Schools

Ballston IT Company Donates Laptops to Arlington Career Center

Innovative Defense Technologies developing partnership with school.

Representatives of a Ballston-based IT company met with Jeff Elkner of the Arlington Career Center and the Governor's Career & Technical Academy this week to donate laptops and discuss partnership opportunities.

Innovative Defense Technologies, or IDT, is a business at 4401 Wilson Blvd. that specializes in software testing for the Defense Department. Elkner is a computer science and math teacher who has gained attention for being an open-source educator, using free software to teach entire courses.

IDT donated five laptops, three laptop cases and a book on automated software testing written by three of its employees.

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The programs Elkner teaches at Arlington Career Center and the Governor's Career & Technical Academy offers hands-on experience, industry certifications and college credit at Northern Virginia Community College, according to a news release.

Elkner has "a heart of gold," said IDT spokeswoman Janice Voth in an email. He has a vision of providing laptops for students to use throughout the year.

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Elkner began using donated equipment not long after coming to Arlington Public Schools in 1996.

After being in Arlington about two years, he was given the opportunity to teach a computer science course at Yorktown High School using entirely donated equipment, according to Red Hat magazine.

After donating the equipment, IDT representatives discussed student internship opportunities with Elkner.

Going forward, the company hopes to share its expertise in automated software testing with interested students, the release states.


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