[SLUG] Re: ECDL (was Scarborough Digest*)

[Al Girling]

Pete Redwood wrote:
> On Thursday 29 September 2005 14:33, scarborough-request at mailman.lug.org.uk 
> wrote:
> > I took CLAIT 1 several years ago.  Basically it's a course offering a
> > variety of modules (Word, Excel etc.) of which you need to complete
> > three modules to pass.  The standard is fairly basic for CLAIT 1.  To
> > use Word as an example, it involves opening, saving, inserting text,
> > search and replace, setting margins and a couple of other things.  As I
> > say, pretty basic and it's that level across the modules.  Topics are
> > covered in greater depth as you progress through levels 2 & 3, but I
> > believe CLAIT has been superseded by ECDL, which like lessons to drive
> > a car have naff all to do with knowing how to drive a car, ECDL has
> > naff all to do with knowing the best way to use a computer.  In both
> > cases you just get to pass a test then really start to learn.
> Sorry. Couldn't resist this.
> CLAIT (Computer Literacy and Information Technology) has now been completely 
> re-written and comes in three levels each of which require only two modules 
> to complete - one compulsory and one free choice from a list of six. There is 
> Certificate and a Diploma version of each. Level 1 is absolute basics, . 
> CLAIT Plus takes it a little bit further and CLAIT Advanced takes it to 
> something like a useful level. From there you can progress to MIcrosoft 
> Office Specialist but ECDL ( European Computer Driving Licence) is seen as 
> the usual progression from CLAIT Plus, is in two parts and cover most things 
> that most people require to know about word processing and spreadsheets, with 
> presentations and basic databases thrown in for good measure. The modules for 
> both CLAIT and ECDL are based exclusivley on Microsoft but teach techniques 
> that can usually be applied to Open Office of any other office type software.
> CLAIT was developed by OCR (an amalgamation of the University Oxford and 
> Cambridge Examination Board and the Royal Society of Arts). ECDL was 
> developed by the British Computer Society in an attempt to produce something 
> more meaningful than CLAIT.

Thanks for the explanation of CLAIT and ECDL Pete.

My comments regarding ECDL are not related to the course being
exclusively based on MS products.  I agree whole heartedly that much can
be learnt whether you use MS Office or OpenOffice.org or Abiword etc.
The problem I have is where you can fail if you don't use specific
methods to achieve the desired results.  By this I mean you can fail if
you use Control-s to save instead of using the mouse to click File >
Save.  I realise this is more likely caused by the limits of the
course/exam software than a deliberate attempt to make people use the
mouse over the keyboard.  Surely the object is to ensure that people
passing ECDL have the knowledge to use each piece of software
productively than simply following a set of instructions parrot fashion.
I've heard numerous examples of people being forced to use a particular
methods which will slow productivity.

My partner who is currently working through the course as part of York
Councils policy to ensure all it's IT staff have ECDL qualifications,
is seriously unimpressed.  As someone who used to write and run MS
Office training courses at Ryedale Council I feel she is in a good
position to comment.

However, that said, these types of course are sadly lacking in the
F/OSS world.  I firmly believe that it is a major sticking point for
people interested in trying F/OSS that they are unable to walk into a
public training facility and take a course for OpenOffice.org etc.  It
really needs the likes of Sun and Novell to come out with the
appropriate courses which I believe will increase the uptake of our
beloved OS.

This is how I see things anyway.

Something possibly more disturbing that Alison has just mentioned is a
colleague in the IT dept has just returned from a visit to the mainland
Europe and tells of how he was refused access to computers in an
Internet cafe because he hasn't got an ECDL passport.  I don't know
which country this was in or how wide-spread it is, but it is a very
good way of ensuring everyone becomes MS trained. :(

Toodle pip,

Al

P.S.  Any idea why Kmail is inserting | symbols in my original message?
Are you using a seperate text editor?

-- 

Al Girling

GPG: key ID 0xD826BCE9
Home page:                  <http://al.sdf-eu.org>
Linux User: #290080         <http://counter.li.org>
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