The LabSim Experience

Select High Schools Offer Course to Learn Mobile App Development

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:21:00 +0000

Students, how would you like the opportunity to learn how to build mobile apps while in high school? High schoolers at 5 schools nationwide are participating in a program launched by computer maker Lenovo and the National Academy Foundation (NAF), a New York-based nonprofit that develops education programs for public schools.

According to eSchoolNews, students at high schools in North Carolina, New York, California, Texas, and Connecticut will have the chance to take a 12-week course in school to learn how to develop and market apps for mobile phones and tablets. Why? In the past year alone, people have downloaded 17 billion apps—an enormous number that is still expected to grow substantially in coming years. The program will teach students the technology skills—coding and programming—as well as train them at creating a business plan for marketing and selling their app.

Lenovo donated Android ThinkPad tablets and ThinkCentre HD All-in-One desktop computers for the program; the company worked with NAF and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop the curriculum.

Bev Perdue, governor of North Carolina, said the program helps overcome one of the state’s challenges: helping students have real-time experiences, which is what the mobile app program is designed to do. She said, “If we don’t give our students time to learn, think, create, and play, we will be doing them a disservice. We owe it to the next generation to give them the skill set they need to have the careers that they want.”

If the program is successful, NAF hopes to implement it in many more schools nationwide. So far, students at Apex High School in North Carolina are already excited to participate in a program they believe will “shape the future of their academic career.”

Campus Help Desk Positions Give Students Valuable Experience

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:13:00 +0000

IT students using LabSim, do you work in a part- or full-time help desk position while going to school? Perhaps your help desk role is even on campus, giving technical support to faculty and other students.

On some college campuses, technical support roles are being outsourced, but many campuses still keep the support positions in-house, giving students the opportunity to work part-time on campus and gain valuable IT experience while in school. According to Campus Technology’s Leila Meyer, the Division of IT at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC, has created an all-new operations center that offers around-the-clock IT support to faculty, staff, and students. It was student demand for IT support that led to the center’s creation.

Meyer quoted the GWU’s CIO David Steinour about the choice not to outsource the university’s help desk positions. “I think it adds value to the customer service of our organization to know that people are being serviced by people who work for the university and are internal,” Steinour said.

According to Meyer, GWU’s IT operations center handles most of its support requests over the phone, but they have plans to add chat and e-mail-based help, a Web interface for creating trouble tickets, and a self-service system for things like password resets.

Do these support methods sound familiar? If you work in a help desk position already, you may be using these same methods to provide support. How has TestOut’s LabSim course for A+ helped you in your technical support position? The focus of the content in the LabSim course for A+ is PC maintenance, including desktop administration, PC repair, and technical support. As you train with LabSim for A+, you gain practical experience supporting PC hardware and Windows operating system installation, configuration, and troubleshooting.

If your campus has kept help desk positions in-house, giving you the chance to gain real experience while still a student, we’d love to hear how LabSim has helped you be a better support representative and be confident helping others with PC repair.

US News Ranks Top Online Education Programs

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:35:00 +0000

It’s not news to hear that online education continues its high-growth pattern; it is simply worth noting that US News & World Report has created a ranking of online degree programs, similar to the rankings it has long given to colleges and universities and the traditional degrees they offer. The new rankings published by US News help confirm that online education is here to stay and holds a legitimate place in the higher education experience.

According to US News’s Kelsey Sheehy, an all-time high number of students are enrolled in online courses, totaling more than 6.1 million. “Enrollment in online classes doubled between 2007 and 2011, driven largely by a stagnant economy and competitive job market, but also by robust online offerings from established public and private institutions,” Sheehy wrote.

In its introduction to the online education rankings, US News stated, “Pursuing a bachelor’s degree online is great for students who need to attend classes on their own time, who are working or who are older students with some of their bachelor’s degree already completed, or for students who are simply uninterested in more traditional campus life.”

The publication ranked 196 online bachelor's degree programs and 523 online master's degree programs in business, engineering, nursing, education, and computer information technology. To be considered for the rankings, a program needed to have at least 80% of its course content available online.

While the online IT programs at the undergraduate level were not ranked, top master’s programs in IT were. Top rankings in four categories include Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering in Baltimore (student services and technology), Penn State University—University Park (faculty credentials and training), Southern Polytechnic State University in Georgia (student engagement and accreditation), and North Carolina State University—Raleigh (admissions selectivity).

Further results of the rankings can be viewed online at Top Online Education Programs.

Free TestOut Webinar This Thursday: “Navigating LabSim 4.0”

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:22:00 +0000

Want to learn more about using TestOut’s new LabSim 4.0 interface? This free webinar, “Navigating LabSim 4.0,” highlights new TestOut products and tools prominently featured in the new browser interface of LabSim, including the TestOut Pro Certification exams and the Exam Builder tool.

Join TestOut’s Academic Marketing Manager Peggy Hayes for the webinar, and make the most of the added functionality of LabSim 4.0 to increase your teaching success.

