Born to Learn

RTM’d today: Windows Phone 7 Development Internals

Devon Musgrave — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:28:00 GMT

We’re pleased to announce the release to manufacturing of the book Windows Phone 7 Development Internals , by Andrew Whitechapel, who is a senior member of the core Windows Phone Application Platform team. This book covers the breadth of application development for the Windows Phone 7 platform (both the major 7.0 and 7.1/7.5 versions and the minor 7.1.1 version). The book shows how you can build compelling and useful applications for Windows Phone, while providing detailed technical insights into...(read more)

Instant Replay: Tweetchats with Liberty Munson, May 16-17

Veronica Sopher (Microsoft Learning) — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:49:00 GMT

We had the pleasure of featuring our Psychometrician Liberty Munson on two tweetchats this week! For each one-hour chat, she was the voice behind @MSLearning. Our Twitter followers asked many great questions about certifications and exams. Liberty shared fascinating, behind-the-scenes facts about our exam development process, and also offered exam prep tips. Missed the tweetchats? We've got you covered. Simply replay them below and take notes. (Did you spot the picture of her dog Zenith?)

And... Liberty has joined the 21st century and started her own Twitter account! You can follow her @LibertyMunson, and chat her up about work, reading, outdoor adventures, etc.

This week's tweetchats were inspired by our community's wonderful responses to the Ask a Certification Expert (ACE) video series. You can find the entire playlist here. Subscribe to our channel while you're there because more new videos are coming! Got a question you want to have answered in an ACE video? Post it in a comment below, and you just might get an answer + a shout out in our next video!

Replay of the May 16 session:

Replay of the May 17 session:

Narayan's transformation

Lisa Sheffield — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:02:00 GMT

The DPE/MSL Scholarship has turned a new leaf in Narayan's life. A rural youth from Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, Narayan comes from a background of extreme hardship. However, with the support of Microsoft and NIIT, he is receiving technical training, soft skills, and a paid internship to allow him to gain the skills and experience to follow his dreams.

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Quick news: Programming Windows, Sixth Edition, now available

Devon Musgrave — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:09:21 GMT

A quick note to let you know that our special-offer period for Charles Petzold’s Programming Windows, Sixth Edition , has begun. From May 17-31, you can order the ebook for $10, and you’ll receive three versions of the ebook as it is developed over time. You can read about the offer and find a link to the purchase page here . Read More......(read more)

RTM’d today: Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Business Connectivity Services

Devon Musgrave — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:34:00 GMT

We’re very pleased to announce that Penelope Coventry, Brett Lonsdale, and Phill Duffy’s book, Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Business Connectivity Services has shipped to the printer! Put your enterprise business data to work with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Business Connectivity Services—and create valuable business solutions with your team. Led by SharePoint experts Penelope Coventry, Brett Lonsdale, and Phill Duffy, you'll learn how to access external data from several sources...(read more)

60 Days to MCSE - Week 4 Check In

Michael Bender — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:43:00 GMT

Greetings True Believers!

So it's been a while since I've checked in via a blog post. It's great to see many of you joining the conversation on twitter as well as on the 60 Days to MCSE forum on Born to learn.

So what have I been up to? Well, first and foremost, I spent a lot of unnecessary time trying to get my System Center 2012 evaluation environment up. It took me much longer to complete the setup and installation than expected. I ran into a number of issues (most of them end user related). I'm not going to go into depth into the issues I had as they became non-issues when I started from scratch and followed John's blog post here. This is a comprehensive installation document that WILL get you a working environment in the end. He provides great insight as he failed to get SC2012 installed the first time as well using just the evaluation documentation. Follow this guide and you should have no issues.

As far as my lab environment, I'm running a custom-built system based on the specs by Jeff Guillet at Expta.com. This is a low-cost (Under $1k) system that is fast and quiet. Jeff did a phenomenal job of determining the specs for this system. If you are looking for a lab system, this is the way to go.

Besides getting the lab environment built, I made my way through some of the documentation and a couple of videos. It’s not as much progress as I would have liked. However, I have been able to download a lot of the content I need so I won’t need to hunt and peck for the information.

