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🎒 Back to School with IBM Z: Educating the Next Generation of IBM Z Experts - Focusing on IBM's role in Mainframe education and training.

By Jade Walker posted Mon September 02, 2024 10:00 AM

  

In this post I thought it would be fun to take a look at the Educational Journey that is informing the next batch of experts for IBM Z.  I thought a fun way to do that would be to look back at my own journey on the platform and look at the badges and courses I've taking a long the way:

I took some screenshots of my credly dashboard to visually show the progression:

The best way to view this is to start in the Bottom Right Corner and read 'Right to Left'.
MyInnerGenius
This was the start of it all.  When I decided that I wanted to start my path of the IBM Z journey, for me this path started with an assessment on the platform MyInnerGenius.
IBM New Collar Professional Skills
I personally loved this course.  It really gave me an overview & understanding of IBM professional thinking and IBM growth behaviors.
COBOL Programming w/ VS Code
Another favorite of mine.  My friends and IBM Community colleagues co-designed & authored this course - Sudharsana Srinivasan and Hartanto Ario Widjaya.
Master The Mainframe (Now Z Xplore)
Another great resource and skill builder.
Enterprise Design Thinking
This course will show you how to use iterative thinking to turns Ideas into outcomes.
IBM Agile Explorer
Learning Agile is a must.  I don't know too many Enterprise Tech Shops that don't use Agile.
My first IBM Z Community Contributor Badge
My first community badge!  If you'd like to be an IBM Z Community Contributor or Advocate visit: IBM Z Advocacy Hub

Before I end this post, it's hard not to mention Mainframe Education without mentioning Dr. Cameron Seay (THE MAINFRAME LEARNING CONSORTIUM (THEMLC)) & Darren Surch (INTERSKILL LEARNING)!
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Comments

dave dave
Sun April 20, 2025 04:44 PM

Thanks for sharing your journey—really inspiring to see how you pieced everything together from MyInnerGenius to Agile Explorer. I’m currently working on integrating IBM Z education into a broader learning initiative through SchoologyLAUSD, and your roadmap gave me a lot of ideas for how to guide students or early-career professionals through this path.


Love that you mentioned Z Xplore and the Credly badges—I’ve been encouraging learners to start there too. Also, shoutout to Dr. Cameron Seay and Darren Surch—huge contributors to the space! 🙌


Curious: have you had any experience tailoring this kind of IBM Z path for younger students (high school/early college)? Would love to hear how you’d approach that.


Thanks again!