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Instructor Training Campaign - Spring 2021

In the first semester of 2020-2021 about 100 Belgian Cisco Academy instructors received professional training in various technology domains: Networking and Internet, Cyber Security, IT Essentials, DevOps and Python programming. 

Part Two of the Instructor Training Campaign will start very soon and is running from February until April. Belgian IT Academy Support Center (BiASC) will again be an active partner, and we hope that about 100 Belgian participants will attend the online professional training.

It is time now to register for the Networking Academy Instructor Training Program.

• Free of charge
• Remote
• Running from February to April 2021
• There is limited availability, so make sure to confirm your spot

Register for your Instructor Training here
La formation des instructeurs se fera également en langue française
If you have questions, write an email to Yvan Rooseleer <yvan.rooseleer@biasc.be>

Cisco CSR Report 2020

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Belgian IT Academy Support Center (BIASC) was founded to support Networking Academies. As such BiASC is a partner of Cisco CSR. We appreciate it that Cisco CSR has proven to be a trustworthy partner, providing the necessary knowledge and skills to the world of education with no direct commercial intention.

Cisco CSR Report
URL: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/m/en_us/about/csr/esg-hub/_pdf/csr-report-2020.pdf

Context
Cisco is a worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet, and inspires new possibilities by reimagining applications, securing data, transforming IT infrastructure, and empowering teams for a global and inclusive future. Cisco CSR is responsible for the Networking Academy Program for education. As a leading technology company, Cisco is committed to offering inclusive access to digital skills training and supporting those who use technology to educate. 

Message from Chuck Robins, Cisco CEO
At Cisco, we believe in the power of technology and what it makes possible. During this pandemic, we’ve witnessed how technology has helped us reimagine our lives, become a critical lifeline for businesses, and connect our world—ensuring children continue to learn, providing people access to healthcare, allowing businesses to operate, and helping loved ones to stay close even if physically apart. Cisco sits at the heart of so many of these connections—helping keep our customers, partners, and employees safe, secure,  and productive in this new world. Now more than ever, we believe that technology can be used for good to provide an opportunity for all, make a meaningful impact, and bring about a future that is better and brighter than the reality of today.

 

Tips & Tricks for NetAcad Instructors

In the recent presentation from IPD Week you will find a lot of useful tips and tricks:

• How to request help from the support desk?
• How to report an error in Packet Tracer?
• What to do if you discover an error in a course or in a test?
• How to generate course certificate?
• How about certification discounts?

Powerpoint Presentation
PPT: Download NetAcad Wizard_Tips & Tricks Oct 2020

More references
NetAcad FAQ Page: https://netacad.com/portal/faq-page

 

Cisco dCloud Scripted Cloud Environment

Cisco Networking Academies have the possibility to use the Cisco dCloud virtual environment which is often used by Cisco in proof-of-concept activities. Anyone with a dCloud account (your NetAcad Login) can access dCloud for various labs. After creating an account and login click the Catalog tab to see what is available.

How to access Cisco's online demo center dCloud
More information about dCloud for Cisco Academies
URL: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18oPpsPD33UQoY4CIMeK-d0Pnls42HIfnR5buMkkFvzg/edit?usp=sharing

Discover dCloud and Create an Account based on your Cisco ID
URL: https://dcloud.cisco.com/

 

Ongoing Instructor Professional Development: IPD Week

As a member of Cisco Networking Academy & BiASC all NetAcad instrcutors receive information & training to update their knowledge, competences and skills. No professional IT Trainer can update knowledge, competences and skills without support.

On a regular basis we are offering online content which is relevant to instructors. The next week of information sharing is the week of 5 October 2020.

Planning IPD Week October 2020

Program Updates
Catch up on the latest strategies and products from Cisco Networking Academy
Technical Sessions
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

More information about the planning of IPD Week in 2020-2021: 
Download IPD Week Sep2020

NetAcad Platform Migration 2020: Learning Environment Only

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The Cisco NetAcad platform undergoes a thorough migration every ten years. In 2020 a major migration is going on which concerns the learning environment only. Here are a few notes to support NetAcad instructors.

