Cisco Academy for the Visually Impaired

To: cavi-announce@ciscovision.org
Subject: [Cavi-announce] This years enrollment press release

Greetings,

Are you curious about the hardware inside of your computer? Do you want to sharpen your troubleshooting and computer maintenance skills? Perhaps you would like to build a computer or home network of your own.

The Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired enables blind students to enter the world of Information technology. We provide Diagram descriptions, audio lab recordings, live online lectures by blind and vision impaired instructors, and a community of students and instructors to network with
even after you have graduated our courses.

The academy is currently taking applications for the first semester of 2012. We will be offering IT Essentials, Discovery 1, Exploration 1, and our brand new Linux administration course starting the first week of February.

IT Essentials is an introduction to PC repair including:
Hardware, installing and maintaining an operating system, Troubleshooting, portable devices, and customer service.

Discovery 1 is focused on home and small business networking. It is the first of four courses that prepare students to take the CCNA
certification.

Exploration is a more in depth look at networking, both theoretical and practical for those students who wish to really get their hands into building and designing networks. After completing Exploration 1, students may sit the CCENT exam.

The Linux Administration course introduces server-based Linux systems administration for vision impaired users.

¾ Students will learn how to install and configure a Ubuntu server system and install and configure a number of server based programs such as webserver,

¾ Email and a wiki. The course aims to take a student from what is Linux to installing and using a Linux-based server system via SSH.

Each class runs for a total of six months, with online lectures. The classes are self-paced so you can finish them in a month, or take the entire semester if desired. The cost for each course is 500 US dollars
however; scholarships are available to students who are paying out of
pocket that lower the price to $150. Your eligibility for a scholarship will be assessed as part of the application process and payment plans are
available. Students are required to have good internet access skills and be familiar with their screen reader of choice, or be willing to teach themselves the necessary skills as we go along. Students should be familiar with reading Adobe PDF documents, as they may be encountered while doing research projects. We do not teach basic computer skills. Course content is online, so a broadband internet connection is highly recommended. Students should also have a working headset/microphone and be willing to install Skype and Ventrilo, in order to attend lectures and communicate with instructors. Applications will be accepted until February 3, 2012.

For more information on any of our courses or to request an application,
please email

caviinfo@ciscovision.org

You can also visit our website at:

http://www.ciscovision.org/  finally, we have a podcast about the CAVI
program from our student’s point of view at:

http://cucat.org/podcast/CAVI%20Potential%20new%20students2011.mp3

Regards,

The CAVI Team