IBM is announcing today the availability of new online resources designed to help get your students up to speed on several hot technologies and topics. With access to software, tutorials, forums, games and articles, students have an opportunity to develop marketable skills in hot job areas such as enterprise computing, Web 2.0 programming and database management. All of these student offerings will be available through the IBM Academic Initiative's Student Software Catalog, accessible through the IBM Student Portal. (Students registered for business classes in the Summer 2008 students are enrolled)
The new online resources for students are:
Database technology: Designed for students interested in open standards-based Relational Database Management Systems, the DB2 Express-C student offering includes an introduction to the technology, no-charge download of the software, access to a support forum, games and hands-on tutorials for enhanced learning, publications, and prep materials for certification exams
Enterprise systems (coming soon): This offering will provide students with an introduction to the mainframe and large systems-related careers focused around the New Enterprise Data Center, our best practices model for virtualization, green IT, service management and cloud computing. Access mainframe-focused games in Second Life, instructions on how to gain remote access to a live mainframe hub, and experience labs and exercises based on components of the IBM "Master the Mainframe" contest from prior years
Situational applications and Web 2.0: WebSphere sMash is an agile development environment optimized for producing rich REST-style services, integration, mashups and user friendly Web interfaces through scripting runtimes such as Groovy and PHP. This student offering includes an introduction to the technology, no-charge software download, hands-on tutorials and other resources for learning, and access to the development community (located at ProjectZero.org)
Service science, management and engineering (SSME): To prepare students with skills for use in the services sector, universities will need a multi-disciplinary curriculum that covers the study of people, business and technology in service systems. The SSME tutorial includes resources for discussion and interaction through the use of case studies. Contrasts between the manufacturing and service sector issues are raised to understand differences in supply chain, information systems and operations practices
Team-based development: Jazz is Rational's future platform for collaborative software delivery that will transform how people work together to deliver software and embedded systems. Students will be introduced to the Jazz platform and provided a no-charge download of the Rational Team Concert software, access to the Jazz community and a wealth of learning resources
Web server technology: WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (WAS CE) is a lightweight Java EE 5 application server based on the open source technology delivered in Apache Geronimo. It harnesses the latest developments from the open-source community and provides a readily accessible and flexible foundation for Java application development. Students can now "kick-start" their Java applications with this leading-edge technology with an offering that includes an introduction to WAS CE, no-charge download of the software, quick-start and user guides, access to Eclipse updates to WAS CE, and rich articles and tutorials demonstrating hands-on use of the technology
Skills certification and job opportunity database: Professors who are IBM Academic Initiative members can request 50 percent discounts on IBM certification exams for their students. Nearly 50 tests on many of the IBM software and hardware brands are available. Students who pass the certification exam can post their resumes in the Student Opportunity System database, which is searchable by IBM customers and Business Partners around the world
Additional information on the resources described above:
IBM/ACM Curriculum Mapping Guide for Information Systems (right-hand side of page)
Information on the IBM Student Opportunity System
Information on IBM Certification
Facebook community for DB2 on Campus
Facebook community for the Mainframe
Facebook community for Project Zero - the development community for WebSphere sMash