There’s a lot happening in the education world at the moment, so once again, we’ll devote a full newsletter to some quick hits of the latest news announcements.

* Top-earning certifications

Certification Magazine published its 2006 Salary Survey last month and (ISC)2’s Information Systems Security Architecture Professional (CISSP-ISSAP) took the top spot as the certification that boasts the highest salary. Pros holding that certification receive an average annual salary of $114,210, according to the survey of 35,573 IT execs in 197 different countries.

Cisco pros didn’t fair so well in last year’s survey as the company’s Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification fell out of its top-five spot in 2005 to rank sixth in 2006 with an annual salary of $105,560. The other top-earning certifications were Brocade Certified SAN Manager (second place, $112,920 average salary), Brocade Certified SAN Designer (third, $112,890), ISACA Certified Information Security Manager (fourth, $112,490), and (ISC)2’s Information Systems Security Management Professional (fifth, $111,280). (We’ll take a closer look at Brocade’s certifications in a follow-up newsletter.)

* Cisco adds to CCVP certification

Cisco has updated its Cisco Certified Voice Professional (CCVP) certification curriculum, specifically the Implementing Voice Gateways and Gatekeepers (GWGK) and Cisco IP Telephony (CIPT) courses and exams. According to Cisco, the new GWGK curriculum features expanded labs and updates on the IP-to-IP gateways and RSVP lessons. The CIPT curriculum now includes an exam that tests the candidate’s ability to install, configure and support Cisco Unified CallManager Release 5.0 in a Cisco Unified Communications deployment, says Cisco.

Cisco’s CCVP page is here.

* Cisco releases security quick learning modules

Cisco announced the general availability of six Cisco Security Quick Learning Modules (QLMs):

- Utilizing the Packet Tracer Feature on the Cisco ASA.

- Securing VoIP applications using the enhanced features of the Cisco ASA.

- Configuring the L2TP/IPSec feature on the Cisco ASA.

- Configuring the Easy VPN Hardware Client feature on the ASA 5505.

- Configuring Basic Features on the ASA 5505.

Cisco QLMs are free and are aimed at Cisco customers and network pros and provide instruction on complete Cisco product configurations, says the company.

Jon Brodkin is senior writer at Network World.