Academic Standard Online Instruction	Home

Online Teaching and Learning
Applied to Information Technology Instruction

A Proud Cornellian Teaches Here	Education and Training Leadership	Management and Operations - 1987
Video Conferencing - 2008	AI is Key to Becoming an Industry Outlier - 2018	Podcasts - 2019

   

From 1981 - 2019, David Shapiro had been involved in the business of teaching data processing and information technology with SYS-ED and Computer Education Techniques, Inc. CETi dba SYS-ED business operations were suspended in March 2020 - coronavirus pandemic.

In conjunction with his search for employment, David Shapiro has taken on part-time jobs/tasks that required online asynchronous training over the internet: US Census Bureau and New York City Board of Elections. Interactive instructor-led Microsoft office courses conducted by SUNY ATTAIN were attended using the Zoom video conferencing platform. A training assignment at ProjectFIND/The Workplace Inc. required developing a lesson plan and teaching computer skills - Google Workspace applications and social media to senior citizens using the Zoom platform. The individuals connected to the lecture/audio/video presentation using Microsoft Windows desktop/laptop, Apple macOS/iPad/iPhone, and Google Android mobile computing devices.

LearnKey and GMetrix interactive courses were used by David Shapiro remotely from his apartment through a SUNY ATTAIN account - to prepare for Microsoft source software certifications. These experiences were compared with the online training conducted by accredited academia - universities, colleges, junior colleges, community colleges, trade schools and K1 to K12 schools which was reported by New York Times, Wall Street Journal, PBS News Hour, local newspapers, and educational journals. It also was reviewed against the standards required by the New York State Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision licensing process for computer training schools and its baseline instructor training courses. The goal continues to be a framework for implementing quality and cost control with continuous update which can address shortcomings and generate editable resource content for use in teaching and learning information technology subject matter in conjunction with video conferencing platform presentations.

Research and selective findings will be distributed as posts on the David Shapiro LinkedIn profile: suggestions for improving online virtual learning, teacher training and quality IT instruction, applying the recommendations of recognized leaders in American higher education, accredited academia and finance, and explaining the CETi ml: machine-learning framework. Each SYS-ED categorized and software specific namespace had its own library developed and aggregated based on effective and efficient way to teach and learn specific areas of data processing and information technology. The websites were taken offline in March 2020.

Several CETi and SYS-ED research projects - work-in-progress and planned have been undertaken by Mr. Shapiro. He is in full compliance with his employment contract and left CETi on good terms.

Online Instruction - Demographics and Trends

Compound technologies - internet, hardware, and software, increase access and purposely utilized reduce the cost and improve the quality of instruction in teaching and learning information technology skills, administration, database, and programming. This also applies to those skillsets required for design, performance, troubleshooting, and security in application development. Online learning over the internet is an enabler and facilitator, but its effectiveness is highly dependent upon a prior investment in education or prequalifying an aptitude to learn information technology. Despite problems and harsh feedback during the pandemic, online learning now is a significant delivery medium for information technology training. There are many areas in its development, delivery, and utilization that can be improved.

Computer Education Techniques, Inc. had been transitioning its information technology curriculum for online teaching in virtual classrooms - distance- and web-based learning.

• Between 2003 and 2016, the percentage of undergraduates taking at least one course online nearly tripled, increasing from 15.6 to 43.1. ¹

• Between 2003 and 2019, the percentage of graduate students in public universities earning their degrees online grew from 4.8 to 27. ²

UNESCO estimated that 1.2 billion students around the world were affected by school closings during the coronavirus pandemic and forced to variant forms of online learning. According to report journalism, significant learning loss had occurred in American Schools during the pandemic. ³ As of April 2020, more than 188 countries had implemented nationwide school and university closures, impacting over 91% of the world’s student population.

Instructional design and teaching using a video conferencing platform has become an accepted practice. Instructors and client/employee/students adapted to synchronous and asynchronous online and blended teaching models during the coronavirus pandemic.

There have been improvements with increased availability and choice of video conferencing services and third-party APIs.

David Shapiro has availed himself of the low cost and free online information training services in the public domain:

He has been using SUNY ATTAIN resources to obtain Microsoft Office certifications and credly badges. Data is being accumulated on the value of performing remote learning at a SUNY ATTAIN computer lab and lab coordinator versus remote asynchronous learning exclusively at home - efficiency in preparation and grades when taking certification examination. These baseline certifications also should be helpful in applying the AI: artificial intelligence software - Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT.

