About Nancy Null

Nancy Null manages support and training for over sixty Cisco Networking Academy programs in Maryland, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and in afterschool and community outreach centers in various states. Combining the experiences of 38 years as an educator with a passion for improving Career and Technology instruction, Nancy is involved with projects ranging from increasing gender diversity in IT programs to embedding Common Core State Standards in the CTE classroom. Her blog posts often feature best practices from exemplary CTE programs across the state.

The Benefits of Industry Certifications for High School Students

by
No comments yet

Nancy

Nancy

It is the eternal “Catch-22” of being young and trying to get a start on a career: every potential employer says you are a great candidate, but you cannot be hired because you lack experience. How can you get that experience if you cannot even get in the door?

 

One way to beat the “lack of experience” challenge lies in gaining an industry certification while still in high school. Walking into a job interview with proof of certification in one’s pocket immediately puts a job applicant one step above non-certified candidates.

 

Photo credit: Flickr user Susanne13

Photo credit: Flickr user Susanne13

 

That little piece of paper validates that the possessor has demonstrated mastery of the most up-to-date skills in a career field that may be rapidly changing. Consider the IT industry: giants like CompTIA and Cisco regularly revise their industry certification examinations to reflect every new skill required in the field. A valid certification truly is “industry standard.”

 

Pursuing and achieving an industry certification allows high school students to acquire and practice some of the most critical college and career-readiness skills, such as critical thinking, focusing, and the ability to prioritize. Most certification tests occur in high-stress, timed environments: radically different from the typical high school test. Preparing and sitting for a certification examination is a reality check for a young person’s career aspirations. Few experiences can reinforce the concept of “no pain, no gain” better than persevering through the A+ or CCENT test, and few can build more pride and self confidence.

 

Gaining an industry certification signals to both potential employers and prospective colleges that this is a young person who is not afraid of challenges. That certification paper says, “Here is someone who is thinking ahead, who can set and achieve goals, who can bring initiative and commitment to the table.” The proof is in the paper!

Harnessing digital note-passing

by
No comments yet
Nancy

Nancy

Those of us who still remember a world before digital communications may recall the thousands of notes that passed between students in class:

 

“Hey! What’s new with you?”
“Hi. Nothing much. How about you?”
“Not much here either.”

 

Not very enlightening. And of course, the horror of horrors, the shame of exposure: “Miss Smith, you’ve been very busy writing today while the rest of us were reading this chapter. Why don’t you share what you’ve written with the rest of the class?”

 

Young people do have an urge to connect, to share experiences, to validate their feelings—preferably with others in their age group. Even if those moments of connection are nothing more than a verbal “ping,” the digital equivalent of “Hey! What’s new with you?” the urge is compelling. With cellphones and texting, satisfying the urge is now easier than ever.

 

In most classrooms, there exists a tug of war between teacher and students about controlling the use of cellphones. Schools post “No Cellphones” warning signs, students sign “no phone use” behavior contracts, and instructional time is lost every day engaging in endless battles over cellphone infractions. Young people, on the other hand, have become absolute wizards at one-digit surreptitious “texting while learning.”

 

There are no winners in this war.

 

Image credit: alamy.com

Image credit: alamy.com

 

Why don’t we try a different approach? Why not welcome the cellphone and its technology into the classroom, and instead of casting it as a weapon in a generational war, harness its power and use it to support learning?

 

This does not mean giving up on having rules in the classroom concerning proper use of cellphones. However, imagine how the atmosphere in the classroom would change if students and teachers worked together to develop innovative ways to use cellphone capabilities! Try these as examples:

  • Homework via cellphone video: the teacher sends a video “challenge” to students, and each student shoots a short video “answer.” This is not pie-in-the-sky: the new Cisco Networking Academy NetSpace learning platform supports this use of cellphone video.
  • Instant capture of great ideas: students take cellphone pictures of notes from whiteboards, or of problems to solve on their own. Particularly for students with poor handwriting skills, the picture truly is worth a thousand attempts to reproduce the handwritten words.

Every good teacher understands that a collaborative classroom is a productive classroom. When students view their classroom as a place where they and their teacher are working together to explore and learn, they are far less likely to engage in passing digital notes in class. Why don’t we start asking our students to help us develop productive uses of this powerful technology, instead of battling over its use?

Who’s really ready? The role of CTE programs in preparing today’s students.

by
No comments yet
Nancy Null

Nancy Null

Who should go to college?  Who has the best chance of earning a degree?  Ask many folks that question and they will tell you students who take Advanced Placement courses in high school are the best prepared to be successful in college.

It isn’t that simple. Perhaps the better question should be what are the best predictors of student success in the transition from secondary to post-secondary education?  They’re the same predictors of success in careers:  productive work habits, creativity and innovation, communications skills, and critical thinking.

Students learn in different ways and not all benefit from  sitting in chairs listening to lectures.  Many  learn by engaging in active education; they learn by doing.

It’s time we viewed “college and career readiness” as a singular, central building block to a multiple-choice future, not as two separate sets of skills and standards.  Compare the Common Core State Anchor Standards in Language Arts to the Career Ready Practices of the Common Career and Technical Core, and this becomes obvious.  Research strategies, written and verbal communications, critical thinking and reasoning, perseverance, organization and management, and the productive use of technology dominate both sets of standards.

Today’s high-performing Career and Technical Education (CTE) student just may possess the best skillset for college success.  CTE programs apply mathematics, science, and language in complex and demanding ways; students prepare for and sit for industry certifications that adults find challenging.  Which requires the larger commitment:  simply taking an AP class; or completing 1500 hours of professional work beyond classwork, and earning a professional certification?

