Another useful holiday gift for my fellow instructors. The following link useful since it provides for 2-days of free training and those completing the "VIRTUAL: Microsoft Azure Virtual Training Day: Fundamentals" course can take the Azure Fundamentals certification exam at no cost.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/tra...d=_yxrujvy3kskftm1hkk0sohzibm2xs6z96ppuv0n900

Salvation Academy has a branch in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa.
How does remote testing work for schools in Africa? Will appreciate any update.

Time to increase your computer science electronic bookshelf holdings. For Christmas I've arranged for you to get a library of Kindle ebooks. Order the ebooks quickly as I'm not sure how long they will be available for free.
Link: https://slickdeals.net/f/14684135-f...yProvider:Control|Feature:isPersonalized:true

Has anyone produced flashcards for ITF+ and wouldn't mind sharing? We have some but are looking to add more to the Cyberprep Curriculum.

SolarWinds attack explained:

Need that perfect last minute gift for a fellow instructor! Invite them to join CIN! This is a gift that will benefit them all year.

Join the worldwide community of instructors who provide CompTIA certification training. Our dedicated platform allows instructors and paraprofessionals to collaborate, share best practices and receive complimentary training and tools from CompTIA.

Joining CIN they will:

• Connect with Instructors Worldwide
• Discuss teaching Strategies
• Access Complimentary Training
• Join Train-the-Trainer webinars
• Network with Peers
• Learn Best Practices

It is the perfect gift for IT instructors! Wishing all of you a great holiday break and great start to 2021! CIN will have a lot of new features and events rolling out next year, not to mention a lot of Train-the-Trainer events on the horizon! We look forward to seeing each of you in the community!!

See: https://www.classy.org/campaign/meals-on-wheels-san-diego-county-fundraiser/c317921

Hi there, we need an instructor to teach CompTIA A+ online, asynchronously using our Canvas LMS and Zoom. The class has 20 students and will begin on Jan. 30. The course must conclude by April. The students would receive the official textbook (Official CompTIA® A+® Core 1 and 2 Guides (Exams 220-1001 and 220-1002)) and vouchers for the two parts of the test. I need a stellar, experienced instructor who can source the content, populate it in the LMS and teach the class for us. Our regular instructor is teaching the first section of the class, as this is a second one that filled up as well. Is this a good fit for you? Let me know your experience and interest: [email protected]. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

For those students that got the Sec+ this year, with version 501 do you think is it worth taking a new test and have it 'upgraded' to 601? Or it's better to just get the C.E point and get a renew in a couple of years?

Thank you all for your attention,

Hello, we need trainer for 2021 for CompTIA CASP+. Prefered language is EN, if there will be any in Fr, IT, German or Polish - it is interesting too. Let me know if you know anyone.

Hello CIN,

In case you have some time for reading, please consider delving into CompTIA's 2020 Research Collection.

Topics include:

@Stephen Schneiter and I have an interesting conversation going on that relates to CompTIA certifications that are no longer available. Having obtained both the Home Technology Integration (HTI+) certification and the Healthcare IT Technician certificate, they provide "bragging rights" since I continue to hold more CompTIA designations than @Lee McWhorter has <grin..>. The business of certifications necessitates achieving that "industry-recognized" designation, and unfortunately, neither of these apparently achieved this goal. With the increase of IoT, I think some consideration should be given to revising the HTI+ certification. I point to my home network, with more than twenty devices attached and the Steve Gibson three router security solution in place, as evidence of its relevance. For those not familiar with HTI+, I detail it in a Certification Magazine article I wrote in 2004. As to those twenty-plus IOT devices on my home network, it turns out they are an income producer for me (see the draft article I'm writing).

Moving over to the Healthcare IT Technician certification, we "Steves" agree this was a certification that arrived before its time. With today's focus on security, coupled with the fact that healthcare providers are primary targets for bad actors, I suspect the certification would have the value it deserves today. As interest expands (see Futuro Health article), perhaps this certification should be revived.

As I work towards an eventual retirement, I keep pushing that off because I believe that I still have something to offer students and organizations like CompTIA. I want to give you a sense of what I'm talking about because I firmly believe all of us, as teachers, need to provide learning content support for those who we work for (students), and those who support us. A couple of weeks ago, Debra McCraw with CompTIA, asked if I'd be interested in providing content relating to CompTIA's blogging efforts. Given what CompTIA has done for me over the past couple of decades, I was more than willing to do so. Published on their blog today was the product of that request. Titled "Understanding Network Data Delivery: Layers 2 and 3 of the OSI Model", it served as an attempt to provide learners with a simplified version of addressing at these two layers. Hopefully, it proves useful.