An advanced search would be useful for recommending third-party content, open-source software - e.g. Google, and how OER: open education resources can be used in hybrid and blended online learning environments.

CETi courseware and textbook extensions should be updated and augmented for multi-channel/form factor use: PDF, EPUB, Apple iBooks Author software, and Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing.

Online Learning: K-12 Public School Districts

A RAND Corporation research report determined that one in five school districts in the United States plans to offer fully online learning even after the pandemic ends. The RAND survey included K-12 public school districts and charter management organizations comprised of a nationally representative American School District Panel. Ten percent of the more than 300 survey participants say they’ll continue, or consider continuing, a hybrid model that mixes in-person and online instruction. Eight percent said they’ll keep relying on remote schooling during inclement weather or weigh the idea.⁴

The Florida Virtual School is a online-only public school that offers selective self-financing training and franchises its courseware to school districts. Another respected service is provided by Bloomington Public Schools which creates its own curriculum for online courses and has its licensed teachers provide the instruction.

A new normal has been taking form in information technology instruction. David Shapiro continues aggregating information on learning from general education use of online instruction and evaluating whether it will be equally effective in teaching specific areas of information technology.

Another Rand Corporation report concluded that among "school-related factors, teachers matter most." High-quality teachers can boost client/student performance. ⁵ This is consistent with reports by the New York Times Editorial board on a study by the Center for Research Outcomes at Stanford University - "Trained, dedicated teachers have been known to the most reliable path to better educational outcomes".

Venture and equity financing for education technology global start-ups in 2020 more than doubled to $12.58 billion from $4.81 billion in 2019.⁶  Many believe that there will be significant shakeout in education technology and remote learning services.

Academic Standard Online Information Technology Training

CETi had been concentrating on developing resource inputs and a machine-learning framework for distribution which improves quality and measurable learning outcomes associated with virtual classrooms and online information technology training.

	Computer Education Techniques				New York State Dept of Education - BPSS
	↓    ↑		AAUP Toolkit		↓

The AAUP:  American Association of University Professors toolkit advises faculty on how to evaluate proposed or existing agreements and advocate for better ones. The toolkit addresses issues central to AAUP members and their students, including intellectual property, consumer protection, contract payment and termination, and program governance

It was a component of a long term strategy to have CETi lesson plans, curriculum, and courseware reviewed by the American Council on Education for transfer credits. CETi board of directors also were interested in providing IT course instruction which offers a form of certificate of completion and progression for preparing for the source software company and open-source purveyor certification.

The CETi information technology training service was being transitioned to address the transparency of the United States Department of Education's college scorecard website of the Obama administration and the gainful employment outlined by the Trump Administration and Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander.

Blended Content Delivery and Machine-learning

A machine-learning website infrastructure which applies hybrid learning and blended synchronous and asynchronous content delivery is a practical reality. The challenge, complexity, and details of learning information technology subject matter require it: cost control, quality control, scalability to larger audiences, and continuous update.

Technology Driven IT Instruction

Definition of Service

Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Synchronous Real-time

Asynchronous Self-paced

Drucker Institute Categorization

Business Models

Closed Captioning

Documentation Requirements

Content Libraries

Transcript

Copyright

Audio / Video

Table of Contents

Recording

Reference

Performance Objectives

White Board

Lessons / Modules

Polling

Re-use

Review Questions

Break Out Room

Bibliography

Raise Hand /Emoji

Distribution

Workshop Objectives

Chat

Workshop

Webinar

Performance

Index

Digital Resources - Workspaces

Technology Updates

Assessment Validation

LMS Integration - Client

Website Support Services

Synchronous and asynchronous information technology training delivers synergy when used purposely together. Synchronous information technology training within a video conferencing platform in a virtual classroom also aggregates information for quality control reviews and updating content libraries within a website infrastructure for future use in asynchronous learning.

The CETi ml: machine-learning includes public domain and empirical data and work performed learning curve. There is complexity - in the frameworks and pinwheels; the presentation to a client will be a selectable IT training definition of service which prioritizes a manageable number of variables.  Although starting as basic, over time there will be a comprehensive model of anchors, frameworks and its interaction with pinwheels. Video conferencing platforms will be used in both content gathering/templating and quality control. It will extend professional instructor-led classroom instruction into synchronous and asynchronous IT learning libraries.

