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jasoneckert · May 28, 2026

Dan.Morrill said:
Interesting,
What I'm getting from this is failure is still a pass, you don't have to apply yourself to get the pass in an educational setting. Interesting idea, any ideas on how to bring that back to the real world where work is tied to KPIs is tied to performance and failure is a thing that gets you written up depending on company culture?
Dan

This is why we've shifted nearly all of our assessments to practical ones in our IT programs years ago (and are moving closer to 100% each year). There are several reasons we decided to do this:
1. It aligns to the program outcomes (job-ready skills).
2. It prevents students who don't spend the time to build the practical skills a course teaches from passing it.
3. It encourages students who wouldn't otherwise spend the effort to do the lab exercises to actually do them (building confidence and motivation in the process that eventually grows throughout the program).

Of course, there are always a small cohort that won't ever do the labs. But this is the group that terminate their program for whatever reason (failure, attendance, etc.) and I think that we'll always see a certain number of them in the college.

Dan.Morrill · May 28, 2026

Brandon G said:
Excellent remark. You have the play the cards you are dealt. I've taught traditional and non-traditional students in higher education and proprietary schools. From a focus standpoint, you have to meet them where they're at. For me, it asking about their majors or interest in the IT field. During lectures and labs, I've used their interests to zero in on specific areas. Their attention is drawn in and maintained because it ties into current goals, and aspirations.

Right now I'm trying something different
I have a course starting June 9th that is A+ and based on Jill West, and the biggest issue is the labs, we use ACI labs for the class and those can take about an hour to do. I did a demo video of me doing the lab, my best practices, and why the labs are important for building skills in a safe way. It's a quick 5 week course just skimming the surface of the IT industry. I'll let you know how it goes, generally students skip the labs, and take the points.
Dan

Dan.Morrill · May 28, 2026

jasoneckert said:
I've also noticed that students nowadays want to magically become proficient in a skill without putting in any effort. This could be partly generational (the lost COVID generation from high school), and partly due to societal and technological (AI) changes. But I find there are only 2 types of motivation, and the one that works best today is the one on the right :
View attachment 2631

Interesting,
What I'm getting from this is failure is still a pass, you don't have to apply yourself to get the pass in an educational setting. Interesting idea, any ideas on how to bring that back to the real world where work is tied to KPIs is tied to performance and failure is a thing that gets you written up depending on company culture?
Dan

Dan.Morrill · May 28, 2026

Laurie Seeder said:
Hi Dan,

I teach college as well and yes, they have trouble focusing. Many of my students are on the spectrum and many have ADD or ADHD, so I feel your frustration. I've some on the spectrum that once they 'get into it' their focus is good; others get so frustrated they quit (mostly because of the theory courses like SAD). In my face-to-face classes when they are doing the labs, I do play concentration music from YouTube. Some I let listen to their own music (as long as they are continuing to work) with headphones or earbuds, but it has to be so that I can't hear it. I've usually learned their habits and abilities by the end of their first semester and know who can listen to their own and who can handle the YouTube music. I play the classics (Mozart, Beethoven, etc); by the third semester they might request music (no lyrics of course) and as long as it's not heavy metal or hard rock, I'll play it. I've also found 'programming' music and other tech concentration music. When there's a challenging lab, we do it as a class (or whoever needs to do it with help).
Hope this helps.

Laurie,
I do that, I do that myself when I need to focus and recommend it to students who have a hard time focusing. I usually start off with Lo-Fi Girl to introduce them to the idea. Who do you use to break the ice on the idea and show it is ok?

ddaksa1 · May 27, 2026

You can find the slides in CIN Seak Peek Data + DAO-002 recorded sessions.

ddaksa1 · May 27, 2026

Stephen Schneiter said:
Join us for the CIN TTT series covering the next release of the CompTIA CySA+ certification. Our guest instructor, @Nick Pierce , will lead us through the eight-session series covering the exam objectives and provide hands on examples as you strengthen your cybersecurity analysis skills. We will discuss how to cover the content with students and suggest various labs to let students gain hands-on experience as they prepare for certification.

CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) is the premier certification for cyber professionals tasked with incident detection, prevention, and response through continuous security monitoring. It validates a tech professional's expertise in incident response and vulnerability management processes, emphasizing the critical communication skills necessary for effective security analysis and compliance.

Skills covered in this series:

Enhance security operations processes, differentiate threat intelligence and threat hunting, and identify malicious activity using appropriate tools.

Conduct vulnerability assessments, prioritize vulnerabilities, and recommend effective mitigation strategies for vulnerability management.

Apply attack methodology frameworks, perform incident response, and understand the incident management lifecycle to handle security incidents effectively.

Utilize communication best practices to report on vulnerability management and incident response, providing stakeholders with actionable plans and meaningful metrics.

What: CIN TTT Series CySA+ V4
When: June 8 through July 1, 2026, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm CT
Who: Nick Pierce
Where: ON24
Register Here
(Please note, registering will automatically register you for all 8 sessions. You will be able to add each session to your calendar on from the confirmation email.)

View attachment 2627

Thank you, Stephen!

MOHAMMAD SALAH · May 27, 2026

Registered! Thank you @Stephen Schneiter

MOHAMMAD SOAEB · May 27, 2026

Hi @Stephen Schneiter
I’m facing an issue with my competency assessments (AI Essentials and AI Prompting), which are currently showing as “Unavailable” even though I haven’t used any attempts yet (0/2). I have already completed the AI Essentials course.

