Academies Are Adopting NEW Courses

Cisco has expanded the Networking Academy curriculum to include courses sponsored by IT industry leaders providing students with comprehensive Internet technology skills. This new school year brings two new Sponsored Curriculum courses: Fundamentals of UNIX, sponsored by Sun Microsystems, and Fundamentals of Web Design, sponsored by Adobe Systems.

These new courses offer Cisco Networking Academy students the opportunity to specialize in UNIX and Web Design training and prepare for jobs in the Internet Economy. Students will receive real hands-on experience in topics such as: the UNIX operating system, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and much more!

Many Academies have started implementing the new courses. Here are just a few Academies and instructors who would like to share their stories and best practices.

Glenville High School

Cisco Networking Academy instructor, Dan McMillan, realized that he did not have any trouble getting enrollment when his Academy, Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio, offered the new Adobe sponsored Fundamentals of Web Design course. Within the second week of school, there were students trying to enroll in his already full class.

Dan is teaching the course in a more interactive way, allowing students to explore all the possibilities of building a web page. The hands-on exercises include evaluating web sites, seeing how they work and building actual web pages.

"I have very little trouble motivating my students. They're really pushing me and want to learn to do this and that. Kids spend so much time looking at the web, they want to know how it works," Dan says.

University of Wisconsin - Stout

John Burningham, an instructor at University of Wisconsin - Stout, was ready to develop his own UNIX course for his Academy students. And when he had heard that Cisco was partnering with Sun Microsystems to offer the Fundamentals of UNIX course, he was ecstatic.

"It fits right into what we wanted to do," he says.

John has found the Fundamentals of UNIX course hands-on labs to be invaluable for his students. He devotes his lecture time to go over new material and review problems on online exams. He then breaks his class into smaller groups to work on labs.

John saw a need for his students to learn UNIX skills. "Our decision to offer the course was based upon what we felt was an important need to have UNIX experience within the degree program," John said.

The School District of Philadelphia

The School District of Philadelphia was excited to deliver the Fundamentals of Web Design course to the 11th to 12th grade students. Chris Tully, a Cisco Networking Academy Instructor, included multimedia and video production into the course. Another Academy Instructor, Al Ozer, incorporated the Adobe curriculum into a 12th grade, community-based project where the students gather information from local businesses, government and residents to create a web site for community use.

Anne Urevick, a Cisco Regional Administrator, recruits and trains instructors to teach the Adobe applications. In training, instructors complete the prescribed Cisco training and during their summer boot camp, they work together to create their own individual web sites. Lorraine Bell, an Adobe Project Leader, works with her team to support each other.

"As long as we provide a collegial, supportive environment, the proper tools and goals, there will always be more people wanting to be part of the program," Anne said.

Currently, Sponsored Curriculum is being taught in English by Networking Academies in the U.S. and in selected sites internationally. For more information, please visit:
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/edu/academy/overview/curriculum