At Tech901, we are lucky to have amazingly talented instructors preparing the future IT workers in our beloved city of Memphis. A self-described supporter of educators from PreK to Ph.D., our lead instructor, Aaron Lamey, prides himself on being a technology enabler for teachers and researchers at all levels of education in Memphis.
Aaron has taught our Foundations, Networking, and Security courses, though some might say his real talent is comedy. Keep reading to learn more about Aaron and why he believes learning is a life-long commitment.
When did you first become interested in IT?
In the early 1990's, my father used to build computers from surplus components and sell them in the newspaper as a bit of a side-hustle. There was a room in the house full of PC parts. I was nine years old when I forged my own: a Pentium 486 DX 66 MHz processor. Growing up on the edge the first Digital Native generation, computers were a major part of my identity because of the influences my father had on me.
Tell us a little more about your professional experiences and how that brought you to the education standpoint. Although working as an IT Director at CBU, after completing MIS for my Masters degree I was asked to teach a class. It was a bit intimidating because I was like 27 years old and it was an adult program where many of the students were twice as old as me. They were kind to me as I learned the craft that first class and pretended to like my silly jokes.
Non-traditional students engage so fiercely in the education process. Having returned to school or starting for the first time while working, adult students want every minute in the classroom to count. It drives the instructor to optimize the learning process and waste nothing.
Advice for anyone considering enrolling in a Tech901 course?
Tech901 is ready to help you make a big change in your professional life, but since we are usually doing it while you work, it can be quite demanding. My advice is to let your friends and family know you are about sprint up a hill, and that you may need some help and encouragement along the way. Make every day's activities part of the goal of earning that certification!
What approach or strategy do you use to learn new information?
Learning has to be a life-long commitment in this field. We need to learning something new every day and quickly recall or be able to find old knowledge as well. My best strategy is to adopt a mentality of curiosity about technology and the problems our society is attempting to solve with it. That curiosity can keep you interested when some of the material gets a bit bland!
We hope you've enjoyed getting a little dose of Instructor Perspective straight from the source. At Tech901, teamwork makes the dream work!