Are You Teaching the Right Stuff Panel Discussion

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Are You Teaching the Right Stuff? Panel
Discussion
Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 10 AM
ESTDial-in 312-878-0211 Access Code
331-340-122 Webinar ID 461-210-238
Host James Stanger, Ph.D. Chief Certification
Architect,CIW Program
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About our Host
Dr. James Stanger Chief Certification
Architect, Certification Partners

• James is the primary visionary,
  evangelist and developer for the CIW, CTP and
  CCNT certifications. His wide range of expertise
  includes certification development, curriculum
  design, Web design, network security auditing,
  and Linux system administration. An award-winning
  author, James has written titles for OReilly,
  McGraw-Hill, Prentice-Hall, IBM, Wiley, and
  Elsevier. His writings have been translated into
  over a dozen languages. He has designed
  certifications and curriculum for Symantec, IBM,
  CompTIA, and the Telephony Industry Association
  (TIA). Currently, he is Chair of the Linux
  Professional Institute (LPI) Advisory Council and
  sits on CompTIA's Network Advisory Committee.
  James received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a
  Master of Arts degree from Brigham Young
  University, and a Doctorate from the University
  of California, Riverside.

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Agenda

• Who are we?
• CIW
• Today's panel
• A look at today's IT workplace
• How do I make students competitive?
• What skills deserve my focus?
• Some answers from our panel . . .
• Individually
• As a group

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About CIW

• Skills-based education program
• Courses and certification exams
• Web development
• Web design
• Vendor neutral
• The best vendor applications, as judged by
  industry
• Open source
• Competency-based approach to education
• Globally accepted
• Over 175,000 courses and exams delivered
  worldwide
• Over 120,000 certified individuals

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More About CIW

• The CIW (Certified Internet Web Professional)
  program is the world's fastest growing
  vendor-neutral Internet certification for the
  knowledge economy. More than a certification or a
  curriculum publisher, CIW is a Web technology
  standard adopted by academic institutions,
  governments, and businesses worldwide. CIW
  includes applications and competencies, but our
  core curriculum focuses on the foundational
  standards that sustain the infrastructure of IT,
  i.e., Web design, security, administration,
  networking, databases and enterprises.

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Shaping the discussion

• Perspectives
• Community college
• Learning center
• University
• All of the above use advisory councils and other
  measures to keep pace with technology
• Technologies
• Web design
• Internet marketing and SEO
• Web development, databases
• Security
• How to teach
• What skills should students have today?
• What challenges exist in teaching today's
  students?

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About our panel

• Gay Bryant
• Community college perspective
• A true artist
• Gifted designer and educator
• Suzanne Ricci
• A view from the learning center
• Has forgotten more about Internet marketing than
  most will ever learn
• Expert in e-commerce technologies and strategies
• Daniel Benjamin
• What on-line universities teach
• Builder of IT education programs
• Has insights into the IT security profession,
  gained from real-world experience
• Sandy Cobb
• The for-profit university perspective
• Instructional design master
• Distance learning expert

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About our panel (continued)?
Panelist Gay Bryant Web Technology, Pellissippi
State Technical Community College (PSTCC)

• Gay has taught for 35 years in
  post-secondary education as a business educator
  and Web design instructor. Currently, she manages
  the Web design curriculum and Web Technology
  faculty at PSTCC. Gay was instrumental in PSTCCs
  adoption of the CIW curriculum and certifications
  into their Web Technology program, and in
  establishing a state-wide articulation agreement.
  She has published several word processing
  textbooks with Time-Warner Inc. and has served as
  president of the Tennessee Business Education
  Association. Gay has degrees from the University
  of West Georgia and the University of Tennessee,
  with additional graduate work from Tennessee
  State University. She is also a studio artist,
  working as a printmaker and a painter.

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About our panel (continued)?
Panelist Suzanne Ricci Director of
Education LaSalle Computer Learning Center

• Suzanne has taught Web Design, E-commerce
  and Internet marketing classes to organizations
  and individuals for over a decade. As her
  education and career progressed, she became an
  accomplished Web designer with a concentration in
  SEO. Suzanne is currently writing an
  instructional book on marketing-oriented
  Web-design that emphasizes incorporating SEO into
  the initial design of a Web site. Formerly a
  corporate trainer, Suzanne has been key to
  designing LaSalle's success as an instructor-led
  training center. She is a CIW Certified
  Instructor and Microsoft Certified Trainer and
  holds seventeen IT certifications. Additionally,
  Suzanne has an Associates degree from the Fashion
  Institute of Technology, a Bachelors degree from
  the University of Miami, and a Masters in
  Education from the University of South Florida.

