STUDENTS BUILD COMPUTERS TO SAVE MONEY AND LEARN NEW SKILLS FOR THEIR INDUSTRY

Students in the Information Technology program at Iowa Lakes Community College are building their own computers from scratch.  It’s both a learning experience and an opportunity to help save money.  

The computers are ‘loaded’ with lots of memory – something an Info Technology student needs on their computers.

“This is a great learning opportunity for the students to be able to put together their own computers,” said Greg Reimer, Associate Professor of the Information Technology program.  “It does save money so it’s a big plus all around.”

These are AMD Phenom Quad Core computers which have a 64 bit processor with 2.3 gig memory.  There is also an ASUS motherboard M4A78-E with an on-board graphics card. The computers will use Microsoft Windows 7 along with a 2008 server. 

“Just a few years ago, the ‘big’ computers had 386 chip sets in them.  That’s what makes Information Technology such an exciting career because things are always changing – for the better.”

The freshmen students were able to get the 17 computers built in just one day. 

Just over a decade ago, Iowa Lakes Community College was the only Iowa community college to receive a grant from the Microsoft Corporation which established a two-year Associate in Science degree in Information Technology.  The college recently became an authorized Thomson Prometric testing center. 

There are job opportunities for program graduates because almost every business which has computers linked to a network needs someone to set up the equipment and load the software onto a server.  Starting salaries range from $35,000 to $55,000 depending on qualifications, certifications and the geographical area in which the job is located.

Students in the Information Technology program at Iowa Lakes
built their new computers as part of their classroom learning experience.