JUNE 15 – 17, 2020

Breakout Session 1: Certifications in the Classroom Give Students a Running Career Start

Want to boost your students’ success by helping them graduate with a certification in hand? Learn how to implement certifications directly in your classroom and build them into your class curriculum. By facilitating with theory and then applying concepts through application, students get both deep and practical knowledge—and a certification. Dean of Education Dr. Chitpasong Vazquez will share how she successfully runs a certification program with more than 1,500 students certified in MOS and MTA. With the right strategies to implement in-class certifications in your curriculum, you too can help thousands of students earn valuable certifications.

For: Higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 2: Simulating Workplace Scenarios for Student Practice

How can you make sure students will be successful in the workplace? Put them in an authentic work setting. Adobe Education Leader and Teacher Erin Petry is joined by Career Technical Education Coordinator Deanna L. Canterbury-Penn to share their strategies in generating real-life experience in the classroom. By replicating proper business and industry processes and procedures, students leave school more prepared for the workforce. Take Park Avenue Prints, for example. This student-led and -managed Simulated Workplace at Nitro High School in West Virginia shows students how to use industry certifications in business workplace processes. This nearly real-life experience better prepares students for future jobs and careers.

For: K-12 teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 3: GMetrix in the Classroom

Are you new to GMetrix? Join Business Education Teacher Dr. Dianna Johnson to learn how to integrate GMetrix into your classroom, including how to use custom tests to help your students become familiar with the GMetrix software and how to focus on areas of needed practice. Come prepared to walk through creating a custom test in GMetrix.

For: K-12 and higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 4: Certified High School Students Get Noticed: Give Them Employ “Ability”

Why wait until college to get an internship? Learn how Dunbar High School in Fort Myers, Florida, connected students to the local community, providing high schoolers with the opportunity to snag paid internships that have led to life-changing careers. With certifications in Microsoft, Adobe, and other programs, students enrolled in Dunbar’s award-winning technology program have successfully secured internships in the community. Lead Technology Teacher Denise Spence shares how she established this program and mentored students to make them more marketable to the business community in her area.

For: K-12 teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 5: Certiport Technology Update

Session description coming soon…

For: K-12 and higher education IT specialists

Breakout Session 6: How Industry Certifications Gave this Program the Momentum to Fly

At San Francisco State University (SFSU), one of the most diverse campuses in the U.S., students are eager to get MOS certified. Learn how Professor Daniel Ciomek envisioned a new test center, got approval, configured the lab, and administered MOS certifications in a way that led to nearly 200 students receiving multiple certifications, two students becoming California State Champions for MOS, and helped several students land interviews and receive job offers. SFSU grew this small pilot into an impressive program and experimented with offering MOS testing as an optional or mandatory class component as part of a Management Information Systems (MIS) class. You’ll have to attend to find out which strategies worked best.

For: Higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 7: Are You Test Ready? Motivate Low-Performing Students with GMetrix

From tracking students’ progress to determining test readiness to creating custom tests, GMetrix is the key to preparing all students for success on certification exams. Even better, Business Education and Career Technology Teacher Melissa Cooper will show how you can modify the curriculum to provide opportunities for success and growth in all students, including those who are ESE and low performing. See how immediate feedback in GMetrix engages and motivates students for certification success.

For: K-12 and higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 8: What’s New at Certiport

A lot can happen in a year! This session will review the latest plans for Certiport products, services, and programs. Let’s discuss what they mean for you and your school’s certification programs, and give you the opportunity to provide your feedback and suggestions. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the latest Certiport news and updates – and look at future certification product trends.

For: K-12 and higher education educators and administrators

Breakout Session 9: Get in the Game and Certify!

The gaming industry continues to explode year after year, with the global games market in 2018 valued at over $137.9 billion. But if games are not your thing, High School Business Teacher Tami Moore reminds us that the same technology is also used in architecture, engineering, art, education, medicine, military, entertainment, and many other industries. With this variety of industries needing certified and trained employees, and nearly every country imaginable hiring them, there’s no reason not to talk about gaming certification and how to incorporate it in your programs.

For: K-12 and higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 10: Implementing a Certification Program in Your Classroom

Learn how to incorporate a certification program into your classroom from our highly experienced Statewide Deployment Team. We will discuss blending certification objectives into your class standards, effective pacing and course sequence, managing technology requirements, and marketing your program to increase enrollment and develop internships. The Statewide Team has worked with teachers, administrators, IT Staff, and DOE Staff in over 22 states to effectively incorporate certification programs into more than 3,000 K12 and Higher Education classrooms. Join them during this interactive discussion to learn best practices from their experiences and a Q&A session from educators that own and develop the most successful certification programs in the country.

For: K-12 and higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 11: Creating Unique Pathways using Certification that Lead to Successful Careers

What are your students’ dream jobs? Maybe cybersecurity, drone programming, web development, and video game design? With those destinations in mind, what are the directions to get there? Broward County Public School’s Career and Technical Education Curriculum Facilitator Serge Treyger will share how initiatives and partnerships with the business sector in his district, and industry recognized certifications created pathways to student success. He will show how career and workplace learning opportunities are built through business and industry partnerships. Find out how you can give students a clear road map to follow their passions and achieve career success.

For: K-12 teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 12: Look Out, Workforce—Here Come Certified Students

What are employers looking for in applicants? Join CTE Teacher and Program Manager for Suncoast Technical College Tiffany Cantrell to find out how you can strategically implement and align cutting-edge industry certifications to courses designed for students to enter specific career paths. Not only are certifications a great way to learn, but the examinations prove students’ workforce readiness and demonstrate mastery in occupational competencies. Being industry certified connects employers’ demand for knowledge with students’ skill sets, increasing students’ job prospects and marketability.

For: K-12 and higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 13: Marino Campus – Using Certification to Empower Students

For students who may struggle with social skills, an avatar in a virtual environment is the perfect solution to practice skills and overcome fears. Marino Campus offers individuals with diverse cognitive and social abilities a “next step” in growth and independence, offering them nationally recognized industry certification training programs in Computer Technology and Hospitality. The Virtual Interactive Training Agent (ViTA-DMF) uses avatars to immerse students in a virtual environment to rehearse interviews and practice social skills vital for employment. Come hear from Campus Operations Manager Lauren Ferguson on how they use certification preparation, social and employability skills, and internships to help 70 percent of alumni secure gainful employment and 84 percent pass MOS certification.

For: K-12 and higher education teachers and administrators

Breakout Session 14: Certiport Competitions

Student competitions bring technology certifications to life for your students, provide them with a positive platform to showcase their skills, and give them a unique opportunity to earn valuable rewards and recognition. In this session we will outline everything you need to know about the annual Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist and Adobe Certified Associate student competitions, including how you can encourage your students to get involved, what they’ll experience, and how you can help them make the most of these fun and educational events.

For: K-12 and higher education teachers and administrators