Could you please help me understand what might be causing this?

Do I need to complete any additional prerequisites, or does this require any admin-level action to enable access?

I’d really appreciate your guidance. Thanks in advance!

Gregory Childers · May 27, 2026

I just finished the DataSys+ beta exam. They added a new domain 6.0 Data Integration (13% of the exam),

You will need networking, security, BCDR, SQL, data privacy, API, Python, Bash/PowerShell, and cloud knowledge to complete the exam.

I had 116 questions, with 4 PBQs. I thought some of the questions were very easy, some were midrange, and some were challenging.

MOHAMMAD SOAEB · May 27, 2026

MOHAMMAD SOAEB · May 27, 2026

Hi everyone, my two competency assessments (Competency in AI Essentials and Competency in AI Prompting) are both showing Status: Unavailable even though I haven't used any attempts yet (0/2). I have completed the AI Essentials courseware. Can anyone guide me on what steps I need to take to unlock these assessments? Do I need to complete something specific first or is there an admin action required? Any help appreciated.

rrsawyerr · May 27, 2026

mosesmakobidi said:
I’m proud to share that I’ve just passed SecAI. This achievement would not have been possible without the incredible support of Stephen. Thank you so much, Stephen, for guiding me through this journey. It was a tough exam, I was close to being taken down but I pushed through and made it.

Congratulations!!! Any tips?

Dang Nam · May 27, 2026

I need lecture materials for the Data+ V2 course. Can you share them?

Dang Nam · May 27, 2026

wow. Thanks

ddaksa1 · May 26, 2026

Just wrapped up the DataSys+ Beta exam! It was an absolute steal for fifty bucks, but they definitely made me earn it: 116 questions total, which included 4 tricky PBQs.

The funniest part? After all that intense database architecture and security prep, I still got hit with a question asking for a specific OSI model layer number. I suppose no matter how deep we get into data, we can never truly escape Networking 101!

Scholara Education · May 26, 2026

this position has been filled

MBA · May 26, 2026

Congratulations!

jasoneckert · May 26, 2026

I think all technical certifications should be CE simply because technology changes rapidly over time. For Server+ (an on-prem server admin certification), things are definitely changing rapidly, especially with CM becoming the norm and a templating requirement for cyber insurance. And for project management, the buzz words are always changing (and you know... you have to keep up with the buzz words...).

jasoneckert · May 26, 2026

I've also noticed that students nowadays want to magically become proficient in a skill without putting in any effort. This could be partly generational (the lost COVID generation from high school), and partly due to societal and technological (AI) changes. But I find there are only 2 types of motivation, and the one that works best today is the one on the right

:

Brandon G · May 26, 2026

Dan.Morrill said:
Yah, but we don't get much of a choice on who we teach, we just have to teach them to the best of our ability. And focus is a thing, do you have any ideas on how to improve focus for students? Could they put on some lo-fi concentration music, maybe from YouTube?

Excellent remark. You have the play the cards you are dealt. I've taught traditional and non-traditional students in higher education and proprietary schools. From a focus standpoint, you have to meet them where they're at. For me, it asking about their majors or interest in the IT field. During lectures and labs, I've used their interests to zero in on specific areas. Their attention is drawn in and maintained because it ties into current goals, and aspirations.

Rafael Caballero · May 26, 2026

Has this been closed or still available ?

Rafael Caballero · May 26, 2026

Rick Butler said:
Not sure how many of you saw this come in through Credly, but it appears that CompTIA is moving these two certifications to the CE model, along with all the others.

I know Server+ was on the fence for a while - whether it was going to remain or go away. Seems like it's here to stay for a while.

Project+, I can kind of see, since the PM world changes a fair bit - perhaps CompTIA thinks this would be a good move to put it in better position for industry recognition - although sadly, PMI will probably always remain the front runner for Project Management certifications within the general industry.

What does the CIN community think about this?

(yeah, I know I've been light on posts lately, but I'll try to do better at that - that is, if y'all missed the Black Fedora)

Rick

Rick,

When are they moving or has it already occured? I didn't find the information on the CompTIA site, can you share it ?

Rafael Caballero · May 26, 2026

Edmond Fotso said:
Hi @Stephen Schneiter - I enrolled in and watched the session on-demand within the required timeframe, but I haven't received my SecAI+ voucher yet. Could you let me know who the best point of contact is to look into this? Thanks for your help!

If not mistaken you have to complete it within 14 days of the last aired date.

Rafael Caballero · May 26, 2026

Stephen Schneiter said:
Are you ready for the first TTT series of 2026? Join the CompTIA Instructor Network and special guest @Dwayne Natwick as he leads the SecAI+ TTT series. Dwayne will cover the exam objectives and provide hands-on examples as you strengthen your cybersecurity skills. We will discuss how to cover the content with students and suggest various labs to let students gain hands-on experience as they prepare for certification.

CompTIA SecAI+ is the first certification in CompTIA's new expansion series, designed to help you secure, govern, and responsibly integrate artificial intelligence into cybersecurity operations. Gain the skills to defend AI systems, meet global compliance standards, and use AI to enhance threat detection, automation, and innovation while strengthening organizational resilience.

What: CIN TTT Series: SecAI+ V1
When: February 18 - March 9, 2026 (Six sessions), 1:30 - 3:30 PM CDT
Who: Dwayne Natwick
Where: ON24
Register Now

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Hi Stephen, I missed the training but is this available on demand ?

Rafael Caballero · May 26, 2026

Registered. Looking forward to the training.

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