promoting TTT

I have encouraged instructors in Georgia technical colleges to attend the TTT sessions and also to join CIN. I hear from them all the time of do I know low cost or free good training and first thing I tell them is get in the TTT CIN classes as most are great. Lee is doing a good job with PEN+ now. And when we have Deep Dive again I will promote it to and I hope I have the opportunity to teach a deep dive again or to teach a TTT.

CASP+ vs CISSP

Team, I have recently passed CISSP! Wow...what a journey! I've actually made a video about it, which I will share. Last year, I've concurred CASP+, which was also a challenge. Funny, I was unsuccessful twice with both certs before passing. Talk about stress, but I set a goal and achieved it.

Both certifications were challenging in their own way. CASP+ is more on the technical side. Those simulations...UGH! Know your Linux. Unfortunately, I am weak with Linux. I am a Windows guy!

CISSP is on the management side. DO NOT FIX ANYTHING, unlike CASP+, you want to fix the problem. With CISSP, you are an IT Manager, CISO, and other roles of IT management. You truly need to know the flow nd the "why" of everything. Memorizing terms and the steps in a process (RMF), will not work. How does everything connect? Is the CIA Triad affected? The security treatment that was decided on, does it align with company goals and objectives?

Both certs are excellent and hold a tremendous amount of value to your career. Keep studying!

CISSP Journey

Successful content delivery systems

Which content delivery systems have your students had A+ certification success with?

Just started at an organization that has TestOut, CertMaster (not sure which one) & the Mike Meyers book. I'm thinking about trying to get them to supplement with MeasureUp, or Ucertify, or Cisco's IT Fundamentals, or either Cengage's MindTap for CompTIA A+ Guide to IT Technical Support, 10th Edition, or just the book as a standalone PDF. The students are economically disadvantaged, including homeless youths up to about age 24 who have recently received a high school or an equivalency diploma. The goal is for them to be A+ certified within 22 months, possibly receiving an intermediate cert like CompTia's ITF or a Microsoft MTA cert as prep for the A+ if it will help them attain the A+.

Do you use any of these resources, or have your students had success with something else?

PEN TEST CERTMASTER ACCESS KEY

Hello everybody, Good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you are? (in Stephen voice).

Am delighted to inform you all that I have finally received an access code to Pen Test certmaster materials for the webinar which is currently underway.

Thanks to CompTIA, thanks to Stephen through the CompTIA instructor network for the materials.

Stephen schneiter needs 100 likes, may I have them please :)

Question of Week #3-Answer

Happy Friday everyone!

Our question this week was: What is the Boost Dashboard?

The Answer: The boost dashboard is the landing page for Instructors in the CertMaster Learn Platform. This dashboard houses all instructor resources and analytics for both Students and Groups. Resources are applicable to almost all CompTIA Certifications. Analytics are available when a student is assigned to an Instructor. If the student is not tied to the Instructor in a group, the Instructor will not be able to see the reports of the "group/classroom" and students tied to it.

If you are a lead Instructor or the Supervisor for your Institution you will have visibility of analytics for the whole Institution, and from there you can drill down deeper into group and student reporting.

In the following weeks we will have questions surrounding the details of the boost dashboard, so stay tuned!

Learn + Labs + Book - Logical Order

We are in the process of setting up ITF+ curricula using the CompTIA Learn and Labs. What we are finding is that while these are great pieces individually, the two do not complement each other directly. A third piece is necessary, to help the students identify when to switch from Learn to Labs.

I understand the two are separate items available for purchase and referring to labs they don't have access to may confuse students. However, it would be great to have a place in Learn to mark that Labs has been purchased so the relevant lab material sections can be referenced at the right time and place within the Learn modules.

Granted, we are new to building these out, so it is quite possible I am missing something elementary in my research.

I do not have a copy of the student study guide, perhaps the guide helps tie the two together? Or any other places where this is compiled?

NEWS FLASH - New Data Certifications Extend CompTIA Product Roadmap

Hello CompTIA Instructors,

In case you missed our big news today...I am posting it here! (PR RELEASE)

February 9, 2022
CompTIA Data+ certification debuts this quarter; future products focused on data science, systems and foundational knowledge

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce, announced today it will create additional certifications and learning resources to serve the fast-growing market for data skills.​

The association’s first data-specific credential, CompTIA Data+, will launch this quarter. CompTIA Data+ is an early-career data analytics certification for professionals tasked with developing and promoting data-driven business decision-making.

Additional new certifications and learning materials centered on data knowledge and skills will be introduced beginning in 2023, with resources available for all career levels – early (CompTIA Data Foundations), intermediate for data analytics (CompTIA Data+) and data systems (CompTIA DataSys+) and advanced data science (CompTIA DataSci+).

“As the use of data grows in all aspects of business operations companies are learning that they need to develop teams with diverse and distinct skills at several levels, from a foundational understanding of the basics of data to advanced skillsets in areas such as data science and systems,” said Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA president and CEO.

