SkillsTrain Reviews from Students

Considering that I did not know much about networking it has to be rather hard but very rewarding when you get your marks back and do well like I have. You might have to resubmit your work but it is worth it in the end, With a little help from the tutor team I was able to get my computers networked together, and this is avery good achievement for me. I had not done any thing like this before and it felt good when it was working alright

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Getting 100% in my first TMA also with what I learnt about the trouble-shooting models. I put into practice at work when the restaurant's P.O.S network went down and when the online restaurant booking system would not work. Here I used the Comp TIA's netwok+ trouble-shooting model to fix the problem.

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After a difficult time adjusting to a new job, I have managed to get back on course and complete the A+ section of my study. I'm now well on my way working through the N+ section and revising for my exams on A+ which I know I will do well in!

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(a) I managed to stick to my study plan, which was to read each module ahead of the applicable TMA. I have also managed to maintain a revision schedule (though with some difficulties because of other pressing engagements). Keeping pace with revision is helpful to me because the practice of scanning and browsing already read material once in a while has an effect of pushing the acquired information into the permanent or retention memory area of my brain. This will lighten overall preparatory revision for the exam at the end of the course and lessen or avoid stress.
(b) I have managed to submit about 2 assignments every week on average. At this rate (provided I maintain it) I intend to have submitted about 40 assignments by July 2007, while managing to retain in my memory a greater percentage of the covered material.
(c) Of the seven (7) assignments that I have submitted, I have repeated only one (1) assignment, whose mark was 60%.
(d) I have maintained an average of 80% mark for all the seven (7) assignments that have been marked so far, excluding the repeated 100% mark.
(e) I have taken an average of 6.5 minutes for each of the 10-question assignments, going by the eight (8) TMAs that I have submitted so far. The questions which I got incorrect (14 out of a total of 70 to date) were a revelation that I had not mastered the material for those questions in as much detail as the other sections whose questions I answered correctly and effortlessly.
(f) I have managed to put into practice the knowledge that I gained from the course. For example, In August 2006, I bought a DELL Dimension PC from a garage sale. But when I turned it on, the PC took about 2 days to boot, and would not run in the end. I sent it to PC World Clinic, who returned it after 5 weeks, having failed to resolve the problem on the grounds that I was supposed to provide them with a recovery disc, which I did not have, neither could I trace the seller. But after going through the BOOT and System Configuration modules of the MCSE course in February 2007, I managed to reconfigure the DELL PC to its original settings, and the machine is performing with explosive power right now, clearly surpassing the other 3 new PCs which I acquired previously from COMET.

In hind sight, this garage sale DELL Dimension PC turned out to be the most cost effective acquisition, all because of the MCSE studies in February 2007. The second example is that when Windows VISTA was launched, I upgraded one of my PCs with Windows XP Professional to Windows VISTA Ultimate. I encountered serious incompatibility problems with several programs on hard drive, especially the Symantec Antivirus 2006. Even the upgrade to version 10.2 as recommended on their website did not work. However, through the modules which I covered in February 2007, I managed to try things out and resolved all the problems and I am now enjoying pure magic in VISTA Ultimate on the 1MB RAM ACE Aspire T180. In the regime of tuning up a PC and resolving periodic and frequent PC problems, the knowledge gained in February from the MCSE course has been put to good use.

Therefore because I have managed to keep a good pace in my studies and revision work, and applied the knowledge which I learn to useful and practical purposes.

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Since starting my my new job 5 month ago with virgin media broadband as a 1st line technical support, it has been really tough going by trying to get time to do my studing and work the unsociable hours for the company at same time. some times after a tough day dealing with the public shouting at you on phones because there internet is off or mistreated by someone else, I have had to pick up the pieces and then try to study my N+ course, which I have eventually succeed in the last assignment of book C. The pressure gets to you every day as there is not enough time in the day to fit everything in, but I always try to make the effort, even after having the car crash which some days I feel not up to doing the college work, but I'm determeined and still want to achieve my goal. The IT department are willing to train me up aswell by doing shadowing in my own time to get extra experience and to help me with the course. So I feel this has been a good achievement in my part under all circumstances.

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Snowed under with work, almost working 24/7 have been able some how to still get able to get course work done

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I am currently doing CCNA course now. I am full-time worker in one of the telecommunication company. I already finished a university degree but CCNA is very helpful for my long team plans. I have completed A+ and N+ and will be finish it on time. Working and studying is very hard but I can do it. Thanks to skills train, they are doing a fantastic job.

