SMART module prepares IT students for real world

By offering the Application Developers’ Intro School (ADIS) to their students, and having teachers armed with an insider’s knowledge of the industry’s best practices, a growing number of schools are now producing IT graduates who are better equipped to face the demands of the work environment.

Some 15 schools are now offering ADIS, an IT elective developed by Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) primarily for its newly-hired employees, to expose students to the real-world application of IT technologies in the rapidly evolving and fast-paced telecommunications industry.

“The feedback was good in terms of the students knowing how the industry really works and how the technologies they learned are applied and used in SMART,” says Sheila Dawn Nisperos, CS Coordinator at Ateneo De Davao University (ADDU).

Nisperos, who is teaching ADIS this semester, completed the two-week ADIS Trainers’ Training held last May at the SMART headquarters in Makati. The group consisted of representatives from AMA Computer College (AMACC) – East Rizal, ADDU, Silliman University, University of Batangas (UB) and University of Santo Tomas.

“We conduct it for each new batch of ADIS instructors. We teach them how to implement ADIS in their respective schools. We give them an overview of the topics they need to cover and guide them on the resources they can use,” says Ronald L. Ramos, IT Specialist of SMART HRD.

Ramos has been conducting the training since 2006. Some 75 teachers from 15 partner schools have undergone the ADIS Trainers’ Training which is offered twice a year – during summer and semester break.

In addition to sponsoring the training of teachers, SMART provides the schools with the course materials.
“This is what we’re looking for, an integration of everything the students have learned,” says Sheila A. Aguba, Chairperson of the Computer Education Department at UB.

The school is holding the initial run of ADIS this first semester for Computer Science seniors; and on the second semester for graduating Computer Engineering students.

“Students today are very fortunate to have this kind of training. The programming language itself is very helpful to them, it makes them more aware of the actual application in the industry,” notes Leni Bulan who chairs the Computer Engineering Department of UB.

By bridging the gap between skills set and industry requirements, ADIS increases the students’ chances of being employed – possibly with SMART.

As the country’s number one wireless services provider, SMART is also a leading company in the application of IT technologies. It has six departments in IT operations with job positions open to graduates of IT courses.

“At SMART, it doesn’t matter what field you specialize in because there is a job for everyone. Usually schools today concentrate on programming languages that are in demand, like JAVA. But in SMART all the languages exist. There are many job opportunities awaiting IT graduates regardless of their area of expertise,” attests Markh B. Jamandre, head of the College of IT at the University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos (UNO-R) in Bacolod.

This, he realized during his ADIS Faculty Immersion. For 20 days in May, Jamandre, and a co-faculty from UNO-R, Reymund L. Sabay, experienced being part of SMART’s workforce.

The ADIS Faculty Immersion is offered to qualified candidates from ADIS partner schools who have previously attended the Trainers’ Training. The immersion is meant to supplement the training with actual industry experience for teachers to convey ADIS more effectively.

“I was assigned to various tasks but what I appreciated the most was being able to observe the functions of the different departments in the development and implementation of IT projects. I gained a wider perspective on how a company carries out a project. This is something I can relay to my students,” says Jamandre.

Asst. Prof 1 Leo B. Francisco also has news to share with his students at AMACC-East Rizal. “What became apparent to me from the start of the ADIS Trainers’ Training is the fact that at SMART, tasks are divided among different groups and individuals. So students should not be scared of the load but should instead be glad for an opportunity to become part of a company like SMART.”

To date, a total of seven graduates from ADIS partner schools have been hired by SMART.

(Published 6 July 2009, Smart Communications, Inc.)