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About our panel (continued)?
Panelist Daniel Benjamin IT Department Chair,
American Public University System (APUS)

• Daniel has over fifteen years of
  experience providing IT and management education
  and consulting solutions in the public and
  private sectors. His clients include the White
  House, the U.S. Senate, the Department of
  Defense, the Department of Treasury, the Federal
  Aviation Administration, and the Department of
  Education. He implemented the IT Department for
  APUS and developed five degree programs. An
  author of published books on Java and Oracle,
  Daniel developed the implementation strategy for
  President Bushs CFO Act of 1990 and a SCORM
  compliant, learning-objects-based e-learning
  solution in support of President Clintons
  Distance Learning Initiative. A teacher of
  database, analysis, enterprise application
  development, and IT management, Daniel has a
  Masters degree from the prestigious Indian
  Institute of Technology.

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About our panel (continued)?
Panelist Sandy Cobb Curriculum Manager, School
of Information Systems Technology, Kaplan
University

• Sandy has been professionally involved in
  technology, administration, pedagogy and
  instructional design for over 10 years. She has
  written training manuals for custom software,
  designed a computer-training center, and designed
  a virtual classroom serving 40 branch offices
  with on-demand training. Additionally, Sandy
  implemented a program of study for Web site
  design and has been heavily involved in designing
  custom training solutions for college
  instructors. She continues to design and update
  curriculum for community college students of Web
  technologies, and is an accomplished writer and
  editor for various publishers including McGraw
  Hill. Sandy received a Bachelor of Science in
  Information Technology, Graphics and Multimedia
  from Capella University, and a Master of
  Education in Learning Systems Technology from the
  University of Arkansas.

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Today's workplace

• Salaries lower, jobs tougher to get
• Students want killer app skills from us
• How do I give them those skills today?
• What skills deserve our focus as educators?
• How do I best teach these skills to an
  increasingly diverse group of students?
• We've got some answers from our panel . . .

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Individual and Panel Questions
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Gay Bryant

• Today's designer usually needs to know more than
  a couple of applications or design steps. You're
  in a unique position as both an artist and an
  educator. What skills are most relevant to
  designers today?
• Web designers are in the business of
  communicating.  No matter how beautiful or snazzy
  a site is, if it doesn't communicate your
  message, it is not doing its job.  A
  well-designed site needs to have seamless
  navigation--this should be intuitive and
  subliminal.  A book we use in one of our design
  courses is Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug, and
  that should be a mantra of good design. Good
  designers need to tip their hats in both
  directions--have a lovely, functional site that
  draws you in but loads fast and doesn't make you
  think about the platform, graphics, visuals,
  fonts, navigation, etc.  The basic skills we
  teach to give students the tools they need are
  HTML, XML, CSS, Photoshop, Dreamweaver,
  Fireworks, PHP/ASP, Acrobat, and Flash, with
  courses in project management, audio/video for
  the web, ecommerce, and accessibility.

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Gay Bryant, continued

• Job placement is very important to Pellissippi.
  As your students graduate and look for jobs, what
  kinds of skills are employers asking for?
• The cadre of courses and applications we
  teach is based on what our area employers are
  saying we need to teach. Our Program Advisory
  Board, made up of area professionals and
  educators in web design, meets twice a year. We
  count on them to let us know what they demand
  from potential employees in our area and what
  skills and applications we should be
  teaching. For example, we started out with our
  curriculum 8 years ago emphasizing two tracks 
  web design and web development.  Outsourcing and
  other factors made web development jobs scarce,
  so we changed the curriculum to emphasize only
  design.  Last year, our board recommended adding
  back the web development option--with courses in
  ASP/PHP (with CIW's Server Administration
  certification exam), XML, XHTML, DHTML, which we
  have, along with courses in web accessibility. 

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Gay Bryant, continued

• How should a designer supplement his or her
  skills base to remain relevant in the workplace
  today?
• Continual professional development and
  networking with other designers are excellent
  ways.  We have many working designer students who
  take courses to update their skills or knowledge
  of applications, or to get the CIW certifications
  to enhance their resumes.  Our college graciously
  provides all online Web Technology students a
  subscription to the lynda.com video training
  library--a wonderful resource to learn the latest
  version of a software or to train in something
  new. Webinars like this provide a good format to
  exchange ideas and network, as do on-ground
  conferences such as the annual CIW Conference. 
• We require our students to complete an
  internship doing real web-design for a company
  before they graduate. Social skills, meeting
  deadlines, and project management skills take on
  a whole new meaning when it's 'for real' rather
  than fabricated in a classroom. Not only do the
  students refine their technical skills, but they
  have a chance to hone their soft skills, as well.

