Education
Soft Skills for All Ages
In 2014, the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) “BILT” (Business and Industry Leadership Team – an engaged and dedicated group of IT industry experts that meets once a quarter to discuss IT trends, answer faculty questions, and validate entry-level job skills) recommended that IT programs weave “soft skills” training into IT every course. A year…
Read MoreStrategies and Activities to Increase Diversity and Improve Enrollment
Regular blog readers know that the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) is currently steering a pilot program called the “Diversity Summit.” The program kicked off in February with a workshop for select schools from the Convergence College Network (CCN) community of practice. Each participating school sent three attendees – an instructor, an advisor, and an…
Read MoreSecurity Skills Gap Continues
The National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) National Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) has long emphasized the need for IT students to learn security skills. Indeed, the BILT urges that every class include instruction on security. Specifically, since 2015, the BILT has asked instructors to find relevant moments in IT curriculum to ask students “Is…
Read MoreWearable Market Continues to Expand
One of the largest growing markets in the “internet of things” is wearables. A recent Venture Beat article notes a sizable increase in wearables sales. It’s still a relatively small market, but for the second quarter of 2017, 26.3 million wearables were sold worldwide. The leader is the Chinese company Xiaomi, with Apple and Fitbit…
Read MoreTeaching the Internet of Things
Two faculty members associated with the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) recently delivered a standing-room-only conference presentation on teaching the Internet of Things (“IoT”) to IT networking students. Brian Nelson (Lansing Community College) and Bill Saichek (Orange Coast College) spoke to attendees of the 2017 HI-TEC educator conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Here are…
Read MorePerspectives and Successes from IT Administrators
The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) spends a lot of time working with IT faculty, whether through professional development events like Working Connections or through quarterly meetings with the 60 schools in the Convergence College Network (CCN) that features best practice sharing. But twice a year, the CTC allows administrators the opportunity to get more…
Read MoreIntegrating Data Visualization Tools in the Curriculum
Today’s post comes from guest writer, Rajiv Malkan, professor at Lone Star College in Montgomery, TX, a partner school of the National Convergence Technology Center. Big Data Analytics and Data Visualization are becoming a norm in business today. Data visualization allows the organization to interact with data to identify business trends and insights. As Internet…
Read MoreTop Skills the Top Companies Want
LinkedIn recently released a list of the top companies to work for in 2017. Almost all were linked to IT in some way, whether they were an IT company, an Internet company or a company with IT needs. Over the last decade, technology has transformed almost every major company in the world. While leadership, collaboration…
Read MoreAll Diversity Summit Videos Now Available
Ready for a refresher on the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) “Diversity Summit”? About two months have passed since the two-day event that featured guest speakers from across the country. Videos from all the presentations are now available online – it’s a great way to take advantage of their expertise for those who weren’t in…
Read MoreNew Approach to Transferring Workforce Courses
The University of North Texas (UNT), a grant partner of the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC), continues to develop its innovative Bachelor of Arts in Information Technology (BAIT) program. The manager of the BAIT program – principal lecturer David Keathly – recently delivered a webinar to interested faculty and administrators from the CTC’s community of…
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