One thing that will make your "information" procurement easier, is a script developed by Jan Egil Ring that allows you to download content from TechNet edge using PowerShell is locate here. It's similar to the script for downloading content from MMS 2012.

Here is my updated Plan…

Week	Study Activities
Week 4	· Continuing building test lab using Evaluation Guide (Ch 4,5) · Run through 2-day Private Cloud Jump Start series from back in March. (1-6) · Begin Prep for 70-646 Exam · Create Central Store for all documents and study materials for Private Cloud exams
Week 3	· Take Exam 70-646 (5/23) · Celebrate passing exam with a new book (TBD) · Make my way through documents listed in 70-247 blog document · Make my way through documents listed in 70-246 blog document
Week 2	· Make my way through remainder of documents listed in 70-246 blog document · View Microsoft Virtual Academy track on Configuring and Deploying Microsoft’s Private Cloud · Run through downloaded videos and documents, when I have time
Week 1	· Run Through Symon Perriman’s Private Cloud Labs · Run through downloaded videos and documents, when I have time This will be a tough week as I have a VMware vSphere 5 ICM Train the Trainer class all week. I’ll need to fit studying in at night and during travel time to TechEd. Also, need to fit in family time so as you can see in my schedule, much of the work will be done prior to arriving at TechEd
Week 0	· Last Minute Exam Prep · Attend TechEd cram sessions (if available prior to taking exams) · Sit in on broad SC 2012 sessions · Exam 70-247 is Scheduled for Monday; Retake on Thursday if necessary · Exam 70-246 is Scheduled for Tuesday; Retake on Thursday if necessary

A little something on My Test Taking Strategy….

As a veteran of multiple certification exams and an MCT responsible for helping students with their exams skills, I want to share my test day strategy. Hopefully, you can take some tips from it to improve your test day results!

1. I always schedule my exams for a 12:30-1:30 start time. That is normally the time of day when I’m “on my game” mentally. Also, this leaves me the morning to do some last minute preparation and I’m not rushed.

2. I make sure to get a good night’s sleep. If you prepared properly, should not have to do a late night cram session for your exam.

3. Make sure I have two forms of ID and any other requirements per exam. As a college instructor, I can take the academic versions of the exams. These require a college ID so I make sure I have that as well.

4. I find a quiet coffee shop (or noise cancelling head phones), and review my materials. I like to run through the areas that are my sticking points. Also, I will run through 10-20 practice questions at the end of my review session to get me in the test-taking mode.

5. Have a light lunch and try to relax. Depending on your caffeine tolerance, you may or may not wish the forgo caffeine prior to the exam.

6. I arrive to the test location 15 minutes early so I can check in and use the bathroom (or water closet for those across the pondJ). You won’t be able to use the restroom during your exam so keep that in mind with lunch as well. The exam reminder recommends 30 minutes, but my test site is never busy so I’ve never had a problem with 15 before. When I have arrived 30 prior, I’ve always started early.

7. Unless I bring a coat or a bag, I leave my cell phone in the car. You won’t be able to bring it into the exam room.

8. Once into the exam, I have a specific strategy for each question that I will explain below:

a. The length of the exam should be posted with the exam information. If so, you know how much time you have for each question. Use this time as part of your preparation. Most practice exams allow you to input the time limit and # of questions. Simulate the exam day experience during your study and it will help you be more comfortable on exam day.

b. If I have 2 minutes per question, I set a limit of 2 minutes I will take on a question before moving to the next question

9. Once I have completed all questions and run through my review, the moment of truth is here. You are a few clicks away from success or failure. This can be nerve-wracking the first couple of times you take an exam as you wait for the system to tell you whether you passed or failed.

10. Once you complete your exam, you’ll be provided a copy of your exam report with your score.

Mike’s Exam Question Strategy

Here’s my strategy for each Question

1. Read the entire question end to end without going down to the answers. You need to familiarize yourself with what the question is looking for.

