Chapter 5: Introduction to netacad.

com

This chapter will discuss:

 What is Cisco netacad.com?

 Managing Your Profile

 Understanding netacad.com User tabs

 Managing an Academy on netacad.com

Features of netacad.com

Recent technology advances in cloud computing, the proliferation of rich-media content, and the rapid rise of mobile
devices and applications are transforming education and enabling new models for teaching and learning.
netacad.com will allow Networking Academy students and instructors to take advantage of these new learning tools
and models. You and your students can use them to individualize educational experiences to meet personal career
goals.

netacad.com is a cloud-based learning and collaboration platform that enables you, the instructor, to interact with
students in new ways. netacad.com combines best-of-breed cloud-based applications for teaching, learning, and
collaboration, to enable an interactive and engaging learning experience that aligns with proven educational models,
trends, and best practices. With netacad.com, students can collaborate on projects, interact with material, and submit
homework using multiple devices. With netacad.com, instructors can grade assignments and provide feedback using
a variety of methods such as wikis, blogs, and videos.

Integrated tools that support individual teaching styles help instructors engage students, facilitate informal and social
learning, and use flipped classroom and blended-distance learning models. With netacad.com you can customize
your course, add videos, and promote student interaction through discussions and group projects.

These are some of the robust features of netacad.com:

 Add Your Own Content - Rich content editor allows you to easily add documents, embed videos, audio,
photos, and links to Networking Academy courses.

 Mobile Access - Stay productive anytime, anywhere with mobile access to grading, class calendar,
notifications, and collaboration tools.

 LMS Content Migration - Easily migrate content from systems like Blackboard, WebCT, and Moodle to
customize your netacad.com courses (most versions supported).

 Reporting and Analytics - Monitor and report on student outcomes and academy success with rich data,
dashboards, and analytics.

 Flexible Pedagogy - Built-in customization, collaboration, and communication tools support a variety of
teaching styles.

 Communities - Collaborate with your peers in communities of interest. Find, create, and share information in
forums, files, and blogs.
Managing Your Profile

Your netacad.com profile is the key to collaborating with your students and other instructors around the world. From
your profile you can manage your email address, your netacad.com password, your preferred language, and your
notification preferences for new postings, comments, and assignment submissions.

Go here to learn how to access your profile, update your profile information, and manage your notifications settings.

Note: Your profile was already created using information you provided when you signed up at netacad.com.

he netacad.com My NetAcad page uses three tabs to organize functionality according to a user's designated role.
Many of the tools available to instructors will be discussed in later chapters of this course.

I’m Teaching

The I’m Teaching tab (Figure 1) contains links for instructors to create and access courses, enroll students, and
manage classes. Only users with the Networking Academy Instructor and Instructor Trainer role have access to this
tab.

I’m Managing

The I’m Managing tab (Figure 2) is available to users with the Networking Academy Contact, Networking Academy
Success Lead, or other administrative role. Here administrators can manage users, create courses, update academy
information, and manage the Academy Support Center (ASC) relationships. Users can complete these tasks on
behalf of academies where they have the appropriate administrative role.

I’m Learning

The I’m Learning tab (Figure 3) is visible to all users enrolled in courses on netacad.com. It displays active courses in
which the user (student or instructor) is currently enrolled, and classes which have ended in which the user was
enrolled. If you are an instructor, this tab shows all Professional Development courses for which you are registered,
as well as any you had previously taken.

Administrative roles within netacad.com, such as the Networking Academy Contact, Networking Academy Success
Lead and Networking Academy Staff, have access to the I’m Managing tab (Figure 1). Instructors who are not
administrators can also perform some of these tasks from the I’m Teaching tab.

Some of the functionality available on the I’m Managing tab includes:

 Updating Academy Information - Administrators can modify contact information such as the address, phone,
email, and webpage URL for academies. Go here to learn how to update academy information.

 Managing Users – Academy administrators can add users (students, instructors, and staff members) to
netacad.com and assign their roles within an academy. Go here to learn how to add users and assign their
roles.

 Creating Courses – Instructors have the ability to create courses for which they are qualified from the I’m
Teaching tab. Administrators can also create courses at an academy from the I’m Managing tab, provided a
qualified instructor is affiliated with the academy. Go here and then click “I am administrator for my academy.
How do I create a course for one of my NetAcad Instructors?”

 Adding Students to an Existing Course – This feature is found under the I’m Managing tab. From I’m
Managing, go to the Courses tab. Find the course for which you need to add students. Click Course Details >
Add Students(Figure 2). Administrators can use this link to add students and qualified instructors to a particular
course. Go here to learn how to view and add enrollment. The same capability is available under the I’m
Teaching tab.
 Accept and Manage Agreements – The Networking Academy Contact has the ability to accept and manage
the Cisco Networking Academy Membership Agreement on behalf of the academy. Go here to learn how to
accept Networking Academy Agreements. Go here to learn how to manage Networking Academy Agreements.