Building bridges across the digital divide

Today many people firmly believe that the internet and education are the great drivers of change in the new century, as they are creating opportunities for people and countries to succeed by uniting the power of education and technology. Cisco Systems, among many other companies, they recognize the deficit faced by some nations and the lack of recognition of new technologies in education, which has generated a so-called digital divide where the least developed and poorest countries are left behind in the technological advance of the new century.

The future of countries is based on the domain of the "Information Economy" where professionals trained and specialized in the management of information technology are required; For them Cisco created in 1997 a program called Cisco Networking Academy Program in order to support the educational development and non-profit technological advancement of different countries. Through a partnership with leading educational institutions, governments and companies around the world, Cisco implemented an 8-semester, 560-hour class program where students are taught how to design, build, and maintain computer networks.

The program based on the E-learning model offers internet-based content with online exams, performance evaluation, practices, laboratories, trainings and instructor support. This model integrates communities, assessments and outcome measurement, encompasses the delivery of content in multiple formats, the management of the educational experience, a community of students, instructors, content developers and experts, creating an educational ecosystem that raises knowledge levels, serves as a business model for the internet economy and generates the workforce required for information.

With the program, students prepare to earn industry-standard certifications including Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and NetPlus+ among others. There are currently 6054 academies in 107 countries around the world.

The curriculum is distributed in eight semesters divided into two levels; semesters I through IV of the programme cover fundamental aspects of networking and are taught at the middle and higher education levels. The next four semesters focus on more advanced networks and are taught at the senior and graduate level. Module one proposes networking fundamentals, the second, routing theory and routing technologies, the third, advanced routing and switching, and the fourth project-based learning module.

The program is based on the CNAMS system (Cisco Networking Academy Management System) and has a hierarchical structure to ensure its quality, as well as to provide better attention to the academies involved. CNAMS use internet-based applications that allow students and instructors practical access to technology in education which becomes one of the objectives of the course and the mechanism of administration of the course. The management system allows students to access content in and out of classrooms, tour the curriculum at their personal pace, watch videos, take online exams in order to assess their comprehension and retention. This system also allows the instructor and Cisco to evaluate in concrete terms how the teaching-learning process is being carried out and thus improve the contents.

The program is taught to students from local academies, which in turn are technically guided and supported by regional academies that control a maximum of ten local institutions. These regional academies train teachers and supervise programs, which provide feedback to Cisco, through the CATCs (Cisco Academy Trainning Centers), on topics such as individual performance in school, the quality of the program, its effectiveness and the progress of students.

To become a program academy, it must obtain and maintain an active email and dedicated internet connection equal to 64Kb (DSO), assign one person as program coordinator, and at least two instructors to receive training on how to teach the program, which must prepare to receive the CCAI (Cisco Certified Academic Instructor) certification. The academy must not have more than three students per computer and these teams must meet minimum requirements established for it.

Latin American countries have successfully integrated into the program and the largest experience has been in Mexico where there are 79 academies and 2200 students. "I believe that the program contributes to inserting the professional in networks more quickly and efficiently into the world of work. Training times are reduced in the company and a lot is saved by making the recent graduate productive. In addition, the program contributes to students being motivated by their area given the great practical forum and case studies that are handled in the modules," says Eduardo García, Director of Technological Innovation at ITESM, Mexico.

There is also an address for each country in Latin America: