Use those finger swiping, double tapping hands to develop marketable skills in the Computer Applications and Office Technologies (CAOT) Department.
CAOT provides students the opportunity to hone their skills in a variety of software that can be used both in their school work or outside searching for a job said Eleanor Viz, an instructor within the department.
“It will allow them to have opportunities for jobs while in school that are more related to their major rather than taking odd jobs,” Viz said. “This will allow them to gain more experience because they have the knowledge of these applications.”
The CAOT Department offers computer applications software courses including all of the Microsoft Office applications like word or excel. In addition there are the business classes for communication, terminology and these courses are specific toward the workplace according to Viz.
“Not just learning how to use the superficial knowledge,” Lyn Clark, department chair of CAOT said. “For example in excel, that is the most popular and most demanded program in business. It really takes critical thinking to be sure that you could put it all together right away without having to go back and start over.”
Viz said that the department has a big community of second language learners taking keyboarding, word, powerpoint and other classes to improve their technical skills to get into the workforce.
“A lot of students here, English is not their first language so, first I was afraid but thanks to the professors they make you feel confident,”Maria del Pilar Taboada business major said. “My skills are better now and I’ve learned a lot.
