8 free online courses to grow your tech skills

The cost of learning just got cheaper. CIO.com tracked down these eight free ways to grow your technology skill set.

Free Online Tech Courses
At one time, universities and colleges were institutes of higher learning for those who were passionate about acquiring knowledge. Today, education discussions tend to to center around how much individuals can make with their degree. Thanks to the Internet there are still places that offer open learning initiatives designed to help a new generation of technologists succeed.

If money was the only thing holding you back from learning more about technology, we've got good news for you. There are many places offering free online tech training that while may not be degree/certificate driven can still give you a leg up on the competition.

While many of the courses listed here offer either a certificate or credit for a fee, they also all are free for those who just want to learn about technology or add a new skill to their "toolbox."

Introduction to Linux
Have you always wanted to learn more about Linux but never had the extra cash to inveset. This course offered through edX might be just what you're looking for. The Linux Foundation partnered with edX to offer this free Introduction to the Linux that covers familiarity with the graphical interface and command line as well as a look at all the major Linux distributions. The course gives an over view of the day to day working environment of a Linux administrator and covers pertinent tools and skills.

The designers of the course estimate that a total of 40- 60 hours of study are required to accurately cover the material. Students have the option of auditing the course, at no cost. You get access to course materials, tests, assignments and activities. Those who audit and complete the course will receive a certificate of achievement, but for those wanting to add it as a bullet point on their resume there is a verified certificate available for a fee.

Google Analytics Academy
With the proliferation of the Web, online shopping and social media marketing, competition for organic search traffic has gone through the roof. Understanding your website's analytics can help you make better data-based decisions while at the same time improving the customer experience. Google knows this and would love for you to use its product, Google Analytics. So much so that they've created this online learning center that offers courses to help you better use the hidden data located within your site.

Building Mobile Experiences
Another MIT offering through edX, Building Mobile Experiences, looks at the foundation for building mobile experiences. Mobile app traffic accounted for 55 percent of Web usage, surpassing desktop to become the dominant percentage of internet traffic, illustrating the need for today's developer to become acquainted with the process, design and skills necessary to build the next "big thing."

Based on a poplar MIT class that's been taught since 2006, Building Mobile Experiences' primary focus explores the analysis of mobile user behavior and the implementation of those findings in the design process. The course length is 12 weeks and requires roughly 10-12 weeks of study per week. While there is some code writing required, the bulk of the course will be designing and evaluating what a "unique mobile experience" is.

Students can pay to receive a verified certificate of achievement or audit the course for free and receive and Honor Code Certificate.

Microsoft Virtual Academy
Microsoft Virtual Academy offers a host of courses on mainly -- you guessed it -- Microsoft products. They offer courses on everything from game to cloud to app development and many more. There is no cost to participate but you must use a Microsoft account and create an MVA profile. Once you're logged in you can take courses or attend live events as well as build a learning plan and track progress towards your goals.

Udacity
Udacity got its start when Stanford University starting offering free computer classes in 2011. In April 2014, it boasted more than 1.6 million users. Its free tech offerings include HTML , Python, Intro to Data Science and many more. In fact, Google recently partnered with Udacity to bring Android development to the masses. Individuals who access the courses for free get access to course materials, like instructor videos and project instructions.

Alison
Alison offers an array of free online technical courses covering everything from, building an online business, to C programming to several flavors of Adobe training. One of their more popular tech courses is, ABC IT - Computer Training Suite which teaches users the basics of computing.

Altogether the e-learning provider reports more than 3 million have used its solutions to get educated and they offer more than 600 courses. They have roughly 106 technology courses available in their Digital Literacy and Skills section.

Design and Development of Educational Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a course entitled, Design and Development of Educational Technology via Edx, a service offering interactive online classes and MOOCs from some of the world's most distinguished universities. The course runs six week and requires 4-6 hours of study each week. The course itself covers the evolution of educational technologies and how it's being used en masse.

Enrollment for the most recent ended October 8th and the course will run for 6 weeks. It's unclear at this time whether it will run again before 2015.

Harvard's CS50 Computer Science
Harvard offers this introduction to computer science. Those who participate will get a foundation in basic coding and learn aspects of C programming, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and SQL. This is a great, free way for individuals who want to learn to code to get their wish. You can enroll for Harvard credit or earn a certificate of achievement for a fee. You can also audit the course for free. Those who audit the course and achieve a satisfactory level of work will receive an Honor Code certificate.