Thursday, January 26, 2012
3 PM EST/2 PM CST/1 PM MST/12 PM PST

The webinar is free and will last about 45 minutes. Register online now.

What you’ll learn:

How to access TestOut Pro Certification exams and exam reports

TestOut PC Pro Certification
TestOut Network Pro Certification

The benefits of using TestOut’s improved Exam Builder tool
How the streamlined workflow helps you easily customize reports
How to quickly associate students and classes to increase reporting efficiency

In addition to Thursday’s webinar “Navigating LabSim 4.0,” TestOut offers links on the TestOut website to view past webinars on other LabSim topics. For tips and guidance that will help you get the most out of the valuable tools in LabSim, please check out the recorded webinars online.

Blending Traditional and Digital Learning Styles to Improve Student Outcomes

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:43:00 +0000

A number of policy groups dedicate their resources to enacting measures that incorporate technology more effectively in education to improve student outcomes. eSchool News’s Laura Devaney recently highlighted the opinions of several key policy group leaders as they were conveyed in a webinar by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning. The emphasis of the webinar was blended learning, which combines elements of traditional learning with adaptive, interactive learning made possible through technology.

Devaney quoted Deirdre Finn, deputy executive director of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, as saying, “We think the future rests with blended learning.” Why place so much emphasis on blending digital learning with traditional styles of learning? Experts in the field suggest the following benefits of digital learning that make it a crucial part of improving student outcomes:

Digital learning can let students customize their education to their learning style and pace.
Digital learning tools provide real-time data that educators can use to immediately tailor instruction to students’ needs.
Digital learning and digital content can help educators and students take a more personalized approach to learning.
Digital learning tools allow instructors to spend more time with each individual student.

Other elements of blended learning that policymakers list as key to successful learning outcomes include quality content, instruction, and choices, as well as the funding and infrastructure to allow for digital tools to be implemented.

The learning components of every LabSim course by TestOut are designed to have the key elements outlined above. Educators who use LabSim especially appreciate the opportunities LabSim gives students to work at their own pace and with the tools from which they learn best. Educators also love LabSim’s reporting features that give them real-time data of everything students do inside LabSim while working on their own.

What else does your school do to leverage technology to improve student outcomes?

Computerworld Reports Strong Outlook for Entry-level IT Hiring

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Computerworld offers a good report for college seniors and other IT students ready to tackle an IT job search: the outlook for entry-level IT hiring is bright. While the US economy overall still suffers a high unemployment rate, the IT industry is experiencing healthy growth and demand, especially for entry-level IT workers.

In fact, according to Dice.com, in 18 states and Washington, D.C., there is even a shortage of IT workers, leading to higher entry-level salaries expected in 2012. California, New Jersey, Texas, and New York are the states with the biggest shortages of IT talent.

Starting as an intern while in school or right after graduation can be a great lead-in to a career. Computerworld reports that many companies are hiring interns as a strategy to find their full-time IT staff. Louis Trebino, CIO and senior vice president at the Harry Fox Agency in New York City, explained, "Last year, we had an intern who was stellar. We hired her after graduation.”

What skills are companies looking for in new IT grads? Many of the skills students are developing through training with TestOut’s LabSim courses for A+, Network+, and Security+ are exactly what companies need. Help desk and desktop support job openings are “holding steady,” Computerworld reports, and certifications from CompTIA will support IT grads in finding good positions more easily.

Computer support jobs aren’t the only openings in entry-level IT; new grads will also find many positions available for application developers, particularly for social media and smartphones. And because the demand is so strong and the technologies are new, employers are considering new IT grads whose experience may come simply from a hobby.

No matter what your students’ interests in IT are, they’re coming out of school at a time when the options are plentiful. Training with TestOut’s LabSim courses and gaining TestOut Pro certification will prepare them for their career path and allow them to hit the ground running in their career.

Technology Integration in School Can Lead to Greater Learning Outside of School

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:46:00 +0000

Yesterday eSchoolNews published the thoughts of several education technology professionals about the direction ed tech will take in 2012. Some of the experts predicted increased blended learning models, more student-centered learning, or tighter budgets that will lead to greater reliance on open course technologies in order to save money. The prediction of Gene R. Carter, executive director and CEO of ASCD (formerly the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development), stood out to me for its unique emphasis. Carter said:

The first prediction is that a student learning revolution will take off. Over the last few years, educational technologies have flooded into classrooms nationwide. In 2012, the ed-tech boom … will blossom into a true revolution in student learning occurring largely outside classroom walls. Driving that revolution will be (1) the creative integration of technology and digital content into curriculum; (2) an increased focus by school administrators on tracking student performance data, and the thoughtful analysis and application of this data by educators to design personalized instruction; and (3) an increased focus on supporting educators as they gain and sustain the skills needed to address the evolving needs of students. Together, these elements will drive a sharp upturn in creative and innovative blended learning opportunities for students occurring in traditional and non-traditional settings…

Do you agree that learning outside classroom walls is happening more because of the technologies that schools are integrating in students’ learning experiences? At TestOut, we frequently hear educators tell us about students who use TestOut’s LabSim to keep learning at home after school or on breaks because the LabSim courses are available online. Other students keep learning with LabSim even after a semester ends so that they can prepare practically for certification.

