Qualified Computer Science & IT Teacher. Tailored and Friendly Support for All Levels and Abilities

Find out more about Alan

• Can you tell us about your first experience using a computer?

  When I was three, the top of my wish list to Santa was for my own plug socket (he came up trumps with a socket and a number of mutli-way adapters to use with it!) After leaving school, this led to a job with BT where I worked with wiring and circuits everyday. My interest in computers grew out of a this and I built my own computer from a kit.
  Making sure that all the components were in the right place and soldering them to the motherboard was quite a challenge but well worth it to have my own computer even though it meant having to learn assembly language to be able to program it.

• What is the technological evolution that has marked you most and what will be, in your eyes, a turning point in this field? 

  I think the Internet has been the biggest technological event of my lifetime. Over the last 25-30 years, it has completely transformed the way we all live our lives whether that involves shopping, health, work or socialising. I think the Covid pandemic was a big turning point in how lots of people used the Internet for example in working from home. Prior to the pandemic, for many people it was technically not possible, but businesses and individual were forced to adapt.
  People have been working on Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects for many years and some of those are now coming into public use. I think this is an area where we will see significant changes in the way we use and interact with technology.

• Explain your expertise, your interest in it and, more broadly, its importance in the computer world. 

  Computing is such a massive field of technologies all coming together to bring us the hardware and software that we hold in our hands everyday.
  Of all those technologies though, I think databases play a crucial role in the way we use technology. Without databases, there would be no search engines, social media and more crucially, the way the Internet itself works would be quite different.
  I have a good theoretical knowledge of database concepts and practical use of desktop DBMS such as MS Access and web based systems such as MySQL.

• Do so-called 'visionaries', such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg inspire you or do you have other role models?

  I think Steve Jobs is a great role model. He was driven by the desire to make leading edge technology look good and easy to use. I believe that it is a great ideal to follow that complicated technology should be well designed and hide the complexity behind an intuitive interface.

• 
Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school. 


  Before becoming a teacher, I worked in the digital print industry. Around this time web based applications were starting to be developed including online quotes and ordering. However, they didn’t have many features weren’t very reliable. Not many made it past a few weeks of being live.
  At the time it seemed as though it was a good idea but had too many problems. How wrong! These days companies must have a website and store otherwise their business isn’t going anywhere.

• What would you say to an uncomfortable person in front of a screen who says that "IT is too complicated"? 


  Lots of areas of human life are unfamiliar and complicated. To begin to understand them we need to be focused on one area which we want to achieve our goal and not get side tracked by other things along the way. (A practical application of the computing term abstraction.)
  Applying that principle to IT will make it seem more manageable and less complicated.

• What are your other passions, related or non-related to computers? 

  Related to computing, I like to programming challenges and have built a dynamic website using PHP and MySQL. I also enjoy writing code in Python and other high level languages.
  My big passion outside computers is our dog. He is intelligent, loyal and amusing. Taking him for walks, and playing with him take up many hours.

• What makes you a Superprof in IT? 

  Some tutees come to me because they have had a bad experience at school and want help to get them through their exam. Others come because they want help to get the top grade.
  Whatever the learning style or background, I want to make sure my tutees have an enjoyable lesson, sharing my knowledge and enabling them to achieve their goals.