Aspiring Cisco Gurl wrote: > > Do these lab companions have specific labs for study or does it > only work off of the Network Academy books? Basically, what I > am asking is if they can be used separately with my own home > lab versus do I need to get the whole package of Network > Academy companion book, lab book, and journal?
Yes, the Lab Companion guides can be used standalone without the rest of the Network Academy material. They have lots of labs that you can do on your own, assuming you have enough equipment. In the case of CCNA, many of the labs are easier and also more detailed then you have to know for CCNA. For example, there are pages of labs on using a LAN Fluke test and a wire-punch tool and configuring a PC for networking and doing subnet masks. I don't have the CCNP ones in front of me. My guess is they are a bit more advanced and assume the student is less clueless. > (What is the > journal used for anyways?) The journal has summaries and notes and ideas for the student to take notes. I don't think they are helpful. At first the Academy just told students to keep journals. I think that was a great approach and real-world. Personally, I have never been without an engineering journal. I've kept one for 25 years now. They have all my notes regarding projects. I think Cisco should have just explained to the students how people really use engineering journals and tried to get the students to do that too. Instead, they got lots of complains from high-school teachers (who teach the Academy program) that nobody knew what this journal thing was. So they wrote their own journals. Which totally misses the point. Well, anyway, back to your point! ;-) Yes, I think the companion guides are worth the money and would be helpful for home study. Priscilla Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74440&t=74389 -------------------------------------------------- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
