The @OpenUniversity Way of Teaching @CiscoNetAcad @OUCisco Courses - #wysd #ciscochat ...

The social media team will be busy tweeting today as part of their twitter chat for the UN World Skills Day. They asked me to share how we teach Cisco Networking 'skills' at the Open University. We have adapted the Cisco Academy programme to fit our blended distance learning model; where 400-600 students study with us each year on the CCNA, CCNP and CCNA-Security.

Keeping it straightforward, we observe three P's, practice, principle and professionalism.

Practice:
We ensure all students gain practical experience, through extensive use of Packet Tracer and remote labs on live Cisco technology via Netlab. This is supported by four bespoke day schools, each designed to condense the lab activities and present a practical experience.
Principle:
The Cisco theory and engineering challenges are all wrapped up inside our own assignments. We have taken the skills based assessment alongside the chapter and final exams and created a harmony of continuous assessment using Cisco skills while also including our own academic expectations. Few of our students realise that the assignments visit many of the Cisco skills based assessment expectations.
Professionalism:
Everything is aimed towards gaining degree credit and the appropriate Cisco certification for the module. By the end, if a student has put in effort, they should be able to walk into a test centre and gain the certification. Professionally the industry is looking for graduates, but they are also looking for the Cisco certifications.


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