Allie
What is a Cisco Academy and what purpose does it serve?
If you’re not necessarily the computer savvy type you may be asking yourself these questions. The Towson Regional Cisco Academy supports local academies in several Maryland counties, Washington DC and Baltimore City. As a Regional, Towson helps facilitate the process of starting and maintaining a Cisco Academy program, advising administrators and instructors, and providing training and assessment tools. This summer, for 2 consecutive weeks, both new and experienced Cisco instructors will develop lessons using the new IT Essentials 4.1 curriculum, as well as participate in a workshop aimed at embedding skills needed for success on certification tests in Academy instruction.
What is the importance of a Cisco Regional Academy?
Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Organizations around the world are experiencing a shortage of qualified candidates to fill a growing number of networking positions in virtually every industry. The Cisco Academy is an innovative global education initiative that delivers information and IT skills to help meet this growing demand while improving career and educational opportunities for students around the world.
Why is it vital to the State of 
Maryland that Towson is a Regional Cisco Academy?
The Maryland State Department of Education recognizes Cisco Academy programs as a crucial part of the IT skills pathway in Maryland schools. Students can pursue a Network Engineer Pathway leading to CCENT and/or CCNA certification, or a Computer and Network Support Pathway leading to A+ and/or CCENT certification. From these high school pathways, students can extend their learning into fields like information security and wireless, and pursue two- and four-year college programs to advanced degrees.
What courses are being offered this summer at Towson’s Regional Cisco Academy?
There are 2 courses that are being offered over the 2 week period at Towson; Instructional practices that Support Cisco Academy Student Certification Success and IT Essentials new instructor training. The IT Essentials is comprised of practical experience and instructional design to prepare instructors to teach the IT Essentials: PC Hardware and Software v4.1 curriculum. Training includes theory and hands-on labs and simulations designed for participants to master the course content, which aligns with new CompTIA A+ certification exams.
Guest Blogger
Bobbie Laur
Sharyn Grove
Jeremy Monn
Raquel Frye
Clay Hickson
Dawn Bott
Lindsey Meyer
Allie Pyzik
Daraius Irani
Past Bloggers
Jenn Lake
Kelsey Beckett
Timothy Brooks
Ashley Buzzeo
Matt Michels
Nicole Schiraldi
The Residents Association at Edenwald in Towson are interested in exploring the possibility of setting up a web site. Does the Cisco Academy address this opportunity? Do you know a consultant we could use to get us started?
[...] all began when fellow blogger, Allie Pyzik, received a comment on her blog post “TU’s CISCO regional Training Academies.” The comment was from the Vice President of the Edenwald Residents Association and expressed [...]
Check out Cisco Academy ‘s Home page for information about Cisco certification and training option in your area. However, if you are interested in a different area of IT you should also be able to find websites dedicated to whatever your interests are. This is especially true if whatever you are thinking about has been around for a while. When a technology matures finding information on how to get into that business becomes very easy.
It is also helpful to check out the job boards in your area as frequently as possible. This will allow you to spot trends and be able to determine if you are going to have a hard time finding a job or not. All the training in the world is pointless if you can’t find a job that meets your salary expectations when you get out of the training program. Once you have all the information, you should be confident that you will make the right decision.