I received the following information from a LinkedIn colleague that may be worth sharing with your faculty colleagues:

Many educational institutions are moving their face-to-face classes to online to help slow the spread of COVID-19. I am finding out that many EdTech companies are postings free or extended trial offers to educators impacted by these. I compiled a few that I was able to find. If you have any to add please let me know.

Free courseware from Wiley: https://lnkd.in/e_hGuUp

Expanded feature for the Free Webex Personal account: https://lnkd.in/edYiduy

Removal of the 40-minute limit for Basic Zoom account for users in certain countries: https://lnkd.in/eyEEWQp

Microsoft Office 365 E1 6-month Trial: https://lnkd.in/eERUkHX

Premium features of Google Hangouts Meet until July 1, 2020: https://lnkd.in/eTvms_V

Loom Pro free for education: https://lnkd.in/ethvjHm

Free access to TechSmith Snagit and Video Review through June 30, 2020: https://lnkd.in/enrirQw

Three months free RingCentral: https://lnkd.in/erGfWtP

Free access to Coursera course catalog: https://lnkd.in/e6rhM78

Steve Linthicum, JD, CISSP
Professor Emeritus
Orange County Region Director - Business Engagement
Information and Communications Technologies / Digital Media
Powered by California Community Colleges
(916) 300-7602
Email: [email protected]
https://ictdmsector.org/Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/801335390

Earlier this week I attended a panel discussion at Mira Costa Community College. The panel discussion centered upon what the industry representatives thought we should be teaching. Below is a subsequent email discussion I had with one of the industry representatives. I think it would interest CIN members. I'd appreciate your feedback.

Email from Steve Linthicum (CCCCO) to William Figueroa (Viasat)

I wanted to talk about concerns I have with community colleges continuing to focus on hardware and a belief I have that it probably makes sense to move away from the hardware courses and focus on cloud computing. That belief is contained in an article I wrote that was published last month by Certification Magazine (link provided above).

As noted in the article, I'm "retiring" on June 30th from the California community college system. Rick Cassoni has asked that I teach for Mira Costa (specifically their Cisco CCNA class and possibly their Security+ related class), something I cannot do until the Spring 2021 because of a requirement to take 6 months off. Based upon where I believe things are headed, I'm not sure students will achieve a ROI (return on instruction) benefit from taking the Cisco line of courses that are focused on its router and switch line of products. A stronger benefit in my opinion would be focusing on gaining an understanding of cloud computing, with a focus on AWS and Azure. That is a direction I'm focused on as evidenced in my recent blog postings.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Steve

Response from Wilson Figueroa

I would generally agree with those statements, but there are some things to keep in mind.

• We do design equipment that is self-contained and requires the use of routers and switches, but that is much less today.
• I think students need to have a very good understanding of TCP / IP and protocols and how that all works.
• If they need Cisco or Juniper Certs – those are offered by schools and online.

We are finding that multi-cloud is not only a nice to have, but a need to have.

• The different cloud providers appear to be specializing in different things and you now choose the one that has the best tools for your use case.
• We have our own private cloud using Rackspace and enterprise equipment, plus we use Azure, AWS, and GCP.
• There are many security arguments for multi-cloud – like eliminating vendor lock-in, the ability to easily move containerized apps to different cloud providers, supporting different regions around the world, better support for real-time work (like Kubernetes with Google cloud).

What is similar is that each cloud provider has a shared security model. Students should be taught what that means, how you set up security services and how you monitor those. For example, how do you look and interpret CloudWatch and CloudTrail logs in addition to your private cloud and enterprise logs.

Also, CC is now shifting to things like Lambda Function (Serverless) and we already run what are called immutable containers. The tools, SecDevOps (or DevSecOps), DevOps and cloud tools are growing at a fast pace. I even suspect that Quantum Computers will be time-shared and you will access those over the cloud.

