Mind Wide Open is a trademark of the Cisco Networking Academy.

To learn more about hosting a NETLAB Academy Edition system at your

school, visit: http://www.netdevgroup.com

For a list of academies hosting NETLABAE

systems,

systems, visit: http://www.netdevgroup.com/ae/sharing

To learn more about the Cisco Networking Academy,

visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/netacad

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NETLAB+ Helps Cisco Networking Academies Meet New Demands

Replace with image and text of “astronomers of physiology” (or whatever one of the quotes is

“As networking technology becomes more and more complex, academies are

finding themselves increasingly challenged to provide the lab equipment

needed to take full advantage of the hands-on lab work required to help their

students be successful. Through our strategic alliance with NDG, we are able

to leverage this technology to provide creative solutions. I encourage you to

consider NETLAB+ as a powerful classroom tool."

Amy Christen, Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Cisco Networking

Academy

“Fort Hays State University has found NETLAB+ to be an excellent

tool that benefits students and faculty alike. NETLAB+ allows us to

throw a wide variety of lab challenges at students and to effectively

serve both on-campus and distance learning students. NETLAB+

leverages faculty time and helps to utilize lab resources more

efficiently, allowing individual students more interactions.”

Mark Bannister, Chair, Department of Information Networking and

Telecommunications, and Director, Information Enterprise Institute,

Fort Hays State University

Session sharing allows the instructor to share console access with students. The instructor can review and assess a student’s actual work on real gear during or after lab sessions. NETLAB+ will even power off the lab equipment when no upcoming reservations are scheduled.

Benefits of NETLAB Academy Edition

To Academies • Provide access to equipment for blended distance learning• Share equipment resources with other academies• Receive a higher return on equipment investment• Host Networking Academy curriculum

To Instructors• Automate lab management and cleanup tasks • Access equipment from home for class preparation• Record and assess student lab work• Have NETLAB+ save configurations and reload, if desired

To Students • Access equipment via the Internet• Gain more lab time • Reinforce skills learned in class• Share Telnet sessions with peers and instructors

A Custom Solution for Cisco Networking Academies Solving Equipment Challenges

“My administration has identified our academy as one of the most

innovative IT programs on campus. This recognition is associated

with the blended distance learning program we have implemented

using NETLAB Academy Edition.”

Rick McDonald, Instructor, University of Alaska Southeast, Ketchikan

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, through 2014, five of the fastest-growing occupations for college-educated job seekers will be in information technology (IT). But today, as the first wave of IT veterans turns 60, the number of people entering IT is declining. In fact, the percentage of incoming undergraduates indicating that they would major in computer science is now 70 percent lower than at the field’s peak in the early 1980s.1

Cisco® Networking Academy® continues to prepare a growing number of students for highly successful IT careers. As the level of skills required to pursue careers in this industry has increased, the need for students to have quality “hands on” time with the newest gear has become more important than ever. However, schools face a variety of challenges:

• Rising costs of providing more sophisticated equipment hinder many schools • Geographical barriers prevent schools from being able to share equipment • Time constraints for accessing equipment prevent many working students from enrolling • Limited access to equipment hinders students seeking certification after course completion

Cisco has teamed up with NDG to offer a technology solution designed to help solve these equipment challenges. NETLAB Academy Edition® (NETLABAE) facilitates the sharing of equipment resources by providing remote access to equipment, thereby reducing equipment costs. NETLABAE is a server appliance designed for academies to host Cisco training equipment on the Internet for blended distance learning, remote academy access, instructor-led training, use by student teams, and individual access.

1http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/may05/vegso

Meeting the Needs of Today’s Busy StudentsWith NETLAB+®, classes and students can access real gear from anywhere.

Students attending the Community College of Southern Nevada no longer have to come to campus to access equipment, explains Thomas Lisa of the Cisco ATC/Regional Academy, Community College of Southern Nevada. “Thanks to our investment in NETLAB Academy Edition, students do not have to come to campus to complete their required lab work. With high traffic in our community, we are proud that our hybrid distance program contributes to environmental green efforts.”

Reducing Costs for Tight School BudgetsHigh schools play a critical role in supporting student interest in networking and laying the foundation for promising careers in this new-economy industry. Unfortunately, the rising costs of the sophisticated equipment involved prevent many schools from offering students the opportunity to gain essential skills and knowledge.

“By setting up NETLABAE, our equipment is available on the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This greatly increases the potential utilization of each set of equipment,” explains Gay Berryman, Consultant, Education Service Center Region XI. “The additional equipment availability helps solve access issues associated with equipment-to-student ratios for the schools in our support infrastructure.”

In addition, schools are able to offer other schools access to their equipment. “We can easily share extra lab hours with other schools,” says Thomas Lisa of the Cisco ATC/Regional Networking Academy, Community College of Southern Nevada. “Since we teach CCNP and security courses with NETLAB+, we have racks of gear that we can share with other schools that may be challenged to sustain their advanced technology programs due to cost or low student enrollment. We can provide the required equipment access at a fraction of the new equipment purchase cost. The cost recovery fee that we charge is reinvested into maintaining and upgrading Cisco equipment.”

Maintaining Program ViabilityMaintaining a strong program requires that students have ample time to work with the latest equipment. “NETLABAE spreads resources across many schools, providing lower cost, more student head count, and program viability. Many of the schools that use our NETLABAE system have plenty of bandwidth, but the student-to-cost ratio was resulting in canceled classes,” says Rick McDonald of the University of Alaska Southeast, Ketchikan. “We decided that we could serve students via a blended distance learning program with access to our equipment via NETLABAE.”

Tom Moffses of North Florida Community College explains the potential global contribution one NETLABAE system can make. “Our NETLABAE system has allowed our school to support Cisco networking academies by sharing equipment with schools in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Japan, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and several schools in Latin America.”

An Instructional Time-Saver“NETLAB Academy Edition has by far exceeded all expectations,” attests Tom Moffses of North Florida Community College. “This has been one of the best investments, outside of the routers and switches needed, for our academy. We have had over 12,000 hours of lab time. During this period, NETLABAE has performed up to all advertised specifications. The service and support have been outstanding. Saved man-hours are one of the best ‘surprise’ benefits of the system. Before NETLAB+ there were so many times I had to reload flash, change registry settings, or change encapsulation types.”

Many Technical AdvantagesNETLAB Academy Edition has a calendar interface, which manages access to up to 12 Networking Academy equipment bundles (pods) designed to complete the CCNA, CCNP and Security lab exercises. Automation of common tasks frees up the instructor to focus on teaching.

The NETLAB+ software will load and save device configurations, recover lost passwords, scrub equipment, and prepare the equipment for the next reservation.