NetAcad in Scotland

Becoming an Academy is free and gives organisations access to a plethora of courses and resources, including virtual lab simulation tools, in a curriculum that spans Cybersecurity, Networking, Programming, and more. Benefits include:

• Facilitate Teaching: Gain access to 1000s of hours of industry-aligned, vendor agnostic content. You can view the courses on offer here. Content delivery is flexible; self-paced, instructor-led, offered as a stand-alone course, or embedded into an existing course offering.

• Practical Tools: Gain unlimited access to tools such as Packet Tracer; a state-of-the-art simulation tool through which students can build, manage, and troubleshoot networks. Practical tools also include self-assessment tools whereby students can check their understanding with correct/incorrect scoring. Teachers can launch customisable quizzes and view students' progress to help identify potential areas additional support is required. 

• Instructor Training: The Cisco Networking Academy UK & Ireland community, led by the Open University, offers free, self-paced, and online instructor training on a rolling basis. You can view this page to learn more.

• Community: In becoming an Academy, you become a part of the Cisco Networking Academy community. As well as getting support from a dedicated Academy Support Centre, we run an Instructor Facebook Page for instructors to expand their network and share best practices, and events hosted by Cisco and NetAcad Partners.  

Learn more here. 

NetAcad operates as an educational community in which Cisco works with a range of Academy Support Centres (ASCs) such as the Open University. The Open University supports Cisco Academies in Scotland and beyond, as well as working alongside other ASCs based in the UK and Ireland. To find out more about the Open University Cisco ASC and what they do please go to their microsite.

As briefly outlined above, becoming a Cisco Academy presents a range of benefits. Once a Cisco Academy, you can encourage other colleagues to benefit from being Cisco Instructors, enable your institution to use many free resources (including Packet Tracer), and access the Career Ready courses (once Instructor accreditation is complete). ASCs, such as the Open University, provide broad community support (for free) as well as access to an extensive knowledge base.

To register you organisation to become a Cisco Academy you can follow this simple process:

1. Apply via https://www.netacad.com/become-an-academy.

2. Once your application has been approved, please follow the instructions within the email. These are to sign a membership agreement and to select an ASC.

3. We will then set up a call to help you get your Academy up and running.