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CCIE Collaboration Jobs in USA

Cisco is a name that is a renowned and acknowledged all around the world and a CCIE certified person enjoys the status of qualified professional even at international level. US is a great place where there are a lot of job opportunities in the world of information technology. Yet these jobs require a highly well-informed and accomplished person.

The world of information technology is advancing, more and more certifications and diplomas are being released by the IT giants and companies are looking for certified individuals. The Companies in the IT field would prefer hiring people who are certified and highly well-informed.

People who are CCIE Collaboration certified are in high demand all over the world especially in the US. Hence, as the days pass, certifications are becoming more and more necessary to find the appropriate job. The CCIE Voice certification was the previous version of the Collaboration certification. However, now it stands expired, and collaboration certification has taken its place.

Once you are CCIE certified you will have boundless job opportunities with great salary packages. After being Cisco certified your value increases and you become qualified for many job positions. Some of the jobs that are available in US for a CCIE collaboration certified individual are

Voice Technologies Administrator
Voice Technologies Engineer
Voice Technologies Manager

Many companies prefer the CCIE certification because of it recognition all over the world. It’s an expert level certification which validates that the candidate is competent and capable enough to perform the job tasks that are assigned to him such as implementing, troubleshooting, and configuring the Cisco Voice and unified solutions. Many of the Networking Professionals prefer getting the CCIE Collaboration certification as it’s in high demand and you can get good and highly paid jobs. Once you get a job your future ahead of you is secure and bright as well.

The salary for CCIE Collaboration Certified expert ranges from US$:90000 to 120,000 based on the level of expertise.

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Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching Jobs in USA 2014

Cisco is the leader in networking technologies and has introduced remarkable professional certifications to enhance competencies of the professionals. Cisco’s CCNA is one of its most popular certifications in networking technologies.

The professionals having attained the CCNA certification, are equipped with the requisite capabilities to handle the networking platforms while working with networking devices like switches, hubs and routers etc.
The information technology is advancing at very fast pace. Engineers and experts joining this field will be able to perform to the greater satisfaction of thier employers if they do have excelled their competence through the professionals certifications like Cisco CCNA.

Cisco’s CCNA is the certification which is equally popular among st the serving professionals and the employees. So it is very much important for the experts who are dealing with LAN and WAN typologies that they must pass the Cico certification course to avail their CCNA credential.
The IT professionals having passed the course for CCNA, would have better chances of getting good CCNA jobs in USA.

The professionals having achieved Cisco CCNA certification would be better placed to find CCNA Jobs in USA to start their professorial career as:-

• An expert in CCNA networking typologies
• An engineer in the senior networking systems of CCNA
• An IT manager in different fields
• An assistant for systems and networks
• An system engineer in different IT fields
• An engineer for voice frequencies
• An administrator of security systems

The above mentioned jobs are available in USA for IT professionals who have earned the CCNA certification. It is a known fact that the field of information technology is moving at very fast pace and it is the need of every IT professional to keep himself abreast about latest developments and innovations.
The professionals with CCNA certification, got better CCNA jobs in USA than the candidate shaving no such credentials. The average expected salary for the professional having CCNA certification would be around $95,000.

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646-003 Advanced Routing and Switching for Account Managers

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QUESTION 1
Which of these options describes Cisco Stack Wise technology? (Select one.)

A. Cisco Stack Wise technology joins individual, stackable switches to create a single functional
switch.
B. Cisco Stack Wise technology creates data stacks to prioritize converged network traffic.
C. Cisco Stack Wise technology joins modular switches together to provide switching redundancy.
D. Cisco Stack Wise technology groups routers and switches together in the wiring closet.

Answer: A

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QUESTION 2
Which three security features distinguish the Cisco Security Suite from basic wireless security?
(Choose three.)

A. TKIP
B. SSIDs
C. static WEP keys
D. advanced security
E. IEEE authentication
F. MAC address authentication

Answer: A,D,E

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QUESTION 3
Company ABC deployed several Cisco 7500 Series Routers as backbone routers, reliably
delivering business-critical network services. Today's networks need the higher levels of services
integration and performance found in newer and more robust Cisco platforms. The Cisco 7500
Series will be EOL'd. Which platform is the best choice for the customer if they want to improve
performance up to 30 mpps and increase the scalability and density of ports?

A. Cisco 6500 Series
B. Cisco 7200 Series
C. Cisco 7600 Series
D. Cisco 12000 Series

Answer: C

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650-153 ESFE Cisco Email Security Field Engineer Specialist

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QUESTION 1
In the C-160's factory default configuration, which interface has ssh enabled by default on the
192.168.42.42 address?

