Hi. Can anyone tell me how to register for free training and exam vouchers? I was told about it by one of the members but I'm not sure how to access those resources.
Free training and exam vouchers
- Thread starter Ingashihula Haindongo
- Start date
So, I think you're referring to the CIN Train the Trainer series - here's the scoop on how that works:
- At various times through the year, CIN will host the Train-the-Trainer series ahead of the release of a new certification revision. There will be a link to sign up for the sessions - there are usually 8-12 of them in a series, usually two per week. These sessions are hosted on the On24 delivery platform. It's open to any member of CIN in good standing. These sessions are tilted more towards an instructor how to teach the material in the classroom to other students. There is some value for those pursuing a new certification, but that's not the primary intent of the TTT series; TTT is to equip instructors for delivering content.
Attendees seeking a voucher must be active CIN members in good standing and attached in some way to a training provider, CompTIA academic academy or partner, or independently providing training on some level; this resource is not available to the general public or IT practitioners who are just looking for cheaper options to certify. CIN and TTT are resources by instructors, for instructors and are provided by CompTIA to promote more instructors in the field.
- Attendees for a TTT should use the same e-mail address to sign up for, and register on On24 as they are using for the CIN community. If a different e-mail is used, this will interfere with CIN being unable to verify the attendee is an active member of CIN and thus, entitled to a voucher. So, to restate, use the same email address for CIN and On24!
- During the series, attendees are granted access to training materials. Most times, it is the electronic copy of the CompTIA Official guide, as well as supplicative materials about changes to the exam, sample syllabi and lesson plans, and so forth. Materials like CertMaster Labs/Learn/Practice, TestOut LabSIM, or other products are generally not part of this offering for attendees. Attendees have access to this material during the series and are encouraged to locally save the downloadable materials for further reference, but not to be shared with others in any way. These materials are ONLY available during the series when active - after the series ends, the last day of the series, the materials are no longer available for download.
- Attendees seeking an exam voucher must attend all of the sessions, either live, on-demand, or a mix of both. Each session usually has a time requirement where the attendee must be present in the session (usually 110 minutes for a two-hour session as determined by the presenter). Attendees are encouraged to participate in the session by posting in the Attendee Chat and/or Q&A areas of On24. Although this isn't required, it does help validate an attendee and create a more vibrant experience for all. If an attendee is late for a live session, the time can be made up by watching the session again, on-demand.
For sessions attended via on-demand, attendees would use the same link as the live session. The session is usually available on-demand about 4 hours after the session ends.
Attendees that fall behind due to scheduling issues have a maximum of two weeks after the end of the final session in the series to attend the session via on-demand. All sessions must be attended fully by this deadline.
A certificate of attendance reflecting CEUs and proof of attendance is available for download in the On24 environment and attendees are encouraged to download that in case it comes into question.
- Because of rampant voucher fraud, vouchers go through a long vetting and ordering process to ensure they are only being issued to valid attendees. Therefore, it can take between 6-8 weeks (or more, depending on the number of attendees). Usually, there are CIN members that inquire about vouchers on the CIN community. Usually, attendees will post that they've received vouchers, or Stephen (Director of the CIN) will announce they are going out. Vouchers codes are sent by e-mail, so if that email does not match between CIN and On24, it's likely the attendee will be flagged as ineligible.
If an attendee believes he/she is entitled to a voucher but did not receive one, he/she should reach out to the Director of CIN (@Stephen Schneiter) for assistance after they've generally gone out. Please note that this process can take a while, depending on Stephen's very busy schedule, so as a matter of courtesy, please be patient.
- All sessions are retained for posterity. Links to the sessions are available in the Resources area of the CIN community. However, viewing these archived sessions does not entitle one to any training materials or a voucher - they are merely there for future reference.
Good luck!
/r
@Rick Butler, great job summarizing the process. I would reiterate that when registering for the TTT series, it is good to use the email address that you used for CIN, but you also need to specify the training org you are teaching for. Too many folks register for the series with a name and generic email address and try to skip all the rest of the fields. That results in vouchers not being sent out.
