In this course, we had to sign up for an online course with TestOut wherein we watched videos from various instructor who explained things like how to install, manage, and secure computer hardware and master home and corporate OS environments. This was interesting because we could not work with actual hardware due to departmental funding constraints, we still managed to learn hands on skills through the simulated environment called LabSim.
I can honestly say that prior to taking this class I knew close to nothing about hardware in computers so I was rather intimidated when beginning this class as with Concepts of Networks. By the end of the course, I learnt how all the different components in a computer work together to create a functioning piece of hardware as well as how to install and troubleshoot these systems. Learning about the various complicated components that go into any one machine gave me a renewed respect for computer engineers, IT technicians, and the like.
This course was our last TestOut course and in this one we were tasked with learning how to install, configure, and maintain a network for a small business. Initially, I knew basically nothing about networking and by the end of the course I had learnt about the network switches, subnet masks, gateways, IPV6 vs IPV4, and so much more. I even learnt how to use the command lines in Windows and Mac which was a big help in my internships as it helped me feel less daunted about working in a Mac OS environment.
Once again, the simulated lab environment was a blast because I got to work with equipment that I normally would not be able to get close to. This allowed me to put the theories taught in the video into practice and ensured that I actually understood the content of the course.