Overview by Ben Jehring, NetAcad Platform Manager: Download NetAcad LMS Transition

What parts of the NetAcad platform are influenced by the transition?

• The migration only implies the learning environment. This is the part of the NetAcad platform where instructors activate tests and send messages to students. It is the part of the environment where students select what to do. Selecting course content modules or online tests are the main function of the learning platform for students.
• The migration does not influence the course content or the online tests. Course content and tests are managed outside from the learning environment.
• As courses become available in the new environment instructors can choose to create those courses in the New or Legacy Experience.
  • Legacy Experience courses are limited to 31 July 2021.
  • We advise instructors to select the New Experience.

Practical Introduction to DevOps Practices and Tools - DGTL-BRKCLD-1003

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The new Devnet Associate Networking Academy Course and the Industrial Certification are very much related to DevOps, a set of norms and practices that enables the flow of work from development through operations. Here is very good introduction with demos that actually work, taken from CiscoLive. You need to login to CiscoLive to watch the presentation. Enroll for the Cisco NetAcad Europe North Instructor Training Campaign and select the DevASC instructor training.

Contents of the presentation

DevOps practices and tools help IT organizations deploy software releases quicker and with higher quality. We know that there is no magic solution that will prevent bugs from ever happening. However, the tighter alignment of the various groups within the IT organization (i.e. Development, QA, Operations, InfoSec), will get us as close as possible to ideal deployments. DevOps practices and tools will enable your organization to achieve that alignment. This talk will discuss high-level DevOps concepts as well as the tools that DevOps practitioners are using to achieve their goals like containers, Kubernetes, and CI/CD piplines. This session will include numerous demonstrations of DevOps technologies to provide context and real-life examples.

Presenter
Christopher Jackson, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Original Session: Cisco Live 2020 Barcelona

 

URL
https://www.ciscolive.com/global/on-demand-library.html?search=BRKCLD-1003#/session/1573153538639001JjnfHyperlink
Log into CiscoLive

 

Further Reading

Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale

• Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky, B. O'Reilly
• Published 2014
• Engineering
• URL: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Lean-Enterprise%3A-How-High-Performance-Organizations-Humble-Molesky/4dc17904c4161d1063fb6f86c853cd2129a9b5b8

The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

• Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
• BizBook Lab
• Published 15 okt. 2014
• 348 p.

The DevOps Handbook:: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations

• Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, John Willis
• IT Revolution Press
• 2016

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit 

• Mary Poppendieck, ‎Tom Poppendieck - 2003
• Addison-Wesley
• 2013

 

 

Advice: Course Start and End Dates 2020-2021

As published earlier, all Cisco Networking Academy are migrating to a new user experience. Only the learning management system is changing; the course content, hands-on labs and exams remain the same. Here are some more details regarding the course migration path.

By 11 December 2020 all NetAcad courses will have migrated to the new environment.
More information about the course migration: https://www.netacad.com/portal/platform-updates-hub

CCNA Release Starting 14 September 2020

On 14 September 2020, the first Career courses will become available in the new experience starting with CCNA 7: Introduction to Networks and CCNA 7: Switching, Routing, and Wireless Essentials. In the following weeks, additional Career and Complementary Courses will become available in the new experience. By 11 December 2020, all courses will be available in the new experience.

Course Archiving Arrives 1 September

Course archiving is a new feature that will allow you to focus on your in-progress courses and save time. Once archived, courses will no longer clutter up the I’m Learning, I’m Teaching, and I’m Managing pages, but are instead available via the Course Archive.

Please note that course archiving will affect all courses - not just Explore courses.

• See the details and learn how to get ready

DevNet Associate Course: Virtual Machine

Recently many Cisco courses have virtual machines to make it easier for instructors and students to do hands-on labs. For the DevNet Associate Course the DEVASC VM is available for instructors to be shared with students. It is good to know that the VM contains a Cisco Virtual Routers, behaving like a real-world router.

