New Instructor Advice

Stephen Schneiter

Administrator
Staff member
  • Nov 26, 2018
    589
    6
    2,147
    Knoxville, TN
    Welcome new instructors! Whether you are a first time instructor or an instructor teaching CompTIA certs for the first time this community is here for you! This is a great place to ask any questions about content delivery, resources, certification or ... anything else. Need some advise or suggestions, this is the place to find some answers. Be sure to jump in and introduce yourself!
     

    Diane Walters

    Well-known member
    Apr 2, 2020
    7
    4
    Hello I am teaching the A+ online course and today we went over the laser printing process. In the notes the process ends with the cleaning stage. My student said he has also seen the process start with the cleaning phase and I remember seeing it ordered that way in some other material. I told him to go with the process in CertMaster Learn since it comes from CompTIA. Is this correct? He has taken a variety of practice tests and I guess it is presented differently on some of them.
     

    Stephen Schneiter

    Administrator
    Staff member
  • Nov 26, 2018
    589
    6
    2,147
    Knoxville, TN
    Hello I am teaching the A+ online course and today we went over the laser printing process. In the notes the process ends with the cleaning stage. My student said he has also seen the process start with the cleaning phase and I remember seeing it ordered that way in some other material. I told him to go with the process in CertMaster Learn since it comes from CompTIA. Is this correct? He has taken a variety of practice tests and I guess it is presented differently on some of them.

    Hi @Diane Walters, you are correct. The cleaning is the last phase of the printing process. It cleans any left over particles from the drum to prepare it from the next print job.
     

    Rick Butler

    Well-known member
  • Aug 8, 2019
    1,869
    7
    3,380
    Colorado Springs, CO
    www.intellitec.edu
    CompTIA does have cleaning as the last part of the process. I have heard though, of it happening, either during or just after the sending phase. Almost like it happens at the beginning, just before the job goes off - to ensure there isn't any residue before the job prints.

    Makes me wonder if it's more device specific...lol.

    /r
     

    Tess Sluijter

    Well-known member
    Apr 1, 2020
    377
    1
    539
    the Netherlands
    www.kilala.nl
    CompTIA does have cleaning as the last part of the process. I have heard though, of it happening, either during or just after the sending phase. Almost like it happens at the beginning, just before the job goes off - to ensure there isn't any residue before the job prints.

    Makes me wonder if it's more device specific...lol.

    /r
    Actually more likely firmware specific and yes, it does occur at other times than just the end-bit. At the start, if you haven't printed for a while and in the middle every X pages to clean kruft in the middle of a huge job.

    But as @Diane Walters suggested: as counter-intuitive as it may be, students should follow CompTIA's lead for the actual exam despite a real-life answer being "more correct" than CompTIA's. Funnily enough that's something I've run into more than a few times...
     
    But as @Diane Walters suggested: as counter-intuitive as it may be, students should follow CompTIA's lead for the actual exam despite a real-life answer being "more correct" than CompTIA's. Funnily enough that's something I've run into more than a few times...

    Yep, I always tell my students to think 'What would CompTIA do" when answering exam questions... ;)
     
    Yep, I always tell my students to think 'What would CompTIA do" when answering exam questions... ;)

    And that's kind of the thing: there's no way that CompTIA can cover all ends from a vendor-diverse perspective. Take servers. Dell, Lenovo, HP - they all have their own in-band and out-of-band functions to manage the server. We've all experienced that headache of having that "one-off" - that one server that's not like the others. We can put all the other servers into XYZ management console, but that one server...not so much.

    Or we can find some vendor-neutral support mechanism (or build one using whatever tool/protocol), but it's never quite right (like Zabbix, SolarWinds, SpiceWorks). So we accept a "good enough" strategy.

    So - best practices then?

    Well, that's like three doctors in the same elevator - with five different opinions.

    Okay, I'm done...for now...my coffee cup is currently empty.

