Tag MSLearning

I’ll see you on the road, and at TechEd!

by Christopher Kusek (PKGuild) Baltimization, Blog, Certification, Christopher Kusek, Education, Get On The Bus, Microsoft, NetApp, Storage

So, if you haven’t seen my countless posts on the subject of “Getting on the Bus” I will be on the Bus, and I will be at TechEd this year :)

My official ‘announcement’ is finally up on the MSLCommunity Who’s on the Bus? Rider #9: Christopher Kusek (Atlanta to Los Angeles) and when on the road I will be doing constant updates on Twitter, Blogs (here and the MSLBlog) some live video on Ustream or BlogTV, and who knows what else! (I have no idea myself!)

I’ll be representing myself, the technology community, certification, education, learning, mentorship, and NetApp on this trip, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

So, if you happen to be in any of the cities we’re stopping, or the locations’ were visiting, I encourage you to come up and say hello! :)

Below is the (up to date as of today) itinerary of all of the places we shall be visiting!

My Goal: To meet (and make friends with? :)) 1000 people between the tour and the ride to TechEd, so help me meet that goal! :)

The Career Express tour, day by day:

Friday, May 1st: Atlanta, GA

Saturday, May 2nd: Atlanta, GA to Greensboro, NC

Sunday, May 3rd: Greensboro, NC to Philadelphia, PA

Monday, May 4th: Philadelphia, PA to Cincinnati, OH

  • Philly TechFest 2009 at Springhouse, 8:00am – 10:00am
  • Antonia Pantoja Charter School, 7:30am – 9:00am (private event)
  • Edward W. Bok Technical High School, 10:45am – 12:00pm (private event)
  • MCP “Tweet-up” in Columbus (be sure to follow us on Twitter for details!)

Tuesday, May 5th: Cincinnati, OH to Indianapolis, IN

  • MAX Learning Luau at MAX Technical Training in Cincinnati, 11:00am – 1:00pm (featuring Windows 7 previews, lunch, drawings and more!)
  • “Bring a Friend” Night at “LANTech Training, Indianapolis, 5:00pm – 7:00pm (bring a friend interested in starting a career in IT, and you both might win a TechNet Plus subscription (and your friend might win a laptop, too!))

Wednesday, May 6th: Indianapolis, IN to Kansas City, MO

Thursday, May 7th: Kansas City, MO to Denver, CO

  • MCP Study Break, Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO, 8:00am – 10:00am (featuring live rounds of “Are You Certifiable?” and Windows Server 2008 exam prep sessions)
  • Ask the Experts at Ameriteach, Greenwood Village, CO, 4:30pm – 8:00pm (featuring live rounds of “Are you Certifiable?” sessions on Windows 7, SQL Server, OCS and more—delivered by stellar MCTs!)

Friday, May 8th: Denver, CO to Santa Fe, NM

  • Get Off the Bus! Free day for our intrepid but tired riders—come join us as we explore Santa Fe (follow us on Twitter to see where we’ll be!)

Saturday, May 9th: Santa Fe, NM to Phoenix, AZ

  • Glendale Community College, 8:30am – 10:30am (details coming next week)
  • Microsoft Technology Round-Up, Training to You, Phoenix, 12:00pm – 3:00pm (featuring Windows 7 previews and Windows Server 2008 certification sessions) (registration link updated)

Sunday, May 10th: Phoenix, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

  • “How to Thrive in Your IT Career” at Netcom, 2:00 – 3:30pm (featuring Windows 7 preview)

Monday, May 11th: Las Vegas, NV to Los Angeles, CA

Who creates the learning of the future? You do with LCDS

by Christopher Kusek (PKGuild) .NET, Azure, Baltimization, Blog, Certification, Christopher Kusek, Education, Microsoft, Silverlight, Technology

Wait, what? LCDS? Who? When? Maybe even How?!

There’s a new version of the Microsoft Learning Content Development System!

Hey now, let me get this straight, you’re saying not only does Microsoft provide countless tools for Learning and Education through Programs and Blogs, but they also provide you tools so you can build your own education programs yourself?!

Yes, yes that is correct! The Learning Content Development System (LCDS) Is exactly that tool!

LCDS

Not to mention that they even have ‘sample course titles’ that you can use to get yourself started creating your own education or training packages! To which I denounce ‘sweet!’

I never would have known about this if not for our good friends at the MSLearning Blog, so special thanks to them and especially Ken Rosen for his post on this – Roll Your Own E-Learning

Microsoft has most certified trainers in the world!

by Christopher Kusek (PKGuild) Baltimization, Blog, Certification, Christopher Kusek, Education, Microsoft, Technology

You’ve heard it here first! I’m not entirely sure just how founded that fact I’m proposing is, but take this into account:

Number of active MCTs: 15,251
Number of exams taken (ever) by those MCTs: 513,749
Average number of exams per MCT: 34
MCTs with 50+ exams: 2,682 (18%)
MCTs with 100+ exams: 82
Most exams taken by an MCT: 185 (OMFG!)

If you think about almost any other profession, you may find that you have a few people who are ‘interested’, but a majority of them fulfill the bare minimum in order to be successful in their field.   However in the world of Microsoft? We’re not only “interested” we’re downright passionate perhaps to the point of being almost overly obsessive ;)

Seriously! the bare requirements to be an MCT require you to have at least one MCP (So for any other profession, we’ll call that one certification or degree).  However, these masters of industry on average have 34 certifications under their belt, or in the case of one master –185!-

That’s just a major wow.  I’m not so sure we see this same kind of care taken in the Cisco space or any other industry (Imagine if Educators were this passionate, it would really convey to their students!)

I’d like to thank the Born to Learn blog for sharing this information!

So, you have to ask yourself: If I am not certified, why not?  There is no better time than the present, and no more viable reason if not to join the community of amazing MCT’s!

More information on how to become an MCT is located here.  The MCT is a accomplishment like no other!

Win an all expenses paid trip to TechEd NA 2009! Ends April 6th

by Christopher Kusek (PKGuild) Baltimization, Blog, Certification, Christopher Kusek, Education, Geek, Microsoft, Technology, Virtualization

What’s that you say? A free trip?! Where do I sign up, how can I win?!

If you missed my previous post Get On The Bus to TechEd! Deadline April 6th! there is an amazing opportunity to win not only recognition, food folks fun and adventure, but also a free ride all the way to TechEd!

The formal site for this contest has all of the details as does my above mentioned post, but just to give you a feel of what is required.   You are expected to:

Play the Are You Certifiable Game and generate a score.

image

Write an Essay and publish it online, typically via a blog.

You get extra points if you create a video and make it available.

And then fill out your registration which you can find here and you’re on your way!

It’s very easy, and this weekend is the last chance to do it before it expires Monday at 9AM PST

Get on there, generate and compete! I really want to go, but I also really want to compete and make sure as many people as possible have this opportunity to not only Get On The Bus, but also to potentially attend TechEd as it’s an amazing opportunity and place to visit!

Also, if you have any questions about any of this, don’t hesitate to ask me, or certainly the folks over at MSLearning, but I’m a third party who WANTS you to succeed, so that’s a win :)