Making Your IT Programs Market Driven

Are your IT programs experiencing a continued decline in enrollment? To be successful, an institution should offer programs with the proper mix of IT courses to be responsive to their students and their local job market. CITE offers services that will assist you to:

1) Evaluate your programs through market analysis, curriculum review, student surveys and articulation agreements, 2) Identify gaps between programs and market needs and 3) Make changes in your programs to address any gaps uncovered in the process. CITE will then compile all findings and provide a report that lists the recommended courses of action. For further information, email Kelley Beverly or call her at 425-564-4230.

Grays Harbor College Completes a IT Market Program Analysis

Networking and Helpdesk jobs are still a viable option for students interested IT careers in the greater Grays Harbor County. Using trending data of national reports from Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), NWCET’s Trends Analysis and the U.S. Dept of Labor, CITE performed a IT Market Analysis to determine the marketability of the current CIS programs at Grays Harbor College. The analysis identified where the IT jobs are, what the job requirements are, and local employers’ needs from IT workers. Interesting data proved that not only are technical skills important, soft-skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork was very important and sought after. IT Hiring Managers gathered for an in-depth focus group discussion to provide additional insight to Grays Harbor administration regarding their needs. CITE concluded the study by providing several recommendations for Grays Harbor College to consider for program updates.

For further information about this study, email Kelley Beverly or call her at 425-564-4230.

Green River Community College (GRCC) Increases IT Networking Program Enrollments from 4 to 26 for fall 2005

In an exclusive interview CITE speaks to Alan Carter, the networking faculty member at GRCC, as he shares the success of a major program review. GRCC researched, evaluated, and listened and created a stellar program for workforce ready network engineers. Read the article in the Best Practices area of the CITE website.

NWCET Announces the Ambassador Program

To advance the progress of the Working Connections Program throughout the state, NWCET has created the Ambassador Program. Each community and technical college can elect one Ambassador to represent their campus to act as the conduit or, “good will ambassador” to enhance communications between the Working Connections Institute and their college’s faculty. Ambassadors that meet the goals of the program are eligible for discounted fees and first choice track enrollments for next year’s institute. We look forward to a productive outreach through the new Ambassadors.

Could your institution utilize funding support for Professional Development activities at your campus? NWCET is offering mini-grants to assist the Ambassadors conduct on-site training specific to their faculty needs. This initiative is one of several goals of the new Ambassador program.

NWCET looks forward to hosting the Working Connections Institute again in August 2006 with more IT and IT-related tracks. For further information about the Ambassador program, please email Maureen Majury, Senior Program Manager or call her at 425-564-4229.

What Do You Want to Learn This Summer?

The NWCET Working Connections and the 2006 CITE IT Futures Education Summit will launch a joint online survey to gauge interest in topics for this summer’s events. The survey will be distributed through the Working Connections Ambassadors and the January CITE newsletter. This is your chance to provide feedback as the events to meet WA faculty development needs so please complete the survey. Thank you for your support and we look forward to an excellent summer of technology training.

IT Workforce Futures Event hosted by BCC

In an age of outsourcing, downsizing, rightsizing, and consolidation, what is the future for IT Jobs in the workforce? Jerry Bunce, IT Education Relations from the Boeing Company provided insights to this question and more. He described why the IT jobs of the future will change and how students can prepare now to be ready for this new demand. In addition, he addressed about the importance of lifelong learning for IT professionals and aspiring technologists.

The session included an IT Workforce Futures Employer Panel featuring representatives Microsoft and Boeing who provided their perspective on the changing business needs and IT landscape in 2005. Panelists also addressed the current skills needs for their organizations as well as fielded questions from the audience.Greg Dempsey from Eastern Washington University presented the Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) transfer program available on the BCC campus for those interested in obtaining a Bachelors degree in technology.

CITE in partnership with BCC’s Business Division and Continuing Education co-sponsored this event last week at the BCC campus. The event was free event for students, faculty, career counselors, etc. at the BCC campus last week.

If you are interested in hosting this event at your campus, email Kelley Beverly or call her at 425-564-4230.

Training Opportunity at the University of Montana

There will be a five-day training event on the new version of Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 the week of January 2-6, 2006 in the Gallagher Building at The University of Montana: 

Course Title: Creating Remarkable Websites with ASP.NET 2.0

Cost :  The cost of the training is $680/week which includes all books and materials.

Instructor : Walt Ritscher from Bellevue Community College will be teaching the courses.  Walt has been teaching VB, ASP, ADO, and XML programming classes for quite some time and he will also bring many of his own materials.  

For further information, email Shawn Clouse or call him at 406-243-5985.

At the IT Convergence Zone: A Rapid Development Model for Skill Standards and Curriculum

Community colleges must offer industry relevant programs.  Especially in this era of scarce funding, industry sector and course content selection is a daunting prospect. Allocating resources to a program that misses the mark is damaging to the student, industry and institution. This is especially true in the constantly evolving area of Information Technology. 

Developing skill standards as the foundation of IT program development eliminates the guesswork in curriculum development.  It is a time tested and reliable method of ensuring that programs are current and relevant to industry. Community and technical colleges frequently skip this step, however, because of the time and expense involved.   Bellevue Community College has created the new Rapid Development Skill Standards Model. It is a blueprint for short cutting the traditional process.  This tool allows colleges to confidently underwrite IT programs that industry supports.

