Teaching Digital blog

Photo Credit: Alex Gittings Alex Gittings – graduated from Birmingham City University after studying computer networking courses provided by Cisco Networking Academy. Also gaining industry experience having completed a prosperous placement at Cisco’s internship program. He had experienced a pretty standard education path – from High School, then Sixth Form to University. A few years on and now he is a full-time Professional Services Consultant at Axians UK. His role consists of being a trusted advisor for customers with automation requirements, operating alongside pre-sales to identify customers’ needs and delivering technical advice, working with big enterprise accounts such as BT, to assist with network migration, conducting multiple network automation projects and so much more.  So, how did Alex get to where he is today? IT Education of The Past During his years completing A Levels at Cheslyn Hay High School’s Sixth Form, he had picked three subjects: IT, Media and PE (Physical ...

Cisco Networking Academy programme has already trained more than 2 million Europeans. Be ready, our European NetAcad stories will be out soon. #staytuned Visit the main programme site: www.netacad.com

One of my favorite sayings from a dear friend of mine is “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes – that way you can begin to understand their experience.” Most of us have heard a simpler version of this idiom, but I think it’s especially poignant today, International Day of Persons with Disabilities – a day to not only increase awareness of what people with disabilities experience, but to honor their experiences and achievements.  One billion people , or 15 percent of the world’s population, experience a disability, and rates of disability are increasing. Disabilities take many forms, including physical disability, autism spectrum disorder, vision impairment, and mental health conditions. People with disabilities are much more likely to live in poverty than persons without disabilities. In the United States alone, they are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than those without a disability. The reason: societal barriers such as discrimination, limited access to education an...

Women Rock-IT is helping to push the boundaries with technology.  We are very fortunate to have Lisa Lang the founder and CEO of ThePowerHouse Group and Emmastella Gakuo the Co-Founder of Savanna Circuit Tech, be our keynote speakers for this event. By signing up to this event you will receive benefits such as: Learn the benefits of a technology career Be connected to successful female role models Learn how job seekers can switch to a more fulfilling career Start a new journey right after attending this session with our self-study courses Women Rock IT isn't just for those who have a passion within the IT industry it's about finding what pushed these inspirational Women every day to get to where they are today. This talk is about helping to build a clear pathway for our future, it’s about helping the next generation and helping to create a meaningful journey. You will get an insight into Cisco and the work that you can see being done to help empower each individual. Register fo...

October is the celebration of Black History. It is an opportunity for all to take awareness and learn about the rich history that shapes everyone’s lives today. Not only to learn more about the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Civil Rights Movement in America and its prominent figures such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks, but to also connect with someone of African heritage and discover more about the vibrancy of their culture, from the language, music, food, innovations and so much more that expresses their way of life and amazing achievements. We so often talk about slavery but not enough about the bravery of people who are making a difference in the face of challenges. This final week of Black History Month, we would like to celebrate two instructors that have been nurturing our future generations for many years with digital literacy and skills that are required now more than ever. Through their dedication to the field, they have imparted essential knowl...

  During this year's European Cybersecurity Month we would like to invite you to the two-days virtual event “ The Importance of Cyber Security Skills in Today’s EU Job Market ”, that will take place on October 28th -29th 2020. The aim of this event is to take stock of the situation regarding the cyber security skills that are missing in the current and future European labour market, and to reflect about what are the strategies to be implemented at the educational level to fill the gaps. The event is mainly addressed at teachers and digital sector professionals. On October 28th, you'll be able to listen to high-level speeches from Cisco, European Commission and Enisa about EU's strategy for digital skills and which are the activities that could be implemented to create awareness and competences among young students and professionals. On October 29th, Cisco Networking Academy Instructors will lead cyber security labs. Register now (it's the same link for both days, so yo...

This European Cyber Security Month  (ECSM), we would like to highlight someone very exceptional – Cisco Networking Academy instructor Rebecca Harrop. Rebecca plays a vital role in the education of professional Network and Cyber Security personnel. As a key educator of Network and Cyber Security in the UK, her work continues to help bridge the Cyber Security skills-gap. Rebecca is a specialist in computer networking and security, and senior lecturer of cybersecurity at the University of Bedfordshire. She is also an associate lecturer in computer networking, cybersecurity micro credential consultant, and co-author with the Open University. She has trained and inspired thousands of students on their pathways to becoming IT Technicians, Network and Security Engineers and SOC Analysts. This year she celebrates her 20th year as a Cisco Networking Academy instructor. Rebecca was a long-standing manager of a Cisco Networking Academy and Cybersecurity lab at Barnet and Southgate College. Re...

Today 28th September 2020, the government has added over 60 new courses to The Skills Toolkit from top quality providers including Cisco, The Open University, and others. With an even wider range of free, high quality digital and numeracy courses, and the addition of new employability and work readiness courses, the online platform gives people the opportunity to build up their skills, progress in work and boost their job prospects. From computer essentials and practical maths to digital marketing, coding, leadership and project management, there’s something for everyone. Cisco Networking Academy is making available 3 Coding courses: Programming Essentials in Python, Programming Essentials in C and Programming Essentials in C++. Learn more about this initiative here: www.teachingdigital.org/initiatives/the-skills-toolkit  

  Please join NetAcad's Technical Field Engagement Team online next week for Instructor Professional Development (IPD) week , 5-9 October 2020 . IPD Week provides NetAcad Instructors the opportunity to stay updated with the latest from Cisco Networking Academy. Enjoy programme updates and valuable technical sessions from experts. Programme Updates - Keep up with the latest from Cisco Networking Academy by joining one of these sessions. Topics include curriculum releases, new netacad.com features, equipment updates and much more! Technical Sessions Topics will include: Security Onion Deep Dive Introduction to Cloud Calling Platform Update - New Experience Phase 2 Building Application using Distributed Systems Approach Are you a NetAcad Wizard? Tips and Tricks in NetAcad Web Application and API Security using Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) TOP 10 Working Remotely: When your Home becomes your Office Packet Tracer Activity Wizard & many more localized sessions! If ...

During this years' National Coding Week, we're making the NetAcad course Programming Essentials in Python available for anyone. The Programming Essentials in Python course, is two courses rolled into one student experience: Part 1 - is focused on procedural programming principles; Part 2 - extends this, developing the students' understanding of object oriented programming. Both are linked to optional career certifications.

Community Testing of PT-Anywhere during June/July 2020 The Open University, in collaboration with Cisco Networking Academy, created PT-Anywhere - a remote, HTML5 version of the Packet Tracer simulator. This offered students and teachers the opportunity to use Packet Tracer without installing anything on their desktop computers or smart devices as part of an integrated learning experience. Funded by the UFITrust, the course Discovering Computer Networks was created and released late 2019,  hosting 28 different remote Packet Tracer based micro-lab activities. The OU are now working on improving the experience for vision impaired students, ensuring that the technology will work with commonplace operating systems based screen readers and NVDA . For more information, please follow this link .

Since its launch on 28th April 2020, roughly a month ago, The Skills Toolkit brought thousands of participants to the Cisco Networking Academy Programming Essentials in Python course. Today, the Government added a few new courses, one of which being the Discovering Computer Networks: hands on in the Open Networking Lab . Developed by The Open University with Cisco 's support, and funded by Ufi charitable trust , it's a great starting point to learn about networking. Visit https://bit.ly/2zIBXSh to learn more about this exciting course.