2. Review the answers provided but try not to answer the question unless you are 110% positive you know the answer. At this point, many test takers get into trouble. We have been taught that we should go with our “first Impression”. While this is often a correct method, it can lead you into an incorrect answer. The reason is that exam questions are designed to be a bit tricky. You will have answers provided that may be correct for some situations, but not the one you are dealing with in the question. We want to get rid of these answers.

a. I will mark my “first impression” answer at this time just in case I hit my time limit and need to move onto the next question. An answered question has a possibility of being right but an unanswered question is always wrong.

3. Now run through the question again. This time you know the provided answers and can match those answers to the information provided in the question.

a. Often times, there is information in a scenario that is not necessary, so use your knowledge of the subject matter to weed out this information.

4. Based on the information gleaned through the second pass through of the question and using the information that is relevant, I try to weed out some of the answers.

a. For example, if the question is asking for you to export DNS zones from AD and they provide you different command line tools to do it, you should be able to get rid of utilities you know cannot perform the task.

b. The goal is to get down to 2 answers to choose from. But even if you only get rid of one answer out of four, that’s changing your odds to 1:3. I’d take those in Vegas in a heartbeat!

5. If you are unable to come up with a definitive, go with your first impression answer or your “best” answer based on the question, and move on to the next question

a. If you are not definitive on the question, mark it for review and comeback to it after going through all of the questions. In regards to marking questions for review, I mark all questions that I am not 100% on, and I want to go back to them

6. After running through the questions the first time, I go to the review section which allows you to go through just the questions marked for review. This is helpful since it will only give you the questions you want to go over again

a. During this pass, I repeat the same process as above. One thing I make sure to do is count up the number of reviewed questions and determines how much time I have left based on the exam countdown clock.

7. That’s it! By the end of step 6, I am ready click the submit button!

The key to successfully completing a certification exam is providing answers to ALL questions to the best of your ability. That’s why we use the review option to comeback to questions you are unsure of. I can guarantee there are questions you could spend 10-15 minutes on, and you would still not have an answer. In that same time period, you may be able to cover 5-7 questions you do know the answers to. You need to get to the “low hanging fruit” questions and come back to the ones requiring more time. But always…ALWAYS…enter an answer for the question before moving to the next question. This ensures you have an answer for every question should your time run out.

While searching for some other resources for test taking strategies, I came across this great video from Tim Warner.

Lastly, I wanted to give out a big thank you to Gray Eimermann from TrainSignal who is giving away access to a Private Cloud certification-specific video archive. To access the archive, follow the instructions in Gary’s blog post here.

Until next time…Excelsior!

Mike

The DPE/MSL Scholarship has given new hope to John Yashico Jayme

Lisa Sheffield — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:22:00 GMT

Due to financial difficulties and family obligations, Yashico was not able to pursue his passion for technology until he heard about the DPE/MSL Scholarship Program. Because of the scholarship funds provided by Microsoft and the SQL Server training performed by MISNET, Yashico now has a golden opportunity to follow his dreams. Yashico is working towards the MCITP: Database Administrator certification.

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New book: Working with Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint

Devon Musgrave — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:04:00 GMT

We’re happy to announce the availability of Working with Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint , by Mikael Svenson, Marcus Johansson and Robert Piddocke Although SharePoint has always had search capabilities, those capabilities have been hugely improved by the addition of FAST Search for SharePoint (FS4SP). FS4SP provides a feature-rich alternative to the limited out-of-the-box search experience in SharePoint 2010, and can be extended to meet complex information retrieval requirements...(read more)

One student's story: With a desire to learn you can do just about anything!

Lisa Sheffield — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:56:00 GMT

"Learning is never too late to anyone who is willing." These were the words that motivated Mr. Ronnel Rio, the recipient of the DPE MSL Scholarship, to pursue his dream of becoming a full-pledged IT Professional.

As much as he wanted to pursue his passion for IT, external factors such as the challenging economy and other financial limitations, deprived him of the education that could have helped him get a career of his choice. He managed to attend a 2-year Computer Technician course, at a vocational school of low standards and therefore did not merit much to certain companies. However, his interest in IT to begin with was enough to get him a messenger position at Edupro, Inc.

