The Department of Information Communication Technology at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) hosted the CISCO conference from 13-15 March 2023. This is an annual conference hosted by different CISCO Networking academies.
The purpose of the conference is to create a platform to learn and discuss about changes and the evolution of the Networking Academy programme. It is also an opportunity to re-train, as well as interact peer-to-peer with other instructors and CISCO experts, share practices and advancement in technology. The conference also provides the opportunity for the delegates to attend post-conference Instructor Training.
Welcoming the 150 delegates that attended the second day of the conference, the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning at MUT, Dr Manyane Makua, emphasized the importance of finding ways to improve access to education and stressed the importance of upskilling the youth to deal with unemployment.
On the same day, Professor Roger Coopoosamy, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, said to delegates: “As we begin to recover from the pandemic, we must consider how digital acceleration is disrupting education and see what opportunities this presents”.
Professor Coopoosamy stated that the use of technology should be embraced and that effective ways in using it in teaching and learning should be found, “but we should also be aware of the negative spinoffs.”
The Head of the Department of Information Communication and Technology, Dr Vikash Jugoo, said the conference focussed on the following areas: Professional development delivered by Cisco and Academy Instructors; programme updates of the new curriculum, including technical updates on technological trends, education trends, courseware; improving and maintaining the quality of instruction by offering quality technical retraining sessions to Instructors; shared content and resources that could be used in classrooms; best practices from academy instructors; and guidance to Academies in effectively managing the business of their academies and workforce development.
Dr Jugoo described the conference as a “huge success”. He said that delegates, via a survey, indicated that learning from the presentations benefitted and enriched their knowledge.
“They also stated that the hospitality by MUT was of a very high standard. We were hosting this conference for the first time, and we targeted over 150 delegates, which was a big number for any hosting institution in SA. We reached that number,” said Dr Jugoo.
Dr Jugoo said the conference brought together a wide range of delegates from all over Africa, including Nigeria, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well as delegates from Dubai, and Spain.