At the National Science Foundation sponsored Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) combined (The Mid Pacific Center for ICT and The National Center for ICT ) winter conference last month held at the City College of San Francisco, I had the opportunity to interview three key members of the Cisco Systems Packet Tracer Team - Dennis Frezzo, Isaac Majerowicz and Mark Chen.

Packet Tracer is a network simulator used by hundreds of thousands of Cisco Networking Academy students around the world. Recently, Packet Tracer version 5.1 was released - here's so info from an FAQ on the product found on the Packet Tracer website:

• Provides a realistic simulation and visualization learning environment that supplements classroom equipment
• Enables multiuser, real-time collaboration and competition for dynamic learning  
• Enables authoring and localization of structured learning activities such as labs,  demonstrations, quizzes, exams, and games
• Empowers students to explore concepts, conduct experiments, and test their understanding
• Allows students and teachers to design, build, configure, and troubleshoot networks using  virtual equipment  
• Supports a variety of teaching and learning tasks such as lectures, group and individual  labs, homework, and competitions  
• Supports integration with external applications through an API to enhance the functionality  of Packet Tracer in areas such as curriculum and assessment delivery, games, accessibility,  and interfacing with real equipment. 
  

In the interview, the team describes the Packet Tracer product. Part 1 and part 2 of the interview are shown below:

I'm really excited about version 5.1 - especially when you consider the user base. The ability to integrate Packet Tracer 5.1 with external applications will provide some innovative academic and training solutions. You can find out more about the Cisco Network Academy and Packet Tracer here.