Google IT Support Certificate

• Dec 26, 2020

As someone with very little background in computer science, I wanted to broaden my general knowledge in the field by taking this course. While the 5 courses included in this specialization program is intended for someone who wants to start off their career as an IT support, I think it teaches many useful topics for anyone who is interested to learn more about how computer works.

• Technical Support Fundamnetals: This was a really basic course which I still took to complete the specialization requirement but I would say anybody who have built their own computer probably knows enough to skip this part.
• The Bits and Bytes of Computer Networking: I found this course to be extremely helpful in learninng about computer network. Now I understand what different layers are in the network model and how the devices on the network talk to each other. I strongly recommend this course to those who want to get introduced to how computer network (including internet) works.
• Operating Systems and You: This part gives you basic introduction to the OS. The lab work in this course was pretty basic if you already have used different operating systems on your computer. Some of the concepts helped me solidify my understanding of the OS but I think anybody who grew up reasonably familiar with the computers (playing with user accounts, permissions..etc) would probably find it too basic.
• System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services: Out of all the 5 courses in the specializaiton, this course was most geared towards IT support techs. I took it out of curiosity (I am studying as a hobby afterall) and I am quite satisfied the course. I do not know if I will ever need to remotely manage a bunch of computers for anybody but now I know where to start if I ever do. As we live in 2020s I think everyone should at least have a general grasp of how computers are managed at work and what cloud computing.
• IT Security: Defense agains the digital dark arts This was my favorite course along with the 2nd course on the networking because it enlightened me so much about what kind of risks there could be when we use computer. This lecture will definitely help me be more conscious of security for both my personal and work computers. It was also interesting to learn about different protection mechanisms and think about how to reduce risk for myself.

If you are pressed for time and grew up with computers, I think I would recommend taking 'The Bits and Bytes of Computer Netowrking' and 'IT Security' courses.
Overall, I loved the lectures but one thing that I noticed was that you will be responsible for taking all the notes while listening to the lecture (compared to some other classes on Coursera that provide the lecture slides). I was learning a lot of new materials, and often I found myself pausing the video, just so that I could write down everything the lecturer was saying. It is true though that you learn better through your own notes and there are plenty of resources online if you google so this was not a major issue but I still wish they provided some written materials that I can take additional notes on.