New CCNA Certification Guides...

New CCNA Certification Guides

Well, it's official. Cisco Press will be publishing new official certification guides for CCNA 200-301.

I first learned about the new certification guides on my Twitter/X feed.

This was bound to happen as the current versions of the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide were published in 2020.

According to Cisco Press, the new version of the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide will be published on July 22, 2024.

As per usual in an update like this, there will be changes in the certification guide because technology is always changing.

I don't think that there will be anything too radical about the material in the new certification guides. I don't think Ethernet cables are going away anytime soon.

Apparently, there will be a section in the textbooks that will cover artificial intelligence (A.I.) simply for the fact that A.I. is all the rage.

One change will involve making the PDF/ePub versions the preferred version of the certification guides. Cisco Press will still publish and sell both volumes of the certification guides in hardcover, however. I suppose the idea is that the authors (Wendell Odom, David Hucaby, and Jason Gooley) can provide embedded links for additional learning material in the electronic versions that they cannot provide in the hardcover versions. Let's face it, there are things you can do with PDF files that you cannot do with the printed page.

Moreover, the new version of the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide will contain 12 separate exams that feature 1,300 questions. In addition, there will be practice certification exams that you can take using a timer as practice for the official certification exam.

There's bound to be additional changes, improvements, and new features in the new certification guides. I'm sure that more information will be revealed as we get closer to publication date.

Here is a link to Wendell Odom's Certskills website/blog for more information about the new certification guides.

You can also check out Wendell Odom's Twitter/X feed here as weall.

My Current Progress

Right now, I am working my way through the "Network Addressing and Basic Troubleshooting" online class over at the Cisco Networking Academy website. I have just started the training module about IPv6.

In hindsight, when I started taking the free online courses in networking from the Cisco Networking Academy, I probably would have been better off ditching the online courses and restart studying for the CCNA certification exam from square one. On the other hand, I have learned quite a bit about networking since I have started working my way through the online courses. There are trade-offs to be sure. The idea I had was to complete these online courses from Cisco as a way to get my foot in the door for a new IT job.

However, the impending publication of the new certification guides will not stop me from reading my current copies of the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide. That's for sure.

My personal copy of the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide