CATC Highlight - New Sights for Non-Sighted Networking Students

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 161 million people globally are visually impaired, of whom about 37 million are blind. Fortunately, in a world increasingly dependent on computers, technology has begun to address the unique situations of the visually impaired. This global shift towards integrating technology has redefined the learning environment.

Technology skills are vital for competitive survival in the new economy. To keep up, schools throughout the world are offering technology enhanced courses. For the past 10 years, the Cisco Networking Academy has delivered instructor-led online networking and computer skills courses to more than one million students worldwide. This unique e-learning curriculum caught the attention of Iain Murray, of Curtin University in Australia, who has now been using the Networking Academy courses to train visually impaired students for the past seven years.

The first program of its kind, Murray's local and remote learning environment for the visually impaired has expanded to include students from five countries. Originally developed through Murray's inspiration by his brother, who is blind, the Cisco Academy for the Visually Impaired (CAVI) reaches the needs of students in western countries and developing countries in Africa and Asia.

Murray chose the Cisco Networking Academy as the platform to build his classes because Cisco offered a more technologically approached course. The topics in the Networking Academy rely on logical arrangements as opposed to physical arrangements, which make it easier for his visually impaired students to understand the concepts.

To teach students from four different countries simultaneously, CAVI uses an interactive interface that includes a chat box with all the students in it. Both the instructor and student have the ability to respond or post to the entire class or to each other. When the instructor asks quiz questions, each student types and submits their answers. The instructor can then provide instant feedback to the class as a whole or to individual students. This communication also enables the instructor to assess whether to continue to move through the lesson or review.

In some countries where CAVI is present, like Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, there is no social support for the blind. The visually impaired must find employment or starve. Murray's goal for CAVI is to provide technical learning and training, so that its students are marketable. Their graduates have pursued numerous careers such as instructors, Braille teachers, and network engineers. They even have a few students who support networks at the university. There are no fees for participating in the program.

Murray is thankful for the extra assistance available through Cisco Learning Institute funding and has many plans for its use. Computers for the Academy in Sri Lanka, a school for the blind in Bangkok, more teachers and mentors, and Braille translations are just a few examples.

As the need for technologically trained workers grows in all regions of the world, the demand for programs like Murray's becomes increasingly relevant. CAVI addresses both the immediate needs of individual students and future plans for program expansion. CAVI plans to expand to four more countries over the next year and hopes to become a type of 'CATC' for Academies specific to students with disabilities.

For more information:

Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired (CAVI)

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