Further, the tracking tools in LabSim courses and for LabSim exams help instructors keep up with students who complete work outside of class. Even when school is cancelled for bad weather or when a student is absent, instructors have tools in LabSim to make sure learning can continue.

What other technologies and data tracking tools are integrated at your school that help students keep learning outside of your classroom?

Exam Builder (Beta) Tool Becomes Final with Release of LabSim 4.0

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:29:00 +0000

You may have heard that a new version of TestOut's LabSim—LabSim 4.0—is scheduled for release on December 28th. LabSim 4.0 will bring a new look and added functionality to your LabSim interface, including the official Exam Builder tool.

After several months of testing and gathering feedback about the Exam Builder (Beta) tool, TestOut has improved the tool and its functionality. The beta period of the Exam Builder will officially end with the release of LabSim 4.0 on December 28th. Using the Exam Builder (Beta) tool, instructors created more than 1,300 exams. TestOut has incorporated many improvements to the tool during the beta period, and we thank all those who provided us with feedback.

The new design of LabSim 4.0 will update only in the browser version of the product. Along with it will be highlights of new TestOut tools and products, including the Exam Builder tool and TestOut certification exams, both designed exclusively for LabSim in a browser.

The LabSim interface has also been redesigned to coordinate with the recently redesigned TestOut website. With new graphics and colors, the interface has a cleaner, simpler appearance and is more user-friendly, including:

Streamlined workflow
Easier navigation
Improved step-by-step instructions
Updated reporting features

Below are two images that give you a preview of LabSim 4.0:

IT Professionals Agree: Certifications Bring Jobs and Better Pay

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:49:00 +0000

Students who may be wondering the value of IT certifications in terms of pay or job success, a recent article published by Network World should help you know that certifications are worth your effort.

From a survey of 700 IT professionals, Network World reports:

60% said a certification led to a new job
50% said they earned more pay after getting certified
40% said their pay increased by more than 10% directly because of a certification
29% said a certification led to a promotion

Since the survey was conducted of network professionals, it makes sense that the certifications most respondents said they value most are networking certifications, especially CCNA, Microsoft certifications, and Network+.

Certifications are not the only factor in helping improve a candidate’s job situation, position, and pay. Clearly, it is only one part of the total picture, which may include education, experience, timing, and other factors. Still, the vast majority of survey respondents agreed that certifications are a huge help in building and advancing a career.

Network World quoted Craig Norborg, a network engineer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as recommending a combination of certification and experience as much as possible. “I do think networking certifications are the most valuable when coupled with some real-world experience. I wouldn't have gotten my last two positions without them,” he said.

TestOut has introduced a new line of certifications—TestOut Pro Certifications—that are designed to prove the practical experience students have gained through the hands-on LabSim training. The experience and proficiency proven through TestOut PC Pro or TestOut Network Pro Certification will help open doors to your greater job success.

How to Prove You Know Networking? TestOut’s Network Pro Certification Exam (Beta)

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:18:00 +0000

Instructors and students using TestOut’s LabSim training for Network+, have you heard about the newest TestOut Pro Certification? TestOut Network Pro Certification can now be achieved while the certification exam is in its beta period.

TestOut Network Pro Certification Exam (Beta) is the second in TestOut’s new line of certification exams. The first to be released was TestOut PC Pro Certification, which has been available to instructors and students since earlier this year. Now the Network Pro Certification is being offered with the same approach: authentically assessing what the test-taker can do, not just what he or she knows. The Network Pro Certification Exam (Beta) includes hands-on lab activities that require test-takers to prove their networking skills.

Students and instructors who have completed the LabSim Network+ course have until December 31, 2011, to take the TestOut Network Pro Certification Exam (Beta). As you do, you are a key player in the exam’s development, and TestOut will use your performance on the exam to evaluate the exam’s questions, simulations, and format before the release of the official Network Pro Certification exam in 2012.

Instructors, this is a great opportunity to measure your students’ understanding of networking by administering the exam during the beta period. We also invite you to gauge your own expertise in networking and gain TestOut Network Pro Certification by taking the beta exam yourself.

Learn more about the TestOut Network Pro Certification Exam (Beta), how to schedule the exam for your classes, and how the beta exam will be scored by visiting TestOut’s Network Pro Certification page.

For more specific details about the content in the LabSim Network+ course, please refer to the LabSim Network+ page.

As always, your TestOut representative is happy to answer questions by email, chat, or phone (800-877-4889).

Organized to Succeed: Rio Salado College

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:48:00 +0000

Community College Times recently featured an online public community college that has succeeded in meeting the demand for an alternative to the traditional classroom, keeping it affordable for students and the state, and supporting students’ learning with innovative online services. Rio Salado College, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, is one of ten colleges in the Maricopa Community College System and serves 70,000 students each year. Yet, even with tens of thousands of students, Rio Salado’s operating costs are 48% less than what peer institutions nationwide are spending. How do they do it?