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I was working as a waiter at a Nepalese Restaurant, but I am not working there anymore, in fact I am working at an Electronics Company as a Technical Sales Advisor. It has been two weeks since I had started my new job and I’m doing great as well. I can’t believe it myself honestly. I went to the company and submitted my CV. I got a phone call for the interview and then got the job. I think they were totally impressed with the course that I am undertaking at Skillstrain which I had explained in my CV. That was the only things that worked for me to get that job......really what a difference it made to my life..........I am really happy about it.....and can't stop thinking what a difference it would make if I had completed the whole course of studies. Believe me I am feeling at the top ...feeling so good from inside ....if this is not achievement then what is this......I am very much thankful to my college for this change ...I think I can see my destiny now. I am feeling differently. Sincere thanks to my college.it.....and can't stop thinking what difference it would make if I had completed the whole course of studies.Believe me I am feeling at the top ...feeling so good from inside ....if this is not achievement then what is this......I am very much thankful to my college for this change ...I think I can see my destiny now. I am feeling myself in a different way. Sincere thanks to my college.

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".....In the face of adversity".... Well....I'm disabled and constantly use crutches. I suppose many would consider that adversity to a degree. My hard drive died and I had to correspond using snail mail. Another adversity? I'm a mother of 2 primary school aged boys, and my husband works shifts. Perhaps that is a 3rd adversity, I don't know.

".....Working under pressure".... My 2 sons are hard work at their age, so yes, pressure is a constant from that point of view. We are a single waged family, moved into a new home last July, and seldom have any spare cash. The pressure is on me to complete this course, pass the exams and make some money as soon as is realistically possible really.

"....Gained an excellent understanding". I dare anyone who is following the course and utilising the support and extra resources available to say they have not been able to do this. Maybe my standards are too high, or my expectations of others equally so? I'm not qualified to say.

"....Managed to increase your TMA results..." I found my last section hard....very hard. I don't think I'm a natural at understanding server administration. Somehow, I managed to get 3/5 results at 100%. Yes, I'm more than pleased with that, so I suppose I could "qualify" for that particular point.

But here is my problem. Maybe it is that I don't value myself enough, or something built into my conscience that won't allow me to say "I am the best". Therefore, I cannot sit here and say "I should win the student of the month". I cannot allow myself to do that.

What I can say is this: I undertook this course to achieve a goal. My goal is one that will benefit both myself, and my family, should I make the grade. That, and that alone is my driving force. It is my responsibility to improve our collective way of life, because I undertook the mission laid out before me. I cannot, and will not say that I deserve more or less than any other student on any course in this programme. Other people also suffer adversities or pressures, or do better than they expected to do. That, my friends, is life. None of us have the right to declare they are better than anyone else, in any way, shape or form. Nor has anyone the right to demote themselves or others into a place deemed to be of less importance or standing.

So, dear readers, I leave this message in your hands. I would like for you to decide whether or not to submit this as an entry for student of the month. If it is submitted and I win, thank you. If not, then I have achieved here what I intended to do, from a personal point of view, and that is to get something off my chest. I in no way think this competition is wrong, or to be frowned upon. That is not my intention. However, I felt the need to express something which has given me much food for though.

In short, I do not sit here with any expectations, other than those I can commit to achieving myself. If others think highly enough of me to present me with an accolade of any sort, I thank them. Heartily. But I will not shine a spotlight upon myself without either the support of others, or rather, the presence of others standing in the light beside me. They deserve to be there as much as I might ever do.

Thank you for listening.

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Having been ill for quite a while I have only really been studying full time since Christmas. I have already completed 3 TMA's with astonishing results and starting on the next one in about 5 minutes. I certainly know quite a lot more about binary numbers than ever I did whilst at school or college, same goes for Hex-decimal.

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I started my course in October last year(2006) & I have been really pleased with the way that the learning format is laid out in the Skillstrain folders, I do shift work & have a lot of travelling to do each day to & from work & when I get home I sometimes feel to tired to do my coursework( I'm doing A+, N+ & CCNA), but I realise that I need to study to be able to improve my IT skills & be able to get myself a better job for me & my family & also to be able to give more time to my family & a better life. I have been really surprised & pleased with the results I have been getting, I have increased my learning timetable & have decided to put in as much time to my course as is possible, I have really enjoyed myself & learned a great deal along the way. I have just submitted TMA21 for marking which I hope I get good results with, the last few tests that I have put in have all been at 100% & I hope to be able to continue with results like this, especially when I take my main A+ exam hopefully within the next 5 weeks. I believe my average test result must be in the high 90's. My family have been really supportive to me, even when my wife gets bored with me talking about computers she still listens(bless her). I have started teaching my 9 year old son about computers & he seems to have a flair for it which I'm pleased about, hopefully he will take after me for that. Anyway thanks for reading this & good luck to all that enter student of the month. Many Thanks

