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College admissions are on pace to have the largest 2-year drop in history with over 6.6% fewer enrollments in 2021 vs. 2019. The pandemic, shrinking population, and workforce demands are pulling young people into jobs as opposed to college. Not coincidentally, we’ve seen a strong increase in demand for professional certifications, which are much quicker to achieve and less costly than a 4-year degree, and being valued almost equally to a college diploma by employers. So, which certifications are hot? Read on!
Jim Gabalski
VP, Sales and Marketing
In this issue:
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Top Five Certifications for 2022
by Jon O'Keefe, Technology Education Jedi
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 Based on market research and analysis, Logical Operations sees five exciting certifications that students will be looking to earn in 2022 and beyond.
Below you can find each certification, a description of what it covers, the students who will most likely be looking to earn the certification, and why we believe that it will be essential for you to offer.
CyberSec First Responder® (CFR-410)
- CFR-410 is the flagship cybersecurity certification on the market. Covering all five domains of the NIST Framework, the fourth iteration of CFR prepares candidates to identify, assess, respond to, and protect against security threats and operate a system and network security analysis platform.
- CFR-410 is for any student who is serious about a cybersecurity career. Typical students may have already taken basic IT certifications from you, and CFR-410 is a great way to bring them back in for another class.
- The cybersecurity skills gap still exists, and organizations are always looking to train their internal IT staff on the newest threats. The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ecosystem from the Department of Defense will also be requiring any organization that does business with the DoD to improve their cybersecurity posture. That makes CFR a must-have for your IT and cybersecurity programs, as it offers students the most comprehensive certification on the market.
Cyber Secure Coder (CSC)
- The stakes for software security are extremely high with over 100 billion lines of software code being produced each year and 70% of code in apps composed of open-source software and third-party libraries, and yet many development teams are forced to address software security when a vulnerability has been exposed. CSC is the comprehensive certification for validating secure coding practices - for all developers, in all programming languages, on all platforms.
- CSC is for any student who has taken a programming course from you, or works in coding, software development, or QA inside an organization.
- With DevOps taking off in popularity and Security by Design/Security First principles becoming more important, the Software Development Life Cycle is now a major concern for organizations of all shapes and sizes. Coders need to know what’s in CSC. Software and application development is one of the hottest careers on the market, and CSC is another class you can offer to this red-hot opportunity.
Certified AI Practitioner (CAIP)
- The Certified Artificial Intelligence Practitioner (CAIP) training program is designed for data science practitioners entering the field of artificial intelligence (AI), who are seeking to build a vendor-neutral, cross-industry foundational knowledge of AI and Machine Learning (ML) concepts, technologies, algorithms, and applications that will enable them to become a capable practitioner in a wide variety of AI-related job functions.
- CAIP is for students who have a background in data science and are interested in entering the exciting world of artificial intelligence. If you’re offering data science classes, specifically in Python®, then this certification is the logical next step.
- Artificial intelligence is HOT. LinkedIn lists it as its hottest job on the market, and the uses for AI are endless in all industries. CAIP is one of only a handful of certifications currently available for artificial intelligence, and offering CAIP to your students can elevate your data science program above your competitors.
Certified Data Science Practitioner (CDSP)
- Data science has topped the LinkedIn Emerging Jobs list for the last 3 years with a projected growth of 28% annually. Harvard Business Review has identified data science as one of the “Sexiest Jobs in the 21st Century”. Certified Data Science Practitioner (CDSP) is a vendor-neutral, high stakes certification designed for programmers, data professionals and analysts seeking to validate their knowledge and skills in the area of data science.
- CDSP is another data science certification for students who are looking to elevate their data science skillset and show they are capable of handling the most complicated DS projects.
- Data science is another HOT career, and CDSP is the perfect certification to offer to elevate your data science training program.
Certified Ethical Emerging Technologist™ (CEET)
- Certified Ethical Emerging Technologist™ (CEET) is designed for individuals seeking to demonstrate a vendor-neutral, cross-industry, and multidisciplinary understanding of applied technology ethics that will enable them to navigate the processes by which ethical integrity may be upheld within emerging data-driven technology fields (such as artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), and data science).
- This certification is perhaps the most interesting on this list. Ethics in technology is an incredibly timely topic. You don’t need to look very far to find discussions about this topic in government, private businesses, or just as a general, societal concern. Therefore, the student pool for this is really wide open, as anyone could be interested in becoming one of the first Certified Ethical Emerging Technologists.
