Web 2.0 Featured Article

Cisco's Online Games Target Networking Professionals

By Vivek Naik, TMCnet Contributor

Cisco’s learning@Cisco (News - Alert) reportedly is launching an array of online games that are designed to test networking professionals by challenging their depth of knowledge, and a series of e-learning tutorials for potential programmers.

 

The e-courses have integrated online labs that feature Cisco’s past architectures and current applications, and allow students and professionals to fine tune and test their skills. The games and e-courses provide assessments at the conclusion of each completed activity that inform candidates of their current skill levels. Cisco has even gone one step further by recently introducing self assessments that are available on the Cisco Learning Network.

 

“With over 9 million page views since its launch in June 2008, the Cisco Learning Network is quickly becoming an important tool for education and collaboration in the Cisco community,” said Jeanne Beliveau Dunn, general manager at Learning@Cisco. “These new deployments will support the learning and development of current and future network professionals.”

 

All these innovative measures are being introduced to help current and potential networking professionals to match up to Cisco’s standards so that they clear certification tests in preferably the first attempt.

 

Certificates are slowly but surely becoming the standout differentiator that secures jobs for individuals since companies are more inclined and biased to contract certified individuals.

 

A recent IDC (News - Alert) report claims the 66 percent of managers are convinced that Information Technology certificates improve the quality level of service and support to customers and their end users, and 75 percent claim that certifications are critical to team performance.

 

“As network technology rapidly evolves, demand will continue to grow for qualified individuals with the skills and experience to build, troubleshoot and repair networks and infrastructure,” said Dunn.

 

Cisco launched its Mind Share Game, which is a 75 stage, 15 topic experience and runs interactive video content that has striking resemblance with contemporary and popular computer games. It covers more than 50 percent of Cisco’s CCENT certification syllabus, is seen as an awareness mechanism, and includes e-learning for Media Access Control, addressing, switch behavior and Internet Protocol subnetting.

 

“Enterprises are increasingly adopting Web 2.0 collaboration tools to appeal to a new generation entering the workforce that grew up immersed in social media technologies,” said Lisa Rowan, director HR, Learning, and Talent Strategies research IDC. “Training will need to follow suit by incorporating interactivity and gaming to be relevant to this new workforce.”

 

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Vivek Naik is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Vivek's articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Michael Dinan