Friday, September 16, 2011

Linux in education: a genuine alternative

In Depth: People who have made free software work and pay in education

Using free software in education is not just about saving money. It’s also about preserving choice, not locking a student’s experience into a certain way of doing something Comptia A+ Certification 220-301 exam training.



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With Linux, there’s no vendor lock-in. Free software is more likely to be open-standards compliant, and it’s going to be more open to different languages, localities and curricula.

It also removes what can sometimes be a barrier to learning; using the same software on your own machine at home. And because there’s usually more than one piece of open source software for a job, free software makes it easier to broaden your experience and look at a variety of methods for completing that job.

All of which is essential in a world where technology is turned on its head every five years and where training needs are so unpredictable. It’s also never too early to start training in IT skills, and in the UK at least, computer training starts for many at primary school level.

For some, this will be their first experience of a computer. It’s also likely to be the first time they’ve had any kind of formal training on how to use one, and these first impressions are going to last. So there’s a strong argument that teaching should be as unbiased as possible.

Yet for a variety of reasons most schools favour Microsoft. There’s nothing wrong with this, as experience with Microsoft’s ubiquitous products is never going to be wasted, but as Linux users, we all know there might be a better option.

Linux and open source offers a genuine alternative, with many advantages over proprietary training that aren’t costrelated, although there’s no reason why this can’t be part of the overall solution.

Early starter

The best thing about Linux training in education is that there are already people doing it. There are establishments up and down the UK that have decided to include Linux on their syllabus and make a concerted effort to provide their students with the choice.

So if you’re a parent frustrated with the lack of options for your child, or you’re maybe a student who wants to learn Linux skills from the outset, there are places to go and people to speak to. They may be able to help you make the difference. But even if you can’t influence the training regime at your local establishment, Linux can still play a part.

Unlike in schools, Linux and open source software isn’t badly served by professional training. It’s this kind of training that pits Linux against Microsoft’s certification, and it’s the kind that prepares IT people for the real tasks they face while dealing with Linux systems.

The Linux Professional Institute, for example, has been dishing out qualifications for over 10 years, and its LPI certification levels have become something of a standard for Linux system administrators.

LPIC-1, for instance, covers all the basics of running and maintaining a simple Linux system, from dealing with the command line and helping new users to installing, configuring and connecting a workstation to the network. But more importantly, you don’t need any prior experience before starting on the course, and this has made it a great entry point for some of the more adventurous schools in the UK.

Case study 1

Barnfield College in Luton, Bedfordshire, is an establishment that offers plenty of further education opportunities for students to take on to a university or workplace. The college has a well-established computing curriculum, including all the common Microsoft applications, web design and data management.

Barnfield

But more interestingly for us, it also offers a comprehensive range of Linux courses, including an Introduction to the desktop, and uses Linux as the basis for some of its web development programmes.

John O’Neill, deputy head of Computing and IT at Barnfield, told us a little about how Linux training became part of the prospectus,

“Barnfield College has been offering Linux training courses since 2004. Back then it was an in house-devised course running Red Hat 5.2. Over time we have evolved our provision to include a range of distributions including Damn Small Linux, SLAX, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSUSE.

“Barnfield College has always prided itself on offering courses at the forefront of technologies. In the early part of the decade the college was an established Novell house using Netware 5. Students were given the opportunity to build and manage Netware servers as part of their coursework. Novell’s acquisition of OpenSUSE inspired the teaching staff to investigate this new contender to Network Operating Systems,” he told us.

When we asked him what the biggest challenge had been in supporting Linux alongside more mainstream operating systems, his answer was a logistical one, rather than a philosophical one:

“The biggest problem to the teaching team has been the need for maintaining adequate Network Security on our corporate network, while gaining access to Linux repositories. This has been resolved by the introduction of a dedicated teaching LAN with its own access to the internet.”

The breadth of Linux training offered at Barnfield is also significant, covering both user and administrator roles.

“Linux is integrated into the majority of our course provision and is used to teach students ranging from Level 2 user qualifications through to foundation degree and, of course, the vendor qualifications,” O’Neill explained. “Interest in these courses remains high due to the tutor’s passion and the ability for students to create their own distributions. The Barnix live CD being one such incarnation. This was developed by two of our 18-year-old BTEC National Diploma students back in 2004,” he added proudly.

The Barnix distribution can still be found on Distrowatch, and despite being around six years old, still looks in good shape for a distribution built around a technology that’s no longer available, in an attempt to ape an operating system that’s no longer supported.

But it’s the potential to access new technology without having to jump through software acquisition hoops that also makes Linux a good choice. As O’Neill put it:

“Linux gives our students unparalleled access to technologies ranging from VoIP through to in-depth security testing along with traditional desktop usage.” This is why the college has extended its Linux courses to integrate LPI-based certification alongside the CompTIA accreditation the college has offered for sometime, as O’Neill explained:

“Following the inclusion of LPI with CompTIA, Linux+, which the college has traditionally delivered, now simplifies vendor certification for students, and not only meets the requirements of industry partners, but also gives a clear pathway to certification.”