I see this a lot with CIN applications as well. Just a name and generic email. Those automatically get rejected. Please, if you know someone who wants to join CIN express the importance of completing all fields including adding a business email and training organization name they are associated with. It will really speed up the process. OK! Off my tangent for today.
I see this a lot with CIN applications as well. Just a name and generic email. Those automatically get rejected. Please, if you know someone who wants to join CIN express the importance of completing all fields including adding a business email and training organization name they are associated with. It will really speed up the process. OK! Off my tangent for today.
Great point. It's been quite a while since I registered for CIN, so I didn't remember that particular bit.
So, if they are independent contractors and using a Gmail/Hotmail account for that work, if they put that training org name in there (or perhaps go through the trouble of doing a separate mail for that business, they stand a better chance of being approved for CIN access, yes?
Absolutely. I would go a long way. Obviously we are open and want to support independent contract instructors, we just need to separate them from students, spammers and folks just looking for a free ride and voucher. Name and generic email address just doe not cut it. Sorry for the inconvenience, but hope everyone can see where we are.
I don't see anything inconvenient about it, really. An independent contractor can create new mail addresses for free. And policing the CIN from those who would just take advantage of the services offered, to me, only makes perfect sense. I think it's a great thing that CompTIA does to help instructors stay in the game, and I don't think we'll find anyone out here who would object.
A long time ago, I promised you an FAQ - perhaps this one is complete enough to post prominently on the main mast of the ship, so folks can see what the CIN rules are.
I completely understand the need to distinguish between genuine independent contract instructors and other categories. While I don't have a business email currently,But I'm a freelancer Instructor
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Hi @Robina, that is understandable and completely fine. We do ask, that independent contractors simply list some of the training orgs they work with so that our team can verify partnership with them.
@Stephen Schneiter I can provide you details where I'm working let me know where to send this details
Not to my knowledge. @Stephen Schneiter announced an upcoming Instructor Toolbox, but no info yet on TTT's upcoming.
If this is the case now I would appreciate it if you would please update your international representatives. I teach for a US organization but when I tried to expand my teaching locally I was told explicitly that as an independent contractor, I would not recognized.
Hi @Esther S. Stepansky, I can talk with them. I think the big issue is the orgs you may be training for. If they are partners, you should be considered. Still trying to promote and support independent instructors internally.
I wanted to bring the ITF & A+ into jr high & high schools like they’re doing in California or as clubs. The schools were interested but don’t have a budget or authority to join CompTIA independently and I doubt that I can get the national education ministry to join CompTIA. There are local for profit private training organizations that charge 4x what the equivalent of community colleges charge for a semester to bundle A+/N+/Sec+ that is out of reach both price wise and commuting distance for us out in the boonies. So I wanted to bring the training to local kids. There used to be a community computer center with Microsoft courses for us & adults but they closed that due to budget cuts. That leaves me as an independent contractor. Forming a business here complicates my US tax situation and my spouse is not prepared to do that right now. So for now I just teach for the US orgs virtually but I could change so many more lives here by getting them into tech before they go to the army if I could find a way to teach here.
Such a great summary. Thank you for your time to make this post.
@Rick: Well explained.
@Stephen: I would suggest, that as a prequist for the Voucher (to reduce fraud) someone must be an active member of CIN for at least 3 months had have some Postings (not onl Questions). ?
A little more work, when checking, but that would make it more difficult to join as a non Active CIN Member.
May have the Problem, that someone will not get the Voucher for a upcoming TTT, but they can always go through their Business Manager.. And since TTT come like every 3 Years for a new Version, someone will always join and not recieve a Voucher...
My 2c.
@Stephen: I would suggest, that as a prequist for the Voucher (to reduce fraud) someone must be an active member of CIN for at least 3 months had have some Postings (not onl Questions). ?
A little more work, when checking, but that would make it more difficult to join as a non Active CIN Member.
May have the Problem, that someone will not get the Voucher for a upcoming TTT, but they can always go through their Business Manager.. And since TTT come like every 3 Years for a new Version, someone will always join and not recieve a Voucher...
My 2c.