I point to this effort because I think all of us should consider giving back to great industry organizations like CompTIA. I encourage you to reach out to Debra if you are interested in volunteering in a similar effort to promote our role in education.

Steve

Hello CIN Members: We have a promotion happening over the next week with up to 20% discount on our store. Here are the coupon codes you will need if you are interested. Check it out! https://s.comptia.org/CompTIAStoreLI Thank you for all you do!

The US IT Industry Outlook 2021 Report: LINK

• Digital operations are more important than ever, with many transformative changes accelerating over the past year.
• Fair treatment for all is an absolute mandate, making diversity, equity and inclusion a top priority.
• The influence of technology is massive, forcing new approaches to regulatory behavior.

As the industry emerges from a chaotic year, it will begin a rebuilding phase, but this rebuilding goes beyond restoration. There is little opportunity to return to the old way of doing things. Thanks to changes that no one would have wished for and fueled by the requirements of a digital society, the technology industry will doubtless take a new shape in the coming year. This isn’t rebuilding to reclaim the past; this is rebuilding for the future.

CompTIA PenTest+ is now DoD Approved! Check out Patrick Lane's blog to the learn how the addition of CompTIA PenTest+ to DoD fills an essential gap for penetration testing and vulnerability analysis skills. Read our blog: https://bit.ly/36RC4ra

Is anyone out there using Certmaster Learn for ILT? I have a customer who is trying to decide what to use to teach Security+.
If anyone has the ability to give a demo for a College partner to show how an instructor can monitor and facilitate students, it would be greatly appreciated.
The college partner is on the west coast.

Hi, we are training center in Czech Republic and we are looking for Comptia trainer who can teach in France and German. Is it possible to cooperate with you? What is your rate for 1 day? Or can you advice where to find any?
Thank you Sarka

Hi, we are training center in Czech Republic and we are looking for Comptia trainer who can teach in France and German. Is it possible to cooperate with you? What is your rate for 1 day? Or can you advice where to find any?
Thank you Sarka

We had a great session today, introducing the Instructor Toolbox webinar series! Many thanks to @Lee McWhorter for his walk through of GNS3 and how it can be used as a teaching tool. If you missed the session today you can catch the session on-demand and the resources Lee discussed in the Resources area.

Another heart warming story, this time from my own neighborhood in North Austin. My wonderful wife Kris McWhorter spearheaded a drive to put up a food pantry. Her Dad built it, friends helped paint, and the outpouring of support from neighbors has been amazing. So proud of her I had to share!

Central Texas story that warmed my heart.

#autism #football #goodnewsstory


Had to share.

I'll start with the following link:

A while back I joined the San Diego Chapter of the IATP, but not much has been going on, a likely consequence of the COVID-19 situation. I think the existence of the organization makes sense, but I'm trying to figure out is how it could effectively be marketed in a fashion that encourages CIN members to get involved and get their students involved. Thoughts?

Steve

Today's Twitter contained an important CompTIA post. As we consider the employment opportunities, particularly as it relates to cybersecurity, many people who have recently separated from military service have a "leg up" with security clearance availability. An area that I think we can help all are students gain another "leg up" is by convincing them to join available organizations (see Article I wrote for Certification Magazine), and obtain certificates for the completion of online FEMA Courses that will enable students to gain knowledge relative to incident command operations.

Steve

Some 'fun facts' about the Joined: dates for members

If you look at a CIN member profile you will see the "Joined:" entry denoting the date a member joined the CIN Forums.

There are a few 'fun' or historical facts about these dates.

1) If you see a date before July 31, 2019 then you are looking at someone like @Stephen Schneiter from CompTIA who was in the system first, built it, and was an Alpha tester.

2) Anyone with a Joined: date of July 31, 2019 was a Beta tester of the forums, including all CIN Board members and some CompTIA staff.

3) Then you will see a lot of people with early August 2019 dates like @Stephen P and @Rick Butler who signed up at launch, either at the Partner Summit in Vegas or online.

Another unrelated fun fact: If you mouse over a member's name and look closely you can see their id in effect. I'm number 10. (I am not a number, I am a free man...)

It's amazing to me to see that in just over a year we have grown to over 1600 members! (A fact I know from using the above trick. ) Let's bring even more in and keep this party going.

Lee