He had two reasons why he wanted so much to be given the opportunity to learn more. One was to improve his technical skills and allow him to apply for a technical position at Edupro. The other is to support his growing family, as much as he wanted so much to be a good provider to his children and to his wife. After consulting with the in-house trainers, who vouched for his interest and ability, the management gave him a chance to attend basic networking classes to help him establish the needed fundamentals.

Seeing so much potential, his profile was submitted to Microsoft to the hopes of getting the DPE MSL Scholarship programs. Fortunately, he was selected among the few.

"When I heard from my boss that a candidate submitted by Edupro got the scholarship, I was proud because it shows that the company believes in the program and that they support individuals who were not privileged enough to get the education that they deserved. But I was caught by surprise to hear that the story that they submitted was mine only to find out that they wanted to surprise me. I was happy, speechless and shocked, because it was the chance that I have been waiting for so long and now it came true. Aside from my family, for me the scholarship was the best gift that I have ever received. I am so thankful that I am given this opportunity to study again. And this would be the start of a better life for me."

Mr. Ronnel Rio with Edupro's IT Manager, Mr. Salvador Balunsay.

After finishing a series of trainings on Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, Ronnel has achieved certification for Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) for Windows 7: Configuring, and is now pursuing the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) for Windows 7 Enterprise Desktop Administrator certification at the end of May. He has also started taking the first exam of Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate track, and has earned the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) on Windows Server 2008, Network Infrastructure Configuration.

He has gained confidence towards himself and his work and is more determined to take on more challenging task, enhancing and broadening his troubleshooting skills, thus, entrusting him to be the lead assistant of the Support Division and now responsible in configuring and deploying Microsoft Windows 7 & Windows XP on the desktops used for the classroom trainings. He also serves as desktop support to the employees when troubleshooting technical issues.

We, at Edupro, hope that with Ronnel's story showing his interest, determination, ambition, and first stages of professional success, serve as a shining example of how organizational supports in the form of scholarship, ambition, plus proper training and certification can make a great difference in his professional and personal life as well as encouraging other people along the same path of fulfillment.

General Manager, Ms. Angel Bautista

Microsoft & UNESCO Discuss Skills Development for Global Employment

Lorna White (Microsoft) — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:35:00 GMT

This week, I have the honor of participating in the UNESCO Third International Congress on TVET (Shanghai, 13-16 May 2012). Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is critical to the developing and addressing economic and social challenges like youth unemployment. The Congress will provide a global platform for knowledge sharing, reflection and debate on the changing landscape and the advancement of skill-development programs. As a technology industry partner, Microsoft will participate in discussions about Learning and Technology for 21st Century Work.

This is a very important topic to me personally. I believe that technology can change the world and improve people's lives. Advances such as cloud computing are enabling people to make a real impact for a better tomorrow, and will create opportunities for our future -- such as new industries and jobs -- which will build a foundation for future innovation and economic growth. Today's young people will become tomorrow's leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and decision makers. They will be responsible for the world's future economic prosperity and social wellbeing.

With the continuing acceleration of technology and innovation, keeping up in today’s world requires the right skills, training and experiences in order to be prepared for the new jobs and opportunities. Empowering young people means providing access to skills training and Microsoft Certifications that help students differentiate themselves in today’s competitive job market. The IT industry is one of the few industries where there is growth not only in technology but also in jobs. There is a dire need for a technically skilled workforce and Microsoft Certifications provide the validation of skills that can help students get a job in IT.

By helping youth capture opportunities for education and employment, we are helping them create their futures….we are helping them create real impact for a better tomorrow. Programs such as Microsoft IT Academy are helping to enable employability, digital literacy and 21st-century workforce development through IT training and certification. Today, there are more than 10,000 Microsoft IT Academies helping 7.5 million students and 750,000 educators around the world. That’s impact!

When the economy and jobs are top of mind in the world I am proud to be part of a company whose products and programs help local communities and economies by preparing students for job skills and employability that will equip them for a successful future.

- Lutz Ziob, General Manager of Microsoft Learning