IT Insights Blog — Education

What a great time to be in IT certification training! I recently attended CompTIA’s Partner Summit in Orlando, Fla., July 26-28. It was a three-day power-packed event held to inform CompTIA’s academic partners (TestOut is among those ranks) of new certifications being developing and coming updates for existing certifications.

Already full of breath-taking thrills and gut-wrenching spills, the Rio Olympics have been anything but a disappointment. Team USA has had a strong showing, but has seen its fair share of ups-and-downs in the first few days of competition, from Mara Abbot’s heartbreaking cycling loss, to the complete domination of the self-named “Final Five.” Let’s not forget the medal-hogging swim team, with the ultimate ...

What do actress Courtney Cox and TestOut PC Pro have in common? No, it’s not Michael J. Fox — although Family Ties was a great show. The connection is actually through the Alabama Department of Career and Technical Education (CTE). It’s a state-run program that combines the academic courses that students will need for success in college with the technical courses that they will need to prepare for a career. The tech aspect of the program is designed to improve the technical and academic preparation of students and to provide a transition plan for those who want to enter a tech-related field

Round numbers almost always make people happy, so here's one to chew on: Exactly 30 years ago, Hollywood opened up a highway to the danger zone with the release of a little action movie about the elite training program for U.S. Naval Aviators. Not only that, but last year showbiz scuttlebutt emerged that the producer of Top Gun, the movie that turned Tom Cruise into a movie superstar, is ready to bring back that lovin' feeling. Top Gun 2 will not, apparently, be doing a flyby of the box office this year, but the movie is in development with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Cruise both aboard.

I’m a firm believer that education is the ladder to a more bountiful and fulfilling life. People with little to no educational opportunities too often face lives of scarcity and struggle. Unfortunately, the cost of education continues to climb at an unprecedented rate. Consumer Report recently partnered with The Center for Investigative Reporting to conduct a survey on the student debt crisis. The 1,500 respondents painted a picture that isn’t pretty — student loan debt in the United States is almost $1.4 trillion, an amount that exceeds all credit card debt!