Cisco Academy - Network Engineers

Cisco: Creating Model Students
by
Scott T. Jackson,
Published in Climate Magazine May-June 2000
Vol 11, Issue 3
(Index of Other Articles)

Two daunting realities of the information age are 1) the use of and connectivity to Internet is growing at a tremendous rate and 2) there is a worldwide shortage of high-tech personnel to handle the increasing demands of its growth. The upshot is that one of the principles means, labor, by which the pace of growth is fueled is in critical supply. Cisco, maker of the routers that make Internet connections possible has perhaps made its most important connection to date by helping to address this issue.

The means by which they are doing so is a model, which appeals to business owners and to their roles as parents who have an interest in their children becoming techno-savvy. It is often referred to as the Cisco Model in media and education circles however its identity is the Cisco Network Academy.

Faced with the shortage of information workers and the realization that America’s schools are struggling to supply the needed skills, compounded by the lack of basic technology for a direct Internet connection, the Cisco Network Academy was a community partnership solution. The Academy’s four-semester curriculum teaches high school, college and adult students how to design, build, and maintain computer networks of local, national and global organizations.

"The two fundamental equalizers in the global economy are the Internet and education," said John Chambers, president and CEO of Cisco Systems. "The Internet is creating unprecedented opportunities for businesses, individuals and governments and the winners will be those with the right skills and knowledge to compete. The Cisco Networking Academy Program imparts networking and Internet skills to the next generation," he continued. The three main benefits of this program:

There are three types of Academies: Local Academies, Regional Academies, and Cisco Academy Training Centers (CATCs).

Local Academies teach the curriculum to students. These are usually high schools/secondary schools and colleges, but can also be other nonprofit agencies with education programs.

Regional Academies support a number of Local Academies (usually at least 10) in their operation of the program. Regional Academies are usually colleges, but may also be high schools/secondary schools, education service centers, other nonprofit organizations, and even commercial entities. Regional Academies are the first line of defense for questions Local Academy instructors have about the curriculum, lab equipment, and the program in general. Regional Academy instructors also train and mentor Local Academy instructors in the operation of the program and the teaching of the curriculum.

CATCs are Cisco-selected Regional Academies that train instructors from other Regional Academies. CATC instructors get their program training directly from Cisco. CATCs are usually the most capable Regional Academies and are selected based on their accomplishments and on the need in a particular geography.

The reach of this program is formidable and even includes war-ravaged Bosnia. Presently the Cisco Network Academy program is in 3423 sites worldwide with 2617 in the US. Florida has 107 Academies with four of them in Northwest Florida. According to Cisco’s list of Academies, Pensacola Junior College is considered a Regional Academy while Gulf Coast Community College is both a regional and Local Academy. Advance Technology and the George Stone Area Vo-Tech Center are Local Academies. Regional Academies train the instructors for teaching assignments in the Local Academies.

The online portion of the curriculum contains four 70-hour blocks of study called "semesters," for a total of 280 hours. High schools/Secondary schools normally teach the entire 280 hours in two academic years, whereas colleges and universities typically use one academic year to deliver the entire curriculum. The two semesters cover basic network design, components, topologies and working with the Internet protocols. The final semesters address Wide-Area-Networks, advanced router configurations, network troubleshooting and a few other advanced topics. Although each Academy offers a standard curriculum, each school is allowed the latitude to customize its program to meet the needs of its population, infrastructure, and goals.

The online portion of the curriculum resides on a web server running Microsoft’s Windows NTâ operating system. Microsoft donates NT software to Academies, which then install the software on a PC they either have or purchase separately. Students using either PCs or Macs access the curriculum over a private web.

The curriculum assumes no prior knowledge of computers or networks on the part of the students. An eighth grade reading, writing, and math proficiency is expected, as well as a desire to learn the curriculum. Local Academy instructors will find it helpful to have basic computer literacy and a general knowledge of the Internet, but these are not absolutely necessary according to Cisco. Regional Academy and CATC instructors should not only possess basic computer literacy, but should also have a working knowledge of networking theory and practice.

Local Academies must source their own equipment while Cisco donates refurbished lab equipment to Regional Academies and to CATCs. Cisco also donates lab equipment to schools in officially recognized Empowerment Zones.

Students who complete the four Cisco semesters and pass the certification exam earn certification as a Cisco Certified Networking Associate, or CCNA.

Cisco believes that its CCNA certification will make a graduate very employable in an IT market presently holding 346,000 open positions and expected to grow (Information Technology Association of America study in January 1998). To help ensure that graduates have plenty of opportunities, Cisco requires its channel partners to have CCNA’s on its staff in order to achieve certain levels in its reseller program.

The Cisco Networking Academy program provides an additional certification as a Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP). Both CCNA and CCNP certifications are designed to meet employment standards for the networking industry. Cisco believes the popularity of these certificates will help increase enrollment in Networking Academy classes, which benefits schools of all types. Schools can also gain resources to help maintain their own internal networks, which saves them money. Schools further benefit from the knowledge that they are playing an important role in the preparation of 21^st century workers, which solves a critical problem around the world – the shortage of skilled network administrators and technicians.