The organizational structure that helps Rio Salado keep costs down includes:

More than 60 certificate and degree programs
Just 22 residential faculty
More than 1,400 adjunct faculty
More than 6,000 course sections taught by adjuncts

The resident faculty have the responsibility of planning each course’s content, while the sections of the course are taught by adjunct faculty.

Rio Salado College president Chris Bustamante said, “Any way you look at it, online learning is an increasingly vital part of producing the number of qualified graduates needed to meet future workforce demands—when it is done correctly.” Part of what is helping Rio Salado “do it correctly” is a learning management system that was developed exclusively for the college, ensuring that it meets all of the college’s individual needs. Also, support services are customized for non-traditional students’ individual lifestyles. That is, a student can succeed no matter his or her situation:

Working adult
Active military student accessing coursework online
Student of adult basic education
Incarcerated adult
Early college student
Workforce training program student

The college offers resources such as round-the-clock instructional and technology help desks, tutoring, and virtual library services. Online classes are never cancelled and offer flexible start dates throughout the year.

These features and resources are making college a viable option for students who might otherwise never be able to work toward a degree.

Are you a student of an online college? What services does your college provide that help you succeed in your online college education?

Students, Get Creative in the APSCU Logo Design Contest

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:18:00 +0000

Students, the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU) is offering you an opportunity to get creative and earn some money for it. If you know you’re going to have some free time during this Thanksgiving weekend, plan to spend it designing a logo to represent the Association, and you could win $500 in APSCU’s logo design contest. The theme of the logo contest is “Working Proud.”

The APSCU logo design contest is held to give students an opportunity to receive professional recognition for their work. The winning logo will be used as the official symbol of the 2012 APSCU Convention & Exposition, being held June 20-22, 2012, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV (the logo does not need to reference the convention). The logo will be used throughout the Convention’s promotional campaign in printed pieces, onsite signage, official Convention website and social media outlets.

The grand prize of $500 will be awarded for the winning entry and $250 for second place.

Here are the logo contest rules according to APSCU’s website:

“Must be original art created by a student enrolled in an APSCU member college. Limit three submissions per campus. (We ask the college to put forth the three best entries from their students’ work only.)
The facts about the convention, as noted above, do not have to be incorporated into the artwork.
Submissions must be able to reproduce. Any text that may be included as part of the logo should be legible at a minimum of 125 pixels wide.
The convention committee will judge the submissions and make the final selections.
Artwork should be emailed in a JPEG format and should be saved with the author’s name and school (i.e. John Smith-ABC College). The winning logo will also need to be supplied to APSCU in an .eps format.
The originator of the winning artwork will be required to sign a release form to have the work published as the official convention logo.”

The contest entry deadline is November 30th at 5:00 PM EST. Check out APSCU’s website for further details about how to submit your entry.

Good luck!

Helping Students Make the Academic-Career Connection

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:20:00 +0000

Converge Magazine’s Tanya Roscorla recently reported on the career education strategies of schools in Oakland County, Michigan. As early as seventh grade, students in Oakland County are using a software program that helps them pinpoint their career interests and develop an education plan that will take them through high school and prepare them for the next steps after high school. They begin doing hands-on projects that help them understand the connection between what they’re learning in school and how it will apply in the workforce.

By the time students arrive in high school, they have a plan for the courses they’ll take. They participate in “ACT EXPLORE and PLAN” assessments that show them how they're doing academically to prepare for the career they want, and they learn the different skills required for different careers. Students may elect to participate in a career education cluster of courses where they participate in hands-on projects related to their field. For example:

Students in IT repair donated computers and give them to community members in need.
Students in marketing analyze Super Bowl advertisements, conduct a student survey, and hold a press conference to publicize results.
Students in engineering use Boeing’s simulation design software to design car and airplane parts.

According to Converge’s Roscorla, teachers at Oakland County schools use pre-assessments to determine what each student knows already and still needs to learn; then they tailor the curriculum to students’ needs and prepare students for industry certifications in their field.

Roscorla wrote, “Often, students don't have a focus when they graduate high school and move to postsecondary education. And now, skilled jobs require postsecondary training of some kind, whether it's training at a technical school, a two-year associate's degree in a technical field or industry certification.

That's why Oakland County starts students thinking about careers in seventh grade.”

Mary Kaye Aukee, director of career focused education in Oakland Schools, said, "You have to have credentials and you have to continue life-long learning, and we have to get students thinking in that direction. We also have to get students thinking that their academics are critically important to any of these careers."

What does your school do to help students connect academics to a career path?

Educators and Students, Participate in the Speak Up Survey

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:53:00 +0000

The 2011 Speak Up survey, conducted by the non-profit organization Project Tomorrow, is currently gathering responses from students, teachers, administrators, parents, and librarians at any and all school districts in the United States. The annual survey will be open for your responses until December 23, 2011.

