Coming to University Near You: Tech Training Partner Programs
As the student loan debt storm clouds dampen enthusiasm about higher education, colleges and universities are searching for ways to energize enrollments. Potential students want to get maximum value from their education dollars, and that often means taking a closer look about what college and universities can do to maximize graduates' employment prospects. A new report from learning and education analysis firm Training Industry suggests that higher education institutions are teaming up with IT firms and other tech training providers to boost the profile of their tech education offerings. It's quickly becoming more commonplace, for example, to embed professional IT certifications and certificates in college and university degree programs. Tech firms can also help solve the lag time issue that often means higher ed curriculum is behind the pace of change in IT. It seems likely that there's an improved university IT education experience on the horizon.
Microsoft Learn Introduces New Learning Connection Tool
Microsoft often partners with education providers (including at the K-12 level) to deliver curriculum — and draw learners into the orbit of its various software offerings. At the same time, however, Microsoft has long been committed to reaching interested individuals directly, patiently building out a robust ecosystem of online IT training and education offerings. If you want computer and IT skills, especially skills that plug directly into the likes of Windows, Office, Azure, and more, then Microsoft Learn has a red carpet they'd like to walk you down. A new section of that carpet unfurled this week with the launch of Learner Central, a portal intended to help learners find their way into so called "learning rooms" on Microsoft Teams. The purpose of learning rooms is to provide an online environment where learners can "connect with colleagues and tech experts to dive deep into topic-specific questions via asynchronous discussions and virtual sessions." Mingling with experts and working professionals is a great way to enhance your learning, so this could be an interesting tool to keep tabs on.
ISACA Celebrates Halloween with Chilling Overview of Cybersecurity Incidents
Both the month of October and Cybersecurity Awareness Month came to a close on Tuesday. If you don't have a Halloween hangover, however, then you may enjoy clicking over to the ISACA Now Blog of cybersecurity and IT governance professional association ISACA. A seasonally spooky post appeared there on Tuesday with a brief overview of some of the more chilling cybersecurity incidents to come down the pike over the past year or two.
Certification Magazine Celebrates Halloween with Seasonal Cybersecurity Quiz
Speaking of seasonal tricks and treats, the team over at CertMag.com, the official website of Certification Magazine, carried on with their annual Halloween tradition of creating a brief and entertaining quiz centered around various bits and bytes of cybersecurity trivia. This year's quiz is largely focused on recent cybersecurity breaches and attacks, so if you've been closely following current cybersecurity events — or even if you haven't — then you may enjoy testing your memory.
Cisco Networking Academy Wants to Hone Your Professional Skills
You can cram your head chock full of IT knowledge and skills and still not have everything that IT employers are looking for. Especially in the IT industry, business employers are increasingly emphasizing the importance of prospective employees adding so-called "soft skills" to their professional repertoire. Can you function well as part of a team? Do you excel at interpersonal communication (both verbal and written)? Are you able to work well with others? Cisco Networking Academy, a longstanding education arm of the Cisco certification and training ecosystem, is stepping in to help you up your "professional skills" game. CNA has launched a menu of Professional Skills courses to help both IT newcomers and established professionals improve their abilities in this critical area. These self-paced online courses are offered free of charge, so you can't complain that the price tag is holding you back.
That's all for this edition of Certification Watch. Please keep your certification news and tips coming to the GoCertify News Editor.
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