Confessions Of A Failed Computer Professor - Anderson Valley Advertiser

Computer instructor Brian shares his experience teaching part-time at Evergreen Valley Community College in San Jose during the late 1980s computing boom.

Brian transitioned from being a self-taught programmer using a Radio Shack TRS-80 to becoming a computer instructor after his engineering company went bankrupt. Despite lacking formal teaching credentials, he was hired to teach database management, desktop publishing, and spreadsheet applications. His classes consisted of recent graduates and career-switchers, many of whom were immigrants hoping to enter the emerging computer field.

• Students consistently arrived unprepared despite meeting prerequisites, forcing him to spend initial classes reviewing basic concepts they should have already mastered
• Classroom management required turning off all computers during lectures to prevent distraction, with hands-on practice reserved for dedicated lab sessions
• Assessment challenges led him to switch from essay questions to multiple-choice tests due to students' limited technical vocabulary and writing skills
• Only one student from his four years of teaching approximately 25 classes would have been qualified for actual computer work, highlighting systemic educational preparation issues