----- Original Message ----- From: "Priscilla Oppenheimer" To: Sent: 09 August 2002 5:57 pm Subject: Re: Notes on salaries [7:51052]
> > The key, we have found, is to be selective in the students you > > allow into > > the program. > > Sure you can be selective in the students allowed into the program. Then you > get smart, well-to-do students who are probably going to go on to college > and not immediately get a job configuring routers. So, while they could have > been studying AP Math, Chemistry, etc., they have learned the file naming > convention for Cisco IOS images. Very useful thing to know as a college > student. > I'm probably mixing subthreads here. Sorry about that. If you're capable of understanding data networking (as sharply contrasted with merely the capability to correctly configure participating intermediate systems) at age 12, or even in high school, and you're relying on your coursework as your primary source of information about math & chemistry, you're usually squandering whatever potential you seem to exhibit. Then again (Out of respect for intellectual property rights, I'm forced to rely upon secondhand reports such as those posted to online communities such as this one), it seems as if much of the program's content is readily gleaned by those individuals without the benefit of participation in the program itself. > The program was meant to be a vocational program for students who will work > out of high school. It doesn't work for those students. They don't have the > requisite reading skills, problem-solving skills, or analytical abilities. > > High school brains are not well developed, in general. In the case of the > vocational students, their brains just can't handle networking concepts in > many cases. > > The small percentage of high school students that the program works for are > the smart students who will work part-time while in college and may find a > job doing networking instead of working in the dorm cafeteria. That's a > really small number of people. As you point out, it's sort of arbitrary. Violent reactions to non-decimal numbering systems and an unflinching determination to oversimplify & invalidly categorize newly received information, as well as a profound lack of understanding of the fundamental concepts you enumerated, might be quenched before they emerge if those skills are actually developed during the course of prior interactions with formal education (or, for efficiency's sake, less cumbersome methods). > At high schools where there is a shortages of resources, teachers, etc., > Cisco Networking Academy is a waste. Waste might be a bit strong. A bigger danger would come when brief exposure to fundamentals leads people to overestimate their ability to understand and deal with situations that don't identically correspond to instructional scenarios they were spoon-fed (we'll call it "fresh-out-of-college-CS-major-with-no-real-world-experience-and-only-progra mming-skills-who-insist-that-their-academic-credentials-entitle-them-to-high -level-networking-jobs-and-attendant-respect" syndrome). Cf. Alexander Pope & musings on pierian (sp?) springs. >Instead of teaching the vocational > students file naming conventions, subnet masking, OSI, etc. etc., why not > teach them something they can actually be good at and use on the outside > right out of high school, such as tech support, hardware configuration and > repair, desktop support, etc. It remains an executive-level fantasy that, as skills associated with data communications become commoditized, that many associated activities will become entirely deterministic/cookie-cutter, thereby lowering the skill level necessary to perform such tasks. As usual, their coarse & vehemently unreflective approach prevents them from taking advantage of any truth that might be found within the conceptual confines of the oversimplifications they so deeply cherish & swear by. Example: the 1st person who takes an IT support call could (in many cases) be trained to enable a switch port and hardcode duplex & speed settings, but the wisdom required to know whether they should, or how to troubleshoot unexpected consequences might not be as readily disseminated. A better example from another realm would involve DNS record changes. I'd agree that the skills you mentioned would constitute a better choice in the relevant forums, but for a different reason: the need for a greater percentage of well-rounded networking professionals, who understand technologies commonly delegated to different individuals within an IT organizations, such as operating systems, messaging, microcomputer hardware & many other topics. > Of course, your situation may be very different from what we have here in > Southern Oregon. > > Priscilla > > > Without that, it can indeed be a very difficult > > curriculum > > to teach at the high school level. > > > > Prof. Tom Lisa, CCAI > > Community College of Southern Nevada > > Cisco ATC/Regional Networking Academy > > > > > > > > Priscilla Oppenheimer wrote: > > > > > Robert D. Cluett wrote: > > > > > > > > I like this statement.... > > > > > > > > "Times have changed, he said. Six years ago the technology > > was > > > > complex. > > > > Certification was important because it told an employer and > > > > customers that > > > > the certified professional could find his way around > > > > complicated networks. > > > > But now networks are easier to install and maintain. > > > > "Now they've dumbed it down to the point where a 12-year-old > > > > can install a > > > > Cisco router," Mazurek said. > > > > > > That's ridiculous, to put it bluntly. :-) The technology > > becomes more > > > complex every year. > > > > > > > > > > > Mazurek says that he pays little attention to certification > > > > when he is > > > > hiring. It is experience that matters to him. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - A 12 year old, huh? > > > > > > Hey, I have experience trying to teach Cisco Networking > > Academy at the high > > > school level. It doesn't work. Many of the students didn't > > even have the > > > reading skills to follow the materials, let alone the > > sophisticated brain > > > CPU power required to understand the concepts. Only a few of > > the math whiz > > > types even got subnet maksing, and they don't plan to install > > routers for a > > > living. They plan to be computer scientists. > > > > > > Cisco Networking Academy does work at the college level, > > though. > > > > > > Priscilla > > > > > > > > > > > wrote in message > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > > > > > From the web...just posted for dicussion fodder, I'm not > > > > making any > > > > > statements here or trying to discourage anyone... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid7_gci8434 > > > > 00,00.html Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=51168&t=51052 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