A. Data 2
B. Data 1
C. None. SSH must be first enabled through the console.
D. Management

Answer: B

Explanation:

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QUESTION 2
Refer to the exhibit.



Based on the Add Condition menu which of listed file attachments will be matched? (Choose two.)

A. A.pdf attachment
B. A. msi attachment that has had its file extension changed to .pdf
C. A. pdf attachment that has had its file extension changed to .exe.
D. A. exe attachment.

Answer: B,D

Explanation:

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QUESTION 3
How can C-Series archived reports be retrieved?

A. They cannot be retrieved, since the reporting information is deleted and data is collected for the
next reporting period.
B. Archived reports are retrieved by going to ftp://mgmt.<C-Series host name>.com
C. Archived reports can be retrieved through the GUI by going to: Monitor > Archived Reports

Answer: C

Explanation:

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QUESTION 4
Which of the following choices shows the GUI menu path for importing a content dictionary to be
used in an Incoming content filter?

A. Mail Policies > Dictionaries > Add Dictionary
B. System Administration > Configuration Directory > Import Dictionary
C. Mail Policies > Dictionaries > Import Dictionary
D. Mail Policies > Incoming Mail Policies > Dictionaries > Import Dictionary

Answer: C

Explanation:

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QUESTION 5
You have finished installing a C-160 that is designed to filter incoming and relay outgoing mail for
the mail server exchange.bravo.com. This is a one armed installation. For some reason, outgoing
mail cannot be delivered. According to the mail log, what is the most likely problem?



A. exchange.bravo.com needs to be configured in the RAT
B. exchange.bravo.com needs to be configured on the RELAYLIST
C. An SMTP route needs to be configured for exchange.inside.com
D. The mail server needs to point to a private listener.
E. exchange.bravo.com needs to be removed from the SUSPECTLIST

Answer: B

Explanation:

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700-410 Accelerating Cisco Partner Led Sales Excellence

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QUESTION 1
You are helping your Partner Sales Representatives understand what marketing tools are
available to help them acquire new accounts. Which two weapons/resources can you direct them
to for account acquisition? (Choose two)

A. Cisco Partner Marketing Demand Generation tools like "Go -Generating Opportunities"
B. Vertical Handbooks
C. Cisco Partner Marketing Central
D. Smart Business Roadmaps

Answer: A,C

Explanation:

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QUESTION 2
At which stage of the sales process should you offer a demo of Cisco solutions?

A. Prospecting
B. Qualifying
C. Proposing
D. Agreement
E. Closing

Answer: B

Explanation:

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QUESTION 3
Which two statements about how to determine if a project return on investment is acceptable to
your customer are true? (Choose two)

A. Compare the Internal Rate of Return of the project against the customer Internal Rate of Return
B. The customer agrees that the identified solution meets their business requirements
C. Check that our Return on Investment is better than that of the competition.
D. It is too complex to assess a project return on investment

Answer: A,C

Explanation:

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QUESTION 4
What is Value Based Negotiation?

A. Negotiating based on price
B. Negotiating based on the competition price
C. Negotiating around the value the solution will deliver
D. Negotiating with Senior Management within the client

Answer: C

Explanation:

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QUESTION 5
How many distinct stages are in the typical selling process?

A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7
E. 8

Answer: B

Explanation:

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Data scientists: IT's new rock stars

Data scientists: IT's new rock stars
These days, just showing up to work as a data scientist will get you attention.

The evolution of the data scientist role is making even those who are successful in IT wish they could go back.

In an interview with Network World last month, Robert Stroud, a member of ISACA’s Strategic Advisory council and vice president of innovation and strategy at CA Technologies, called the data scientist a “hard sought-after role” and compelled those entering the technology job market target that field.

"If I were starting my career again, I’d be going into this space," Stroud says.

The hype for data scientists was given some weight in American Journalism Review’s recent profile of Buzzfeed’s director of data science, Ky Harlin. Buzzfeed's growth has been massive in the past few years, reaching an average of 55.2 million uniquely visitors, according to September 2013 numbers from Quantcast. That's more than Craigslist and AOL, and within reach of Yahoo and Amazon.com. Essentially, Buzzfeed has made a business out of viral content, and Harlin is responsible for sustaining that.

RELATED: What it takes to be a data scientist

Who's hiring data scientists?
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According to the AJR profile, Harlin created his own algorithms that identify when and why specific pieces of web content will go viral.

"There are many variables we look at, both quantitative and descriptive,” Harlin told AJR. “Quantitative factors are things like the amount of times something’s been shared on Facebook, while descriptive factors are things like what’s contained in the text of the article. We employ machine learning algorithms that help us map out the relationship between those variables and shareability."

