If someone knows about Performance Testing it is Scott Barber.
I'm happy to let you all know that DrivenQA is currently arranging for Scott to teach some lucky students some about Performance Testing, in Brighton, naturally!
Check out the details of the Performance Testing courses (bear in mind that a few final details still need to be confirmed).
I am very happy to say that DrivenQA will be bringing Rapid Software Testing courses taught by James Bach
to good ole Brighton! There is currently a choice between a 2 or 3 day course, they both cover the same concepts, but to different levels.
I’ve done my best to make it affordable. Think about it – it’s more or less the same price as an average ISEB Foundation course. I know which one I would choose!
If you need help convincing your boss, just let me know :)
I’m a great supporter of education, but it’s a different story when it comes to certification. Not that I don’t think they add value – good courses do, bad ones don’t. Another major problem is how career progression is often based upon whether a person has a piece of paper. It’s disappointing that the software testing industry (especially in the UK) appears to be increasingly in favour of demanding certificates.
I came across the certification myth which highlights the point that certification does not equal better skills. The example is related to teaching, but easily applies to other industries.
The Open University launched LearningSpace a few months ago. They have many units of their existing courses available online and are slowly adding more.
The other day I came across Accessibility in interaction design which pleasantly surprised me. It’s defintely a positive move forward for these topics to be consider as part of any design process.
The units available are worth a browse, I know the following (amongst others) would be of interest to some testers:
I’ve been wanting to write this for a while, but a chat with another keen and committed tester gave me an idea (that many won’t approve of!)
The ISEB Foundation Certificate in Software Testing has become the ‘standard’ within the UK. Most testing related job ads say it is either a requirement, or is ‘preferred’. This to me is quite disappointing.
Now, as you can probably tell, I do not hold this certificate and have no plans to obtain it. Not that I want to go into great detail about this, but an exam of 40 multiple choice questions which focus on answering memorised definitions and concepts does not provide me with great confidence. The additional point that the ‘recommended training courses’ would have to come out of my own/businss pocket is another factor. I can think of better things to do with the £600-£1000 it costs for a 3 day training course. Think of all the lovely books I could get for that sum of money!
So perhaps it’s easy for me to say – don’t do it! Afterall, I’m not really in the position of being an ‘employee’ (for the foreseable future!), I get to see things from the other side of the fence.
The problem with recruitment (especially with recruitment agencies) is that there are so many CVs to review that it is so easy to fall in a trap of searching for keywords and forgetting the actual person behind the CV. Not to mention, that the initial people reviewing CVs may not have a good understanding of what is required for the position.
So if you are applying for testing jobs and you don’t hold a testing certificate why not fool the system, instead of not including anything in your CV about it, say:
ISEB Foundation Certificate in Software Testing – I do not hold this certificate, but I am still a great tester because…I have done this and that
For fun you could really put it in red and bold :)
This is the kind of thing I would do, but that’s just me trying to be a bit controversial. I take no responsibilities for the results of anybody trying to do this. (However, if you do try it and get positive feedback, do let me know!)
I’m a non believer in the current educational system – everything seems so focused on results, what happened to creativity? I hate the fact that the government only offers one choice for education. Sure there are other options such as specialist, private or home education, but the truth is that many of these options are out of reach for the average family.
In Out of our minds: Learning to be creative Sir Ken Robinson talks about why we need to rethink the principles of our education system. This applies worldwide, not just to the UK.
It’s worth a watch.
I recently updated my page on software testing videos and thought it was worthwhile mentioning the Black Box Software Testing course by Cem Kaner and James Bach.
The original contents of the course have been available for a while at http://www.testingeducation.org/BBST/ – however I recently discovered that the videos have been uploaded to Google Video (my video page has reflected this).
I also conveniently noticed that the course is being hosted on the Satisfice Moodle server. (Moodle is a learning/course management system). You need to know that it is the ‘BBST Public Course’, enrollment key = “whitebox”.
Even though I’ve been ‘software testing’ for a few years, I still find it useful to read/watch/listen to many aspects of this course.
Not something I have really written much about but I just love wikis! My work in progress site is a wiki and in a short space of time it has allowed me to progress myself in many ways. In a bit of an introduction to wikis and learning there is an interesting site called Using Wiki in Education which focuses on the technology of wikis and what can be achieved.
I often work on 'elearning' projects and in addition to this I have a great interest learning methods. Perhaps my career as a software tester means that I have learned to question methods and approaches into more depth. This has led me to become somewhat disillusioned to many standard approaches. Having two young boys has only driven me to learn more about learning.
There's a big trend at the moment to become qualified or certified. Whether it be a diploma, degree or certification, employers often demand it so people often work hard to get it. My problem with this is that the focus is on achieving a qualification or a few letters after a name, when I believe the focus should be on learning.
I'm not saying qualifications are useless or pointless, but to me they are not a requirement. With more people be
With every year that goes by I become more annoyed by consumerism and waste that goes on in the world. Maybe it's something to do with growing up and becoming an adult, however looking at people go mad for Christmas shopping doesn't make me believe this is the case. Christmas is an excuse to buy the latest gizmo, socks and stuff that never gets used.
Today is the first time in years (I'm not that old) that I've seen something an said, "oooh, that would be a nice Christmas (or birthday present)". The Open University
has 580 courses at different levels covering lots of different
subjects. I did (and passed!) a few courses a few years back, but
family life has been to busy to go back to it. I would like to do some
more courses soon...because a) they have some very interesting courses,
and b) I just love to keep learning, and of course c) they are probably
the only place I could realistically study.
The OU recently launched the ability to buy gift vouchers,
which is like the best thing ever! With vouchers from £10 to £100
available and a cool selection of courses, it could make studying that
bit more affordable and give you the 'feel good factor' as they could
have a lifelong effect.
So if anyone wants to get me a present...
I'm a keen supporter of the Open University, having been a previous student of theirs on various IT related courses. They provided quality education and are quite clued up when it comes to using technology for education. Definitely gets my thumbs up.
From
a testing perspective, I believe, at least for myself learning about
certain disciplines is important. For me, the two main categories are
Quality and Testing. Testing is usually viewed as a discipline within
Quality. Software Testing should be driven by a process, whatever that
process may be.
I'm a very keen learner and dedicate much of my
time to learning. I do not always agree with industry certificates,
though it might work in some occasions, I believe it's important to not
dismiss people who have chosen their preferred way of education. A
certificate on the wall does not mean anything without successful
experience.
The Open University does an interesting course of Quality (T834: Quality: delivering excellence),
which is on my 'wish list' of things to do. Though I don't speak from
specific experience to this course, I can vouch that I have had very
positive experiences with past courses.
In addition to this, The OU recently launched free educational resources, OpenLearn, using an online customised Moodle Learning Management System (LMS).
Free is always good, free educational resources is even better. It will
be interesting to see how this project evolves. An article on this can
be found at the BBC.
Hi Rosie,
Me again. Just read your latest blog about christmas shopping and feel a little ashamed about mine! You're absolutely right though.