Cisco wants to make a game out of becoming a Cisco certified professional. In an attempt to make studying for a certification more fun, particularly for the younger, entry-level crowd, the company has announced yet another game on its Cisco Learning Network (CLN). It has also announced several new fee-based training courses.
The Mind Share Game covers about half of the content in the Cisco CCENT cert in a video game format. It is now available for $34.95 a month. (Are we the only ones that see the irony of Cisco naming its latest training game “Mind Share” … ‘mind share’ is an old marketing term.)
Cisco says that its students love learning through video games. Mind Share features 75 game stages and covers more than 15 topics including Media Access Control (MAC) addressing, switch behavior and Internet Protocol subnetting. If you like the idea of Mind Share, you’ll likely also like the Cisco Game arcade, a new section on the CLN where all such educational games are located.
The company is also increasing its presence in the direct training market with expanded online options. Its E-learning program is now available in 90-day to six-month subscriptions. It offers students lab exercises and access to virtual online lab gear. E-learning subjects include multiple titles in security, which can be bought individually ranging in price $299 to $599, depending on the numbers of hours of training involved in the title, Cisco says. A student buying all of the security titles from CLN would pay $1,499.
E-learning is also available for unified communications training, but titles cannot be purchased individually. The whole UC kit-and-kaboodle costs $1,499.
Cisco is also making its Cisco 360 Learning Program for CCIE Routing and Switching more affordable by offering it in a new format. Introduced six months ago, the Cisco 360 program previously could only be purchased as a complete, and potentially pricey, bundle which would run between $5,000 and $20,000 depending on an assessment from a learning partner about what training you needed. Cisco is making the core piece of it available for a set price of about $6,000. This core includes online learning materials including a one-year subscription to the Cisco 360 CCIE R&S Lessons on Demand. It also includes four independently graded assessment labs, a learner technical reference library and a practice lab exercise workbook.
If your wallet is aching just by reading this post, here’s some relief. The company is offering one new service completely free: online assessments. These assessments are intended to help IT professionals pinpoint the skills they need to achieve certifications. They cover areas such as routing and switching, voice, security and wireless.
Of course, if you really want training for free, you can enter the free training giveaway on Cisco Subnet; become a regular reader of Wendell Odom’s blog Cisco Cert Zone; and a reader of Michael Morris’s blog. He routinely writes posts like Cisco Advanced Services Education and the Awesome Technical Knowledge Library and My Interview with Cisco about the CCDE.
Posted by Cisco Subnet editor Julie Bort.
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