The Speak Up survey is an opportunity for you and your students to share your experiences and perspectives about the use of technology in education. Last year, the survey gathered input from hundreds of thousands of responders. Each year, the findings are summarized and shared with national and state policy makers and with schools who participated.

Since 2003 the Speak Up survey has been conducted annually with questions about the use of technology for learning, 21st century skills and schools of the future, as well as emerging technologies (online learning, mobile devices and digital content), science instruction, and STEM career exploration.

Key questions in the 2010 Speak Up survey included:

Who is learning online?
What is propelling this new level of interest and excitement around online learning?
Can online learning really transform the learning process?
What is standing in the way of greater adoption of online learning in our nation’s schools?
What are the most effective motivators to increase the pool of teachers who want to teach online?

According to Education Week, the 2011 survey asks students, among other thing, if they think they better comprehend information through electronic or print text. Stories of students printing hard copies of material they read online led researchers to develop the question.

The results of the 2011 survey will be made available in spring 2012. To contribute to this large-scale project, visit the Speak Up website before December 23.

Preparing K-12 Students for STEM Careers

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:28:00 +0000

Community College Times’s Ellie Ashford reported this week on the efforts community colleges are putting into the development of STEM interests in K-12 students. The demand for more trained workers in STEM disciplines continues to grow and isn’t expected to slow down any time soon, if ever. By getting involved with students at a young age, community colleges may impact the number of students who later pursue a STEM degree or certificate, helping fill the need in the economy for STEM-trained workers.

Ashford reported, for example, that California’s lieutenant governor spoke about the significant discrepancy in the state’s number of unemployed people and the number of unfilled jobs. Basically, there are many jobs to be had but not enough qualified workers to fill those jobs. The lack of STEM education or training is hurting people who need work.

Chris Roe, CEO of the California STEM Learning Network, said, “It’s really hard for employers to find highly trained engineers and technology workers. That alignment between the education system and workforce needs is really critical. And the community college system is a key player to fill that gap—both as a pathway to more advanced degrees and to provide critical, specialized degrees and certifications.”

He continued, “A lot of students are precluded from going into these pathways because they don’t have the preparation. That is a huge barrier. It is absolutely essential that we support community colleges and help them develop linkages with K-12 schools, four-year colleges and employers.”

Community colleges in many states are implementing programs that bring K-12 students to the college to see first-hand what a STEM education may include; also, college faculty are visiting K-12 schools and taking hands-on presentations that get students involved. Further, colleges are creating education centers that give training and tools to K-12 teachers to help them better prepare their students for postsecondary STEM training.

The high schools that utilize TestOut’s LabSim IT training courses are giving students a huge advantage in STEM preparation. LabSim courses are developed around the objectives of industry certifications that evaluate a test-taker’s skills and knowledge in high-demand areas of technology. With the new TestOut Pro certifications, TestOut also offers students an achievable credential that proves not only what they learned through study, but also what they can do hands on.

What is your K-12 school doing to prepare students for STEM careers?

Assessing Students’ Knowledge and Skills through Certification Exams

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:46:00 +0000

As we consider ways to improve education, especially with the use of technology, two professors of education have formulated a possible solution for measuring students’ knowledge and skills. While states develop curriculum standards and sometimes assessment exams that schools use to teach and assess students, Alan Collins of Northwestern University and Roy Pea of Stanford University submit that in the digital age, “we need to reconsider how students are deemed proficient in terms of the skills and knowledge they develop outside the standard classroom environment.”

Their plan, published this month by Education Week, centers around the development of national certification exams for subject areas addressed in the common core state standards as well as for less traditional subject areas, such as IT. By offering certifications in many subject areas, students who learn skills outside a traditional classroom have a way of earning a credential that proves their expertise.

In Collins and Pea’s plan:

Certification exams would have high standards, comparable to Advanced Placement exams
Exams could be taken in a classroom or at a learning center such as Sylvan
Exams could be taken by anyone who wanted to take them, with a small fee
Exams could be administered and scored by a computer, automatically sending a report to the test-taker with results and suggested learning resources for improvement
Students could accumulate as many certifications as they wanted, which would become part of their certification record

For the alternative certification exams envisioned by Collins and Pea, students could prepare in many different ways: virtual or traditional courses; lectures or demonstrations online; books; face-to-face or online tutoring; or engaging games. With exam objectives published online, students would know what is required to pass, and it would not matter what method they used to prepare.

According to Collins and Pea, “a national certification exam system has the virtue that the certifications specify much more precisely than a diploma or transcript what the learner knows and can do. Such a system could reflect our national goals for education and the high standards we want students to meet.”

The TestOut PC Pro Certification recently released by TestOut aligns neatly with the theory of Collins and Pea; the certification is designed to authentically assess what a student can do in the subject area of computer maintenance, no matter what course or method a student uses to prepare for the exam. The PC Pro Certification earned by students will be recognized by employers for its authenticity and objectivity.