- CEET has untapped potential as it is one of the first certifications of its kind. We know the topic is timely, we know that millions of organizations and governments are struggling with this idea of ethics in technology, and we know that this will be one of the defining issues of the next decade. You can now be one of the first to offer this groundbreaking certification, and help guide your students forward for years to come.
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Leverage CMMC Momentum
by Jim Gabalski, VP, Sales and Marketing
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 CMMC has changed from 1.0 to 2.0 and the direction is clearer now than ever before. You can leverage the momentum that continues to build by offering preparedness training that is already available. With the launch of CMMC 2.0 and the more direct anchoring of CMMC to NIST 800-171, there is a clear path that you can take to help your Defense Industrial Base (DIB) customers get going NOW!
Instead of 17 domains in CMMC 1.0, there are now only the 14 domains that already exist in NIST 800-171. This is a standard that your DIB customers should understand. The key to what is different in CMMC 2.0 versus what is happening today is that a Senior Company Official must sign off on self-attestation documentation. With the threat of a false claim weighing heavily on their minds, you can expect a heightened level of diligence in ensuring accuracy and compliance. Here are 3 ways to take advantage of the momentum:
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CyberSec First Responder® – This course covers all requirements of the Incident Response requirement in CMMC 2.0 or NIST 800-171. Multiple IT professionals in a DIB organization will benefit from taking CFR as it provides competency training on what is required to be compliant with the IR domain.
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CISA, CISM, and CISSP – With enhanced diligence comes an increased demand for auditing, managing, and strategizing skills. DIB organization IT managers and strategic leaders will benefit from building competencies covered in CISA, CISM, and CISSP.
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CyberSAFE – Awareness and Training is a requirement of NIST 800-171 and CMMC and specifically states that “managers, systems administrators, and users…are made aware of the security risks associated with their activities." CyberSAFE does exactly that!
There has been no relaxing of the September 30, 2025 compliance requirement, and members of the DIB must be preparing to self-attest or be assessed by a third party. The time to get everything started is right now. So, talk to your DIB customer and ask about the AT and IR domains and how they intend to comply. Make sure you let them know that you can help by offering CFR, CyberSAFE, CISA, CISM, and CISSP.
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Exam Mapping Documents – the Hidden Treasure of Certification Courseware
by Nancy Curtis, VP, Content
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If you are using curriculum from Logical Operations and CertNexus to help learners prepare for an exam from CertNexus, Microsoft®, Cisco®, Axelos, Adobe®, Tableau®, or any of the others we support, don’t overlook one of the best tools we provide to help connect learning to testing. It’s called the Mapping Document, and you’ll find it with the CHOICE materials for any certification-related courseware from CNX or from LO.
If your courseware is certification-aligned, you’ll see that it includes a brief Mapping Appendix. That’s your signal that a full mapping document is available on the CHOICE platform. The Mapping Appendix will note which exam or exams are covered, and it will indicate where to go on CHOICE to access the document.
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The mapping document itself cross-references the exam objectives, as listed in the exam blueprint, with the instructional material, as it appears in the lessons and topics of the associated courseware. Why is this needed? It’s because exam blueprints are excellent guides to how testable material is grouped and weighted for exam scoring. However, they aren’t built as pedagogical tools. So, the curriculum won’t necessarily correspond one to one with the blueprint’s organization. For example, the curriculum might include background or transitional information, beyond what’s in the blueprint, because it’s important for student understanding. Or, the content in the courseware might be sequenced or grouped differently from the blueprint, due to instructional logic.
As you can see, the mapping document puts this all together for you and your learners. We hope it’s a great preparation tool for your exam candidates.
And if you want to know more about how we design certification curriculum for instructional effectiveness, check out the Logically Speaking article on “Zen and the Art of Certification Mapping.”
So now that you have the map - enjoy the hidden treasure!
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Latest Product Highlights
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Content Revisions
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Logical Operations revises student and instructor materials based on technical changes, customer feedback, and our own assessment of necessary changes. The revision notes for the most recent updates are below as well as posted on the Content Revisions page. Use this page as a resource to quickly access and view all revision details for any of our recent course updates.
Reminder: When viewing a product on the store, check the Revision Information tab to see the summary description of the most recent revision for that product at any time.
