk about.  I have been thinking critically about those aspects of my experience that are not “normal” and have noticed some very interesting differences.  I want to write about it - I want to have something tangible to show for my time here.

Why does that threaten society when someone would like to do a little bit more?  I do not think that it threatens to unbalance the world or shake the status quo.  Are we a society that is afraid to push a little bit harder for fear of filling the voids of our lives that we currently fill with mind-numbing television?  Or does it come to something much more personal?  Perhaps it would not have mattered if it were one of their friends, but because it had been me, an outsider, it was acceptable to be openly perturbed.  I cannot really figure it out.

Do you have any experiences like this?  Any ideas as to why we as a society dislike those that push the minimum requirements?  Leave a comment and we will get back to you.

The Gratitude Campaign

A New Name - A New Mission

Well, I have been reading a lot online and learning more and more about how to market yourself online and bascially, I’ve decided that I needed to own my name a little more than I do (online that is).  Therefore, I have registered www.jamesmconnors.com to bring together all of my projects.  If you came in over the old jconnors.net URL, hopefully you were redirected without issue.  I’ll be doing more testing to make sure that the transition doesn’t break anything major.

So the look is the same, the name is different, and now I’m trying to figure out where to bring this blog.  I know I want to keep it as an outlet for me to spend time on and all that but I also want to make sure that I can tie together my projects.  Some know that I’ll be launching a company in the near-ish future and hopefully that’ll bring my online operations into one single entity.  So look for information about that in the near future.

Hope you’re all keeping well and that you’re stopping in every now and then.  For more updates on my current adventures, please check out http://www.jamesindublin.com for a narrative of my semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland and my various romps around Europe.

New Approach to Fixing your Computer

MinuteFix, a new startup based out of San Fransisco redefines what it means to get technical support.  You just have to log into the website instead of bringing your machine into a shop and surrendering your prized possession to some 18 year old just waiting to search through your pictures, videos, and financial records.  I think this service could be amazing and here’s why:

You pay by the minute - it is the namesake of the company.  The first 5 minutes that you’re working with a technician are free - you don’t pay a dime.  If your issue is resolved in that period, then grand, you just got some free work.  Heck, you can ask questions for opinions and pick the tech’s brain for 4  minutes and 56 seconds without paying - just make sure you give some good feedback at the end.  This system lets you pay only for what you use instead of other shops that will cost you $80 or more just to have someone look at it.

The techs are from around the world and tested safe!  Each MinuteFix tech brings unique experiences and knowledge to the team.  They help each other out and learn from one another.  When you log into MinuteFix, you describe your problem and get hooked into the highest rated tech available in the category of your issue.  That’s unheard of!  Knowing some of these people, they’re all experts in their fields and they all want to help you out.

If your problem isn’t fixed, you don’t pay a dime - How many times have you brought your computer into the shop, pay the $80 for someone to look at it only to find out that they can’t!?  Ridiculous!  If a MinuteFix tech can’t fix your problem, you don’t have to pay no matter how long it took to get to that point.  It’s really a great service.

I wrote another article about MinuteFix on my podcast blog over at CollegeTechCentral.

About James Connors - IS323 Project Post

James Connors

Contact Information

• Email: jconnors@bu.edu
• Phone: (207) 712-1674
• Mail: P.O. Box 15054 Boston, MA 02215

General Information

James Connors is a Junior in the School of Management at Boston University. He is currently majoring in Business Administration with a dual concentration in Finance and Management Information Systems. This semester, I have played the role of the “tech guy” and have supported the technical portions of the project. I’ve also built our website, mailing lists, and helped my teammates with their IT tasks. I think it’s interesting that I’m been a part of a Search and Rescue (SAR) team through Civil Air Patrol for the last five years, I’ve spent a month in Australia, and I was accepted into the Boston University Management Internship Program in Dublin.

Hemisphere Security(Team Website)

http://www.hemispheresecurity.com

Favorite Links

http://www.collegetechcentral.com (My Podcast)

http://www.flock.com (A really cool browser everyone should check out)

Next Generation Financial Tool with MINT

So here’s the thing, college kids are lazy and very NOT-proactive about finances. Mint, a new web-based financial tool, makes it easy to bring into one place every financial account that a student is likely to have. This means you can pull in your credit cards, your bank accounts, loans and investments coming soon. They say they support over 1500 different financial institutions/services and it’s all as easy simply logging in.

