When filmmakers get together to make a sequel to the hit movie that everyone watched last summer, they usually have a bigger budget, bigger ideas, and bigger ambitions. It's hard to make a good sequel, however, and sometimes the process is complicated beyond all reason by feedback from moviegoers, whose voices start to drown out everything that made the original special.

Strong feedback is critical, on the other hand, to IT certification and training course design. A good courseware provider relies on feedback from both students and educators to know what the product needs in order to take the user experience to the next level. Without that information, it's hard to know where the flaws are, or what should be added to the product.

The sequel to IT Fundamentals Pro, the "introduction to computers and information technology" course released by TestOut last year, made its debut on July 14, and it's clear that the new version is better than ever. According to a press release announcing version 2.0 of IT Fundamentals Pro, no expense was spared to flesh out and improve upon the initial offering.

Like any good sequel, IT Fundamentals Pro has taken everything to the next level, with "four times as much (course) content" as before: "We've loaded the course with content that introduces foundational and emerging topics like cybersecurity, networking, AI, coding, bitcoin, IoT, and many other opportunities that will develop student's passion for pursuing an IT pathway."

That sounds like a big win for everyone who was excited about IT Fundamentals Pro, which prepares IT beginners to take and pass both IT Fundamentals+ certification exam offered by tech industry association CompTIA, as well as TestOut's own IT Fundamentals Pro certification exam. Like its other certification exams, TestOut's ITF Pro exam is 100 percent performance-based.

TestOut's courses are delivered online via the company's LabSim learning platform, which itself was overhauled and upgraded this year. The convenience and versatility of LabSim makes TestOut courseware a double win for educational institutions, which can easily integrate LabSim with various learning management software solutions.

The high-fidelity hardware and software simulations that are part of every TestOut course are ideal for high schools and colleges with tight computer equipment budget. That can be a game changer, as noted in the new IT Fundamentals Pro press release by an existing TestOut customer.

"It's great for teachers who can't afford a lot of equipment because it's internet-based," said Lee Ann Pessoney, who teaches cybersecurity for Madison City Schools in Madison, Ala. "Students get the same experience as if they had their own labs, and it saves our school money."