Jan 20 2010
Keep on Testing
The month of December for 2009 was pretty busy for me. I took 3 different exams. First was the Client exam for Windows 7 (70-680). Second was the 70-236 exam, which dealt with Exchange 2007. Last, I took the Comp/Tia Security + exam. I have been telling my students in every class since I started as an Instructor that learning never ends in IT. Either you keep on learning or fall into obscurity.
The taking of certification exams servers two purposes for me personally. I think the most import purpose is to keep me challenged mentally. I like to learn new and interesting things, but find it difficult sometimes to learn about the tedious boring details. Studying for a certification exam forces me to look over and learn the details. The lesser of the two reasons would be that these certifications are valuable to me as far as an IT professional.
I usually never tell my students that I am planning to take an exam. I also try to schedule an exam when I know at least one of my students will be in the exam room. I really think it’s a good thing for my students to see their instructor sitting along side them focused on taking an exam. This reinforces the fact that even IT instructors need to continue learning and I think it sets a good example for students to see me in that room. I wish we were able to test for Cisco Exams at my campus. I think that’s one of the areas I’m going to start looking at next. But who knows, maybe something else will catch my fancy and I’ll head another direction. That’s another great thing about learning in IT…there is no shortage of interesting things to learn about!
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