I have a couple different bank accounts and a couple credit cards that I like to keep tabs on. Each account has a web-based interface where I can go online and check balances, reconcile accounts, or even pay bills. To use them with Mint, all I need to do is provide my log in credentials for those services. Within minutes, Mint has grabbed the account balances and recent transactions for those accounts and starts building a clear, central picture of your financial situation.

In the main screen, you get an overview of your bank accounts, the available money as well as the available credit. Furthermore, you’ll see your credit card balances and a debt to cash indication. This would be amazing enough but then Mint goes ahead and computes some very interesting information. First, they’ll establish your spending patterns and display them on a running basis where you can compare your current spending with average spending. They’ll then bring you alerts that you set for low balances, bills about to come due, major transactions, and even when checks clear. These can be sent via email or mobile alert to your phone. Finally, Mint brings some interesting offers to your door.

Every website needs to make some money and this is how Mint monetizes their service to pay the bills. By analyzing your spending trends and current financial situation, Mint presents a number of offers that can always save you money for which they may or may not give you a commission. Different offers provide Mint with different compensation or none at all but they pledge to always display offer that will help save you, the user, money even if they aren’t getting anything out of it.

I was so excited by this service that I had to write an article about it. Each of you should do some research and make sure that you’re ready to trust some websites with your information and then sign up and add some Mint to your diet!

I Started a Couple of Different Projects

It has been far too long for this blog to get updated.  It’s true, weeks and months have moved past and settled without a single update, not a word.  I kept promising so many things and didn’t get you anything.  I’m sorry about that everyone, I feel badly.  That all said, I want to show you a couple of the projects that I’ve been working on.

Number 1:  SCHOOL!

Some of you know that I’m in Boston University School of Management’s Cross Functional Core Curriculum program.  For those of you who don’t know what this innovative program is, let me fill you in.  CORE, as it’s known, is a comprehensive class sequence that integrates four different classes together as you work in a team towards building full business plan.  What constitutes an integrated program?  Well, let me put it this way: I take four classes that are in different subjects but the topics, the goals, of each class is to provide you with more information about your business plan.  Marketing, Operations Management, Finance, and Information Systems classes feed us bits of information that we must assimilate and coalesce into a complete and manageable business plan.

My team is working on a product known, right now, as the Portable Laptop Lock.  Without going into details right now, let me say that seven other teammates and I have worked countless hours designing, developing, marketing, building, and all the other applicable verbs, for this one little product that culminates in 30% of our grade.  Which is silly since we spend 80% of our time on the team project.  It’s unique in that having one common thread throughout the course gives examples in real time, something solid and tangible to tie the business concepts to that we’re working on.

Our product will be able to be found on our team website at http://www.hemispheresecurity.com where we’ll be able to show off what it takes to be a real presence in e-commerce.

Number 2: College Tech Central

My other baby is my new podcast, College Tech Central.  But, James, what is a podcast? A podcast is very similar to a blog, sometimes called an audio blog.  I first got turned onto the idea over the summer when I was using a MacBook Pro provided by my office at ISPS.  It was so easy to play in the digital lifestyle.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get out any shows before I had to turn the computer back out.  Macs make it so easy to build a podcast and produce and distribute the entire system.  Well, I finally got it up and going.  If you run over to the website you can see some of the great content that we’re putting out over there.  I’m recording Information Systems lectures from Professor Shankar, with permission, as a student study resource.

Once the class winds down a bit, I’ll be able to produce a more robust podcast that brings together so many more bits.  College Tech Central, Technology on Campus, is your home for technology news, tips, tricks, reviews, and secrets where we demystify computers and make it easy for students and young professionals.  Tune in sometime soon for some great content.

Well, that’s all for now, everyone.  Thanks so much for surfing over and taking a look.  I hope that you bear with me as I try to get more work done and still maintain these blog posts at least on a weekly basis. Until next time, take care!

What Does it Take to Do Helpdesk?