What do you think of Collins and Pea’s proposal for a national certification exam system?

Flipped Classes Give Instructors Class Time to Help Students

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:23:00 +0000

Do you utilize TestOut’s LabSim in a way that allows you to “flip” your classroom? Do you assign the LabSim videos as homework and then let the students complete hands-on labs in class, where you are available to give one-on-one help to students who have questions? There are many ways to utilize LabSim and many ways to incorporate it into a class schedule. One possible way is to flip your classroom.

Many teachers, not just in IT, are flipping their classrooms so that class time is when students complete the “homework,” and the assignments at home are to watch the lectures—the course element that has traditionally been delivered in the classroom.

USA Today recently featured a calculus teacher in Maryland, Stacey Roshan, who has succeeded in flipping her classroom and has seen students benefit from it. In the past, Roshan lectured during class and sent students home with assignments of calculus problems, but there never seemed to be enough time to get through the material in class. Roshan now digitally records her lessons, uses a tablet computer as a virtual blackboard, and requires students to watch the lectures at home. By having a recording of the lecture, students are able to re-watch explanations of difficult concepts as many times as they need until they understand. Then, in class, students work on the calculus problems that would have been their homework in years’ past, and Roshan makes her way around the classroom to answer questions and give one-on-one assistance. If she sees that several students are struggling with the same concept, she calls the whole class’s attention to the whiteboard and re-teaches it so that they all understand.

Roshan reports that since she has flipped her class, her students are less stressed. She also says she has seen improvement in the amount of content she can cover in a semester and in the number of students who score a perfect “5” on the advanced placement calculus test.

What is your opinion about flipped classrooms? Are they a smart way to implement technology in education?

Redesigning Campus Computer Labs to Meet Students’ Needs

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:54:00 +0000

What is the function of the computer labs on your college campus? Do students still stop in to check their email or sit down to write a paper, or do most students have smartphones with email at their fingertips and carry their own notebook computer? Some campuses are phasing out computer labs, while others are rethinking the purpose of the labs and redesigning them with resources that better fit the current needs of students.

Ed Tech Magazine currently features Temple University’s Sheri Stahler, associate vice president of computer services, and her experience redesigning a computer lab at Temple. According to Stahler, when colleges debate the future of computer labs, “the discussion should be less about phasing out labs and more about rethinking what labs could and should be in this era of wireless notebooks, smartphones, multimedia and collaborative technologies. IT leaders also need to examine why and how students choose to use computer labs over their own notebooks.”

At Temple, the cost for departments to run their own labs with specialized hardware and software became too great, and they couldn't afford to keep the labs open with long hours. “By consolidating into one large megalab, we were able to control costs and offer students what they needed, when they needed it,” Stahler wrote.

Temple’s CIO Timothy O'Rourke said, "We wanted a comfortable space where students would feel safe and could study alone or collaborate in groups. We wanted all the software they might use in their coursework to be available in a single, 24-hour facility."

Temple focused on creating a lab that offers the technologies needed in each major, as well as collaborative tools, a social environment, and more emphasis on student convenience and customer service. The lab they built features:

A mixture of Macs and PCs at 700 workstations
Breakout rooms where students practice presentations or share research
Recording booths where students work on audio projects
Wireless access, including wireless printers, for students who bring their own computer
Extra electrical outlets to charge portable devices
IPTV for students to watch television in the lab workstations

Temple’s flexible lab, called TECH Center (Technology, Education, Collaboration, and Help), has been successful because it meets the needs of students today. “Colleges have to offer a place that's as comfortable for the students who want to study alone or rest for an hour as it is for groups of students who want a place to work collaboratively,” Stahler said.

Instructors, has your campus redesigned computer labs to better meet students’ needs? Please leave a comment and tell us about it.

Ed Tech Panel Discusses Personalized Learning and Valid Assessment

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:18:00 +0000

eSchool News recently reported on a panel discussion called “Educational Technology: Revolutionizing Personalized Learning and Student Assessment,” held at the Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organization. Educators and policy makers on the panel weighed in on what technologies will benefit students in education and what changes need to be implemented in education systems in order for the technologies to have the impact students need.

A major theme in the discussion was personalization and how technology can meet each students’ individual learning needs. Darrell West, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and the panel moderator, said, “Technology has the potential to improve education by personalizing learning, enabling different forms of student assessment, and making class time more flexible.” Chip Hughes, executive vice president of school services for online-learning provider K12 Inc., said that technology personalizes learning when it allows students to work at their own pace. “Students working at their own pace … aren’t bound by the circumstances of all the other students in the room,” he said.

A vital part of tech in education is assessment methods that allow teachers to understand what students are and are not mastering so that teachers can intervene when needed. Hughes also pointed out that virtual learning levels removes social barriers to learning. For example, an older student who has fallen behind doesn’t feel embarrassed to work with younger students when the instruction is virtual; likewise, younger students aren’t intimidated by older students. With technology in education, “we aren’t only thinking about the academic piece of it, but the non-academic barriers that might be in their way,” Hughes said.

