ITAs get schooled in working on the Web

If your computer crashed at King's Court/English House last night, you might have had some trouble finding an information technology advisor -- they were all holed up in the computer lab, learning how to serve you better. As part of an effort to improve the skills and knowledge of ITAs, the fledgling program is encouraging ITA supervisors in many of the University's dormitories to provide additional training for their ITAs. When the program started earlier this year, some students complained that many of the ITAs provided little assistance and had little computer knowledge. Two University-wide courses have kicked off the training effort, as representatives from many residences recently learned how to program in HTML, the language used to create World Wide Web pages. The goal, according to Amy Phillips, administrative assistant for Academic Programs in Residence, is for "the ITAs to be able to offer proactive seminars and help the students." The two-hour sessions provided ample time for the ITAs to gain additional computer know-how. "ITAs who didn't even know HTML at all went back and they already had Web pages" the day after the course, said Melanie Shames, an Engineering freshmen who participated in the training. "It's really been great," added Engineering freshman Ginny Donovan, an ITA at King's Court/English House. "It's really expanded my knowledge." In addition to the HTML sessions, ITAs will be offered training on three computer operating platforms -- Windows, Macintosh and the Microsoft Network. In all, the program will hold 13 University-wide sessions this semester. Individual college houses and first-year dorms have also been encouraged to set up programs. At King's Court/English House, ITAs are offered hands-on training in a variety of technical areas. "We're trying to make it into a better service, up the standards," said College sophomore Kendrick Li, King's Court/English House computers manager. To accomplish this, King's Court/English House ITAs are paid to attend two sessions in "whatever [areas] they need the most work on," Li said. Some people, however, question the focus of some of the training sessions. While Bill Brickman, a computer service professional who taught an HTML course at King's Court/English House last night, said that HTML "is the best thing for the kids in the house to learn," he cautioned that what's best for the students may not be best for the ITAs. "What the ITAs really need to know is the insides and outsides of these computers, backwards and forwards," he said. Other programs to extend the range of ITA services are also underway. An ITA is now available in the King's Court/English House library to assist students with on-line research, part of Li's goal of "trying to be an educational service." According to Li, many of the requests his staff now receives are, "Can you show me how to do this?" rather than for help with malfunctioning machines. Becoming a resource for students whose computers work just fine has always been a goal of the program, Phillips said. While Phillips acknowledged that "some ITAs were better than others at the beginning of the year," she said the problems are a thing of the past. "We know exactly what we need to concentrate on in terms of training for next year's class."