Become a FIT School
How to Implement
There are 3 stages to implementing the FIT program: Decisions, Planning, and Rollout. Regional FIT Education Coordinators will be available to assist, and provide guidance, during the onboarding process and throughout the implementation of the program. ICTC will continue to make resources available to support educators for the duration of the program.
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Stage 1 - Decisions
This stage involves discussions with ministries of education, community councils, school boards, and schools. Decisions may require multiple levels of agreement. -
Stage 2 - Planning
The Planning stage is used to evaluate and align existing courses and to create required new courses that will meet the FIT curriculum requirements. This may follow the existing cycle of new course development at your school. -
Stage 3 - Rollout
Educators finalize and prepare course material. Educators have the option to participate in teacher training before the FIT program begins. This may be in the form of in-person digital skills professional development days or online training modules.
FIT Requirements
The FIT program is designed to seamlessly integrate into a school’s curriculum. No extra technical requirements are needed if you are approved.
A Regional FIT Education Coordinator (REC) will advise you on the concentrations that your school is able to offer. There are four unique concentrations:
- Software Design and Development
- Interactive Media
- Network and Systems Operations
- Business and Information Analysis
Each concentration requires the completion of a set of competencies. A school may be unable to offer all four concentrations right away. It will depend on the course offerings of the school, since, certain courses meet certain competencies.
With the help of a REC, a school will be able to map out different pathways of courses they are able to offer students. Schools wishing to offer students all four FIT concentrations may be required to run new courses to meet the competencies. During this time a school may look to implementing new software and hardware to meet the course requirements.
A REC may offer advice to a school or board as to what resources are complementary to each course or FIT concentration. They may also be able to suggest resource vendors that supplement FIT concentrations and have received a FIT Seal of Approval by ICTC. In this circumstance, the technical requirements of a school may change, as determined by an external vendor and the school.
Teacher Training
Each school offering the FIT program will need to review the technical capabilities of its staff to deliver a particular FIT concentration.
Some of the concentrations can be achieved by leveraging existing vendor-based curriculum your school may already be teaching. In these instances, depending on the concentration(s) being offered, educators may require technical certification training or upgrading to meet the standards set by vendors.
These technical certifications may include but are not limited to:
Cisco Networking AcademyCisco Networking Academy, a Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility program, is an IT skills and career-building program available to learning institutions and individuals worldwide.
To become a Cisco Networking Academy (free for education organisations), submit your application.
Cisco Networking Academy IT Essentials Instructor TrainingThis training opportunity enables educators to become qualified IT Essentials Cisco Networking Academy instructors. Training is provided by a Cisco Networking Academy Instructor training centre and can be offered remotely or in-person. Duration is approximately 40 hours. For more information, please contact [email protected].
To learn more about the Cisco Networking Academy, or email them at [email protected].
Discover how Cisco Networking Academy has impacted education in Canada.
CompTIA CTT+CompTIA offers the CompTIA Certified Trainer (CTT+) certification for instructors who want to verify they have attained a standard of excellence in the training field.
Registering Students
Student registration in the FIT program occurs when a student selects a FIT-approved course offered by their school. The lead FIT educator at the school then invites the student to the program.
Even though students are automatically registered as ‘FIT students’ upon entering a FIT approved course, it is only students who complete a course pathway (all the courses in the concentration) that are awarded a FIT certificate.