Joanne Weiss, chief of staff to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, stated that “technology-enabled learning and teaching is the way we’re going to figure out how to teach kids what they need to know and how to be successful in the future.”

The topics of personalization and valid assessments are certainly two of the greatest strengths that TestOut’s LabSim IT courseware offers educators and students. Students work individually in LabSim at their own pace—at school or at home—and can review whatever material they need at any time. Teachers have access to a dashboard with data of students’ time spent with each LabSim component and scores achieved. Teachers tell us they love knowing exactly where students need additional instruction and being able to give on-on-one help to meet a student’s individual needs while the rest of the class continues working.

What technologies do you use in your classroom to personalize learning and validate assessment?

Top IT Skills Areas Proven by TestOut PC Pro Certification

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:49:00 +0000

Computerworld’s recent Forecast 2012 survey reflects the attitudes of IT executives at companies across the United States, and nearly one-third of them say they plan to increase their IT employee headcount over the next 12 months. What skills are they looking for? Computerworld’s Rick Saia wrote about the top nine skills areas that companies demand and wrote that “IT managers may be thinking about innovation, not merely keeping the lights on, as they plan their staffs for 2012.”

The top nine skills areas Saia detailed include:
1. Programming and Application Development
2. Project Management
3. Help Desk and Technical Support
4. Networking
5. Business Intelligence
6. Data Center
7. Web 2.0
8. Security
9. Telecommunications

Of these top nine areas, Help Desk/Tech Support, Networking, and Security are all areas where entry-level skills are developed through TestOut’s LabSim A+ courses and proven with TestOut PC Pro Certification. For Help Desk/Tech Support in particular, Saia writes that in many organizations, “help desk and tech support are points of entry for IT professionals and places to pick up the skills that can advance them into” other roles.

PC Pro Certification assesses students’ hands-on ability and proves to potential employers exactly what they are capable of. TestOut’s certification exam is different than the exams offered by CompTIA, Microsoft, and others because TestOut assesses students’ performance—what they can do, not just what they have memorized—through online labs with PC hardware, operating systems, and networks.

IT instructors, you can give your students a boost in the job market by administering the TestOut PC Pro Certification exam.

New TestOut Website Has Greater Focus on Students, Educators

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:48:00 +0000

Earlier this week TestOut unveiled an all-new look and design of our TestOut.com website. The new website replaces both former sites—LabSimOnline.com that was organized specifically for TestOut’s academic customers and TestOut.com that served primarily IT professionals. Now all of TestOut customers, whether students or IT professionals, will find what they are looking for on TestOut.com. The new site includes sections about LabSim training products, TestOut Pro Certifications for IT students, as well as resources to support students and educators using TestOut’s LabSim products.

Along with a clean new look and logo, TestOut.com now has improved navigation, including top navigation with drop-down menus as well as side navigation on each page, and easy-to-read headings and icons. The better organization makes it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Yet TestOut’s primary goal in developing a new TestOut.com was to focus more attention on the student. We believe the greatest value we can give to any individual is a certification that proves job skills. Everything about the new TestOut.com leads back to students and the value and confidence that is added to their lives through LabSim training, TestOut Pro Certification, and the ultimate career success they achieve through training and certification.

Please visit TestOut.com and get acquainted with the new layouts, new content, and new options for training and certification from TestOut. As always, we would love to hear your feedback.

Does Your IT Program Benefit from a Corporate Partnership?

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:37:00 +0000

Many community college programs are greatly enhanced in scope and depth by corporate partnerships that come in many forms. Some corporations partner with colleges and give input on the curriculum the college should offer to prepare students for the workforce. Sometimes companies give students internships or work experience while they’re in school, and some even hire the graduates of partner colleges for full-time positions.

Community College Times recently featured several partnerships between corporations and community colleges and highlighted the benefits to both the college and the company. For example, Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC) in Kentucky has a unique partnership with UPS, one of the largest employers in the state, and with the University of Louisville. UPS needed to stabilize its part-time workforce, and the college wanted to offer more students an opportunity to afford and attend college. Through the partnership, UPS hires students to work part-time in a night shift, and in return, the company pays half the student’s tuition. Through the partnership, UPS has seen a large reduction in employee turnover, and JCTC has seen increased enrollment and improved student retention.

Corporate partnerships may also provide greater access to technology for students, such as the partnerships that Ford and General Motors have made with Southeast Community College (SCC) in Nebraska. The automotive companies provide cars and software for SCC’s automotive technology program, and they pay tuition for students who agree to work at dealerships after they graduate. Because of the car companies’ investment in the education and training of students, the companies gain employees already prepared to work in their environments. Corporate partnerships such as these can be a win-win for colleges and companies who take the time to develop a partnership that meets both their needs.

Instructors, do your IT students benefit from a corporate partnership that gives them practical job experience, tuition assistance, or some other value? Please leave a comment and explain.

