[Cisco] RE: VET CISCO or Cert III VET IT

[Kevork Krozian]

Hi John,

        Firstly, there are Cisco, Vet-it and Vet-mm mailing lists that you can also use to ask these questions so I am reposting this response to those lists.

We have been running VET IT since day 1 which means around 1996 when it used to be called Dual Recognition. Cisco has been running for around 7 years.
Both are good, however my preference is always Cisco if you can deliver it. Why ?
Well, Cisco is actually mapped against a number of higher courses eg. Advanced Diploma in Computer Systems Engineering, as well as being part of the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Universities around Australia and overseas.
VET is a national qualification , whereas Cisco (CCNA) is an international qualification. The coursework for Cisco is just awesome,  fully online, fully supported with labs, assessment tasks, further reading etc. They spend millions on it and it shows. The benefit to students and teachers is consistency across the world - yes students is South Korea come out with the same skill set as those in New Zealand, Australia and Armenia. In fact Forest Hill College, after winning the national Cisco competition, competed against 15 Asian countries last year in the first Asia-Pacific Cisco competition using the same format and structure as the others.
By contrast VET It Cert III at least, is a just a poor cousin if I can put it very kindly. Teachers have to create their own material. The quality of material in the market place for purchase is quite variable, if I can put it kindly. Students come out all over the place with respect to knowledge and skill set. The national training package performance criteria and elements for each unit are vague enough to drive a truck through. Need I go on  ...... ?? I haven't said anything about the qualifications, experience or knowledge of the instructors here either.

We run Cisco CCNA here for 26 students for 2 classes using the Exploration course and teach both 1st and 2nd year. Each year of Cisco gives the students the equivalent of a Year 12 subject ( Units 3 - 4 ) and a 10% bonus. That's right, students get 2  x Units 3- 4 for VCE and a 20% bonus ( 2 x 10%) for each year of Cisco. Our students come from 15 surrounding schools and we teach the classes from 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm on a Wednesday afternoon and sometimes in term holidays if there is a need for catch up. 
There is funding for VET courses for schools to the tune of about $277 per VET IT Cert III student ( NB. No funding for Cert II BTW ) and around $311 per Cisco student.

This year we are extending our Cisco status to teach Cisco CCNP ( Cisco Certified Network Professional ) which is another 2 years and also Cisco CCNA Security ( CCNA Security ) which is an area industry is desperate to fill.
All in all, at least 4 of my CCNA students from last year have gone directly into employment ( albeit with further training ) and are very happy.

I could go on but I don't want to take too much bandwidth.

So John, if you are interested or anyone else is interested you can contact me on the Cisco or VET lists and we can speak further.


Best Wishes


Kevork Krozian
Digital Learning Manager
Forest Hill College
k.krozian at fhc.vic.edu.au
Tel: 0419 356 034
 

________________________________________
From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au [yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Helmy, John [jhelmy at mazenod.vic.edu.au]
Sent: Monday, 4 May 2009 4:35 PM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Yr7-10it] VET CISCO or Cert III VET IT

Good Afternoon,

We are looking to implement changes into the VET studies offered in IT at our school. At the moment we teach VET IT Cert II and VET Multimedia Certs II & III. We have thought about introducing a VET CISCO or VET IT Cert III course. Are there any other VET IT type courses worth considering? How have people found these courses running at their schools within IT area? Are they popular compared to mainstream VCE and what about setting them up in terms of resourses? What year levels do these courses run across? Do students perform well in CISCO or VET IT Cert III? Any advice or comments would be welcomed.

Thanks,
John

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