Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 29, 2024, 07:18:22 pm

Author Topic: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?  (Read 6292 times)  Share 

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Genericname2365

  • Victorian
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 560
  • Respect: +11
  • School Grad Year: 2012
Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« on: December 30, 2011, 08:38:28 pm »
0
At my school they are not offering a 3/4 IT course this year (*sigh*) and so I picked Software Development as a Distant Ed subject. However, recently I've been questioning whether or not I should have picked Apps instead - from what I gather Apps is an easier (but possibly duller) subject, and personally I think I'd prefer an easier subject. (I don't want to be bored, but I don't want too much challenge, basically.) I'm quite competent when it comes to learning theory but I'm unsure how strong I am with programming, although I did some VB groundwork in 1/2 which I was able to grasp. Would anyone be able to tell me which subject they think would be more preferable for Distance Ed? :) I will get some help from my IT teacher whichever subject I pick, so I won't be entirely alone.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2011, 08:41:11 pm by Genericname2365 »
ATAR: 93.35
Bachelor of Arts at UoM

iamtom

  • Victorian
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 451
  • Indubitably dubious
  • Respect: +35
  • School: Melbourne High School
  • School Grad Year: 2011
Re: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2011, 09:26:47 pm »
0
Hm... well, theory-wise you should be fine - websites like vceit.com and other resources like the textbooks are actually really good this course design. If you're not sure how strong you are with programming, it might be safer to go with Apps - Excel Spreadsheets, databases and websites are a lot easier to learn than the alternative in SD; while vb.net is not necessarily hard, debugging is a freaking headache.

My advice would be to email your teacher and talk to them about it.
2013: Wizardry, life.

Lasercookie

  • Honorary Moderator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *******
  • Posts: 3168
  • Respect: +326
Re: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2011, 09:43:02 pm »
0
I did IT Apps this year, and doing SD next year, and Software Development does seem to be a lot more challenging and more interesting.
 
About the IT Apps course:
U3O1 - Online Communites - you create a website (html, css etc.)
U3O2 - Databases
U4O1 - Spreadsheets OR databases
U4O2 - Security, relevant to IT legal stuff, ethics etc. - fairly straightforward theory

So yeah, it's pretty simple stuff - possibly things you're already familiar with (if not, they're straight forward to learn). To challenge myself, I tried to go beyond what was expected and set my own standards: stuff like going beyond the course when possible, producing a website that looks good, trying to stick to the text editor (I'm not a fan of Frontpage), playing around with javascript, read a bit more about database theory, try to find the most elegant solutions for a spreadsheet or a database etc. I think these doing these kinds of things made the subject a bit more interesting for me.

It's probably best to take your own judgement of what you think of spreadsheets and databases. However, compared to what is covered in SD, to me, it does seem quite dull in comparison.

From what I've looked at of the course content, Software Development always seems to go into a bit more technical depth than IT Applications when it comes to theory. About programming, I guess the only way to get better is to practice, practice and practice. If you ever get stuck, there's plenty of resources for just about every programming language on the internet and for VB.net, there's plenty of books that have been written about it. 

If you haven't already, to read about the courses in detail, take look at Mark Kelly's website http://vceit.com/, and look at the lecture notes there.

Genericname2365

  • Victorian
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 560
  • Respect: +11
  • School Grad Year: 2012
Re: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2012, 09:02:22 pm »
0
Thanks for the responses guys, in the end I decided to go ahead with Software Dev. I really am hoping to get a scaled score that is at least 40 but with the subject being through correspondence and 'more challenging' it's probably not a realistic goal. But at least it should be more interesting than Apps.  :D
ATAR: 93.35
Bachelor of Arts at UoM

nacho

  • The Thought Police
  • Victorian
  • ATAR Notes Superstar
  • ******
  • Posts: 2602
  • Respect: +418
Re: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2012, 09:12:27 pm »
0
Apps if you don't like coding
I didn't do software dev, but yr 11 IT is pretty much apps + software dev
if you like coding, then go software dev,
if you are comfortable with databases, excel etc, Apps it is.

i didn't find apps to be 'dull' as the concepts were very easy to learn and not much re-reading was required.
i doubt there is anything in coding that is much more interesting (i'll leave that to laseredd though, who is doing the sub)
i always hated debugging code though, one of the more annoying/tedious things in life...
btw the SACs in Apps are insanely tedious as well, so..
OFFICIAL FORUM RULE #1:
TrueTears is my role model so find your own

2012: BCom/BSc @ Monash
[Majors: Finance, Actuarial Studies, Mathematical Statistics]
[Minors: Psychology/ Statistics]

"Baby, it's only micro when it's soft".
-Bill Gates

Upvote me

Genericname2365

  • Victorian
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 560
  • Respect: +11
  • School Grad Year: 2012
Re: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2012, 07:37:30 pm »
0
Apps if you don't like coding
I didn't do software dev, but yr 11 IT is pretty much apps + software dev
if you like coding, then go software dev,
if you are comfortable with databases, excel etc, Apps it is.

i didn't find apps to be 'dull' as the concepts were very easy to learn and not much re-reading was required.
i doubt there is anything in coding that is much more interesting (i'll leave that to laseredd though, who is doing the sub)
i always hated debugging code though, one of the more annoying/tedious things in life...
btw the SACs in Apps are insanely tedious as well, so..
Hmm, given the posts on this page and the fact that my programming language is PHP - a language that  my previous IT teacher who would have helped me, doesn't know, (and a language that doesn't appeal to me) I'm going to change my mind again and try to switch to Apps. I didn't like excel, etc. that much but it was my stronger area and I think I'm less enthusiastic about coding that I thought I was. Thanks :)
ATAR: 93.35
Bachelor of Arts at UoM

paulsterio

  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *******
  • Posts: 4803
  • I <3 2SHAN
  • Respect: +430
Re: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2012, 07:40:45 pm »
0
Software Development is a very good course, you generally do the more technical side of things. There are also programming elements to it. Although a programming language isn't hard to learn, like I can pick up one in about a month's time, the skills you learn as to the basics of programming are invaluable. Like I've found that it teaches the basics such as data structures, types of iterations and commonly used algorithms that are applicable to all languages.

You go through the Problem Solving Methodology, which is a method designed to solve business problems, so you will also do analysis of business issues, planning of tests as well as maintainence and evaluation of software aside from the technical stuff.

The exam is also very good, with MC, Short Answer and a Case Study which can be better/worse than the ITA exam, which has no case study, depending on which you like

kanita

  • Victorian
  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 1
  • Respect: 0
Re: Distance Ed Apps or Software Dev?
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2014, 10:29:24 pm »
0
Both subjects covers theory that is arguably boring, which I'd say would be some of the non-technical stuff like copyright and privacy laws, stuff about organisations setting codes of ethics, the "problem solving methodology" - having to pay particular attention to how you plan and test what it is your making appear in both subjects. IT Applications has more of this kind of stuff, stuff like "the role of information in an organisation" in U4O1 or "why an organisation would use a database" etc.