CERTIFIED: Digital Media students earn CIW honors
Left to right, Kurits Eichhorn, Cole Birch, Cody Higgins and Instructor Jim Langley.
Passage of the CTE millage last spring has already signaled many positive changes, and here's another for the list: Digital Media students are able to earn certification in several new areas this year. Instructor Jim Langley's classes include four students who recently earned their certificates as CIW Network Technology Associates as designated by the Certified Internet Web Professional education program.
Dakota Trondle and Instructor Jim Langley.
The students are seniors Cody Higgins of Farwell; Cole Burch and Kurtis Eichhorn of Harrison; and Dakota Trondle of Gladwin.
Earning this achievement is an important step for these students, Langley said.
"Networking is an integral part of the broader IT career path," he said. "The passage of the Network Technology Associate certification showcases some important skill sets. It shows, from a technical perspective, that students have a solid understand of concepts like TCP/IP, stable network creation, wireless networking, mobile devices and network troubleshooting."
Additional focus falls on cloud computing, OSI models, BYOD, CMS, routing, addressing, authentication, encryption and firewalls are focused upon.
"With these skills in place, students can objectively state their competence in these areas," Langley said. "This shows potential employers that these young adults have a baseline of understanding within networks and the technology. Any company that utilizes networks to any degree would benefit from having a CIW Network Technology Associate-certified employee in their organization because they would be able to rely on their having a core framework and baseline of knowledge with regard to networking."
Students spent up to eight weeks studying the exhaustive curriculum in preparation for the timed industry certification exam.
"I'm very proud of the students and excited for how their passage of this certification may open doors that were previously closed for them," Langley said. "Their hard work, determination and focus has paid off, and there is a visceral and tangible end-product in their certificate that each now possesses."