Many secondary students decide to ground their long-term goal—doctor, teacher, engineer–in a CTE program of study that provides them opportunities to “try on” that profession and gain practical experience prior to college work.  The high school graduate of a Biotechnology, Teacher Academy, or Pre-Engineering CTE program acquires and practices the academic, technical, and workplace skills that constitute “college and career readiness.”  These students already understand the primary fact of our changing career landscape: truly successful people are committed to lifelong learning.

The value of AP courses is not necessarily over-rated; the AP pathway can lead to enormous benefits for dedicated, high-achieving students who want to get a head start on college.  High school students who post high GPAs when taking AP courses, and who pass the AP exams, are definitely well on the way to college and career success.  However, high school students who post high GPAs when taking rigorous CTE programs are equally attractive candidates.  If colleges truly seek a diverse, energetic student population who has the potential to become the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs, they should actively recruit both groups of students.  The Towson University Center for Professional Studies (CPS) has partnered with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to strengthen professional development for instructors in the CTE programs.  We understand the value that these men and women play is working with the next generation workforce. 

After all, the goal is not “college” and “career” readiness; it’s “college and career” readiness!

Today’s CTE students learn advanced business planning and project management skills. Culinary students run large-scale catering operations, and Cosmetology students manage customer services in salon and spa environments.

Today’s CTE students learn advanced business planning and project management skills. Culinary students run large-scale catering operations, and Cosmetology students manage customer services in salon and spa environments.

Cisco Academy students take the F.A.S.T. track!

by
1 comment

Nancy Null

Ask any employer or college professor which characteristics support success in work or learning, and the answers will be similar:  communications skills, critical thinking skills, and project management skills will be at or near the top of any list.

One example of a local high school Career and Technology program helping to build those skills is the Cisco Networking Academy at Friendship Academy of Science and Technology (F.A.S.T.), located in Highlandtown.  Willie J. Sanders, Jr., the Cisco Academy instructor, describes the way his students learn and practice real-world life skills.

F.A.S.T. takes a real world approach to preparing its students for career and college readiness.  In addition to teaching high school students advanced computer hardware, software and networking skills, F.A.S.T. requires them to perform professional tasks related to the industry.

Colorful graphics enhance the Academy classroom.

One such project currently underway is the building of a computer lab in the lower level of the school. This is the sort of project implemented by many networking academies, but what makes this particular project unique is that students at F.A.S.T are mirroring the business side of a networking project.

A class of 11th and 12th grade Cisco Academy advanced tech students forms the project team. The team elected a student project manager to lead them. Together they analyzed actual school system IT proposals for the lab, which helped them identify the key elements and structure of a professional proposal document.

The student project manager assigned roles based on student interest, and the team is working diligently on designing solutions for the school’s proposed lab. This has included everything from designing blue prints of possible lab layouts, to performing cost analyses, to assisting the school’s administration in purchasing decisions.

The goal of this project is to create tech and business-savvy IT professionals. Project- based learning like this places the students of F.A.S.T. at an advantage as they enter college IT programs and the work force.

Today’s high school graduate enters a rapidly changing world, where their future employment and learning opportunities may be based on career choices that don’t even exist today.  The communications, critical thinking, and project management skills F.A.S.T.’s Cisco Academy students are learning and practicing will serve them well!

Students explore their creative as well as technical interests.

Teaching IT Outside the Box: CTE 2.0 in Action

by
No comments yet

Nancy Null

Which of these do you remember best from your school days:  what you were taught, or what you did in class?  Content is fine, but real learning is about doing:  making decisions, creating things, solving problems.  And some of the best “doing” these days is happening in the classrooms of Career Technical Education teachers.

Career Technical Education today, or what Arne Duncan calls “CTE 2.0,” is nothing like the Vocational Ed of twenty years ago.  CTE students prepare for a multi-choice future by earning industry certifications, participating in internships, and pursuing fields of interest that will transition into college degree pathways.  CTE programs emphasize wide-ranging skill sets that students can apply to multiple college and career choices.  CTE 2.0 is about educating students for lifelong learning, not a specific job.

In Cullen White’s classroom at Fairmont Heights, Prince George’s County, students work in competing IT companies, earning profit or loss through their behavior and achievement.

In June 2012, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium/National Career Technical Education Foundation published The Common Career Technical Core, the result of many months of collaborative work between educators and industry professionals.  The CCTC describes rigorous Career Ready Practices valuable to any lifelong learner, as well as more specific standards for career pathways.  Want an indication of the new direction CTE is taking?  The words, “technical” and “career” are used only once in the list of twelve Career Ready Practices!  Students in CTE 2.0 classrooms continue to learn the content, but learn to apply it in engaging, productive, and relevant new ways.

Today’s CTE emphasizes vocabulary-building as a primary communication skill.

What does CTE 2.0 look like in action, in the classroom?
Expect to see much more collaborative learning:  students in groups, creating designs, working out procedures, producing and problem solving.  Expect to see an emphasis on the language of college and career:  “Word Walls,” vocabulary activities, both short and long-range writing assignments, reflection journals, engineering logs, and case studies.  CTE 2.0 students work and learn out in the community, running school-based businesses and applying their skills to community projects.  They are learning to become responsible citizens as well as workers.

Education is the key to remaining competitive in a rapidly changing global economy, but it must be the right kind of education.  Tomorrow’s workers must be thinkers and planners.  They must possess skills applicable to jobs that have not yet been invented.  CTE 2.0 and the Common Career Technical Core are giving today’s students opportunities to learn and practice those skills

Think this sign belongs in an English classroom? Think again! CTE students learn and practice writing skills.