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December 2021 Instructor Excellence Award: Tamawat Tweewat
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Tamawat Tweewat
Educator and InformationSystem and Security Consultant, Data Protection Officer,Vnohow Co. Ltd.Connect on LinkedIn |
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Tamawat is an expert in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and Enterprise Architecture and has around 20 years of experience in the field of IT, working as a professional consultant. Tamawat is currently working as an Information System and Security Consultant and Data Protection Officer at Vnohow (Thailand) Co., Ltd. In addition, he is Membership Chair at ISC2 Bangkok Chapter, a non-profit organization that provides security training and training certificates. In 2006, he was named Engineer of The Year, an honor given to him by Cisco Systems (Thailand) Ltd. for partnership contribution. Before continuing his career at Vnohow as a full-time trainer 5 years ago, Tamawat worked as a full-time regional consultant specialist in the communications industry. In this role, Tamawat traveled for work and visited around 20 countries before settling down in Bangkok, Thailand, where he now resides and works as a full-time trainer.
Soon after settling down in Bangkok, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and although the future of the training world at the time was unknown, Tamawat believes that the training industry is still doing well and he feels extremely optimistic about what training opportunities will be out there in the future for him and for others. According to Tamawat, “People tend to transform themselves during uncertainty and are open to trying new things. When it comes to training, students have not only been enjoying online instructor-led courses but have accepted them as the future of training.” Another factor that Tamawat believes is a big reason why the training world is thriving through this pandemic is because during this time people do not want to stay still. According to Tamawat, “They want to spend their free time preparing for when the pandemic is over. The hard work that they put in and their newly gained skills will pay off and will ramp up their career in the long run.”
Everything Tamawat does is to expand knowledge to everyone in his field. He has always had an interest in a key concept of his that he calls “lifelong learning”, and he really enjoys expanding not only his own knowledge, but also taking the knowledge and skills he has gained throughout his life and sharing it with others. He believes that by sharing what he learned, he is contributing to the good of mankind. To Tamawat, teaching is not only gaining skills and knowledge, but also gaining experience and a network and community. The connection you gain from communicating with students is an invaluable takeaway for him. He says, “That is definitely one of the most enjoyable parts of my job. Being a trainer can sometimes be rough and tough, but that aspect of the job makes it all worthwhile for me.”
Having a good work-life balance is important for Tamawat. When he’s out of the office, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends and relaxing when he can. For him, finding ways to keep busy and have fun during this pandemic is very important.
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December 2021 Instructor Excellence Award: Mohamed Hamdi
Mohamed Hamdi is a telecommunications and electronics engineer who currently works as the Information Security Assistant Manager at BLOM BANK Egypt. Mohamed is also accomplished in the training world, working at YAT Learning Centers where he has been a freelance instructor for about 7 years. Mohamed has a post graduate diploma in the field of Cybersecurity from ITI, the most reputable training institute in Egypt. In addition, Mohamed has a lot of international certificates in Information Security, including CEH, CHFI, ECSA, ECIH, ISO, SANS, GREM, and CISM.
Some trainers know that teaching is something they’re passionate about early on in life, while others say they never expected that they would go into teaching. For Mohamed, he realized he had a love for teaching while he was a student, saying, “When I was a diploma student, I was presenting on one of the evaluation methods and found I enjoyed explaining technical topics. From this point on, I realized how talented I was at teaching, and I made the decision to start to develop my teaching skills and from that point on, I never looked back. That is where my teaching journey started.” Mohamed’s love for teaching also came from his personal interest in securing systems and critical infrastructure, as well as teaching his students how to defend against adversaries.
Although Mohamed is a well-accomplished instructor, who has received high honors throughout his career, including “Best Worldwide Instructor” and “Best Newcomer” awards from EC-Council, COVID-19 has presented new challenges to Mohamed. According to Mohamed, “COVID-19 definitely created new challenges I have never faced before. For me to develop my skills, I was forced to use online training platforms, but I ended up really enjoying them because it makes being interactive easy and incudes many features that takes learning to a new level that in-person learning can’t reach. Now with online instructor-led courses, learning is very easy, effective, and enjoyable.”
Although Mohamed is enjoying life as an instructor, he is also looking forward to the future and what it holds for his career. “I plan to get my Master’s degree in the field of Information Security and prepare for my CISSP certificate this coming year. I am so excited for the future and can’t wait to continue learning and growing as an instructor,” says Mohamed.
Outside of work, Mahomed loves visiting aquariums and watching movies with his wife and two children, Yahaia and Farida.
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Submit Your Instructor Nominations for January
 We're recognizing instructors who have reached key milestones and made a meaningful impact in the training world. Do you want to nominate an instructor who you feel deserves to be recognized in the next Logically Speaking? Visit the Instructor Spotlight page to get more insight into what the Instructor Spotlight is all about.
