Working Connections preview
If the days are getting longer and the temperatures hotter, then it must be time for Summer Working Connections.
Just like last year, the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) is hosting or supporting three separate Working Connections events with the hope of offering professional development for over 150 IT instructors from schools across the country. Tuition is free and the National CTC helps provide travel expense reimbursement for attendees that qualify.
The goal of Working Connections is to provide faculty attendees with the expertise needed to teach their respective track in a subsequent semester, bringing the most current information to their classrooms either as a stand-alone course or as a supplement to an existing course. There is also the added value of putting so many IT instructors together in the same venue, which allows for networking and the sharing of best practices.
Working Connections North – June 2-6
Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin is the site for Working Connections North. (Last year, the North event was held at Lansing Community College in Michigan.) This event offers three concurrent tracks. “Digital Forensics” looks at the four phases of digital investigations: seizure, acquisition, analysis, and reporting. “Ethical Hacking” covers many of the common attacks used by hackers to exploit systems. And “NDG NetLab+ Setup and Operation” explores the design and implementation of a NetLab+ online lab environment for a typical class.
Working Connections South – June 23-27
Florida State College at Jacksonville will host Working Connections South for the second summer. This event offers three concurrent tracks. “Advanced Networking” looks at the Wireshark Network Analyzer tool. “Citrix” helps prepare instructors for the XenDesktop Administration course and provides details for becoming a Citrix IT Academy. And “vSphere 5.5” explores that program’s installation, configuration, and management. Working Connections South offered tracks on vSphere and Wireshark last summer as well.
Working Connections Texas – July 7-11
Collin College in Frisco, Texas hosts the flagship Working Connections for the thirteenth consecutive summer. This year, the event offers six concurrent tracks. “Android App Development” looks at how to develop native Android apps in Java and Eclipse. “EMC Cloud Infrastructure and Services” delivers material related to EMC’s Academic Alliance program and online labs provided by NDG. “Ethical Hacking” explores offensive information security and penetration testing. “Linux Essentials” provides an overview of Linux as a foundation for a new Linux Professional Institute Academy. “vCloud Director” demonstrates how to deploy and manage vCloud in a small private environment. And “vSphere 5.5” explores that program’s installation, configuration, and management. One of the Working Connections Texas lunch programs will feature a special talk from a successful graduate of the National CTC’s convergence program at Collin College and the University of North Texas.
If you can’t join us this summer, make plans now to visit Texas for Winter Working Connections, which runs December 15-17, 2014.
