Splice is a slice of information technology life
Published in The Chronicle Herald, February 21, 2008
On any given day, thousands of students from elementary to high school and beyond juggle social networks, online games, instant-messaging and interactive media on computers both in the classroom and at home. This, of course, is in between text messaging marathons on cellphones and SMS gadgets formerly beyond our wildest dreams.
With this natural interest and ability in the fundamentals of information technology, education researchers have been surprised to find lagging enrolments in post-secondary programs across the country.
While the trend seems to be turning around, many employers will still feel the crunch to fill their positions as the next generation of professionals work through their training. Professionals and educators alike are now asking why high school graduates are just beginning to catch on to the variety of careers in the quickly expanding industry.
Woody Lidstone of Splice Training Inc. has an answer:
"Just because everyone goes around flicking light switches doesn’t suggest that we should all pursue careers as electricians. They use technology because it’s there, not necessarily because it’s linked to their desired career path."
Lidstone, with over 10 years of experience as a digital media instructor, was consulted for the post-production of the blockbuster movie Batman Beyond and provided technical support for the third and fourth instalments of the Harry Potter series.
At Splice Training Inc. in downtown Halifax, Lidstone operates the only Apple-authorized training centre in Eastern Canada, capitalizing on the growing success of the company responsible for the IPod and Mac computers. Like Apple, Splice is offering products and services that cater to the changing needs of consumers and learners.
While Splice keeps busy training government agencies and universities across the country and managing contracts with media outlets in Scotland and Denmark, plenty of business comes from everyday consumers taking the popular courses, including their Intro to Mac programs. Condensed courses are easily fit into the busy schedules of today’s learners and program-specific training means not a second is wasted.
Now how about those students?
"I would say that the smaller size of Splice is a definite attraction," says Splice alum Adam. "You have such small classes that you get to know your instructors really well, and it makes you feel more comfortable when you have questions about course topics. It makes it easier to learn."
As a young professional, Adam found what he wanted at Splice: hands-on learning in a focused, seven-hour course taken by the likes of the CBC, the BBC and Cirque du Soleil. Splice, says Lidstone, offers the practicality that many technology students and young professionals want.
"Adam came to us to take a specialized video-editing course to supplement what he already knew," said Lidstone. "He knew what he wanted to learn and wasn’t ready to enrol in a long-term IT program at a university or college when his needs were more specific. We offered a practical, intensive alternative to give him a feel for what he could expect in the industry."
"I was about to take some courses in gaming," says Adam. "I knew that I wasn’t going to learn anything about video editing there, so Splice was the perfect opportunity to learn something new. I thought the course might aid me at some future point if I was ever to use my skills for animation series instead of gaming."
"I took a Final Cut Pro course. It’s all about editing videos just like they do for major film studios and TV. I had never dealt with any video-editing software before, and the fact that I had no trouble catching on to the material is a testament to Splice’s ability to teach the material.
"I will be going back to learn Adobe Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator," says Adam. "The classes are compressed, so you don’t have to go for an entire semester. You learn faster without the filler."
As for a future in the IT industry, Adam expects it’s only a matter of time before students realize the wealth of opportunities to hone their own skills toward a creative, rewarding career. "Everything seems to be computerized these days, so it only seems natural to me that students would want to get into computers or IT. There is so much that you can do with computers whether you plan to be an IT person or a programmer, designing video games or editing movies. There seems to be no end to the list really."
TalkIT is a monthly column prepared by the Information Technology Alliance of Nova Scotia, an industry organization committed to the development of the sector through lobbying, networking and training.