“Real World Examples Brings IT to Life for Students”

At SERC we are very proud of our staff and the skills and experience they bring to the College – often the latest from industry and business.  Over the next few weeks we will be catching up with a few of our computing lecturers to hear about their work at SERC. This week we hear from Lesley Bratty.

I graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a degree in Computer Science in 2004 and worked in the IT industry in various roles for the following 14 years. My main area of expertise is Programming, SQL and Business Intelligence. I have worked in areas such as IT Helpdesk Support, Networking, Software Development, Database Development and Data Analysis in both private and public sector companies. This wealth of experience gained from the IT industry means I have real-world examples to use in teaching which helps bring IT to life for my students.

I’ve been teaching Computing for 2 years now across Level 2, Level 3, HND and Foundation Degree and I really enjoy passing on my IT skills to my students, which SERC allows me to do.  I enjoy making a difference in the lives of future generations, equipping them with the necessary skills to work in the IT industry.

There have always been fewer females working in IT, particularly in the more technical roles, but I am optimistic that this will change as we encourage more and more people to study STEM subjects. There is a good mix on the lecturing team at SERC which means our students see IT is for everyone.

I think that there will be massive changes in teaching over the next 10 years in terms of the skillset needed in the IT industry.  There will be a bigger focus on the practical skills involved in Cloud Computing, AI, IoT and Programming – practical skills that SERC excel at providing over other educational facilities.