Dual Enrollment Makes College More Accessible

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:49:00 +0000

Dual enrollment opportunities are making higher education more accessible for many high school students who might otherwise feel that going to college is outside the realm of possibility. Recently, Community College Times featured an Oregon school district that is creating new higher ed opportunities for high school students. For several years, the public schools in Portland have had a partnership with Portland Community College-Cascade Campus known as Middle College. High school students in the district have been able to enroll in Middle College courses through an opt-in program and earn up to 45 college credits by the time they graduate high school.

This year, access to Middle College expanded further, and instead of being an opt-in program, all incoming freshmen at one high school will be enrolled in what is now being called Jefferson High School-Middle College for Advanced Studies. The University of Oregon is also offering scholarships to Middle College students who complete at least one year of college credit.

Middle College in Portland has made a higher degree more attainable to many students who might otherwise not have considered college at all.

Many high schools who use TestOut’s LabSim training in their IT program have also made college more accessible to students who weren’t planning on it. Dennis DeBroeck, for example—an IT teacher at Walla Walla High School, in Walla Walla, Washington—helps his students earn up to 60 college credits at Walla Walla Community College for their work in LabSim and in his classes. Requirements for the credits include earning an A or B in the class, completing a list of competencies, completing a portfolio of the work they’ve done, and putting together a resume and cover letter. In an area where more than 70% of students never complete college, the opportunity to gain college credit while in high school is a huge help to students.

High school instructors, do the students in your IT program earn college credit in your classes? How has LabSim training helped students continue their education after high school?

Better Than Providing a Laptop Is Providing an Online Curriculum Like LabSim

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:19:00 +0000

Many schools are investing in iPads or laptops for students, experimenting with replacing textbooks with digital tools that young people respond to. An article in eSchool News last week highlighted several schools who have provided these tools to students and some of the challenges and insights the schools have experienced. Interestingly, the benefits schools mentioned are the same ones instructors point out about using TestOut’s LabSim, while the challenges schools faced would all be avoided if schools could incorporate a course like LabSim into the curriculum for every subject!

For example, the benefits schools mentioned from providing iPads with educational apps to students include:

Students engage in independent learning.
Students get instant feedback about their performance.
Teachers are free to circulate the classroom and work individually with students.
Teachers have access to a dashboard to track student performance.

The challenges mentioned by schools of providing iPads to students include:

Teachers need more support using the technology and more time to get comfortable creating lessons that utilize the iPad.
Teachers need to do more than use the iPad as a direct replacement of a textbook (not just ask students to read text on screen).
Students don’t want to stop; they desire more content on the iPad.

A curriculum such as LabSim—online IT training used by thousands of high schools and colleges—does for schools what they desire the iPad or laptops to do. Instructors who use LabSim tell us of the success they see in engaging students. LabSim allows students to work independently, with built-in tracking that keeps students responsible for their own progress, while making grading more straight-forward for teachers.

Using LabSim, schools avoid the challenges mentioned of implementing iPads. LabSim comes with the lessons already planned—a comprehensive curriculum that includes instructional videos and demos, hands-on labs that give students real practice, concise text lessons, and quizzes to evaluate students’ learning and give them immediate feedback. Students are free to repeat LabSim content at any time to be sure they master the material, and teachers have access to a wealth of resources from TestOut to support their use of LabSim.

For schools who want to replace textbooks with a technology tool, there is no better tool for IT than TestOut’s LabSim.

Technology Is a Strong Suit of For-Profit Colleges

noreply@blogger.com (The LabSim Experience.) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:45:00 +0000

Campus Technology writer John K. Waters made a compelling argument this week about the strength for-profit colleges have in utilizing technology. While the for-profit education industry has been under fire over the past year on other issues, its use of technology in education is indisputably ahead of that of traditional, not-for-profit colleges, allowing for-profit schools to connect with students more personally, keep them well-informed, and offer learning tools that fit students’ needs.

According to Waters, for-profit institutions spend an average 10% of their operating budget on technology, while not-for-profits spend only an average 3%. But the difference isn’t just how much technology the for-profits use; it’s also the way they use it.

Waters quoted Ruki Jayaraman, dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies at for-profit Argosy University, as saying, "The way we use technology supports a kind of academic agility. We implement technology quickly and effectively, and, perhaps more importantly, we abandon it when it no longer serves us."

Charles Flader, executive director for academic technology at for-profit Kaplan University, told Waters, “Our students are pushing us all the time, demanding that they get the same technology experiences here that they get in other parts of their lives. We spend a lot to make sure they get that.”

Technology has made it possible for for-profit institutions to offer students the flexibility that the institutions are known for. Kaplan’s Flader told Waters, "The idea that everyone is going to be able to physically attend a traditional, brick-and-mortar institution for two or four years, full-time, doesn't reflect the reality of modern life. Our students have jobs, families, lots of demand on their time."

But an increasing number of students at not-for-profit colleges also have jobs, families, and heavy demands on their time, and not-for-profit colleges may need to take a cue from the for-profits in the ways they implement technology as a more consistent, over-arching part of students’ education.