The CETi ml: machine-learning framework was developed to address the changes in the intellectual property, licensing, and distribution of software technology: open-source software and cloud computing. Although the initial design concentrated on the IT knowledge-experience/presentation skills of the instructor and scarcity of client business-model specific documentation, the assumption was that machine-learning - heuristics, algorithms, and mathematical modeling would be required to deal with the complexity, inclusive of regulatory compliance in the United States and global markets. The goal was quality control, cost control, and continuous update within the CETi and SYS-ED website infrastructures. In addition to being a target market, accredited academia also would be a preferred evaluator of the CETi dba SYS-ED information technology training service. CETi: ml machine-learning will be a progression to AI: artificial intelligence.

The business model website infrastructure is currently private and proprietary.

Virtual Classroom and Teaching Models

A virtual classroom includes all types of interactive learning where the instructor and trainee are in or have controlled access to a visual space through the use of desktop and mobile computing devices.

The IT subject matter expert teaching and explaining in conjunction with presentation slides and a white board is a minimal standard for synchronous learning. There are video conferencing platforms and tools that make synchronous and asynchronous learning possible from anywhere. Teaching in-classroom to an audience, while simultaneously presenting through a video conferencing system introduces significant complexity - IT instructor and client/employee/student. There also is increased importance and value for quality documentation in sequence and integrated with lecture.

Knowledge Base

Machine-learning

Specialized Training

Training Programs

Accountability on performance and measurable return on investment is required - for the teacher/instructor, client/employee student, and resource inputs. Standard video conferencing platform questions are augmented with code completion and skeleton program execution challenges.

Demonstrating mastery of information technology subject matter always is a challenge. In most situations it will be a combination of testing and hands-on workshops. An organization assumes that if an employee attends the training and performs the required assignment, that proficiency has been acquired. There will be measurement and evaluation. The lecture and workshop will move too fast for some, too slow for others, and could be thought of as boring. To a significant degree, the instructor would be the essential component of ASAP or first-time synchronous training: ability to explain and provide guidelines, cover the appropriate assigned subject matter with technical precision and accuracy and answer questions.

There have been issues with the first generation of MOOCs: Massive Open Online Curriculum. In addition to a scarcity of quality documentation, online tools will be required to improve percentage completing, reduce cheating, and provide meaningful grading/certificates. CETi machine-learning framework libraries and empirical data is being used to learn from and provide techniques that improve its information technology training service. Cost control, pricing, distribution, and continuous update are being encapsulated into the ml: framework anchors and pinwheels.

Distance- and Blended- learning IT Training Service - Moving Forward

Technology itself is not the primary driver of uniformly accelerating the learning and demonstrated mastery - return on investment of information technology. The data indicates that there is a threshold where additional capital has diminishing returns and then neglible impact. There is considerable complexity in effective online teaching and learning information technology specific to operational business requirements and its being aligned with the client-employee/student incentive/motivation to demonstrate mastery of subject matter and yield a return on investment. Most of the time it is not as straight forward or easy as with in-classroom instruction and in many situations will require additional work.

The CETi ml: machine-learning libraries were organized to address the changes in the intellectual property, licensing, and distribution of software technology: software-as-a-service, open-source software and cloud computing. The initial design concentrated on the IT knowledge-experience/presentation skills of the instructor and scarcity of client business-model specific documentation and training aids. The assumption was that machine-learning - mathematical modeling would be required to deal with the volume of inputs, interaction complexity, and regulatory record keeping and compliance in the United States and global markets. The goal was quality control, cost control, and continuous update within the CETi and SYS-ED website infrastructures. In addition to being a target market, accredited academia would be a preferred evaluator of the CETi dba SYS-ED information technology training deliverables and services. CETi: ml machine-learning is a progression to AI: artificial intelligence.

The findings of David Shapiro from his part-time work, online training assignments, attending virtual SUNY ATTAIN courses, and teaching from a video conferencing platform is consistent with New York Times and PBS Newshour reporting. It also includes asychronous online preparation and practice testing with LearnKey and GMetrix for Certiport Microsoft Office certification examinations.

Teacher training programs and practice with video conferencing platforms is important; this includes the documentation integrated with or generated during the initial video conferencing platform presentation. An excellent instructor is important to client/student learning.

Online courses can help high achievers that need more advanced course work. For those with strong academic skills, online learning can reveal great opportunities. Research by professors at Harvard and Stanford indicate that students with weak academic skills or less preparation are hurt most by the online format; academically challenged students need a classroom with a teacher’s support.

The CETi dba SYS-ED information technology training service and business model requires a website marketing infrastructure which learns from and addresses the frequently misleading, predatory, and fraudulent claims being made by for-profit colleges and trade schools. Many have been subject to significant fines by the United States federal government and state attorney generals. Several have been forced to cease operations.