This week marks the beginning of school for freshmen all around the country and it also signals the graying of hairs for helpdesk operators on campuses all over.  So, while sitting here on the phones helping frantic parents and ditsy students, I was pondering what it takes to do this job… and well.

First, I think Patience is probably the most important.  Students or corporate users are already stressed out that their computers aren’t working properly and losing your patience with them will only result in badness.  Today, already, I’ve had four different parents basically yell at me that their computers bought from “YOU” (also known as the University’s Computer store) and basically said it was my fault that it wasn’t working correct.  After getting the user to actually plug the correct cord into the correct port, they felt really stupid.  This brings me to the next item.

Allow the users to Save Face.  Just because running a bash script to disable and enable the Network Interface Card (NIC) is like peeling a banana for you, definitely doesn’t mean it is for them.  In fact, if it were that easy for them, then they wouldn’t be talking to you in the first place.  By letting the client “win” they will feel better about technology and might actually learn how to fix the problem in the future.  This is a good thing since they’ll be happy and might not need to call you back next time.

Without a doubt Technical Knowledge, is pivotal to running a successful help desk operation.  This is the bread and butter of all Information Technology Support, the skills and tools of the trade. You use this knowledge to determine the users problems and find possible solutions to their problems.  Also, when working with difficult users, your knowledge is your leverage in controlling the consulting experience.

Squishy Toys are to de-stress after those users that really drive you nuts.  Kongs for large dogs, beanie babies, or any other squeezable and slightly humanoid item can help you feel better when you’re rather stressed out.

If you’ve got these tools you may very well be a good candidate for helpdesk operations.  However, if you don’t really like dealing with people, can’t communicate with “mortals” or otherwise have a bad attitude towards others, stop here and do not pass GO.

Adding Another Hat

Some of you may know that I recently accepted a new position as the Network and Web Administrator for Generations Incorporated.  If you’ve read this blog for long, you know also that I’m currently working desktop support for Boston University.  It’s about 10:30 here in Boston and I was thinking about the transition in skills and knowledge of a job such as this.  Desktop support with Information Systems Planning and Support has been a really great experience where I’ve learned a great deal from the technical aspects to time management and relationship maintenance.  These are all skills that I’m able to apply to this new organization I’m working with.

Unfortunately, as a student employee and the nature of the desktop support position, I have not learned much in the way of server technology.  Sure, this means that Generations Inc (GI) took a bit of a gamble with me since their prior admin was basically a brain-child genius.  On the other hand, having worked in an environment where you don’t always see the whole picture or deal with users that honestly don’t know what happened, I have learned the ability to troubleshoot problems.  Perhaps this, the ability to systematically find problems and resolve them in an orderly fashion, has been the greatest benefit I’ve gained from my work with ISPS.

Troubleshooting skills aside, I face a large learning curve when it comes to specific technology such as Windows 2003 Server, Windows Small Business Server, Terminal Services Server, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.  These particular OS’s are my bread and butter - the daily grind if you will.  My primary tasks on a day to day basis are communicated via the task application of outlook and revolve around server maintenance and backup, desktop user support (similar to my position with ISPS), and longer term research and development projects.

I think I’ll mention a couple of the projects I’m working on right now.  The first, a full inventory and audit of computer assets, users, policies, and infrastructure.  This is a rather basic concept - figure out what we have, where it is, and who uses it, then make changes as necessary.  Since we’re such a small shop, it won’t be difficult to get any one bit of information but to do the updates and remediation that I think will be necessary, I expect that I’ll need some out of hours time.  The other big project I’m working on is to align mobile computing to our network where users with Blackberries will be able to sync with our servers or perhaps Windows Mobile devices will use the AirSync technology.  I’m still in the research phase for this project, gathering the raw numbers and information to then present to the directors in a report.

So what spurned all of this?  Well, I was bored for one.  I’m in the midst of a book that teaches the Windows 2003 Server information in a crash course sort of way.  I’ve been reading about installing, domain controllers, all sorts of bits about network infrastructure that I just needed a bit of a break and here I am.  In any case, I will bring this to a close.  I know I haven’t been writing often but I think that my more regimented schedule will do well for my publishing cycle.

Thank you to all that continue to read and support City Streets, my professional blog and website!