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Suzanne Ricci

• What kind of tips do you have for job seekers,
  not only in terms of developing marketing and SEO
  skills for an employee, but in actually marketing
  themselves to potential employees?
• Networking. Get out there and meet people.
• What specific skills are the most important in
  today's workplace in regards to design?
• CSS, Scripting languages, the .Net
  technologies, and Internet Marketing.
• How has the world of SEO/SEM/PPC changed over the
  last 3 years?
• Emphasis placed on results of a website as
  opposed to just rankings. The industry has grown
  tremendously to now include a few disciplines. We
  are starting to see people specialize. For
  example specializing in SEO or PPC or Web 2.0
  blogging, networking, etc.

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Daniel Benjamin

• APUS has a reputation for teaching information
  security. Clearly information security will
  remain an in-demand field in spite of our
  economic woes. What specific areas of information
  security should people focus on for their
  careers?
• The three broad areas in Information
  Security are Information Assurance, Information
  Systems Management, and Network Security. 
  Information Assurance addresses the certification
  and accreditation of Information Systems. 
  Information Systems Management addresses
  governance, risk management, access control,
  intrusion management, and business continuity. 
  Network Security addresses the aspects of setting
  up controls and processes at the technical
  architecture level.

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Daniel Benjamin, continued

• You've recently adopted a Web design program
  at APUS. What two or three job skills did you
  identify as important for APUS to teach to
  students in this job market?
• The important skills to be taught in web
  development are
• Requirements gathering and analysis
• Design technical and human-computer
  interaction
• Scripting language skills (HTML, XHTML,
  JavaScript, ASP)
• Programming language skills (C, Java)
• Project management skills (communications and
  scope)

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Daniel Benjamin (continued)?

• What skills would you expect to have students
  - both young and old - to have when they sign on
  to get a degree in computer science or IT studies
  at APUS?
• Skills that can help students enter an IT
  degree program are
• Basic analysis or problem solving skills
  such as evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing a
  solution. 
• Computer Literacy (games, internet, office
  applications, help desk, administration).
• Science, technology, engineering, math
  (STEM).

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Sandy Cobb

• How have employer job requirements concerning
  Web technology jobs changed over the years (e.g.,
  Web design, blogging, social networking)?
• There is demand for integration technologies
  and not static web pages. For example, most
  employees use some type of scripting language to
  develop more interactive content, be it flash,
  SQL for databases, etc. Secure access to
  employee intranets and client extranets has been
  on the rise for some time. Another area that has
  become important is the design and development of
  e-learning modules for employee training. In
  many cases, web design skills may be a base skill
  set needed for performing higher level duties,
  like e-learning development.

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Sandy Cobb, continued

• What areas in regards to Web design and
  development has Kaplan identified as important to
  teach?
• XHTML, CSS, DHTML, JavaScript, animation,
  accessibility standards, Adobe Suite (cutting
  edge - CS4, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop) ,
  proper website development processes, Website
  Planning, Project Management, E-commerce,
  animation, E-commerce marketing, Data-Driven
  content and working with web servers.

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Sandy Cobb, continued

• What are the primary challenges in teaching IT
  skills today to career changers and young
  students?
• Bridging the gap between the two generations
  is a challenge, as well as designing for all
  learning styles. Another challenge is presenting
  material that is "cool", "hip", "buzz worthy" and
  fun for all learners.
• Authentic or scenario based project learning
  seems to work well for students. Most people
  learn best by doing. Course level assessment is
  critical for ensuring students are mastering
  skills and concepts.

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Panel questions

• What steps has your educational institution taken
  to ensure that it teaches relevant skills?
• We work with working professionals in the
  industry to ensure our students have current
  skills.
• What advice do you wish to give to instructors
  and/or existing IT workers (including designers
  and developers to security workers) so that
  they can remain competitive in the job
  marketplace?
• Continue to learn and practice.
• Finally, if you had to choose one killer app
  skill to give to a student, what would it be?
• Understanding the management of a web
  project and if you work with web design /
  development you must now know SEO.

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Questions and Answers

• To indicate you have a question, please find the
  Questions applet on your GoToWebinar screen,
  and send your question to the presenter.
• For more information on the CIW Program, please
  visit
• www.CIW-certified.com
• And don't forget our new CIW Community page
• www.CIWcommunity.org

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Are You Teaching the Right Stuff?

• See how CIW can help ensure your Web classes are
  covering the most important IT skills needed in
  todays workplace.
• Just click below to

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Thank You!
James Stanger, Ph.D. Chief Certification
Architect jstanger_at_certification-partners.com (888
) 303-8694
Sherylyn Klair Senior Marketing
Coordinator sklair_at_certification-partners.com (602
) 794-4134