What's more interesting is where Harlin developed those skills – a medical imaging company. According to AJR, Buzzfeed's founder and CEO Jonah Peretti sought out Harlin while he was working in the medical imaging field, and brought him in for an interview about what data science could do for his media company. In the interview, Peretti found just how versatile data science skills can be.

"There are actually a lot of similarities between medical imaging and content publishing on a purely mathematical level," Peretti told AJR. "Both fields are looking for patterns in vast data sets. And during the interview, [Harlin] was clearly more interesting in understanding how content spreads than medical imaging, so I knew he would be good."

The rest of the details on Harlin's role and how he became the company's "secret weapon," as AJR described him, are available in that article, which is an interesting peak behind the curtains at the fastest-growing media company in the world.

However, the mere fact that a technology employee would be the center of a lengthy profile in the American Journalism Review should be an eye-opener. The kind of attention it’s been gathering has sent experts in the field out to start spread the word. In a June 2012 interview with Network World, Laura Kelley, Houston vice president for IT staffing and consulting firm Modis, advised those with MBAs to seek out certifications for statistical software programs, and those with computer science degrees to pursue an MBA. Facebook and Google have both been looking to bring on data scientists for years. In October 2012, the Harvard Business Review called data scientist “the sexiest job of the 21st century.” Data scientists like Harlin can go from work in the medical imaging field to a high-profile job at a media startup, and even though, like most tech workers, his day-to-day job rarely changes, they'll get press coverage. It seems the Harvard Business Review was right.

It all makes sense. Data scientists represent the new age of IT, where employees will not only contribute to a company’s business goals, but help identify them in the first place.

"This is where you add real business value," he says. "Where an IT person is not just running machines anymore, but fundamentally taking good information and helping the business make true business decisions so that they can adjust the business in real time based on this information. If used well, you’ll be able to spot trends and opportunities far faster than you could in the past."

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2014: Time to rethink privacy

2014: Time to rethink privacy
Companies have to fully confront the privacy issues they face and rethink their policies from the bottom up

In 2014, IT executives are going to have to make some very difficult decisions about privacy. Quite often when we talk about difficult decisions, we mean that we know what the right thing to do is, but it's just hard to bring ourselves to do it. In this case, though, part of the difficulty will be knowing what the right thing to do is. For that reason, every industry -- nay, every company -- will come to very different decisions based on the concerns of their employees and customers.

Of course, some companies have to face their privacy demons more than others. Yes, I'm looking at you, Google. Not that Google is likely to ever change how it handles privacy issues. (SAT time: Google is to privacy as (A) Osama bin Laden is to peaceful negotiations, (B) Lady Gaga is to rational thought or (C) Microsoft is to customer-centric. Answer: (D) all of the above.) The reason I'm looking at Google is that it just displayed privacy ineptitude on an epic scale.

This particular Google privacy debacle started out looking like the opposite: a rare instance of Google helping its customers protect their privacy. Android 4.3 was released with a privacy control that looked wonderful. You could see a list of all of your apps that told you exactly what access they had, and there was an easy way to restrict whatever you wanted to restrict. Even the privacy advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation -- not exactly a group of Google fans -- applauded the effort.

And then it disappeared. As of Android 4.4.2, this short-lived privacy aid was gone, as though the Grinch had discovered that all of his profits were being donated to charities. And then we found out that the useful tool was never meant to be useful to customers. In explanation, Google Android engineer Dianne Hackborn posted to followers: "That UI is (and it should be quite clear) not an end-user UI. It was there for development purposes. It wasn't intended to be available. The architecture is used for a growing number of things, but it is not intended to be exposed as a big low-level UI of a big bunch of undifferentiated knobs you can twiddle. For example, it is used now for the per-app notification control, for keeping track of when location was accessed in the new location UI, for some aspects of the new current SMS app control, etc."

You see? The idea that Google would make such intuitive privacy controls available to the people whose lives are being monitored was absurd to Google. Google views privacy as interference with profits. Its business model depends on extracting as much information as possible from consumers and businesses and selling it to other consumers and businesses.

Not that Google is alone in wanting to sell you minute-by-minute geolocation tracking of every employee, customer and supplier. This brings us back to 2014 plans. Businesses need to change the way they view privacy so they can make proper decisions about how far to let companies like that go. Making these decisions on a case-by-case basis, which is how most IT executives handle privacy decisions today, won't work any longer. These decisions must be made and approved at the CEO and board level and then mandated through every department. (Especially marketing, given that no one in quite some time has seen so much as a hint of Jiminy Cricket or, for that matter, anyone's conscience, in a marketing meeting.)