What is the DEVASC VM?

The DEVASC Lab VM is a custom-built VM based on Ubuntu 20.04 Linux with Mate Desktop environment.

This VM is used in most of the labs in this course, and brings all the software tools that students need to complete the labs:

• Python & Python modules
• VS Code
• git
• Chromium
• Postman
• Drawio
• Cisco Packet Tracer 7.4.0T for Network Automation
• Docker
• ssh  
• Ansible
• sshpass
• sqlitebrowser
• vim
• mc
• curl
• net-tools
• inetutils-traceroute
• tcptraceroute
• stunnel4
• htop
• VBoxGuestAdditions
• open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop vmfs-tools 

What is the CSR1000v VM?

The CSR1000v VM is a real-world Cisco software router (Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000v), with the modern IOS-XE operating system, running in a Virtual Machine.

New DevNet Associate Curriculum 2020

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This course introduces the methodologies and tools of modern software development, applied to the IT and Network operations. It covers a 360 view of the domain including microservices, testing, containers and DevOps, as well as securely automating infrastructures with Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

Learning Component Highlights
8 Modules with 6 Videos, 23 Hands-on Labs and 5 Cisco Packet Tracer Activities
The hands-on labs are based on a specific virtual machine containing software and tools to be installed on the computers of students and instructors.
8 Quizzes, 8 Module Exam, Practice Final Exam, Final Exam, Skills Based Assessment
Practice Exam for DEVASC Certification

Course Recognitions: Certificate of Completion, Letter of Merit, Digital Badge, Cert Voucher
Recommended Next Course: CCNA, CCNP or CyberOps Associate

Why DevNet Associate?

Software skills that transform IT infrastructure
The network is facing its biggest transformation yet. As networks increasingly become programmable and software-defined, now more than ever, IT teams need partnerships between network engineers, software developers, and cybersecurity professionals. Together, these professionals create integrated, secure infrastructures and exciting new innovations.

Develop software skills needed to become a vital part of today's IT teams. You’ll learn the best practices of modern software development practices, DevOps, and how to securely interact with Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to automate existing manual processes with only a few lines of code.

You’ll earn a Networking Academy badge for completing this course as well as prepare for the DevNet Associate (DEVASC 200-901) certification exam. Prior knowledge of PCAP: Programming Essentials in Python and CCNA: Introduction to Networks (ITN) or equivalent knowledge is recommended.

 

 

New Networking Academy Course Catalog - 2020

Cisco CSR has published the new Networking Academy Product Catalog with all new content and course updates. The product catalog offers a description of more than 30 Networking Academy courses and related tools. Most Cisco NetAcad courses focus on generic concepts, academic & technical skills and open standards. NetAcad courses aim at building skills, not just knowledge.

Presentation: Download English_NetAcad_Product_Catalog_July2020
French version: Download French_NetAcad_Product_Catalog_July2020

NetAcad Quality of assessments

Quality of assessments, secured activation feature, placement of new and existing assessments, and the current use of remote proctoring

CCNA v7

In the new Cisco NetAcad courses a lot of work has been done to increase the size of our item banks so that we are able to provide exam forms that vary the questions while still assessing the same key course concepts in a course. This minimizes item exposure and increases the confidence of student scores.

There is variation among the delivered forms to make students feel that they were working on entirely different forms from their classmates (i.e. to reduce cheating).

IT Essentials v7

In the ITE 7.0, certification checkpoint exams were added to assess knowledge from multiple chapters. 

ITEv7.0 also had multiple practice final, final and certification practice exams (one for Modules 1-9 and one for Modules 10-14) to align with the certifications.

 

 

 

 

Cisco NetAcad/ Nieuwe leeromgeving/ Invloed 2e examenzittijd/ ECTS-fiche

 

Alle NetAcad cursussen ondergaan momenteel een wijziging in de leeromgeving. De inhoud blijft echter meestal ongewijzigd.

