Rend Lake College: Free Google IT Support Cert. Course

[dfrecore]

Rend Lake College in Illinois has a free eight-week course centered on the Google IT support certificate.  The class begins on June 8.

https://www.rlc.edu/pressroom/14700-rlc-...ort-course

How is this different than doing it through Coursera?

[MNomadic]

Rend Lake College in Illinois has a free eight-week course centered on the Google IT support certificate.  The class begins on June 8.

https://www.rlc.edu/pressroom/14700-rlc-...ort-course

How is this different than doing it through Coursera?

Through Coursera, you pay $49/month until you finish. Other than that, I'm not sure.

[eriehiker]

Rend Lake College in Illinois has a free eight-week course centered on the Google IT support certificate.  The class begins on June 8.

https://www.rlc.edu/pressroom/14700-rlc-...ort-course

How is this different than doing it through Coursera?

This is the blurb from the addendum to the 2020-2021 Rend Lake catalog:

"New Course – Effective 2/3/2020 CSCI 1237 – IT Support Professional (6) This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of IT support. Topics include troubleshooting, customer service, networking, operating systems, system administration, and security. The instructional content prepares students for industry-recognized credentials including Google IT Support Professional and CompTIA A+. Lecture 3 hours. Lab 6 hours."

https://www.rlc.edu/phocadownload/offici...dendum.pdf

So, Rend Lake is awarding students six credit hours on their transcript with the CSCI 1237 course number and prefix.  That is six computer science credit hours.  This article gives some indication about schools awarding college credit with the certificate:

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-l...y-colleges

"All of the colleges that offer the certificate “offer some kind of wraparound support” to the program to improve retention and completion, said Deegan. But the approaches vary widely in the level of in-person instruction, coaching and support. Some colleges are offering the course for credit as part of a degree program. Others are opening up the certificate to the local community as part of their continuing-education programs. Some are considering offering the certificate to high schoolers as part of for-credit dual-enrollment programs."

The interesting part might be that students also earn the certificate.  This presumably means that they can also request credits on an ACE transcript.  This is the ACE credit recommendation:

"In the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 6 semester hours in computer information systems; 3 semester hours in computer networking; and 3 semester hours in cybersecurity fundamentals (9/19)."

So, someone will need to report back if you can earn 6 computer science credits and then find somewhere that also awards 6 CIS credits, 3 networking credits and 3 cybersecurity credits.

[dfrecore]

Rend Lake College in Illinois has a free eight-week course centered on the Google IT support certificate.  The class begins on June 8.

https://www.rlc.edu/pressroom/14700-rlc-...ort-course

How is this different than doing it through Coursera?

This is the blurb from the addendum to the 2020-2021 Rend Lake catalog:

"New Course – Effective 2/3/2020 CSCI 1237 – IT Support Professional (6) This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of IT support. Topics include troubleshooting, customer service, networking, operating systems, system administration, and security. The instructional content prepares students for industry-recognized credentials including Google IT Support Professional and CompTIA A+. Lecture 3 hours. Lab 6 hours."

https://www.rlc.edu/phocadownload/offici...dendum.pdf

So, Rend Lake is awarding students six credit hours on their transcript with the CSCI 1237 course number and prefix.  That is six computer science credit hours.  This article gives some indication about schools awarding college credit with the certificate:

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-l...y-colleges

"All of the colleges that offer the certificate “offer some kind of wraparound support” to the program to improve retention and completion, said Deegan. But the approaches vary widely in the level of in-person instruction, coaching and support. Some colleges are offering the course for credit as part of a degree program. Others are opening up the certificate to the local community as part of their continuing-education programs. Some are considering offering the certificate to high schoolers as part of for-credit dual-enrollment programs."

The interesting part might be that students also earn the certificate.  This presumably means that they can also request credits on an ACE transcript.  This is the ACE credit recommendation:

"In the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 6 semester hours in computer information systems; 3 semester hours in computer networking; and 3 semester hours in cybersecurity fundamentals (9/19)."

So, someone will need to report back if you can earn 6 computer science credits and then find somewhere that also awards 6 CIS credits, 3 networking credits and 3 cybersecurity credits.

Well, I certainly like the idea of free for my kid, and RA credit.  But, I will have to give it a try and see how much he can get done in the free trial first, to see if he could finish in less than 8 weeks.  There are still all of those cheap EA/ASU courses, free Sophia courses, and time limits to everything! ARGH!

[MNomadic]

Rend Lake College in Illinois has a free eight-week course centered on the Google IT support certificate.  The class begins on June 8.

https://www.rlc.edu/pressroom/14700-rlc-...ort-course

How is this different than doing it through Coursera?

This is the blurb from the addendum to the 2020-2021 Rend Lake catalog:

"New Course – Effective 2/3/2020 CSCI 1237 – IT Support Professional (6) This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of IT support. Topics include troubleshooting, customer service, networking, operating systems, system administration, and security. The instructional content prepares students for industry-recognized credentials including Google IT Support Professional and CompTIA A+. Lecture 3 hours. Lab 6 hours."

https://www.rlc.edu/phocadownload/offici...dendum.pdf

So, Rend Lake is awarding students six credit hours on their transcript with the CSCI 1237 course number and prefix.  That is six computer science credit hours.  This article gives some indication about schools awarding college credit with the certificate:

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-l...y-colleges

"All of the colleges that offer the certificate “offer some kind of wraparound support” to the program to improve retention and completion, said Deegan. But the approaches vary widely in the level of in-person instruction, coaching and support. Some colleges are offering the course for credit as part of a degree program. Others are opening up the certificate to the local community as part of their continuing-education programs. Some are considering offering the certificate to high schoolers as part of for-credit dual-enrollment programs."

The interesting part might be that students also earn the certificate.  This presumably means that they can also request credits on an ACE transcript.  This is the ACE credit recommendation:

"In the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 6 semester hours in computer information systems; 3 semester hours in computer networking; and 3 semester hours in cybersecurity fundamentals (9/19)."

So, someone will need to report back if you can earn 6 computer science credits and then find somewhere that also awards 6 CIS credits, 3 networking credits and 3 cybersecurity credits.

That is exciting to hear. Iwill be trying to sign up for the course(they haven't responded to my email yet), and see if I can get credit for the class and get ACE credit for the cert aswelli. Thanks again for sharing.i

[MNomadic]

Just a heads up: right now all the spots in this class have been filled but you can be put on the waiting list just in case there's an opening.

[MNomadic]

Just thought I'd provide an update since I recently completed this course. It was enjoyable and straight forward. The college course literally just involved me completing the coursera course and submitting my grades as I completed modules. The coursera course is conveniently accessible via an app and graded tests allow unlimited tries(though you can only try 3 times in 24 hours). There are also some graded free response questions and graded labs which were mostly straight forward.

It looks like they offering it again but only for Illinois residents starting Sept. 8
https://rlc.edu/pressroom/14738-rlc-offe...-fall-2020