Introduction
Recently I have been thinking through the best ways to get the people I support trained to the same level in SQL. The constraints I am running into are that I do not have the time or even maybe the skill to develop a syllabus and course materials to launch my own SQL Server course. I also know that getting training dollars appropriated for large scale training is difficult even in good economic times.
The Idea
I see the need for an option that splits the difference.
There is a real un-served niche in the market for DBA delivered community training materials. The idea would be to work together as a community to create common course materials and delivery scripts that would be presented by individual DBAs to the teams they support. Everyone would get roughly the same experience while having a trainer that can speak directly to their specific questions or even look at examples using their specific data.
The First Course
The first course I see in the series would be an introduction to TSQL. I am currently reading Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals (PRO-Developer) by Itzik Ben-Gan to pick up pointers and it strikes me as to how teachable the text is. I feel like if I could just get people to read the book they would be trained. I think that if a few people came together and developed presentations, reading assignments and homework assignments the result would be a powerful teaching tool that any DBA could use to further their organization. The key is that this would be extremely cheap training owned by the community.
I need to pause here and add that I have never developed courseware so I am not sure of the copyright implications or any other details that go with creating courseware from someone else’s text. I picture an author being happy that books will be bought for each participant, but I am sure there is much more to it than I am thinking of.
I Need Feedback
Does this sound like a good idea?
Would you be interested in working on it?
Do you know of something like this that already exists?
Please let me know. I would have to consider no feedback at all to be strong feedback as well.