IT Student: My Advice to You Is....

The new school year is off to a great start with 120 high school students enrolled in Information Technology courses at the Marshall County Technical Center. Over half of these students (73) are taking their first computer course and many of them are even considering a career path within Information Technology as a possible career.

As successful and experienced individuals in IT, what advice (or motivation) would you give a high school student who wants to pursue a career in Information Technology?

I would like to share your insight with the students in my classes, so please be specific and honest as you share with us your advice through the comment link below.

Thank you!

Marshall County IT Advisory Committee

I appreciate your willingness to participate in the growth and development of our Information Technology program at the Marshall County Technical Center. I would like to invite each of you to be a part of our advisory committee. The purpose of an advisory committee is to support our program's activities by providing direction, feedback, information, resources, etc. to help steer and grow the IT program at Marshall County.

Our goal is to have two Advisory Committee meetings each year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Each meeting will be conducted online using this blog. I will post 2-3 questions, then notify you by email so you can respond by using the comment link found below each post.

Please begin by leaving a comment that includes the following information:

• Name
• Job title
• Company name or Employer
• Education/Training
• Certifications acquired
• Years of experience in Information Technology

I really appreciate your time and support!

Cheyenne Koch
Information Technology instructor
Marshall County Technical Center
341 High School Road
Benton, KY 42025
270-527-8648

How Can We Motivate Students to Get Certified?

I really appreciate your support and feedback! So, before the school year ends, I would like for us to discuss one more topic as a group.

The IT program at Marshall County is evaluated by the state of Kentucky based on student achievement in:

1. The number of industry certifications (Cisco, Novell, Microsoft, CompTIA, etc.) successfully passed by students. The MC IT program currently prepares students for the CompTIA A+ and the Cisco CCNA certifications.
   
2. Kentucky Occupational Skills Standards Assessment (KOSSA) - Communications - which is a very general exam and will be replaced next year by a KOSSA assessment designed specifically for IT.

But the problem we run into is that students are hesitant to take certifications. Some students can't afford the cost required to take the certification exam(s), others may be intimidated by the unknown or difficulty of the exam. And some students just lack motivation, or don't see the importance of getting a certification, so they continually put it off.

So here's the questions I would like to discuss:

1. How important are certifications to your business or place of employment?
   
   
2. How can we motivate students to get industry certifications while in high school?
   
   
3. What can businesses and teachers do to help students overcome obstacles, such as fear, money, and apathy?

I appreciate your thoughts and feedback!


Cheyenne Koch

What's Most Important?

The Information Technology program has seen a huge growth in the number of students taking the entry level IT course - IT Essentials. Last year, there was approximately 25 students enrolled in this course (which introduces hardware, software, networking, security, and other IT support concepts), we now have over 85 students currently enrolled in the IT Essentials course. This is awesome and I hope in the next two years to start seeing more students enrolled in the advanced IT courses, which will help to prepare them for industry certifications, post-secondary education, and careers in various IT fields.

Here's the question that I would like for us to discuss as a group:

What skills do you think are most important for students to develop as they study information technology in high school? And why?

Please use the comment link to post your response. I appreciate your input and the contributions each of you bring from your various areas of expertise and experience.

Thanks!

Cheyenne Koch