From: Howard C. Berkowitz (hcb@gettcomm.com)
Date: Wed Jul 14 2004 - 20:25:43 GMT-3
Hopefully, what I'm about to discuss is useful information about a
different facet of learning, a discipline either that one imposes on
oneself or is facilitated by an instructor. I find that one of the
best means of learning, all too often ignored, is identifying what
the learner already knows, and then tying the new information to it.
If anyone cares, this is called the "process learning model."
For example, lots of data people are scared of telephony, and vice
versa. One thing I've found very useful for data people is to take
the common diagram of the functional elements of ISDN: TE1, TE2, TA,
NT1, and, omitted all too often, NT2. In your basic Cisco classes,
this is introduced mostly to show you how an ISDN-compliant router
(i.e., a TE1) connects to an NT, or how you connect an RS-232 or
other interface to a NT via a TA.
The first step in generalizing this approach is reminding people that
the NT2 function, in conventional and ISDN telephony, is that of the
PBX. It performs call processing for the site.
The second step is to introduce VoIP terminology: TE1s are VoIP
telephones, analog telephones are TE2 going to a TA gateway, and the
NT2 is the Call Manager.
I recently did this with an SS7 presentation: rather than trying to
get data people to understand, in a standalone context, what A
through F links in SS7 did in a pure SS7 context, I showed how an A
link is much like the relationship between an end host and an access
router, an F link is like a crossover/null modem cable, etc. When
you can abstract general protocol principles and see them in
different environments, you are on the path of true understanding.
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