According to a 2021 report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (https://itif.org/publications/2021/11/29/assessing-state-digital-skills-us-economy/), the United States needs to significantly increase its investment in workforce training, including for digital skills. Their report dove into the abilities of today's working-age Americans, and the results are shocking. One in six working-age Americans are unable to use email, web search, or other basic digital tools. Closing the divide in digital skills is crucial for American's financial and workforce future.

We were lucky enough to talk about the digital divide with Scott Kuchinsky. Scott is an experienced educator, program administrator, and licensed attorney. Currently, he's worked as the Director of Literacy Service at Plainfield Public Library in New Jersey. In this role, Scott oversees 300 adult learners, 50 volunteer teachers, along with a team of paid employees. He's passionate about the impact of digital training and industry-certification, and designed instructional materials for New Jersey State Library's Literacy Bootcamp Program, leveraging Certiport's IC3 Digital Literacy certification.

In this episode, we explain what the digital divide is, how digital literacy differs from digital fluency, and the impact the divide has on different populations. Scott also shares his preferred funding sources, and how to make sure you secure funding for your digital literacy program.

Discover more about the success happening at Plainfield Public Library here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uix0ISapfjs and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZnongEoAAs&t=4s.

Learn more about Certiport's IC3 Digital Literacy program here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/IC3/Digital-Literacy-Certification/Overview.

Have you ever walked into your classroom and felt like you were confronting a room of hungry dinosaurs? You’re not alone! You may feel like you have a room full of raptors when all you’re hoping for is a room of sweet “teenage-sauruses”. Ed Crutchleo knows what it’s like and is here to help you tame your classroom raptors and increase course engagement. 

Ed Crutchleo has over 30 years’ experience in business and industry. His philosophy on teaching is that the relationship with the student is essential to classroom performance. His mission is to “Prepare and equip students for what lies beyond”. In addition to serving his students, Ed also serves as a board advisor for the Kentucky Business Educator Association. He’s been nominated for the Kentucky Department of Education’s Teacher of the Year Award and the Kentucky Marketing Teacher of the Year Award. 

In this episode with Ed, he explains how watching Jurassic World gave him a whole new insight into classroom management. He talks about how to tame your class of raptor students, how to establish classroom boundaries, and how to keep students engaged and excited in the classroom. If you’re a teacher looking for a new approach in the classroom, Ed is full of ideas. 

Ready to connect with your fellow educators for new ideas for your classroom? Join educators like Ed in the CERTIFIED Educator Community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8958289/. 

You can also find new ideas for your class on the Certiport blog: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/blog. 

And of course, don’t miss your chance to network with new teachers at our CERTIFIED Educator Conference this June! Get all the details here: https://certified.certiport.com/.

Have you signed up for CERTIFIED Academy: Business yet? If not, this is your sign to register and join us! CERTIFIED Academy: Business is an immersive online professional development program for business educators. This is your chance to learn from your fellow business educators and industry professionals.

From now until March, we'll be hosting training sessions to help you learn from business education experts and industry professionals. Discover new ways of teaching, and dive into available resources for your classroom. Plus, those who register will receive a professional development certificate, allowing you to demonstrate the hours you spent learning and growing through CERTIFIED Academy.

In our latest CERTIFIED Academy: Business webinar, we focused on the four Cs of workforce readiness with veteran educator and Certiport's Customer Success Manager, Jennifer Stubblefield. We talked with Jennifer about how to teach soft skills in the classroom, specifically communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Jennifer also shares how to create projects that nurture these workforce-demanded competencies.

Join us for future CERTIFIED Academy Business sessions here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Blog/2023/January/Join-us-for-CERTIFIED-Academy-Business.

This session was sponsored by our Communication Skills for Business (CSB) certification program. Learn more about CSB here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/CSB/Certification/Overview.

As a teacher, you want to know that the work you do makes a difference. Having students share their experience with certification helps you see the impact you have! During our latest Ask a Champion webinar, we were able to highlight one of our 2022 Adobe Certified Professional US Champions, Avery Blanchard.

A current student at Bergen Community College in New Jersey, Avery has been immersed in design throughout her high school years. By attending Rockland BOCES, Avery was able to focus on career and technical education, earning her Adobe Certified Professional certification while still in high school. Her mastery took her all the way to the Adobe Certified Professional US Championship, where she won first place!