    /r
     
    I want to say hello to all!! I am a new "formal" instructor but I have taught Security+ downrange in Iraq to Army Soldiers. Without materials I might add and each scored in the 90 percentile. This was in 2010 in Basrah, Iraq. I will be knocking out for the Texas Tech Coding Academy (Texas Tech University) the CTT+ after certifying on several "+'s". I want students to take with them more than just the certification, I want the students to appreciate the love for the craft. I programmed my Commodore 64 in 1982 and continued forward until today. Hobby to Career to Hobby, and in each step of the way more fun than the last. I have been fortunate and blessed by the TTCA to divest over 30 years of craft to students. Yes, they will get certifications but they will get history and the admiration of this Old Man.

    Let's do more than certify, let's teach.

    Stephen
    www.linkedin.com/in/stephendpullum
     
    Well said, Stephen. The hardest thing in the world for those of us that teach IT to do is instill the love of technology in our students, particularly if someone came along and sold them on the idea that getting this/that degree/certificate is going to earn them big money, etc etc. It really does come down to the motivations a student has coming in.

    Many more than not are extrinsically motivated - that is, they are motivated by what they can tangibly get out of it, a good job, a phat paycheck, or some other thing.

    The road less travelled is those that are intrinsically motivated. Those are the ones that are in the game because they enjoy it. These are the ones that make us feel like we're actually helping someone further along, and adding value to IT in general.

    It's incumbent for the student to bring their A-game to the classroom every day.

    /r
     
    Well said, Stephen. The hardest thing in the world for those of us that teach IT to do is instill the love of technology in our students, particularly if someone came along and sold them on the idea that getting this/that degree/certificate is going to earn them big money, etc etc. It really does come down to the motivations a student has coming in.

    Many more than not are extrinsically motivated - that is, they are motivated by what they can tangibly get out of it, a good job, a phat paycheck, or some other thing.

    The road less travelled is those that are intrinsically motivated. Those are the ones that are in the game because they enjoy it. These are the ones that make us feel like we're actually helping someone further along, and adding value to IT in general.

    It's incumbent for the student to bring their A-game to the classroom every day.

    /r
    Roger that!!
     
    Does CompTIA provide any material in LMS format? Blackboard, Canvas, etc?
    I don't know if they develop directly to those platforms. We are actually migrating our college to Canvas, so we'll be having to start that ourselves. I can always check with Canvas and see if they have any prebuilt templates for their customers, but I don't think CompTIA does that.

    /r
     

    Wayne Boggs

    Active member
    Oct 15, 2020
    2
    1
    Welcome new instructors! Whether you are a first time instructor or an instructor teaching CompTIA certs for the first time this community is here for you! This is a great place to ask any questions about content delivery, resources, certification or ... anything else. Need some advise or suggestions, this is the place to find some answers. Be sure to jump in and introduce yourself!
    Thank you!
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Lee McWhorter

    gabethetech

    Well-known member
    Mar 8, 2020
    5
    9
    I wanted to take a minute and introduce myself.
    Gabriel here.
    Tech enthusiast and grateful to be able to work in an area that I have always enjoyed.
    New to teaching in the Collegiate level. I was an Army Instructor/SGL.

    I teach a cybersecurity Program where students get the Trifecta from CompTIA then move into material from EC-Council and then we finish with Azure and CYSA+. Excited to work with everyone in this network.
     

    Barb

    Well-known member
    Mar 12, 2020
    2
    5
    Hi Everyone!

    I look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing our knowledge and resources with each other.

    I am in my second full year of teaching Applied Cybersecurity at a Technical College. I am still developing my curriculum and constantly making changes trying to make sure my students are getting the most out of their experience in their year with me. Most of my students leave with their Linux+ and Security+ and I am hoping to add PenTest+. I am always up for any suggestions on how to get my students more engaged/active in class, not just sitting in front of a screen doing lab after lab.
     

    Kari Lindley

    Well-known member
    Aug 7, 2019
    5
    2
    I don't know if they develop directly to those platforms. We are actually migrating our college to Canvas, so we'll be having to start that ourselves. I can always check with Canvas and see if they have any prebuilt templates for their customers, but I don't think CompTIA does that.

    /r

    If you start a new course and go to the Import Commons section, you can import a pre-made course. I've not tried this in the past, but it could be really nice for our ITF+ class.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Lee McWhorter