Championing Cloud Computing Curricula Design and Certification Implementation

What is the session about?
This session will provide educators with robust guidance on how to implement cloud certification in their academic courses, to help address the cloud skills gap in industry and improves graduate employability outcomes. We will present guidance on best practices for designing academic courses that embed industry-informed learning outcomes, aligned syllabi, and certifications. We’ll also explore the application of high-quality learning materials available within Microsoft Learn for integrating into academic courses
The session will also provide real-world examples of implementing certifications in courses at further/higher education institutions. Participants will hear from speakers on their experiences of blending certification learning materials which map to their academic course outcomes.

Who is it aimed at?
The session is aimed at Worldwide Educators from K12 to Higher Education who wish to blend Microsoft Professional certifications into their course programmes.
Educators and developers/IT Professional who are looking at understanding how academic institutions develop and construct new courses which offer both academic and professional certification.

Why should people attend?

The session presenters have extensive experience of teaching and cloud computing courses from academic and cloud vendor viewpoints. The content for the session is based upon the outcomes of an ACM Cloud Computing working group and the Microsoft Learning Path for Educators: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/academic-program-certifications/

The increasing adoption of cloud computing is driving a demand for skills which needs to be addressed in higher education. However, the nature of the field presents significant challenges for educators. The body of knowledge associated with cloud computing is not well established, and many educators may not be familiar with cloud computing concepts as part of their teaching. Services offered by the major cloud vendors tend to evolve rapidly and presents a challenge to educators to keep pace with such developments, and frequently filter these down into teaching materials. Microsoft has developed the Microsoft Learn platform which offers a wealth of up-to-date teaching and learning materials and is provided free to students and educators. There are also a range of vendor certifications which are very attractive to students alongside university qualifications, such as Microsoft’s Fundamentals and Role-based certification courses.

Speaker Bio:

Lee Stott
Lee helps create the best cloud platform for academic faculty, student developers and the next generation of data scientists, software developers and engineers. Our primary mission is to help every student developer be successful in the cloud.

Dr Derek Foster
Associate Professor and Programme Leader for the MSc Cloud Computing programme in the Lincoln School of Computer Science. His research and teaching is focused on cloud, mobile, and IoT technology adoption and application areas.
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/socs/

Dr Laura Marulanda-Carter
Promoting innovative curriculum strategies, design and learning techniques. Advocate for employer engagement in education and women in technology. Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert #MIEExpert

Miow Ting Teo
Passionate and experienced educator with a demonstrated history of teaching and course management in the higher education industry.

Pre-requisites:
None