IT Insights Blog — certification

Have you ever been taking a certification exam, gotten to a question that you couldn't immediately answer, and thought, "OK. So what would this look like on my computer screen?" Maybe you stare at the ceiling for a second, attempting to conjure a mental picture, or close your eyes in concentration. Many of us are kinesthetic learners, meaning that we are most successful at internalizing concepts when we can use a "hands on" approach and go through something step-by-step. It's often far more common, however, that advanced knowledge is presented in a manner that requires us to learn visually, through reading, or auditorily, through listening. If you've ever been to a college lecture hall, or purchased a textbook, then you're likely well acquainted with those approaches. 

Here's something to think about for all of you working IT professionals out there. When is the last time that your manager sent you an urgent e-mail to start the day that was written up sort of like this: Dear Ted, I need you to look into this issue right away and get back to me. Suppose that I have an application whose behavior depends on the environment variable BAR. Which of the following command lines may be used in a bash shell to configure the application?

Being a member of the top-flight sales team at TestOut and TestOut Continuing Education has a lot of rewards: financial (of course), the camaraderie of interesting co-workers, and “Salsa and Chips Wednesdays.” One of the best aspects of my job, however, is hearing from satisfied customers. I love it when a customer is happy and achieving success utilizing our top-quality courseware. A few months ago, I received a call from a valued customer, Kevin Dillman. Kevin is the Technology Integration Specialist for Southwestern Jefferson County Schools in Hanover, Ind., and he’s doing a great job helping students earn their certifications. He asked if he could have an extra month of access to our PC Pro course for a hearing-impaired student who was trying to finish up his certification.

Last week everyone was riveted to the news coming out of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2016, wanting to see the latest and greatest in tech. Much was expected out of this year’s event, and it didn’t disappoint. CES 2016 gave us revelations like the Faraday Future, Samsung’s dancing modular TV, HTC's Vive VR Headset, midair iPhone charging technology, and a single-rider drone taxi. The overriding theme of the show however, was the Internet of Things. And as exciting as the Internet of Things can be, it also brings up consumer concerns about cybersecurity. When everything you own is connected to the internet — which could happen sooner than you think — then suddenly the array of personal electronic devices that need to be protected from hackers is a whole lot bigger than when it was just your in-home wireless router and a few computers.

Lots of people like to do things "the old-fashioned way," and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes your forebears figured out the best way to get something done a long time ago, and there hasn't really ever been a good reason to change things up. Until further notice, the best way to make a peanut butter sandwich is to get two slices of bread, spread peanut butter on one and something else (jam, jelly, honey, ketchup, sweet-and-sour sauce) on the other, and slap them together. Eat and enjoy! On the other hand, it doesn't make a ton of sense, in 2016, to still be reading books as either your primary or exclusive approach to preparing for a certification exam. We can all agree that books are awesome. They just aren't the most awesome way, in our modern age, to get your certification study revved up and purring like a kitten.