Let's take a look at some of the key areas where you're going to need to champion some decision-making:
1. BYOD mobile policies

The idea of permitting (forcing?) employees to use their personal property for business activities has its pluses and minuses, but the trend is prevalent enough that it's all but inevitable for most enterprises. Security protocols are going to mandate that personal phones and tablets be backed up regularly, just like corporate information devices. This forces the privacy debate: how to guarantee that these backups to IT servers (the cloud makes no difference here) do not expose personal information or images to corporate.

The answer is going to be some form of partitioning, with corporate data and apps completely segregated from personal data and apps. That way, IT can silently access and back up everything on its side of the Mason-Dixon Line without privacy worries. And when the employee quits, is laid off or is fired? On the last day, everything on the corporate side of the device can be remotely wiped.

2. The myth that young consumers don't care about privacy

Why is this a myth? Because it has become conventional wisdom on the basis of some shoddy survey questions. If you ask any group of people, "How much do you value your privacy?" you are going to get very different answers than if you asked those people to rank specific examples of personal information that they wouldn't want to be exposed.

As the father of a teenage girl, I can tell you that teens do value privacy, but what they don't consider to be private is stunning. Social interactions (including the baby-making kind) are matters to be freely shared on social sites, as are mobile phone numbers. But bank account information and payment card activity are not things they want other people to know about. (Remember Blippy's? It was a site that let shoppers publicize what they purchased. Turns out almost no one wanted to do that.)

You have to understand your key groups: employees and customers. What does each group consider private? How much do they care about each area? Is there anything that would make them surrender that particular privacy? You're going to find out that different employees (and customers) have very different concerns.

Then you have to review all of your privacy policies. For your employees, this would include your ability to access all company emails and phone calls (and, presumably, texts and Twitter exchanges and any other communication mechanism). Do you really need that information? If you do, is there a less intrusive way of getting it? You might conclude that less intrusion could prove to be a useful recruiting/retention tool, especially for developers and engineers. Examine your culture and have that discussion -- in a 2014 context -- with senior management.
3. Subpoenas and search warrants

An email vendor called Lavabit was a small player in the aftermath of Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency. When hit with a court order to turn over encryption keys, the company complied -- sort of. It delivered an 11-page printout in four-point type. Prosecutors complained, saying that the printout was illegible.

"To make use of these keys, the FBI would have to manually input all 2,560 characters, and one incorrect keystroke in this laborious process would render the FBI collection system incapable of collecting decrypted data," prosecutors wrote, according to Wired. The court eventually forced Lavabit to give the government the key in an electronic form. Lavabit then took an unusual move: It told its customers that it could no longer protect such communications and then shut down the service to prevent any more of its customers from unintentionally sharing data with government investigators.

Lavabit deserves credit for being true to its marketing message: that it cared about securing customer data. Principle trumped profit. This example raises the question: Should businesses decide where they will draw the line on legal requests and then publicize that decision as part of their privacy policy? Would such a move make for good public relations?

It might make sense for some companies. The standard disclaimer today states that the vendor will hand over anything that anyone can get a judge to sign off on. I'd guess that's the way 95% of companies should go, but for a few, taking a stand could be good for business. Certainly it's something that businesses should discuss.
4. How to publish your privacy policy

The way most companies present their privacy policies is a joke. They're in tiny type, with page after page of unintelligible legalese. Typically, they can be summed up as, "We can do anything we want, and there's nothing you can do about it. Just click on the Accept box, which will bind you to everything in here. Your only other option is to not use our site or app."

When you talk about privacy in 2014, this needs to be at the top of the agenda. Push for shorter privacy policies written in clearly understood English. Anything really important should be in bold type and quite explicit. You should point out that judges are already pushing back against user-unfriendly privacy policies, and you can expect more of that.

Ask management, "Is our policy something we're proud of or ashamed of? If we're proud of it, why are we obscuring it with tiny type and legalese? If we're not proud of it, shouldn't we change it?" As things stand today, most privacy policies practically scream to customers and employees this message: "We have something nasty to hide here." And the truth is that most companies do have something to hide in those boilerplates. Make sure that your company doesn't. Or if it does, discuss it openly so that all senior executives understand the implications.

Privacy policies are going to have to seen as core strategic documents in 2014. Anything less and you're going to find a lot more resistance than you've been used to. But there's also a positive reason to do a rethink: You stand to gain on rivals that pass up this chance for such strategic thinking.

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