New TGGD Wiki Resource: T.O. Tech & Design Schools

This is a guest post by Rachel Young

I've added a list of technology and design schools in Toronto to our wiki. Check it out.

I looked for schools that offered more than just MS Office training and specifically looked for those with a wealth of courses in areas such as Web Development, e-Commerce, Networking, Information Technology, Recording Arts, and Graphic Design, as well as accredited certification programs in Cisco, Novell, MCSE, etc.

Here's how this list breaks down:

Community Colleges and Universities
- These post-secondary schools are publically funded and offer fulltime, part-time, and continuing education or professional development programs. Many programs offer a rounded education that include more supplimentary courses (usually listed as electives) than the specific objective of a degree, diploma, or certificate.

Career Colleges and Trade Schools
- These institutions are governed by the Private Career Colleges Act and differ from the more common colleges and universities because they prepare students for a specific job or gives them specific skills. Programs offered at a private college or career college may be condensed to deliver training over a shorter period of time, and can be taken as fulltime, part-time, or professional development studies.

Professional Development
- This section is meant for contracted study through off the shelf or custom instructional design. Corporate training companies and new media centres offer a range courses, often without the prerequisites in place at the first two sections, ideal for those who want intensive training on something very specific or for companies to train larger groups of employees at once.

Online Studies
- If location or scheduling are issues then perhaps self-paced and distance study would be more appropriate. Many colleges and universities offer full programs online, and since there are so many this is the short list of resources to find the schools and programs offered online.

Taking classes in these schools is a great way to meet new people in your field while you learn something new or keep your skills up to date.

Happy learning!