During the past 12 months, there were over 193,000 job postings by U.S. employers for data analysts, data mining specialists, data engineers and data scientists. More than half of the positions are in the 0-2 years or 3-5 years of experience range. The need for core data skills extends beyond data-specific job roles. Employers listed over one million job postings over the past 12 months seeking candidates with skills in data analysis, data mining or data visualization.

Yet according to CompTIA’s “Data Management and Analysis Trends” report just one in four companies report being exactly where they want to be with their utilization of data, meaning the majority recognize a need for improvement in some area. The top reported data challenges facing organizations include the need for more timely data analysis; the ability work across multiple data sets and data types; and to close data-related skills gaps among staff.

“Organizations that think strategically about overcoming data silos and developing a data-first mindset among staff will be positioned to unlock the full potential of data,” Thibodeaux added.

Data-related jobs are projected to be among the fastest-growing occupations through the balance of this decade, with some positions, such as data scientists, expected to grow up to five times faster than other occupations.

@Stephen Schneiter time to start a new Data Forum :)

Great resource for threat hunting & triage

We had a Cybersecurity company that does managed detection and response (in addition to the regular pentesting vulnerability assessments) for other organizations do a guest talk in my class earlier today. It was very interactive and engaging, and they were able to show my class the tools and processes they use.

One of the tools they use (for threat hunting & triage) is Intezer Analyze (https://www.intezer.com/intezer-analyze/).
It's a pretty amazing all-in-one tool. After their demo I'm planning on creating content and labs for it in our Cybersecurity course!

Thought I'd share this here in case it piques other's interest, or if you'd like to explore it in your Cybersecurity courses as well.
Cheers,
Jason.

Update notification for CertMaster Labs and CompTIA Labs

Hello CIN Members,

During a routine review, we identified the necessity to adjust lab duration times to eliminate the risk of fraud, and better meet the needs of our users. CompTIA takes modifications to our courseware and labs seriously, and we are always working to optimize the user experience while upholding the integrity of our learning content. Limiting the time for lab completion does reflect what students experience within the exam environment. Please note: students still retain the ability to relaunch labs as many times as they wish.

After analyzing the average time users needed to complete each lab, along with our experience of labs most likely to generate questions (i.e., Applied Labs), limits to lab durations were made ensuring 95 percent of users had the same amount of time allocated for completion.

For example:
  • If a lab was originally designated to take 30 minutes to complete and the average completion rate was 40 minutes, we raised the duration to 60 minutes.
  • Each lab allows a 50% extension rate, so here the extension would be 30 minutes.
  • Added together, this would equate to a total access period of 90 minutes.
Once the user reaches the lab duration + extension time it will cancel, and no score will be recorded so plan accordingly. This change will provide a timed experience that helps students prepare for the timed certification exam.

Labs are designed to be completed:
  • 15-30 minutes for Assisted Labs
  • 30-45 minutes for Applied Labs
CompTIA will continue to monitor the average duration of labs and adjust as needed.

Our Customer Service and Success Teams are always standing by, ready to address any instructor or student concerns. If you have additional questions, please contact https://help.comptia.org/.

Please reach out to us if you have questions.

Best,
Liz

See prior exam results in CertMaster Labs

I'm new to the CertMaster labs. My college recently purchased me the Sec+ labs since I'm teaching that course and we're using the labs for the class. Is it possible to see the exam results for labs that you have already completed? I was part way through the labs, when I thought, since I have them send me screenshots of their exam results, I should probably save mine to compare. (Sometimes, as you know, students can be quite... creative). So, I was wondering if I can go back and

Thanks!

John

Question About Timeframe for Part-Time A+ Students

Hi all,

I work for a nonprofit, and we have started offering the A+ Core 1 course via the CertMaster Learn online self-paced training. All of our students are adults who work full time, so their time for studying is limited. Does anyone have any thoughts about how to manage this type of delivery method to keep the students on track and what timeline we should expect for students to complete the course?

Any insights or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Joe
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Connecting Professor Messer Security+ Videos with the Official CompTIA Instructor/Student Guide

In my effort to create structured learning content in a Canvas Learning Management System for a class this fall where I'm utilizing CompTIA's Official Student Guide and Labs for the Security+ (SY0-601), I'm planning to direct students to Professor Messer's videos that relate to this certification. In conjunction with this effort, I've developed a table (currently a work in progress) that identifies the videos, the exam objective (EO), and I'm going to work on tying the videos to their lesson location in the Guide. Appendix A in the Guide identifies items with their associated exam objective and ties the items to the specific lesson where they are discussed. For example, the term "dumpster diving" is tied to EO 1.1 and Lesson 4, Topic A (4A) in the Guide. Looking at the table, a video titled "dumpster diving" is listed as being tied also to EO 1.1. I will tie this video to 4A in the Guide.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this effort.

Steve

  • Question
Looking for an instructor to teach Certified Authorization Professional (CAP)

Hello all,
We are searching for an instructor to teach Virtual Certified Authorization Professional (CAP) course for our federal government agency. If you are certified to teach, please reach out to me.

Thanks,
Christine Aykac
[email protected]

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