UK IT Training – Review Part 2 – ECDL

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Review 1 - http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=162767#post162767

Ok, so I left the last review after just receiving my ECDL CD. Since then I have completed the CD and after the weekend I’ll be booking the tests and moving on.

Now the ECDL Corse is supplied on CD and created by a company called electric paper http://www.electricpaper.ie The cover includes the UKIT Logo so one assumes some form of co operation between the two companies in its production.

The CD Teaches 7 modules based around Microsoft windows 2000 and the MS office 2000 suite. The seven modules are:

1) Concepts of IT
2) Using the computer and managing files (Windows explorer)
3) Word Processing (MS Word)
4) Spreadsheets (MS Excel)
5) Databases (MS Access)
6) Presentations (MS Powerpoint)
7) Information and communication (Internet Explorer 5 and MS Outlook)

The CD contains a fully lead learning course aimed at those with NO computer knowledge at all even including an optional “how to use a mouse” lesson. This can mean that for more adept users such as myself a lot of the teaching material is just boring to listen through.
The CD uses a female voice to follow the on screen text displayed throughout the tutorials, this voice neither changes in pitch, tone of energy and after the first module does nothing to help you keep driving through the modules. The voice recording level also varies greatly meaning the use will need to be able to adjust computers sound level to be able to hear the voice in some stages.
The CD has many end of section tests to test your knowledge of each subject, but if you decide to repeat the tests because you got a low score or something the tests do not vary they are the same questions each time thus meaning the CD is not good as a revision aid for before exam preparation.

The CD provides a facility whereas it automatically saves the user data to show how far one has progressed through the course. This information may be saved either on the Users hard drive OR a floppy disk, the program offers no facility to transfer saved records between the two. This caused great annoyance to myself when I decided I wished to use a different computer for one evening and found I could not take my saved data with me. For the record I did manage this by creating a new user named ECDL and searching for that tern on my hard drive thus location the saved data at
C:\Users\ManicD\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows\A5W_DATA\StdtRecs\ecdl55 on my windows vista machine

Overall I expected much greater quality from the first section and was sorely disappointed.

I’m left to book and take the exams now after which I will update this a little then begin the review on the CompTIA section of the course


Any questions contact me on my username at hotmail dot com
ManicD

 

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Wow - you left the first review at 9:44 PM, and the second one (after going through the CD etc etc) a minute later.

Now THAT's impressive

 

Note that those 7 modules correspond to the 7 exams for ECDL.

Harry.

 

I cant edit the main entry so i'll add information here,

So 3 weeks after signing the contract now and i have passed the original ECDL modules 1-7. After a fair bit of lazing around i eventually bothered to listern to the whole of the ECDL CD. Booked the exams and then took them, against the advice first given i took all my exams on one day, each exam taking me up to 15 mins each to complete(out of a possible 45). Just because i'm happy i'm gonna post my scores here each module was marked out of 36 and converted into a percentage, to pass one needed 75%.

M1 - 100%
M2 - 97%
M3 - 94%
M4 - 92%
M5 - 94 %
M6 - 100%
M7 - 100%

So i did pretty well, gained my first qualification and became one happy bunny, as boring as the CD was, I musta done something right.

anyway, now i have been given a CompTIA A+ book to study from, and asked to read chapters 1,2,10 and 12 before calling them to book a 30 question quiz, after successfully completeing this quiz I will be allowed to book onto the A+ Training

The book i have been given is a brand new copy of "CompTIA A+ Complete" by Quentin Doctor, Emmett Dulaney and Toby Skandier, part of the "Sybex - Serious Skills" range, published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. ISBN-13: 978-0-4700-4830-6, ISBN-10: 0-4700-4830-1
The book covers the 220-601,220-602,220-603 and 220-604 exams
The book also Contains a CD-ROM inside the back cover.

A quick glance thorugh the book, Shows it reads at a much higher level than the ECDL left off and could possibly cause problems for the computer illiterate


again, any more information needed contact me at my certforums username at hotmail dot com

ManicD

 

Thats because computer illiterate people have no business working in IT and so would have little value in the A+ cert !

The ECDL is a very basic qualification designed for secretaries, office clerks, data entry operators and the like, these companies start with it in an attempt to ramp up slowly
and ensure there is at least some common understanding about the basics. Personally I would expect anyone thats prepared to enroll on one of these courses to have effectively covered the ECDL
sylabus in their own previous computer use.

I would expect anyone interested in IT and the A+ to have possibly owned one or more computers, installed various OS's, partitioned the hard drive, used various software packages, be aware of performance and processes,
know the basic components of a computer, hard disk etc. All this can be picked up easilly from the Net or computer magazines over a year or so of being a computer hobbyist.

 

fantastic, i have enrolled on one of these courses and the position you describe is exactly the position i'm in, i've been playing with computer inards since the Amstrad PCW days. i know alot of teh general A+ stuff by the looks of teh first chapter but need to learn the details about each componant, e.g. i know the different types of RAM, i need to know the speeds of each etc etc

 

Well it's not necessarilly a bad thing, even degrees can sometimes start off slowly to ensure everyones got the same general info. It at least it should be fairly easy for you to get through the first few exams ?
You've proven the point i'm trying to make, you are a self starter and have already started teaching yourself which is half the battle !

The courses do get harder, they normally end in either CCNA or MCAD which most people find a challenge !

My point was possibly similar to your original post, you often simply won't get enough experience or training to take someone from completely illiterate to CCNA in the time period concerned. The idea of spoonfeeding someone a CCNA even if possible is somewhat pointless as people point out here, you need to have a keen interest and be a self starter to succeed in IT. Therefore some people will find the harder material quite a shock, and its those unfortunate souls that possibly should not have been allowed on the course or should have thought a little harder before signing up. They could end up paying ££££'s for a ECDL or A+ which really wouldn't be a good ROI.

All the best with the studies, just hang on in there through the dull bits !

 

ECDL has for a while been the favoured qualification in the NHS.
In some Trusts it is mandatory that all IT Staff take have it.

Not sure the difference though between the version I took in 2002 & Now?

 

Don't get me started !

Government spending millions on NHS IT projects and my doctor can't even use a web browser !

 

Made a call today to find out when the next CompTIA A+ training session is, i was told none were sceduald and to call back next week

 

Mini-Update: before booking onto the A+ training course there is a 30 question quiz they give you to ensure you have read the four chapters they ask, today i went up and did this quiz.

It was an ok quiz, knowledge of IRQ numbers is a must, needless to say i passed with 87% and have now been booked onto a 5 day A+ training course starting the 24th sept.

Other good news, I have found myself a job as a traniee IT support officer, which should give me the ideal oppertunity to gain experience and knowledge as i learn. I still gotta get thorugh the interview stage but inside information says i stand a good chance. YAY!!!!

 

Good news on the job. Congrats!