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I am currently doing CCNA course now. I am full-time worker in one of the telecommunication company. I already finished an university degree but CCNA is very helpfull for my long team plans. I have completed A+ and N+ and will be finish it on time. Working and studying very hard but I can do it. Thanks to skills train, they are doing a fantastic job.

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I use the 'layer' approach to studying. Read through the lesson reasonably quickly to get an overview of it's sections and general contents. Then re-read each section of the lesson again noting such words as when an item was first introduced and which os handles which features.
I next read the assignment questions and see how many I can reasonably guess at. I go back through the lesson and mark by the questions the page numbers where the answers can be found. This re-reading takes time but builds up my knowledge base more deeply than just trying to remember everything the first time through.

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Its incredible that I at a age of 54 can achieve up to java section tma 10 with such a short period of learning and achieve almost distinction. I was a complete novice when I started the WD course with the college, now I feel that I have gain much of my confidence in learning and achieving the result.

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I love the course. Keep up the good work folks !

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I recently become A+ cerified by passing both the Core Hardware and OS exams and I have to say this has give me a huge morale boost I was a bit worried about the exam just wondering if I would pass or not so if there is anyone out there who May feels the same as I did then this is for you, keep a cool head about your self on the big day.

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I started studying again after 10 years, what gave me the incentive to study after all this time was that I was diagnosed with cancer in September 2005 after major surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy I was given the all clear on January 2006 . I always said to myself that I couldn't study after such a long period ( 10 years) but the challenges I faced during my operation and treatment showed me anything is possible, I am on the A+ part of my course at TMA 18 and up to this point I have achieved an average 97% mark. I look forward to sitting my exam in June 2007 and see this a another challenge I have signed up for the N+ and CCNN courses and look forward to these challenges, so for all you out there having doubts just remember anything is possible with the right encouragement and help

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With a full time job, looking for a new job, learning to drive and helping to home educate two kids, you'd think it would be hard to study... but I'm still getting grades above 80%!

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Today I received the result of my second assignment after a pause of 2 months and is 100%. I had the same result on the previous one. I consider it a very good result. Besides, I have this feeling of an excellent understanding of everything I have studied so far. Maybe it is not a big deal, but for me it is.

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I fell behind with my coursework last month due to me losing my job and I was upset and stressed out. But now I am back on track with my coursework and catching up very quickly. I have also taught four new people about how to use a computer and how a computer works so I am very proud of myself and I'm glad I can help people learn a new skill that will come in very handy for everyday jobs.

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I was really excited about starting this course, it is something I have wanted to do now for a while, but for one reason or another I haven't been able to previously. When the course advisor came to speak to me about the course he took one look at me and thought I might not be able to cope with doing such a complex course. After speaking with him for quite some time he realised that I did have my head screwed on and I wasn't just a pretty face. I was delighted when he changed his opinion on me, many people assume that I'm going to be dumb because I'm pretty and blonde, and it feels really good when people do see me for what I am. When I told friends and family that I was doing the course they were very supportive, however they still had there doubts as to whether I would be able to cope with it and have the motivation to get on with it. It has been hard work at times, with trying to fit in my job, house hold duties and exercise (I'm a fitness fanatic too), but I have really got on well with the course, I have just finished my last Tutor Marked Assignment 05 for section 1, part A of the course and I feel that I'm really learning alot and can't wait to receive the next part of my course. I have done really well on my Tutor Marked Assignments scoring between 85-95% and on the last one that came back to me I got an amazing 100%. Doing this course is giving me great satisfaction and I really can't wait to be qualified and start looking for my dream job as a web Designer.

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I started my course in January 2007 and was eager to get learning, so I started tma01 of my comptia a+ certification. I have been under great pressure whilst doing my course as my partner was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo surgery. I have been looking after my partner and our 3 year old daughters needs and have still managed to stay focused and complete my assignments within my goal times. I am now studying tma05 and have received 90% pass rates on my previous assignments. I believe that I have made a great achievement whilst under great pressure and worry and I will continue to study so I can oneday have the dream job I always wanted.

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