Free employer-led job skills lists for seven IT job clusters
How do you keep your IT curriculum current with the evolving needs of the industry?
The National Convergence Technology Center’s “sister” grant, the “IT Skill Standards 2020 and Beyond” project, has spent three years working with IT employers and subject matter experts (SMEs) across the country to update skill standards. At this point, over 230 employers and 76 educators have convened across over a hundred total meeting hours to first identify the most in-demand “job clusters” and then to develop detailed job skill content for each cluster.
Specifically, you can access for free – right now! – knowledge, skills, abilities, and tasks (KSAs), employability skills, key performance indications (KPIs), and student learning outcomes for each of these topics:
Cybersecurity Skillset
Data Analytics and Predictive Modeling
Data Management and Engineering
Infrastructure Connectivity, Management, and Engineering
Software Development
Technical Project Management
Technical Support
Learn more about the ITSS project here.
How can educators use this ITSS material?
* Learn about the Business and Industry Leadership Team (“BILT”) model as a method for improving employer engagement in your program. Learn more here.
* Engage representative employers in your area to localize these national KSAs, prioritizing them to reflect local needs. Learn how to convert an Excel sheet into a Google voting form here.
* Enlist faculty to cross-reference those localized, newly prioritized KSAs to existing curriculum to identify gaps. Is your program teaching students what employers need?
* Provide feedback to the employer team using cross-referenced data to discuss those gaps.
* Collaborate with local employers to address any questions prior to implementation of curricular changes.
If you need technical assistance with using these ITSS tools and resources, contact ctitus@collin.edu for free support.