|
PRESS RELEASE
back to releases
Authorized Training Provider Network NWCET Educator to Educator IT Institute to take CIW to Community Colleges Nationwide Austin, Texas - March 29, 2001 ProsoftTraining.com (Nasdaq: POSO) today announced that the Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) joined the CIW Authorized Training Provider (ATP) network to offer the vendor-neutral Internet training and certification program to educators at community colleges all over the United States. In only five years, NWCET has become the recognized US leader in new designs for information technology (IT) education. Its mission is to assist the education, business, and government communities in developing a skilled IT workforce for the new economy. NWCET recently developed the Educator-to-Educator Institute (E2E) to serve educators throughout the Pacific Northwest and across the nation. E2E helps bridge the gap between the education and technology communities by providing professional IT development for educators at all levels from kindergarten through college and at all skill levels from beginner to expert. Upon completion of the E2E national rollout in 2002, the E2E program will expects to reach up to 90% of community colleges in the United States. "The success of the New Economy critically depends upon the availability of a well educated IT workforce. To help meet this challenge, the E2E Institute provides IT professional development opportunities to community colleges and secondary school systems," said Neil Evans, executive director of NWCET. "By becoming a CIW ATP, the E2E Institute will be able to offer IT educators the largest and most mature vendor-neutral certification program for Internet, Web and e-business skills. The partnership of E2E Institute and ProsoftTraining.com continues the NWCET tradition of bringing together business and educators, to deliver innovative solutions for IT education." Consistent with the US Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers for Technology (PT3) program, the E2E Institute will train and certify K-12 teachers and higher education with CIW, who can then train students who want to earn the leading vendor-neutral Internet certification. "Information technology is changing the landscape of education today. No other phenomenon has so quickly made such a profound impact on the way we educate and the way we learn," said Duncan Burgess, director of E2E IT Institute at NWCET. "Today's educators are constantly being challenged to understand and acquire IT skills, to teach IT as a subject, and to integrate IT into the classroom and the curriculum. By adopting CIW as the primary Internet training and certification program, the E2E Institute provides today's educators with timely and relevant IT professional development which in turn will help assure a skilled and competitive technical workforce." "The partnership between NWCET and ProsoftTraining.com marks a major movement to bridge the gap between the education and technical communities, as mandated by the federal government," said Jerry Baird, chairman and CEO of ProsoftTraining.com. "Schools today are becoming critical distributors of technical knowledge. Our strategic partnership with NWCET makes it easier for community colleges nationwide to offer CIW so that their students can develop portable skills and earn a widely recognized certification for Internet, Web and e-business jobs. We expect to work closely with NWCET so that CIW remains aligned with their job skill definitions and career clusters." Because of NWCET's national leadership in IT education, E2E will align with select educational partners throughout the nation including, the America Association of Community Colleges, League of Innovation in the Community Colleges, University of Phoenix and the Florida State Community College System. About NWCET NWCET's mission is to lead education, business, and government in developing the skilled Information Technology (IT) workforce for the new economy. NWCET developed eight IT career clusters to guide technical education towards professions required for the new economy. These career clusters include: Network Design, Database Development & Administration, Digital Media, Enterprise Systems Analysis and Integration, Programming/Software Engineering, Web Development & Administration, Technical Support, and Technical Writing. CIW job roles map to many of the jobs defined by NWCET. About ProsoftTraining.com ProsoftTraining.com (Nasdaq: POSO) supplies educational materials and certification programs for today's information technology (IT) workforce. Prosoft content is distributed through one of the world's largest channels of learning centers, as well as corporations, e?learning organizations and universities. ProsoftTraining.com's two major brands, CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) and ComputerPREP, provide courseware that helps professionals validate their technical skills to advance their careers, thus remaining competitive in a dynamic, technology-focused environment. A vendor-neutral IT certification program for the knowledge economy, CIW establishes and certifies the skills required to compete in today's critical Internet, Web and e-business job market. Individuals can earn CIW certification at the Associate, Professional and Master levels. CIW job roles encompass a wide variety of skills, including basic Internet, internetworking, Web site design, Java, Internet server administration, security and e?commerce. CIW-authorized preparatory materials are available in classroom, e?learning, distance-learning and self?study formats through the CIW Authorized Training Provider (ATP) network. To date, more than 15,000 CIW certifications have been awarded. Learn more about CIW at www.CIWcertified.com. Prosoft's ComputerPREP brand provides integrated technology training solutions to serve today's learning centers, corporate universities and academic marketplaces. ComputerPREP training and certification materials teach advanced technologies, programming languages and desktop applications to support leading IT certification programs, including A+, Network +, Cisco, Microsoft, Linux and Oracle. Learn more about ComputerPREP and its products at www.ComputerPREP.com. Prosoft also offers the TIA-sponsored (Telecommunications Industry Association) CCNT (Certified in Convergent Network Technologies) vendor-neutral training and certification program. Any professional requiring knowledge of data convergence, computer telephony and telecommunications will benefit from CCNT job-role focused training and certification. The CCNT curriculum includes topics such as basic data communications, basic telecommunications, broadband technologies, computer-telephony integration essentials and local area networks. Currently, more than 3,000 people have earned the vendor-neutral CCNT credential. ProsoftTraining.com is headquartered at 3001 Bee Caves Road, Suite 300, Austin, Texas, 78746. For information about Prosoft and its other programs visit www.ProsoftTraining.com. top |