During our chat with Avery, she gave us an inside look into her experience at the Adobe Certified Professional Championship. We talked about how the competition helped prepare her for college and her work designing for real-life clients, and how it helped build her confidence, helping her reach outside her shell.

Interested in learning more about the Adobe Certified Professional Championship? Get all the details at https://us.acachampionship.com/.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we’re re-airing one of our favorite episodes from last year. We hope you enjoy revisiting this crucial and enlightening conversation with some of Chicago’s best. 

At Certiport, we are determined to help students of color rise to new levels of success and education, while listening and learning from others on the best ways to become true anti-racist advocates. Shifting our classroom and education mindset is crucial to correct racial and economic inequities. 

For this week’s episode, we had the privilege of sitting down with two amazing professionals from the Chicago Public School system: Dr. Nadine LeBlanc and Robert “Rob” Lee. 

Dr. Nadine L. Leblanc’s professional career spans more than 25 years as an educator, building a track record of outstanding performance in teaching as well as in administration. Her most recent efforts are on a project she has labeled “Racism, Response and Responsibility” as an act of resistance to the systemic issues that still threaten Blacks within the U.S. The project includes an equity initiative called “When Black and Brown Men Teach” which engages male educators of color in the Business and IT department in Chicago Public Schools, while they mentor and coach male students of color. She lives and breathes her philosophy that is etched in the belief that all children can and will learn, given the opportunity and resources.

Rob Lee has been teaching at Michele Clark Magnet High School for the past three years and has been an instrumental part of the When Black and Brown Men Teach program. Born and raised on the westside of Chicago, Rob has always had a knack for technology and that knack drove him to make a career switch from the transportation industry to technology. He received his bachelor’s in information technology from the University of Phoenix and his Master's in Information Security from Phoenix University. He started his career at CPS in 2014 and has been dedicated to his students every day since. 

In this special episode, we talk about the “When Black and Brown Men Teach” initiative, what Rob and Dr. LeBlanc have done to help their Black students thrive, and how creating brave and authentic classrooms can show Black students that there isn’t one way to be a successful Black professional. 

You can learn more about empowering students of color on our blog: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Blog/2020/August/Empowering-Students-of-Color. 

Read through additional information about the “When Black and Brown Men Teach” initiative here: https://blog.cps.edu/2021/11/17/black-and-brown-men-teach/. 

Dr. LeBlanc has also graciously offered her Journey to Justice presentation, for teachers who want to spark conversations and trainings at their schools: https://certiport.filecamp.com/s/JourneytoJustice_DrLeBlanc/d

It's 2023 and a new year means new changes here at Certiport. We're so excited to kick-off the new year with our revamped professional development program. Get ready for CERTIFIED Academy!

CERTIFIED Academy is an immersive online professional development program for educators. Combining the best of our former Certiport Academy and Bootcamp programs, CERTIFIED Academy is your chance to learn from your fellow educators and industry professionals and certify your own skills.

In this week's episode, we sit down with our CERTIFIED marketing team: Ben Lambert, Director of Field Marketing; and Dominique Gousse, Corporate Event Manager. We talk about the history of Certiport's CERTIFIED program, and why we're so excited about the new addition of CERTIFIED Academy. Learn about what resources are available for you, and how you can connect with other teachers.

Dive into CERTIFIED Academy here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Blog/2023/January/Announcing-CERTIFIED-Academy. Additional updates will be on the main blog page here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/blog.

You can also register for our 2023 CERTIFIED Educator Conference here: www.certified.certiport.com.

Don't miss the chance to get your students involved in the MOS and Adobe Championships. While you're at CERTIFIED, they'll be competing for the title of US National Champion. Learn more about the MOS Championship here: https://us.moschampionship.com/. Learn about the Adobe Certified Professional Championship here: https://acpchampionship.certiport.com/us.

Get CERTIFIED updates through our CERTIFIED Educator Community here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8958289/.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 13% of engineers are women. Helping the next generation of female students pursue careers in engineering requires concerted focus and dedication from professionals and educators alike. In this week’s episode, we’re highlighting a panel discussion we hosted with five incredible female engineers: Kaylee Janett, a fourth year chemical engineering student at the University of Idaho; Meridian Haas, a mechanical and aerospace engineering PhD candidate at the University of California at Davis; Samantha Daniels, a Massachusetts Builder Designer with EDM; Natalie Nguyen, Oklahoma Mechanical Engineer with Balon Corporation; and Elowyn Yager, Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Idaho. 