So, I think it is critical to teach students to de-emphasize the hardware and learn the way of the cloud because it will continue to grow in breadth (cloud services and tools), tools and use for everyone as today companies want to focus on their platform as opposed to the smaller view of their products.

Thanks ~Wilson

Good afternoon,
I have taught many CompTIA classes (A+, Neworking+. and Security+) and now looking forward top jump into the CompTIA CySA+ pool.
I am looking forward to taking the Train the Trainer program.

It is nice to meet you all.

Just a quick note that our previous Cloud Essentials+ certification (001) is retiring on May 12th. Let me know if you need any help with resources to help you prep for (002). Thanks! Liz

Below is a link to an article I wrote earlier this week that relates specifically to the actions of Microsoft in retiring a series of somewhat dated certifications. It should be noted that retirement includes eliminating the MCSE branding, something that's been around since the '90s.

As most of us know, in June 2019, Cisco made a decision to drastically modify its certification offerings, eliminating the CCENT foundational certification and changing its CCNA and CCNP certification tracks. The Cisco and Microsoft decisions, as near as I can tell, were made without asking for input from the instructor community. Thoughts?

I am busy prepping to write the CS0-001 exam on the 2nd of April 2020.
I have been running through the Instructor manual(s) to set up the lab environment and so far I am getting things right.
What do/did you use to prep for this monster?

See: https://scccd.peopleadmin.com/postings/3090

Welcome to the CIN!

Seems like we have some new faces here in CIN and, in an effort to try to get the CiN server to crash, encourage some new activity on the CIN board, I wanted to put up a post to see who the newbies are, what certs you're working on, what your goals are, whatever - just get a conversation going.

So, who's up?

Cheers,

/r

Dear all,

any A+ material and resources for A+ exam preparation and voucher?

Dear all,

I will take ITF+ U61 exam tomorrow. Hope I am have a good luck.
If you guide have something to say for me? please!

This is a long term position for the properly qualified candidate...must have a minimum of secret clearance.

Workforce Development Program is seeking an instructor 25 hours per week for A+ Class. Prefer teaching experience with strong interpersonal skills, friendly and patient personality, good writing and communication skills, advanced computer skills, ability to work with a diverse student population, and an engaging teaching style. Class scheduled to start March 16, 2020
email us: [email protected]

Be sure to join our product team for the CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) CS0-002 pre-launch webinar happening on March 5th at 11:00am CST. If you are unable to join at that time, please register for the webinar to receive follow up information. Register here.

During this webinar, our speakers will discuss the importance of this certification given industry trends, highlight key changes to the new exam (CS0-002), and provide an opportunity to ask questions.
In this 45-minute webinar, you will:

• Discover how industry changes are impacting the security analyst job role, even though core job functions remain the same
• Review updates to the new objectives
• Learn what available resources and Official CompTIA Content options will be available at launch

Don't miss the opportunity to learn more about the upcoming CySA+ CS0-002 exam launching on April 21, 2020.

CySA+ Pre-launch Webinar Registration

You'll also find the new CySA+ certification guide attached to this post.

Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS) is currently seeking a CompTIA A+ / Network+ Full-Time Instructor

This is a great opportunity to teach small groups of Veterans the necessary skills to transition into meaningful careers.

Description
Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS) is currently seeking an CompTIA A+ / Network+ Full-time Instructor.

CompTIA A+ Course Objectives:
The course objective is to ensure the student obtains the skills necessary to install, configure, upgrade, repair, troubleshoot, enhance, and perform maintenance on basic PC hardware and operating systems. Upon completion of this course, the student will understand:

• BIOS, monitor system devices and flash BIOS
• Main system components and troubleshooting
• Custom system configurations
• TCP/IP stack and common usage of components
• Printers , their installation, features and troubleshooting
• Information security, including physical security and security best practices
• Android and iOS
• Installation, configuration, administration and troubleshooting of Microsoft operating systems
• Wired and wireless standards, technologies and implementation

