Mar 4 2009 2:24PM GMT
Posted by: Ed Tittel
IT careers,
IT career development,
IT career planning,
adult education,
continuing education,
IT certification,
IT certification study materials,
Cisco CCNA Voice,
Cisco CCENT,
Cisco CCNA Security,
Cisco exam 640-822,
Cisco exam 640-460,
Cisco exam 640-553
[Updated 3/11/2009: see update info at end of post!!!]
On February 9, I blogged about Pearson/Cisco Press’s CertFlashCardsOnline offerings. One of their publicists contacted me to let me know they’d seen the post, and offered me a pair of free licenses to a couple of different products:
CCNA Security flashcards
Network simulator for CCENT exam
Though the publisher is ponying up the licenses I get to decide who earns them. I’m hereby declaring a competition to earn these items, and will award them one week from today on March 11. In the meantime, anyone who posts a comment to this blog that provides the following information will be eligible to win:
- First name, last initial, and approximate location (for example: “Ed T, Central TX” in my case).
- Exam of interest (that means either 640-822 or 640-553, but not both, please)
- When you plan to take the exam by month and year (for example “April, 2009″)
- What other study materials you’re using (for example “Exam Cram, practice tests, and CCCure.org“)
- Employment status (for example “working at a small private company doing IT,” “unemployed,” or “full-time student”)
- A brief statement as to why you think you should get this award (for example “nearly ready to take the exam, and could benefit from some additional review materials”)
Next Wednesday, I’ll post three finalists for each item, and ask them to contact me by e-mail to get their winnings. Stay tuned! I’m curious to see what kind of response this will provoke.
–Ed–
[Update 3/11/2009]: While the contest was supposed to end today, thanks to Cisco Press’ generous addition of Flashcards for exam 640-460 CCNA Security, I extended it until this Friday, March 13. Please check back that morning to see if you’ve won, and also see my blog for March 6 for more information about that addition. You still have two more days to post to any of these blogs to enter yourself for consideration. I’ll be giving at least three copies of each item away, so don’t be bashful!!!
Feb 9 2009 5:08PM GMT
Posted by: Ed Tittel
IT certification,
IT certification study materials,
adult education,
continuing education,
IT certification self-study,
exam preparation tips
Pearson Publishing is the parent company for Cisco Press, InformIT.com, and Que (the publisher of Exam Cram and Exam Prep titles, for which I was series editor until January 1, 2006). They are currently offering a free flash card pack to anybody who visits CertFlashCardsOnline and who also clicks the “Try it free now” button on the home page (site registration/sign-up is required but their privacy policy specifically enjoins them from opting you into anything involuntarily).
At present, flashcards are available for the following exams:
Numerous other exams are promised for this series in 2009, including the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), CompTIA Network+ and Security+, plus Microsoft exams 70-622, -623, -640, -642, and -643.
The biggest benefits of this offering, which normally costs $25 to 30 (though I’m guessing certs like the CISSP, CISA, and CISM will cost more), are as follows:
- Ability to store and access all flashcard collections online (it’s not a one-time download)
- Ability to select and group flashcards into custom named collections at will.
- Ability to access flashcard collections on a PDA, iPhone, SmartPhone and other mobile devices, as well as on a conventional notebook or desktop PC.
- Custom annotation and scoring capabilities per flashcard item.
- Create custom card sets based on questions marked incorrect.
- Online checks for question bank updates at will.
At the prices mentioned, these flashcards are at the top end for what’s normally charged for one-time downloads or hardcopy flashcards. But given their interactive capabilities and access to question bank updates, I think this represents good value for the money. But don’t listen to me: Try one for free and see what you think yourself. That’s the only way to be 100% sure your money is well-spent anyway.