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Virtual Training Is Here to Stay
by Jon O'Keefe, Technology Education Jedi
 Virtual training is here to stay. Even as the world tries to return to normal (is there such a thing anymore?), the training industry is poised to be forever changed by the events of the past two years. According to Global Workplace Analytics, over 56% of Americans hold a job that is compatible with working remotely. They also believe that by the end of 2021, 30% of the total workforce will be working from home multiple days a week. This means you’re going to be offering training to an increasingly remote, fragmented workforce who will not be able to participate in traditional “brick and mortar” learning.
Your future is in remote training. Your clients are going to want it in increasing numbers. You’re going to want it because it will allow you to reach a wider audience and offer a larger variety of classes. Your instructors will love the freedom that comes with being able to work a more diverse schedule and teach more interesting classes. Your only challenge is making sure your organization is prepared to offer virtual training.
Can your LMS support virtual delivery? Are your instructors trained on platforms like Teams® and Zoom, and do they know the best techniques for virtual education? Are you ready to market to new audiences outside of your regional location? Are you ready for 2022 and beyond?
The next year is going to have a profound impact on your business. Logical Operations is ready to help you make the transition from your traditional “brick and mortar” business model to a model that can thrive using a mix of in-person and virtual classes. Don’t navigate this alone, we’re here to help make 2022 your best year yet.
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What's Next for Your Student: Preparing for Your CertNexus Exam
by Megan Smith Branch, CPO, CertNexus
 You have just finished teaching a course and your students ask you about how to best prepare for the certification exam. Let’s face it, there is a TON of advice out there that students will find if they search the web. But what is the BEST legitimate resource? Here are my top five.
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YOUR experience: You have just spent the last few days building a rapport with your students, and they want to hear what worked for you. If you haven’t taken the exam for the course you are teaching, DO IT! CertNexus instructor kits all come with an exam voucher. And all CertNexus exams come with one free retake.
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Free course on CHOICE: How to Prepare for Your CertNexus Certification Exam. This course offers an “all-in-one” approach for test takers. It includes videos on how to select the right credential, how to schedule your exam, how to use exam blueprints as a study tool, and how to share your certification after you have passed.
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Checklists: All CertNexus courses include a Checklist tile. Whether students work through the digital version or convert them into flashcards for studying, checklists are a comprehensive review of all the lessons.
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Candidate Handbook: This is especially for first time CertNexus exam candidates. The handbook includes information on how exams are scored, how to schedule an exam, and includes the Candidate Agreement. All candidates are required to sign the agreement DURING their exam. Reading through the agreement prior to walking into the exam will bank candidates time to take the actual exam.
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Exam Blueprint: Similar to the checklists, the exam blueprint serves as a great study tool to make sure candidates understand all the objectives they will be tested on and which domains are weighted more than others. This will help candidates prioritize what to study.
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Client Services Is More than Your Standard Customer Service Department
by Chandra Foster, VP, Global Client Services
Our Client Services team can support your company needs in more ways than you may expect. We have the ability to provide company reporting, upcoming courseware releases, CHOICE platform information which includes access key reporting, and store demonstrations which also include many self-service features. Our Client Services team is available via phone and/or email with an aggressive SLA to meet your needs in a timely manner.
Call or email for support today!
Chandra Foster
VP, Global Client Services
assist@logicaloperations.com1
1-800-456-4677 option 2
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Jim Gabalski, Passionate about IT Security
I fell in love with computer science in my Freshmen year at SUNY Geneseo. My COBOL 151 Professor was Nancy Schornstein and I could not get enough of the projects and often asked her for more challenging assignments. That led me to a 5-year stint as a mainframe developer, and ever since 1992, I have been in technical sales/marketing in some capacity.
Keeping up with what is going on technically has always been a passion as well as a requirement of my sales roles. I lived through the launch of A+ and watched other certifications come online like Network+ and Security+. I’ve watched Netware give way to Microsoft Server and networks expand beyond the physical walls of an organization. Now, as data and business intelligence more and more become the lifeline of business operations for many organizations, the threats of theft and outages take on greater significance due to business risk associated with breaches. So, now more than ever, I believe that training on advanced certifications is critical for business continuity and national security.
As an aging triathlete, I still train every day with few days off. I have a dream of completing an Ironman one day, having already completed several half Ironmans and hundreds of Olympic distance races. Training and preparation is the key if I plan to stay one step ahead of the competition. The same can be said of cybersecurity – you need to train to stay current and ahead. It’s why I’m here at Logical Operations. To help IT professionals have the skills they need to get and stay out ahead of the “bad guys” who are trying to beat your defense.
So, let’s work together to strengthen the security of our IT infrastructure by training the next generation of cybersecurity- aware IT professionals.
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