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Nationwide IT educator network kicks off

The IT Innovation Network (ITIN), a community of IT faculty and educators at colleges across the country, recently convened online for the first time.  ITIN is hosted by the National IT Innovation Center (NITIC) at Columbus State Community College in Ohio.  NITIC is funded by a $7.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. 

During the hour-long webinar, attendees learned more about NITIC’s grant goals and activities and received a brief tour of NITIC’s newly launched website (www.nitic.org). Eighty-one attendees from 55 schools across 24 states joined the meeting.  The purpose of ITIN is to connect like-minded IT educators and encourage collaboration.  ITIN members, who teach the same classes and face the same challenges, use their group know-how to help each other better prepare IT students for the workforce. 

Among the highlights of that webinar: 

* NITIC’s four deliverable “buckets” include the ITIN community which will convene regularly; the “Innovation Clearinghouse” (https://www.nitic.org/innovation-clearinghouse/) which will provide a repository for free classroom resources and tools; a slate of in-depth faculty professional development workshops – many of them under the well-known Working Connections umbrella; and the Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) model which will provide national feedback on IT job skills. 

* Winter Working Connections, NITIC’s flagship IT educator professional development event, will run online December 10-12.  ITIN members will get priority seating.  Registration is scheduled to open in late October.  Tracks are not yet finalized, but tentative topics will include A.I., data analytics, and OT security. 

* Coming in Spring 2025 will be a special BILT Educator Program designed to help ITIN members implement the BILT model within their own programs.  The BILT model provides a structured, repeatable process to energize the relationship between employers and educators to better align curriculum with workforce needs.  This program will feature a series of webinars and open office “Q&A” sessions for a more personalized mentor-style support. 

* NITIC announced a unique Mini-Grants program to support the cultivation and development of new IT technical program initiatives.  Between six and eight grants (of up to $10,000 each) will be awarded for the 2025 calendar year.  Learn more about the process here: https://www.nitic.org/membership/mini-grant-program/.  Questions can be answered at two upcoming office hours: Friday, October 4 (2:00pm Eastern) and Friday, October 18 (2:00pm Eastern).  Grant application deadline is Friday, November 1. 

* A significant benefit to joining the ITIN is getting plugged into a network of IT faculty and the ability to leverage the group’s collective experience and know-how.  ITIN members never face challenges alone.  One educator in Nebraska needed help navigating the dissolution of the VMware Academy.  “Is there a way to replace VMware’s “Install, Configure, and Manage” classes?”  The group recommended the open-source Proxmox platform (proxmox.com).   Learn more here: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/proxmox-adds-easy-import-option-for-vms-after-broadcom-kills-vmwares-esxi/.  

* The webinar attendees were also asked via Teams poll what technology topics do they need the most professional development support?  As expected, the number one answer was A.I. (38% of total responses), followed by cybersecurity (22%).  Machine learning and data analytics were both tied for third at 17%. 

Watch the entire webinar by visiting NITIC’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/hmPWhqngrTM

While this introductory webinar was open to anyone, future ITIN webinars will only be available to ITIN members.  Click here to see the webinar schedule: https://www.nitic.org/professional-development/community-of-practice/.  

There are two steps to getting access to ITIN member-only events and resources: 

Step One: Join ITIN:  

1. Confirm that your organization is not already a member of ITIN: https://www.nitic.org/membership/itin-member-organizations/   

2. Confirm with an authorizing administrator that your organization can join (Note: Membership does not require any contractual commitments, and you can opt out at any time.)  

3. Complete the https://www.nitic.org/membership/organization-membership-application/   

4. Await email confirmation of acceptance  

Step Two: Create Individual ITIN Member Logins:  

1. Visit: https://www.nitic.org/membership/create-itin-member-login/   

2. Complete the form using your college’s email address  

3. Await an email confirmation from NITIC admin  

4. Log in as a user 

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