 

De bestaande NetAcad cursussen kun je slechts tot 31 juli 2021 gebruiken. Cursussen die in september 2020 worden gecreëerd, vervallen ten laatste einde juli. Voor studenten die na 31 juli 2021 toegang nodig hebben, is het nodig een cursus met de new course experience te creëren.

 

=> Voor de hogescholen is het een goed idee om in de ECTS-fiche te schrijven dat de leeromgeving voor de tweede zittijd kan verschillen.  

 

Informatie over de nieuwe leeromgeving (new course experience):

URL: http://biasc.be/2020/08/netacad-new-course-experience.html

Archived Courses

NetAcad Overview 2020-2021

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NetAcad Overview 2020-2021

• Faces of the Cisco Networking Academy
• 2.15M Students Currently Enrolled Globally
• Why Cisco NetAcad  for Education?
• Cisco Networking Academy Partnership
• Cisco Networking Academy Ecosystem
• Delivery platform
• Skills-to-Jobs Learning Experience
• Networking Academy Curriculum Portfolio
• Course Learning & Career Pathways

PPT: Download English_July_2020_Product_Portfolio_Executive_Deck

 

NetAcad New Course Experience

All Cisco Networking Academy are migrated to a new user experience. However, only the learning management system is changing; the course content, hands-on labs and exams remain the same. The plan is to migrate every NetAcad course to the new environment by End October 2020. 

ADVICE: If you are keen on using the new course experience, create the course when the actual course has been migrated.

The new experience courses provide a cleaner and more unified user experience. There are more possibilities for instructors to customize content. Also, there are better ways to prevent cheating during exams have been put in place.

Main elements of the new course experience tour

• Introduction to Navigation
• Adding and Editing Content
• Tours and Tooltips
• Marking Students Complete
• Hiding and Revealing Content
• Advanced Quiz Settings
• New Quiz Question Types
• Adding Custom Assignments
• Grading Assignments
• Taking the Pulse with Polls and Surveys
• Fostering Collaboration

Self-guided video tours: https://www.netacad.com/portal/content/self-guided-tour

Presentation: Download NetAcad New Course Experience

REMARK
Legacy experience courses end on 31 July 2021. There is no way to extend the course. You have to recreate a course if it needs to be used after 31 July 2021.

DevNet Associate Update

DevNet Associate Course

This course introduces the methodologies and tools of modern software development, applied to the IT and Network operations. It covers a 360 view of the domain including microservices, testing, containers and DevOps, as well as securely automating infrastructures with Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

Learning Component Highlights:
8 Modules with 6 Videos, 23 Hands-on Labs and 5 Cisco Packet Tracer Activities
8 Quizzes, 8 Module Exam, Practice Final Exam, Final Exam, Skills Based Assessment
Practice Exam for DEVASC Certification

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NetAcad Presentation: Download DevNet Associate Course

NetAcad possible learning outcomes

NetAcad awareness that different instructors value possible learning outcomes differently

For example, there are cognitive (planning, analyzing, thinking), affective (emotional, social), and kinesthetic (physical hands-on, movement in a networking space) aspects to designing, configuring, and troubleshooting networks.

New CyberOps Associate Course

During the summer a new CyberOps Course will be released focussing on the new CyberOps Associate certification. BiASC is ready to support all Cisco Academies and instructors interested in CyberSecurity Operations.

The CyberOps Associate Course aligns with the new CBROPS 200-201 Certification Exam. The major difference between the previous CCNA CyberOps and the CyberOps Associate certification is the shift in the requirement for two exams to certify to one exam. The new, consolidated CyberOps Associate has been updated to cover the latest fundamentals for entry-level cybersecurity operations job roles (SOC analyst).

The course covers: Security concepts, security monitoring, host-based analysis, network intrusion analysis, and security policies and procedures. This includes some new topics such as: access control models for digital assets, malware analysis and interpretation, identifying protected data, and understanding key SOC metrics to expedite detection and containment of breaches. Networking fundamentals have been removed and are part of the CCNA certification.