Aruba Networks announced this week that it has a new training program for building and maintaining wireless local area networks, and the curriculum is already being used by three educational institutions.
Texas A&M University in the United States, Technical and Further Education South Australia and Princess Sumaya University in Jordan are the first three schools to participate in Aruba Mobility Academy, which focuses on training students in Wi-Fi networks for enterprise and prepares them for an Aruba certification test. Aruba said it is working with dozens of other institutions to expand the program.
The curriculum covers 802.11 Wi-Fi standards, network architectures and Wi-Fi network configuration, authentication and “bring-your-own-device” challenges and includes a lab component with hands-on work for students on Aruba network equipment. Aruba’s Christian Gilby, director of product marketing, said the curriculum is vendor-agnostic in teaching RF and wireless design concepts.
Gilby said that most networking programs don’t have a focus on mobility and those that do often focus on consumer networks rather than taking an IT approach.
“We live in a world where we are increasingly relying on wireless technology to live and work, so it’s important to make sure our students have the opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of building and operating wireless networks,” said Dr. Ana Goulart, associate professor for electronic systems engineering technology at Texas A&M, who has incorporated segments of the Mobility Academy into three of her courses. “With the Aruba Mobility Academy curriculum, including hands-on lab lessons, students gain a pragmatic understanding of Wi-Fi and learn how to keep the network secure while providing access to a variety of wireless and mobile devices.”
Get more information on the program in this interview with Greg Lynch, networking lecturer at TAFE South Australia, as well as Aruba’s Gilby and Chris Leach, Aruba’s director of technical training.
