Cisco Systems CCNA 2 manual One Size Does Not Fit All, Hands-On, Skills-Based

One Size Does Not Fit All

The Cisco Networking Academy Program serves hundreds of thousands of students in almost 150 countries. Students range from early teens to mature adults and from advanced middle school students to undergraduate engineering students.

One curriculum cannot fit the needs of all students. WWE relies on local instructors to make the program work and to help their students achieve the learning goals of the program. There are three fixed reference points for each program that provide flexibility for the instructors:

•The mission of WWE to educate and train

•The requirements of the CCNA certification exam

•The hands-on skills that help prepare students for the industry and further education

The WWE policy allows instructors to "add anything, but subtract nothing" from the curriculum. WWE supports in-class differentiation, which is used to provide additional support for students who need it and additional challenges for advanced students. WWE also allows instructors to decide how much time to spend on various topics. Some topics can be skimmed, while others may need to be emphasized for different audiences. The local instructor must decide how to balance the need for hands-on labs with the realities of the local student-to-equipment ratio and time schedule. This Guide can be used to facilitate the preparation of lesson plans and presentations. Instructors are encouraged to research and use external sources to develop additional labs and exercises.

Core TIs have been highlighted for emphasis to assist the instructor in course and lesson planning. These are not the only TIs that need to be taught. Many core TIs will only make sense after the preceding TIs have been reviewed. It may be useful to have a map of the core TIs, which contain the most important knowledge and skills for success in the CCNA program.

The assessment process is multifaceted and flexible. A wide variety of assessment options exist to provide feedback to students and document their learning. The Academy assessment model is a blend of formative and summative assessments that include online and hands-on, skills-based exams.

Hands-On, Skills-Based

The core of the CCNA 2 experience is the sequence of hands-on labs. Labs are designated as either essential or optional. Essential labs include information that is fundamental to the CCNA Academy student experience. This information will help students prepare for the certification exam, succeed in job situations, and develop their cognitive abilities. In CCNA 2, students will learn about the following elements of basic router configuration:

•Hostnames, banners, and passwords

•Interface configuration

•IOS file system

•Static routes and dynamic routing (RIP version 1 and IGRP)

2 - 238 CCNA 2 Routers and Routing Basics v3.1 Instructor Guide – Welcome Copyright ♥ 2004, Cisco Systems, Inc.