CompTIA Network+ Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of the course, students will have mastery of the following subjects:

• Describe the basic components and characteristics of a network
• Identify wired network-to-network connections
• Install LAN wiring components
• Differentiate between network internetworking devices
• Configure the TCP/IP communication protocols for a wired connection
• Install wireless networking components
• Identify common security threats and mitigation techniques
• Secure operating systems and network devices
• Control access to the network
• Monitor network resources
• Troubleshoot the network

Additional Responsibilities:

• Curriculum development
• Instruction covering customer service, interpersonal skills, and job readiness topics

Class Schedule:

• Full-time, Monday - Friday

Average Class Size:

• 10 Students

Compensation:

• Depending on Experience

Requirements:

• Minimum of bachelors, masters preferred.
• One (1) year of teaching experience in applicable area.

Location:

• Dallas, TX (Greater Dallas Area)

Interested parties please: Apply Now!

Hello,

Our company, Stone River eLearning, is looking for virtual course creators/instructors in the following areas. If you are interested in a content partnership and are trained with the latest versions, please reach out to me at [email protected].

1. CompTIA IT Fundamentals
2. CompTIA Linux+
3. CompTIA Server+
4. CompTIA CySA+
5. CompTIA PenTest+
6. CompTIA Project+
7. CompTIA CTT+
8. CompTIA Cloud Essentials

Thanks for looking!

-Tyler

Hello Team! Today was my day! After CISSP kicked my butt last year, I've been studying CompTIA CASP+ for a year with dual unsuccessful results. I did not let it get me down. What is did do was get me angry! While studying for CASP+, I've upgraded my A+, Network+, Security+, and grabbed Cloud Essentials+.

Today, I went into the testing center and PASSED CASP+

During my journey, I kept one thing in mind. Always fail forward!

Hello all,

An odd request but I am looking for Practice Papers/Past Papers for Students as some of the students I've had would like to get more of a feel of how the questions are worded in the CompTIA exams (especially those who are new to IT).

There are some apps and websites online but I'd prefer to show them official material.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone. I'm a product developer for CompTIA's training products. We're currently doing research on how labs are implemented in various training programs. Currently, our instructor guides come with directions on how to set up computers in the classroom in order to run the lab activities. We also offer a separate product, CompTIA Labs, that can be used in conjunction with the guides to run the lab activities through a virtual lab platform, Learn on Demand Systems.

How are labs run in your organization? Do you use a virtual lab platform like Learn on Demand or do you use locally-hosted machines? What are the benefits and drawbacks to your current setup?

Has there been a date set yet for the new objectives for the Security+ cert (SY0-601)?

Good day!

I have transferred to a different school which is a CompTIA partner too however, they don't seem to have the labs for CompTIA courses.
Kindly advise what CompTIA partners get as instruction materials, and how to get them, so i can advise my supervisor.

The training institution that I am at is BoxHill Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

When can/do instructors get an opportunity to participate in the new Server+ Beta examinations?

My Certifications

Hi fellow Instructors,

Good day!

Does anyone here have a copy of the Network+ Instructor Guide 2019 Update?

I was reviewing the "setup guides" for each of the CompTIA courses that we offer and i noticed that I do not have a setup guide for the Network+ on my Logical Choice account. But inside the Network+ Instructor guide document (course edition 2.0 copyright 2018), there is a section stating the instructions for setting up the classroom environment (course specific technical requirements & setting up the course). I just do now know if this is still up to date.

I came across a statement in the Security+ guide saying "The Security+ 2019 Update and Network+ (N10-007) 2019 Update courses use the same environment so if you have already set up student PCs to run a Network+ course, the lab environment will already be configured to run Security+."

And hence, this inquiry.

Your inputs will greatly be appreciated.

Thank you!

Ivan Jude

I'm unable to download the slides used in the Cloud Essentials TTT. Seems they are on a Google Drive and too large to download. Is there a way to gain access to the Google Drive Folder?