Lakeland offers accelerated iOS programming track

Beginning in August, computer programmers, or those on track to become one, will have a new certificate option through Lakeland Community College to build new mobile applications for iOS devices, like iPhones and iPads.

Called APP — short for Accelerated Programming Pathway — the new fasttrack, 15-week option will prepare students for entrylevel mobile application development employment creating these Apple applications.

It answers an immediate need for such programmers, not only in Northeast Ohio, but around the country, as well, said Sue Baker, professor/department chair of the Information Technology and Computer Science Department at Lakeland.

She said she and Lakeland professor Joe Kozlevcar, who oversees the application and programming curriculum at Lakeland, worked together to assemble the new APP offering.

“Right now, there’s a demand for application programmers — not just in Northeast Ohio,” she said. “There’s a national demand.”

So, to answer that demand in the face of numerous iOS bootcamps springing up around the country, some of which cost students as much as $15,000, Lakeland decided to step in and offer a cost-effective alternative taught by an adjunct faculty made up, at least partially, by mobile app developers who work for Mayfield Village-based Progressive Insurance.

“There have been a number of app boot camps that have cropped up in our area and around the country to try to provide application program developers to employers,” Baker said.

The new program at Lakeland is geared toward folks who already have some programming background or who have been working in the information technology field. “It’s a great option for those who have already been working in IT and want to add to their skill set,” she said, adding that the same classes are still available for students pursuing a traditional, semester-based course of study.

“Because of the accelerated nature of this program, a prerequisite would be that students would have some kind of background in programming logic, to be able to keep up with the accelerated pace,” she said.

Baker said the new certificate track is for developers wanting to learn iOS programming, which applies to Apple devices. She said that, depending upon how well received this program works, the school may add another, similar program for Android-based devices.

“If the program is successful, we plan on launching a program with our Android classes in the spring,” Baker said, referring to Spring Semester 2018.

She stressed the importance of applicants’ backgrounds, based on the hitthe-ground-running nature of the APP “just to make sure they’re ready and able...”

Baker said after successfully completing the 15week APP track, its students should be read to assume an entry-level role in a mobile-application development team.

She added that a big draw for students will likely be the fact that it’s offered in a hybrid format, which combines 50 percent faceto-face, in-class instruction with online class work.

“With some of these boot camps,” she said, “it’s 9-5, Monday through Friday, so if they’re working, it’s at night. That’s what’s nice about (Lakeland’s APP). We tried to make it convenient by offering a hybrid format and having the face-to-face time in the evening, when most people aren’t working.”

More information about the APP is available via Lakeland’s Information Technology & Computer Science Department’s website.