Which leaves the most important question. If you want your child to study Linux at their local institution, how should parents and interested parties make it happen?

“Colleges can use Linux across the range of their curriculum. It gives learners access to both GUI and command line interfaces, and even Microsoft is revisiting the command line with their Power Shell interface,” he states.

“Tutors need to be aware that Awarding Bodies will accept evidence obtained from many different operating systems as part of their coursework. Students and parents can be assured that skills learnt through the use of open source operating systems and applications only serve to better demonstrate the breadth of knowledge they have of cutting-edge technologies used in all business sectors.”

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Microsoft releases 'complete' Mango SDK

New app creation tools offered up to developers

Microsoft has made its third big Windows Phone Mango announcement of the last 24 hours by releasing a “more complete” build of the operating system to assist app developers 70-640 Training .



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Earlier on Wednesday we learned that the Fujitsu Toshiba IS12T will be the first handset to boast Mango, featuring a 13.2mp camera, 32GB internal storage and an 800x480p, 3.7-inch display.

Yesterday Microsoft revealed it had finished work on the long-awaited OS upgrade and had handed the completed build over to manufacturers.

Now app developers will have access to an all new version of the SDK in order to create new and exciting applications for the Mango platform before its launch this autumn.

More complete build

Senior Product Manager for Windows Phone Cliff Simpkins said on the company blog: “We’ve received positive feedback on the Mango tools and bits we’ve shared, but appreciate that many devs are still interested in working with a more complete build.

“Today’s refresh of the tools represent a month of great progress by the engineering team, further refining and improving the Mango developer experience.

“What we are providing is a genuine release candidate build, with enough code checked in and APIs locked down that this OS is close enough to RTM that, as a developer, it’s more than capable to see you through the upcoming RC drop of the tools and app submission Microsoft Free MCTS Training and MCTS Online Training.”

Although much of the smoke has cleared, and the Mango picture is now much more illuminated than it was just yesterday, we still don’t know when the first handset will arrive in the UK.

Come on Microsoft, throw us a freakin’ bone here.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

CompTIA A-Plus Training Programs Examined

Training for your CompTIA A+ has four specialist sections – you’ll need exam certification in 2 different areas to be seen as competent in A+. For this reason, the majority of colleges restrict their A+ to just two of the training options. We think this is selling you short – sure, you can pass an exam, but experience of all four will set you apart in your working life, where you’ll need to know about all of them. That’s why we believe you require information in everything.



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Qualifying in CompTIA A+ on its own will give you the ability to repair and fix laptops, Macs and PC’s; principally ones that aren’t joined to a network – essentially the domestic or small business sector. If you add Network+ training, you’ll also have the ability to take care of networks, which means you’ll be able to move further up the career path.

We can’t make a big enough deal out of this point: Always get full 24×7 professional support from mentors and instructors. You will have so many problems later if you let this one slide. Don’t accept certification programs which can only support trainees through a message system after office-staff have gone home. Trainers will try to talk you round from this line of reasoning. Essentially – you need support when you need support – not when it’s convenient for them.

Keep looking and you’ll come across professional companies that offer direct-access support all the time – no matter what time of day it is. You can’t afford to accept anything less. Online 24×7 support is the only kind to make the grade when it comes to computer-based study. Maybe burning the midnight-oil is not your thing; but for the majority of us however, we’re out at work when traditional support if offered.

The world of information technology is one of the more thrilling and changing industries that you could be a part of. To be working on the cutting-edge of technology puts you at the fore-front of developments affecting everyone who lives in the 21st century. Technological changes and connections on the web is going to noticeably alter our lifestyles in the near future; overwhelmingly so.

Incomes in IT are not a problem moreover – the usual income in the UK for a typical person working in IT is noticeably higher than in other market sectors. Chances are that you’ll receive a much better deal than you could reasonably hope to get in other industries. The search for properly certified IT professionals is certain for many years to come, due to the constant development in the technology industry and the very large deficiency still in existence.

Ask any knowledgeable consultant and they can normally tell you many worrying experiences of how students have been duped by salespeople. Only deal with an experienced industry advisor who asks lots of questions to uncover the best thing for you – not for their pay-packet! You need to find the right starting point of study for you. With some real-world experience or base qualifications, it may be that your starting point of study is very different to someone completely new. It’s usual to start with some basic user skills first. It can brush up on your current abilities and make the slope up to the higher-levels a less steep.

Authorised exam preparation and simulation materials are essential Free MCTS Training and MCTS Online Training – and really must be supplied by your training company. Due to the fact that many examination boards in IT tend to be American, you’ll need to be used to the correct phraseology. You can’t practice properly by simply answering any old technical questions – they have to be in the same format as the actual exams. Ensure that you have some simulated exam questions so you’ll be able to check your comprehension at any point. Simulated or practice exams add to your knowledge bank – so you’re much more at ease with the real thing.