LearnKey Blog
Happy St. Patricks Day!
St. Patrick’s Day brings to mind green, treasure, leprachauns, lucky charms, four-leaf clovers, and perhaps corned beef and cabbage? Here are some random facts about the Holiday.
- March 17 in 461 AD St. Patrick, Patron Saint of the Irish, is believed to have died. This is why we celebrate March 17.
- St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday for Ireland and a provincial holiday in Newfoundland and Labrador.
- Dublin, Ireland has a huge festival from March 15-19 to celebrate.
- The Chicago River, in Chicago, IL is dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day.
- Boston, MA has had a St. Patrick’s Day parade since 1737.
- In Ireland people traditionally wear bunches of shamrocks on their jackets or hats, women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair and children wear orange, white, and green badges.
- According to the 2003 Census 34 million Americans have Irish Ancestry – that is about nine times the population of Ireland.
- Towns in the United States with Irish names; Mount Gay-Shamrock, WV, Shamrock Lakes, IN, Shamrock, OK, Shamrock, TX, Dublin, CA and Dublin, OH.
- The Guiness Book of World Records for most leaves on a clover is 14.
- It is estimated that there are 10,000 three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.
- The legend is that the first leaf of a clover is for hope, the second is for faith, the third for love, and the fourth is for luck.
Wishing you a lucky St. Patrick’s Day!
Individualized Learning
In traditional classrooms there is one teacher teaching 30 or more students at one time. This creates an issue because not all of these students are the same in fact they are all very different in their learning styles and achievement levels. So how do you teach all of them what they need to learn when there is only one teacher?
There are new test programs that are starting at school districts that address this issue by answering the need for individualized learning. This is being done by first assesing students on a regular basis to gauge the level they are on. Then each students has their own schedule to adhere to and follow to meet their own needs.
Our training can be a great option to solve this problem by assessing each individuals strengths and needs. Each training has a pre-assesment to gauge where each student is and allows them to drill down skill gaps and focus on those areas. Our solution also allows students to learn at their own pace, and provides them with materials that meet the needs of any and all learning styles. Self-paced training gives students the opportunity to learn at their own pace, giving teachers the opportunity to help the students who need more one-on-one time. We provide expert-led, video-based training for students who are auditory or visual learners, workbooks are available for those who learn better by completing activities.
For more information about using Learnkey as a solution in your classroom please visit www.learnkey.com/education.
Happy Pi Day!
March 14 was chosen to represent Pi Day because it resembles 3.14, but the official celebration begins at 1:59 PM to make an appropriate 3.14159. Here are some fun facts about Pi and Pi Day. Here at LearnKey we are celebrating by eating some PIE and you should too! That was a mouthful of Pi for one paragraph.
- Pi is the number of times a circle’s diameter will fit around its circumference.
- Pi is an irrational number.
- So far Pi has passed all randomness tests.
- In August 2010 a supercomputer calculated the value of Pi to 5 trillion decimal places.
- Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day in 1879.
- The first million decimal places of Pi consist of 99,959 zeros, 99,758 1s, 100,026 2s, 100,229 3s, 100,230 4s, 100,359 5s, 99,548 6s, 99,800 7s, 99,985 8s, and 100,106 9s. Glad I wasn’t the one tapped to figure that out.
- Chao Lu holds the Guiness World Record for memorizing Pi to 67,890 places.
- Pi Day was started by Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1989.
- In 2009 the U.S. House of Representatives recognized March 14, 2009 as National Pi Day.
- Traditional Pi Day celebrations include walking in circles, eating pie, and reciting as many digits of Pi as possible.
- In 2015 March 15 will reflect 5 digits of Pi. 3/14/15.
- MIT sometimes mails application decision letters to prospective students to be delivered on Pi Day.
Changing Views of Education
I’ve seen a few animations in the past from the folks at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts (RSA), and they were all quite interesting. They take key speeches from their events and create an intricate marker board illustration, animated to follow along with the speech. Reading some of their YouTube comments, you’ll see people saying things like “I wish my teachers did this in school, it would have helped me learn a lot easier!”
We recently came across this video, where Sir Ken Robinson talks about traditional public education, and ways to reform it to do a better job of accommodating all students.
CTP+ Replaces Convergence+
CompTIA has replaced Convergence+ with CTP+ as its convergent technologies exam. This exam focuses on knowledge and skills needed to sell and service convergent technologies some of the concepts covered are requirements analysis, voice and multimedia applications. It is recommended that candidates have attained Network+ certification and have work experience in data networking and/or telephony fields. (View more information about CTP+)
At this time we are not offering this course, but I would like to find out if people are interested in this certification. Is this the certification you have been waiting for? Do you have previous certifications and are looking to add to your resume with this certification? If you are interested would you be getting it for you current position and if so what are some of your job roles?
