LearnKey Blog
Top Tech Questions at Your Holiday Gathering
If you are the go to tech person in your family, you might be dreading the upcoming holiday gatherings because you will undoubtedly be cornered by a few of your family members about their technology questions. I recently read an article “How to survive Holiday Family Tech Support”, that is a survival guide for the tech questions you will be asked at your family gatherings.
The questions you will get will most likely be very vague, and without more information you will not be able to give good answers. Here are a few of the common problems you will encounter:
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Happy Holidays!
I want to thank everyone for reading our blog in 2010, it has been fun working on the blog and reading all of your comments. We are working hard to make sure we provide interesting posts for you to read and we hope it has been useful.
If you have any suggestions or ideas on what you would like to read about on our blog in 2011 please let us know and we will do everything we can to make it happen.
Happy Holidays to everyone may you have a safe and joyous Holiday Season!
How to Delegate
I came across an interesting article “The Right Way to Delegate Your Next Big Project” by Mike Michalowicz about delegation and I wanted to share with you some of the tips to make you a successful delegator.
Delegation is something we all have to do whether it is at home or at work and well we don’t always do it successfully. For example I often delegate household chores to my husband, but often times I find myself frustrated with the outcome or taking over completely because I have a hard time letting go of control.
We struggle with delegation because it means letting go of something we will still be held responsible for, but if done right delegation can mean accomplishing a lot more and giving each project the time and effort it requires. Here are the tips-
Champion
Find one person you trust to assign the project to. Make sure this project will be the only big project on their plate. Let your champion have room to make decisions related to this project.
Reward
Offer a reward. This will provide additional motivation and incentive to make the project a success.
Publicize
Make it public that you are assigning this task to your champion. This shows your support for your champion and the project, lets other people know who to turn to, and motivates because everyone will know who is responsible if project fails. Always point people back to your champion.
Do you have any personal examples of how you delegate? What about when a lack of delegation resulted in a project not going as planned? Tell us your stories in the comments!
CCSP Now CCNP?
In mid October, Cisco announced that the CCSP certification would be evolving into the CCNP Security certification. After April 2011 CCSP exams will no longer be available and CCSP certifications will not be given after October 2011. All CCSP certifications will be valid and recognized for a 3 year active period until 2014. This has caused quite a bit of confusion for all of the folks who are in the middle of getting this certification or who already have a CCSP certification. In response CISCO has created the CCSP Exam Certification Tool to help you figure it all out.
The tool allows you to select the CCSP exams and shows you the required exams and the elective exams along with the last day they will be available. This will help you map everything out and plan ahead for your certification making the process smooth.
Do you have any questions about the upcoming Cisco certification changes? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll do our best to answer them!
Project Based Learning Gains Momentum
Although you might still recall feelings of dread when you were told that you had to work together with a group of peers on a project for a class assignment, they are the projects you remember the most. In the fourth grade I worked with a group of my classmates on a book report and although I dreaded the task before, I had a lot of fun completing the assignment and I still remember exactly what it was about. This leads me to believe in the idea of project based learning for students.
Top 10 Reasons to Get Certified
IT certifications have many benefits. From the obvious to the not-so-obvious, we came up with a list of the top 10 benefits of having a certification.
- More money
- Advantage
Of course this is the number one reason – getting a certification can lead to a pay raise in your current position, a promotion, or being hired for a different position that pays more.
Getting a certification can be the competitive edge needed to overcome the competition for the same position. The point of a certification is to prove to everyone that you know your stuff. From an employer’s perspective, they see potential employees touting their qualities and abilities all day. Would you rather hire someone who only says they can do the job, or someone who took a test to prove it?
Do You Know Your Company Security Policy?
IT Security is a big issue these days, and it doesn’t surprise me that a large number of employees have not been trained on their company’s policy, and those that have been trained have not received current training. Many companies inform or train employees on their security policy when they are hired, but what about the ones that have been with the company for 10+ years? It is important to have recurring trainings to keep employees up to date on this issue. Up-to-date training is important because it will keep employees abreast of current policy and also help prevent confusion on the policy.
Internet Security Policies are more important now than they ever have been, because they are intended to safeguard data and IT Security as well as sustaining employee productivity. There are new threats every day, and apart from the security software on your computer, the best line of defense is practicing safe computer usage.
Are you aware of your company’s policy? How well do you know the policy? How were you told about the policy and do you have regular trainings about the policy?
10 Amazing Free Education Tools
It is always great when you can find things that help make your job easier and more interesting. It is especially nice when those things are free. With schools tightening budgets we thought it might be fun to let you know about 10 totally free tools that are available to you on the web.
These tools will help you connect you with students, parents, and other teachers. Stay organized and access additional resources to supplement your curriculum. Create an interactive classroom to engage students in learning with these exciting and free tools.
Benefits of Obtaining Vendor-Neutral Certifications
Have you been looking for a way to increase your marketability to employers? Vendor-neutral certifications might be the answer because they focus on a technology and not a specific product from a company. These certifications also do not become obsolete as quickly as vendor-specific certifications will.
When a vendor-neutral certification is obtained as a complement to vendor-specific certifications, it shows your flexibility and diversity in handling different scenarios. This means that you will have a broader knowledge base which can be very appealing to employers, because you are not limited to working with one specific product. Vendor-neutral certifications prove that you can use your knowledge in a variety of situations and are well rounded. Sure, you can specialize in a certain direction, but when a problem arises that is outside your area of expertise, do you want to look like the guy who can’t adapt, or the one that can solve everyone’s problems?
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Microsoft Training in Every North Carolina High School
North Carolina is on it’s way to becoming the first state to offer Microsoft certification and training in every one of its high schools. It is expected by next fall that all of North Carolina’s high schools will be participating in the program representing the largest adoption of the Microsoft IT Academy program to date.
Students will have the option to get certified as a Microsoft Office Specialist or a Microsoft Certified Professional by successfully completing training and passing certification exams. To support instructors and students, the program includes access to online learning, course materials, instructor resources, and support materials.
The hope is that this program will give students an advantage in a competitive job market. These certifications are widely recognized and the skills learned are highly sought after. The certifications represent students understanding of current industry standards and gives them the edge in the job market.
Do you see this catching on? Is certification through online learning materials the way schools are headed, or are too many still resistant to non-traditional learning methods?