Cisco modifies Networking Academy courses

Cisco Systems Inc. is beefing up its Networking Academy curriculum to make it more attractive to high school and university students - but the company faces an uphill battle, as IT education slips in popularity. Cisco started the Networking Academy in 1997. It's a set of courses that the company gives to educational institutions to teach computing and Internet basics, as well as advanced concepts such as wireless networking and LAN configuration. Many Canadian provinces work Networking Academy courses into their secondary school accreditation systems, while colleges and universities use the curriculum to bolster diploma and applied-degree classes."We have close to 300 Networking Academies in Canada," says Anne Miller, Cisco's Canadian education marketing manager. London ON's University of Western Ontario, the New Brunswick Community College in Moncton, and the Scarborough Academy for Technological, Environmental and Computer education (SATEC) at W.A. Porter Collegiate Institute in Toronto are among the participating schools.In July Cisco developed separate streams for various age groups and interests. The new Discovery curriculum is designed for people with a Grade 8 to 12 reading level interested in SOHO and SMB networking, while the new Exploration course is for folks entering or enrolled in universities and colleges, aiming to manage enterprise networks.Cisco recently introduced new wireless and security programs, and it changed the course's computer interface to make the whole process more interesting for students.Interest is a sticking point. Students seem less keen on IT careers, perhaps thanks in part to the sector's boom-bust history. Networking Academy interest has slipped in Canada and the US since it peaked in 2003.According to Amy Christen, the Networking Academy's executive overseer in San Jose CA, kids view technology as a boring yet risky career path - nothing but zeros, ones and command-line interfaces coupled with the ever-present threat of downsizing. But people confuse basic technical courses with the broader and potentially more marketable skills of ICT, which the Networking Academy aims to provide, Christen says. "It's up to us to teach the market it's much more."In one new Networking Academy curriculum module on IT relevance, students learn that information and communication technology applies to all sorts of industries, including manufacturing, media and entertainment. Doctors can use ICT skills to improve patient care. Newspapers need ICT to get the word out. ICT has as much to do with specific businesses as technical know-how, and it's becoming a management-level concern for many companies. "You're not going to be stuck in a wiring closet," Christen says.Students in developing nations seem to get the message. Networking Academy enrolment in emerging markets such as Africa and Asia has increased while North American enrolment has dipped. Now more than 50% of Cisco's Networking Academy learners reside in developing countries.But the picture closer to home is brightening. Christen says Cisco expects enrolment to drop a mere 5% in 2007 in Canada and the US - it's not growth, but at least it's no terrible slide.What does Cisco get out of this? In the long term, the company seeds the market with a half-decent workforce. But that's a nebulous goal. In the short term, the firm gets its warm-and-fuzzies from helping people learn about an important aspect of modern life: computers and networking. And Cisco also gets the kudos of corporate responsibility.Telecom, IT and network managers, meanwhile, get some assurance that high school and post-secondary students have the opportunity to understand at least the basics of computer and network management. At worst, that spells a future savvy user group capable of managing some of their own computing needs, leaving the IT department to focus on technological strategy and business advancement. In the best case, however, the Networking Academy could educate the next generation of IT managers - if the recent curriculum changes help boost interest in the IT career path, as Cisco hopes it will.

Cisco modifies Networking Academy courses

News | 08/27/2007 3:47 pm EDT

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