iTEC - Information Technology Education Center Renewal

Daytona State College, Daytona Beach FL

Investigators

Abstract

The Information Technology Education Center in Florida (iTEC) is an Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Regional Center in Information Technology (IT). Started in 2000, iTEC is a collaboration between Daytona Beach Community College (DBCC) and Seminole Community College (SCC), promoting and providing Information IT education to community college faculty throughout Florida and an estimated 40,000 IT workers in Central Florida. iTEC made significant progress in its first three years with five stated goals: 1) Adapt, integrate, and develop information technology curricula; 2) Provide seamless K-16 articulation with multiple occupational exit points; 3) Provide training and professional development for community college IT faculty; 4) Leverage industry partnerships to validate curricula through incumbent worker training; and 5) Develop dissemination programs to recruit students with special emphasis on under-represented populations. To date, iTEC has enhanced skills for more than 300 community college IT faculty, upgraded training laboratories and curricula, increased participation among underrepresented populations, and created an approach that leverages resources between SCC and DBCC to train IT workers. iTEC established a collaborative and industry-centered foundation for developing IT workers and created relationships between academic, government, and industry partners to leverage community college resources for training IT professionals. Nationally and regionally, the supply of skilled IT workers continues to fall behind demand and iTEC is leveraging the resources and capabilities of community colleges to fill the gap. The vision of iTEC is to have companies throughout Florida and beyond recognize and use community colleges as primary, cost-effective, and comprehensive resources for fulfilling IT education and development needs. iTEC goals are to: 1) continue strengthening the foundation for training community college IT faculty; 2) develop, assess, and propagate a Collaborative Industry Education Model for leveraging community college resources to prepare IT professionals; 3) continue to develop curriculum and programs at the community colleges in response to industry needs; and 4) incorporate elements to ensure more involvement and articulation of courses and programs by high schools and four-year institutions (2+2+2 programs). The proposed activities have intellectual merit by advancing knowledge and industry-leading practices for community college faculty and IT professionals; developing a comprehensive, creative approach for delivering IT education and assessing impacts; building upon a model collaboration; addressing a national need for proficient IT specialists; and helping college faculties remain current with ever-changing IT skills and content. Anticipated broader impacts include developing an approach for consistently advancing community college faculty and IT worker skills that can be emulated by academic and industry partners throughout America; broadening the participation of underrepresented groups through focused outreach and joint initiatives with industry and government partners; enhancing the infrastructure to deliver cost-effective, comprehensive solutions to industry; enhancing curriculum and tools for training IT specialists; and contributing to competitiveness of America and technological stature in the IT arena.