PCATT Plans Pair of May Events

The Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training (PCATT) at Honolulu Community College is one of Hawaii's leading hubs for tech education, offering both its own robust curriculum and certification curriculum as well as facilities to host training programs for the public and private sector.

In May, PCATT is hosting two tech events. The first is a three-day program focused on Apple technology from May 18-20. And the second is the center's long-running IT Symposium, taking place May 21 and 22.

The Apple Summer Institute is aimed at educators looking for ways to facilitate teaching through technology. There will be several sessions to familiarize teachers with Apple tools and ways to use them in the classroom. Concentrated on Monday and Wednesday, the sessions are based both on hardware (Mac, iPad, or both) and applications (including publishing with iBooks, making music with GarageBand, and exploring classes on iTunes U).

Tuesday will provide the more technical sessions, covering the nuts and bolts of integrating and managing devices in a school setting.

As soon as the Apple Summer Institute wraps, the PCATT team will roll into its 13th annual PCATT IT Symposium. This year, organizers say the event includes the widest array of presenters in technology education and educational technology to date.

"Securing Our Future through Technology and Education" is the theme, and the two-day program will feature presentations by experts in fields ranging from cybersecurity to data science, from web design automation to gamification. Breakout sessions will tackle current tech trends like the "Internet of Things," IPv6, and mobile app development.

The keynote speaker is Russell Decker, Vice Commander of the National Security Agency (NSA) in Hawaii. And Jason Leigh is also headlining the event, a renowned big data visualization expert (whose work with LAVA, CAVE, and Cyber-CANOE I wrote about in February).

The IT Symposium is a statewide event, and this year more than 45 attendees will be flying in from the neighbor islands thanks to travel sponsorships from HCC's Fujio Matsuda Technology Training Center.

Find more information on the Apple Summer Institute and PCATT IT Symposium on the PCATT website, where you'll find the schedule for both events as well as links to online registration forms. While the registration forms requires a password, you can get them or request more information by emailing pcatt@hawaii.edu.

To keep up with PCATT news, you can check out their Facebook page or follow the center on Twitter at @PCATTTweet.