These incredible women shared their passion for engineering and talked about how they first decided to pursue this traditionally male-dominated field. They shared vulnerable experiences they’ve had, facing sexist views in their education and workplace journeys. Most importantly, they discuss strategies to expand access to engineering learning for tomorrow’s female engineers.

If you work with female engineering students, this is one episode you don’t want to miss. 

Strong design-software skills are a great asset in both the academic and professional arenas. Autodesk Certified User (ACU) certification can make a difference for your learners. Discover more here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/Autodesk/Certifications/Overview.

As a teacher, you want to know that the work you do makes a difference. Having students share their experience with certification helps you see the impact you have! During our latest Ask a Champion webinar, we were able to highlight our 2022 Adobe Certified Professional World Champion, Salma Sanchez.

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Salma only moved to the United States a couple years ago. However, in her short time in the US, she's managed to earn multiple Adobe Certified Professional certifications, and take first place in the Adobe Certified Professional World Championship. She's currently a student at Valencia College and has big plans to start her own design firm after she graduates.

During our chat with Salma, we dove headfirst into the Adobe Certified Professional Championship. We discussed her experiences at the competition, how the competition helped prepare her for college and her work designing for real-life clients, and how today's students can prepare for this amazing opportunity.

Interested in learning more about the Adobe Certified Professional Championship? Get all the details at https://us.acachampionship.com/.

A recent study by the American Enterprise Institute discovered that less than 20% of computer science graduates are women, a decrease over the last several decades from over 35% in the mid-1980s. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 25% of computer and mathematical occupations in the U.S. are held by women, with some job titles, such as computer network architects, going as low as 9%. Preparing today’s female students for careers in IT is of paramount importance. 

In this episode, we sat down with former coding educator, Jennifer Brown. Jennifer has 18 years’ experience as both an educator and a trainer.  She is a Global Minecraft Mentor, Microsoft Master Trainer, and Minecraft Certified trainer and has trained hundreds of teachers on game-based learning through Minecraft: Education Edition. As a former computer science and CTE teacher, Jennifer is dedicated to the ideal that all students should have access to computer science courses.  As the Product Specialist for Coding in Minecraft, Jennifer continues this dedication by training teachers how they can bring computer science to their students through the engaging, game-based curriculum of Coding in Minecraft.

Jennifer shares her thoughts on why girls are less likely to pursue careers in coding and IT, how educators can encourage female students to delve into the world of coding, and what resources educators can use to help bring coding to life. 

Interested in starting a Girls Who Code club, like Jennifer’s, at your school? Get all the details here: https://girlswhocode.com/. You can also find resources through the Coding in Minecraft program here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/Credentials/Coding-in-Minecraft/Overview. 

Ready to learn more about how you can empower female students to enter the world of coding? Get ideas on our blog: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Blog/2021/March/Closing-the-Gender-Technology-Gap.

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, anxiety is on the rise among adolescents. By 2020, 5.6 million young people in the US had been diagnosed with anxiety. And nothing can trigger anxiety like testing day. Peak certification testing season is fast approaching, so we wanted to empower our educators with tactics to decrease your students' testing anxiety. Our fabulous CERTIFIED Ambassador, Damiano Mastandrea, gives some fabulous suggestions.

Damiano Mastrandrea is a Career and Technical Education Director at the Brooklyn STEAM Center. He manages the CTE portfolio of the school to ensure that they are highly relevant and rigorous. He also strategizes various career readiness approaches through workplace immersion programs supported by data-driven decisions. Damiano is a big believer in changing education as a system that works for everyone instead of the selected few and pursuing education to all corners. His passion for education has led him to earn three college degrees including a doctorate, as well last 26 industry certifications, in which a good portion of them are through Certiport.

In this episode, we talk with Damiano about the basics of testing anxiety. He offers valuable strategies to help alleviate testing anxiety before, during, and after their certification exam. We also discuss how you can talk to your students about their mental health, and how to create a calm and supportive environment that shows them they can succeed.

Interested in more mental health resources and education? Check out our episode 25: Social-Emotional Learning in the CTE Classroom with Dr. Damien Sweeney.

Learn more about Damiano and our other CERTIFIED Ambassadors here: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Blog/2022/May/Meet-the-CERTIFIED-Ambassadors.

Looking to brainstorm ideas with other educators? Join our CERTIFIED Educator Community to discuss testing anxiety, lesson preparation, and much more: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8958289/.