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Cisco Says Radical Shift in Education Systems Required to Sustain Global Competitiveness
Company Spurs Dialogue With Public-Private Sector Leaders to Transform Education
| Source: Cisco Systems, Inc.
SAN ANTONIO, TX--(Marketwire - June 30, 2008) - (NECC) -- Cisco (NASDAQ : CSCO ) is calling
on U.S. business leaders, policy makers and education officials to take a
more aggressive approach to transforming education.
As a multinational company, Cisco is deeply engaged in the effort to help
bring education into the 21st century and prepare our nation's students to
become members of the global workforce. Cisco has an interest in seeing
skilled, well-educated students coming through schools and universities in
the coming decade and beyond, and feels strongly that by fulfilling their
social responsibility, private companies can help these systems succeed.
Cisco recently articulated these ideas in a vision document titled
"Equipping Every Learner for the 21st Century," which proposes a new
paradigm of 21st-century learning and explains the societal factors
necessitating a radical shift in education. In preparing this vision, Cisco
met with district administrators, school leaders, teachers and community
members to make sure that this approach resonated with its audience.
"Cisco has heard repeatedly from educators and school administrators that
the case for education transformation isn't being made with sufficient
urgency," said Michael Stevenson, Cisco vice president of global education.
"We need to create momentum for change now, or risk the United States
becoming less competitive and less successful."
Cisco believes a holistic transformation of educational systems is required
to be guided by a comprehensive roadmap of curricular and assessment
reform, as well as improved teacher and leadership development. This
transformation will be enabled by collaborative technologies that allow
individuals to create, adapt and share content. This change also requires
long-term support and commitment from both educational systems and the
private sector but is designed to begin transforming systems in a three- to
five-year time frame.
Cisco will discuss concepts developed for achieving holistic transformation
at National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). This high-level
framework is based on Cisco's experience and results with education
initiatives like the Cisco® 21st Century Schools (21S) initiative and the
Cisco Networking Academy®. Experience from these programs, as well as
nationwide input from district administrators, school leaders, teachers,
and community members have helped shape models of transformation that Cisco
hopes to replicate.
"In a global society, we are better positioned than ever before to address
the challenges in educational systems worldwide, using technology and the
spreading of best practices," said Stevenson. "Cisco has a responsibility
to help bring about this radical change."
For additional information on Cisco's Global Education initiative, visit
www.transformglobaleducation.org.
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