Take Education from the Dark Ages to the Digital Age with Cisco DNA

I went to school in the Dark Ages. Alright, that may be a little melodramatic. It was San Francisco public schools in the 80’s and 90’s: we barely had enough musty, old textbooks to distribute to each student, school computers were used solely for Oregon Trail, and my teachers used noisy overhead projectors with dry-erase transparency sheets as learning tools. If you’re over 35, you may remember all of this fondly.

But it’s 2017 now. Today, campuses and classrooms are undergoing a digital transformation. A classroom of students can connect with guest lecturers virtually, from across the world. Learning tools have gone digital, where students use tablets and laptops in place of those musty old textbooks I had. In fact, 75% of teachers believe that digital learning content will totally replace printed textbooks within the next 10 years. Students can even join in on class lessons from their hospital beds. A stunning 2 out or 3 children today begin using digital learning tools by the time they turn 5 years old. (Deloitte Digital Education Survey 2016)

Today’s digital campuses and learning technologies require a robust network to support bandwidth heavy courseware and collaboration applications (video, voice, etc), learning management systems, and the multitude of devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones). With this complexity in mind, the network should be simple to deploy and manage, while student and research data need to be secure. And in today’s rigorous academic settings, competition among schools for student retention and attainment keep these institutions striving to increase student engagement with personalized and relevant experiences.

Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) ensures that your network can handle the requirements of devices, applications, and services on your digital campus. With Cisco DNA’s automation and assurance, insights on the network and your users, and security network-wide, education institutions can focus on fostering innovation, learning, and engagement among their students and faculty. To learn more, check out this interactive infographic on how Cisco DNA can enable digital transformation on your campus. Is your campus network going digital? Let me know how, in the comments below!