CiscoNetworkingAcademy Program at a Glance
Cisco is committed to building healthier, stronger and more productive communities through strategic socialinvestment programs. These programs also lead to developing stable markets that help drive our own sustainability.
Overview
Cisco Networking Academy harnesses the two great equalizers in today’s world, education and the Internet, to teach Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills to students globally.Since its establishment in 1997, the program has delivered ICT training to more than 2.7 million students in more than 165 countries. By leveraging public-private partnerships, NetworkingAcademy reaches students from virtually every socioeconomic background and region and helps individuals to compete in the global marketplace.
Why Cisco
By equipping individuals with ICT skills, Cisco is addressing the growing need for networking talent on a global scale and helping to prepare the 21st century workforce of the future.Leveraging its business acumen and expertise in networking technology, Cisco offers consistent and quality networking curriculum in an accessible e-learning environment.
Background
NetworkingAcademy has developed a global partnership network to accomplish the following:
●Extend quality technology education to underserved areas
●Empower people to realize their potential and achieve greater prosperity
●Support the development of a global knowledge-based economy
●Encourage long-term, sustainable economic growth
NetworkingAcademy is globally consistent and locally relevant. Students around the world receive the same quality of education through e-learning curricula, hands-on labs, and online assessments; and academies can tailor the instruction or adopt translated versions of the curricula to meet local needs.
The program utilizes a comprehensive and sustainable approach to education based on four key elements:
●Courses: Offers 13 courses (14 as of July 2009) to support students of varying backgrounds, interests, and objectives. Courses are delivered in learning environments that blend online curricula, classroom instruction, and interactive labs.
●Public-private partnerships: Collaborates with educational institutions, government agencies, nonprofits, NGOs, and businesses to improve the quality and accessibility of the NetworkingAcademy curricula, encourage workforce development, and help students succeed during and after their studies.
●Infrastructure: With an advanced data-management system, processes nearly one million assessments each month and the Academy Connection portal receives approximately 4 million visits monthly.
●Program design:Continually measures student progress, outcomes, and objectives to help ensure that students have the resources needed to accomplish their goals.
Impact and Updates (Fiscal Year 2009)
- Reaches students globally in over 165 countries
- Over 750,000 active students, over 2.7 million students enrolled since the program began
- 9000 participating academies teach consistent, quality ICT curriculum
- Out of 2,219 academies in the US, 31% are community colleges
- Crosses institutional, cultural, linguistic, gender, and age boundaries, 19% female students active globally
- Infrastructure supports as many as 1 million assessments a month and operates 24/7
- Academy Connection web portal delivers information and management tools to a global community, receiving 4 million visitors monthly
- Courses have been translated into all six U.N. languages and 12 other languages to date
- All students who complete coursework are prepared to obtain standard industry certifications
- Online virtual skills competitions and games engage students on a global scale, involving students in 148 countries, with over 3,282 participating students and alumni (2008 competition)
- In a survey completed by students who had completed the Networking Academy program,results show that88% percent say they use the skills they learned in academy courses on aroutine basis, 73% of respondents plan to pursue additional ICT education, and 48% say Networking Academy coursework has had a positive impact on their attaining a new job.*
- Benefits of the Curriculum
-Provides ICT skills to diverse student ages ranging from 12 to nearly 90
-Consistent curricula available on every continent
-Develops workforce and provides economic opportunity and growth
-Provides a continuum of feedback via instructor/student community for continuous improvement
-Helps students “learn how to learn” through hands on experience and realistic simulation
- Benefits of NetworkingAcademy e-Learning Community
-Helps people transcend challenging circumstances regardless of economic background
-Helps build local economies and contributes to local business talent
-Provides entrepreneurial opportunities
-Fosters government and education partnerships
-Enables a global online student community to learn, collaborate, compete and network socially
“We’re moving from an agricultural economy to a knowledge economy.The new economy will reward thosethat can move quickly. Our 2-year colleges are tied very closely with industry and work with about 2000 businesses a year. (Cisco) Academy really is a model program for providingthe technical skills needed for new economy jobs. And because it’s standardized, you have the same standard throughout the state and the nation.”
Dr. Ed Franklin, Executive Director and CEO, Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges
For more information
To learn more, please visit
* These survey results may not be typical of the overall NetworkingAcademy student population