The convergence zone is comprised of careers that require mastery of knowledge and skills equally drawn from the sectors of information technology and the target industry domain. Even though in most cases, these professionals do not possess the in-depth skills required by information technology specialists or by industry domain specialists, they are expected to effectively communicate and work with specialists from both sectors, act as a bridge between the two sectors, and perform highly complex functions integrating the two sectors.

This work was funded by a Presidential High Growth Job Training Initiative Grant, implemented by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. Download your copy of “At The IT Convergence Zone: A Rapid Development Model for Skill Standards and Curriculum” from the BCC Life Sciences website. For further information email Patricia Dombrowski, Director of BCC Life Science Informatics Center, or call her at 425-564-3164.

2005 Washington IT Education Summit Videos are Online

What are the qualifications IT Hiring Managers are looking for in a job candidate? Video of this very important panel discussion is now available on the CITE website. Find out what recruiters from Microsoft, Expedia, Starbucks and Volt are saying about the knowledge, skills and abilities their companies seek when filling IT positions. Also available online is video of the entertaining and informative keynote presentation by Stuart McKee, National Technology Officer at Microsoft. (For best viewing, a DSL or cable modem connection is recommended for optimal downloading.)

Instructor Job Shadow 2005

The 2005 CITE Instructor Job Shadow Program finished with great success. Seven instructors from 2 high schools and 5 CTC’s from across the state were matched with local employers to update their knowledge on the latest advances in technologies in their areas of study and expertise. The primary goal for instructors was to experience how companies implement technology in their workplaces as well as obtaining hands- on experience. This was a valuable experience for instructors as well as Workplace Hosts. Most of the instructor reports and program feedback are available on the CITE website. For further information, email Kelley Beverly or call her at 425-564-4230. We will begin accepting applications for summer 2006 in February 2006.

Articles of IT Interest- Topic of the Month: Gaming in Education

Introduction: The gaming industry is receiving much attention in the press and from education.

“But others believe that video games - which already rival movie tickets in sales - are poised to become one of the dominant media of the new century.” University of Southern California and the University of Central Florida have started formal programs in game design and the academic study of video games as a slice of contemporary culture . Read more about emerging game development programs in the New York Times article titled, “Video Games Are Their Major, So Don't Call Them Slackers.” (access requires an email registration at no charge).

“High Score Education. Games, not school, are teaching kids to think.” This article from Wired Magazine challenges educators to think of gaming as an agent of mental training. “Kids often say it doesn't feel like learning when they're gaming - they're much too focused on playing. If kids were to say that about a science lesson, our country's education problems would be solved.”

Can gaming technology be used to augment lessons in biology or physics? Read more about interesting applications of games in Inside Higher Ed’s article titled, “Joystick Nation.”

“Video games as learning tools”. This article in the Ed-Tech Insider explores the nature of using popular games as teaching tools.

Game Testing program developed for ABE students at BCC

The Ford Foundation research states that Adult Basic Education students have increased retention and completion rates when ABE classes are integrated with vocational education. The Developmental Education and WorkFirst departments at BCC choose an appealing vocation for these students, CITE performed a local labor market research with employers. As a result a Game Testing track was developed to prepare students for an in-demand career. BCC will launch this program January 23, 2006 which runs 4 hours a day for six months. Students receive ABE training infused with Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows XP , Software and Game Testing courses to complete a total of 214 instructional hours . For further information about this program or if you know of a student candidate, email Beth Bailey or call her at 425-564-4180.

Gaming Resources

The Art &Science of Making Games

A Digital Dreamer

Women Gamers

International Game Developers Association

Game Developer Magazine

Seattle Sputnik

GameDev.net

DevMaster.net

Gaming Programs at other Colleges and Universities

Game Design at Collins College, Tempe, AZ

Video Game Development at Austin Community College, Austin, TX

Electronic Game and Interractive Development at Champlain College, Burlington, VT

Game Design at University of Advancing Technology, Tempe, AZ

Advanced Video Game Design and Development at Gaitlin Education Services, online

Game Development at Bloomfield College, Bloomfield, NJ

Interactive Design and Game Development at Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA

Gaming Programs in Washington State

Computer Game Development Certificate at Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood, WA. For further information, email Jerry Rosenberg or call him at 425-640-1556.

Animation and Game Design Certificate at Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland, WA. For further information, email John Gabriel or call him at 425 739-8100, extension 340

Digital Gaming Program at Bellevue Community College, Bellevue WA. For further information, email Mary Slowinski or call her at 425-564-4067.

Bachelor of Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation, DigiPen, Redmond, WA.

Gaming Conferences

Game Developers Conference 2006, March 20-24, San Diego, CA

Archived Issues of CITE Newsletters Now Available Online

How can CITE assist your institution?

At CITE, our mission is to be a resource arm to the Community and Technical Colleges and high schools of Washington State. Let us hear from you to discuss your needs and how we can be of service to you. Email CITE or call Kelley Beverly at 425-564-4230.