[SLUG] Re: ECDL

[Pete Redwood]

On Monday 03 October 2005 12:15, scarborough-request at mailman.lug.org.uk wrote:
> 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.
Wholeheartedly agree with that Al. It would seem that the folks who write 
these things have no knowledge of anything outside Microsoft. Strange though, 
since when I took the RSA equivalents some twelve years ago we used all sorts 
of software - whatever was available, and it didn't include MS Word. Still 
when both the Department for Education & Science and the Learning & Skills 
Council are only prepared to provide downloads for Microsoft users, on the 
basis that others constitute a tiny minority (their words!) you realise where 
the exam boards are coming from. Part of my working time is spent converting 
MS formatted stuff (Access databses) for use on Macs (running OSX of course)

>Any idea why Kmail is inserting | symbols in my original message?
>Are you using a seperate text editor?
No. I do sometimes, but not for these. Whereabouts in the message do pipes 
appear? If it is at the beginning of each line Kmail actually inserts ">", (a 
greater than) which triggers green text to make it stand out. (I've spelled 
it in case your client converts it.) Does that explain it?

BTW thanks for pointing out that I forgot to change the subject line!! It's 
often something I overlook.

Pete