100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day
Today marks the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. This day is celebrated to inspire and celebrate women’s achievements around the world. It is an official holiday in many countries across the globe, and today on the centennial, people around the world are gathering on bridges to show support for women’s causes. If you go here (also accessible by clicking the Google logo on Google’s home page) you can find one of the bridges nearest to you, or if you can’t get to one of them, you can log in virtually to participate.
There are a variety of causes that are being celebrated today including empowerment, economic security, education, equality & leadership, health, and safety & security. You can support these causes by donating to various charities and organizations, or if you want to take a more personal approach, we are doing our part by providing training courses that will help the cause. Check out titles like our Leadership Skills for Women Course and our Men and Women Working Together Course. Or if you really want to empower yourself and make a presence in a typically “guy’s world”, go for an IT certification! See all LearnKey products
New Course: CompTIA Strata IT Fundamentals
The CompTIA Strata IT Fundamentals exam FC0-U4, is designed for individuals that are new to the IT industry and who are looking to prove their knowledge and understanding of technology and computer hardware basics, compatibility issues and common errors, software installation and function, security risks and prevention, Green IT and preventative maintenance practices. This is a great starting point for anyone starting out in IT including students, people looking to switch careers or those looking to solidify their knowledge by achieving certification.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in, we just released Strata IT Fundamentals video training to help you prepare for your exam. Check out the product details:
CompTIA® Strata IT Fundamentals
Training Course
Covers exam FC0-U4
3 sessions | 9 hours of content
Available on CD-ROM and OnlineExpert formats
Join Our Upcoming SQL Server R2 Webinar
We have partnered with noted Microsoft SQL Server Expert Wayne Snyder and Mariner, a leading Microsoft Gold Partner to produce a webinar that will take place on Wednesday, March 23 at 1PM ET. The webinar will be led by Snyder, one of the industry’s most experienced and knowledgeable SQL Server professionals. The webinar will provide information about SQL Server R2, LearnKey’s SQL Server 2008 Implementation and Maintenance training course content, and will also have a question and answer session. Participants can email questions to info@mariner-usa.com and Wayne will answer during the session. A white paper entitled “Why Upgrade to SQL 2008 R2 for DBAs” will be available to participants.
Join our webinar to receive valuable information from an industry expert about updates on product-focused database specialization, how to maximize use of your SQL Server install base, reasons for upgrading to R2 and tips and tricks. Watch Snyder’s comments about SQL Server 2008 in this clip and then join the webinar.
Free Training for Your Thoughts
Here is your chance to win a free online training course!
Have you been thinking of getting your A+ certification? Or maybe you need to hone your Excel 2010 skills? For one week only, we are giving away a year of access to an online training course for one lucky winner – and all you need to do to enter is tell us why you want your selected course!
How to enter:
First, choose one of the following courses:
- Excel 2010
- Dreamweaver CS5
- JavaScript Fundamentals
- Windows 7 Configuration
- CompTIA A+
- IC3 Global Standard 3
Then post on our Wall on Facebook or Tweet to us on Twitter (@LearnKey) why you want your selected course. Are you getting a certification to go for a promotion? Or maybe you want to train up for a new job? Or maybe you’ve always been curious about how to use Dreamweaver? Let us know, and you could win!
The contest ends one week from today, at 11:59pm PT on March 3 and the winner will be announced on Facebook and Twitter March 4, where we will then work out the details and get you set up with your free OnlineExpert course. Remember you only have a week, so what are you doing still reading our amazing blog? You should be entering on Twitter or Facebook!
*Offer applies to the selected Online courses only. The contest winner will receive 1 year access to OnlineExpert, where they will be assigned the course of their choice.
Using Technology to Improve Employee Training
Whether you are an employer or employee, think of your workplace – you probably have computer programs that make your job much easier. Maybe you use Microsoft Word to create letters and proposals, or maybe you use Google Docs to collaborate and share documents between your various offices. Technology is often implemented to make work more efficient, but what about decreasing the time between the hiring and starting work? What about the training?
Training can be difficult to find time to do in the workplace. When you get hired at a new job, they hired you because there was a position that needed to be filled, which means often times they need you to start right away. This can sometimes make it difficult to find time for training. That’s where a flexible, training program that is available 24/7 comes in.
(By the way, LearnKey’s online training platform is being implemented in businesses and schools all over the world – check out learnkey.com to see what we have to offer!)
In an article by Margery Weinstein “Technology Keeps Training on Track” she discusses the challenges a retail store faced with training employees. The main challenge was the amount of time available to train. This was solved by implementing a training program that was available online all the time, and the lessons were divided into short modules of 5-10 minutes. This new program proved to be more successful for the retail company.
So, think of your workplace again – you’re currently using various technologies to make your work easier. Where else could changes be made? Could your business benefit from an online training program?