 |
|
ECDL for Educators, Northants
Northampronshire County Council Offers ICT training to school staff with ECDL for Educators courseware
Teachers and Learning Support Staff
in Northamptonshire’s 365 schools are being given the chance to brush up on
crucial ICT skills following the decision by ‘.ICT’ – Northamptonshire
County Council’s training division – to implement the European Computer
Driving Licence (ECDL) for Educators Courseware across the county. The
program has been designed specifically for those in the teaching profession,
enabling them to train for the ECDL benchmark qualification and develop core ICT
skills that will allow them to improve efficiency and help to reduce their
workload.
Recognising
the importance of continued professional development, Northamptonshire County
Council has made Government School Standards Fund money available for those
wishing to undertake the ECDL for Educators training through .ICT. Many
school staff have already enrolled for the four-week programme, which is held in
the central training suite at .ICT and includes a tutor led workshop, mock
assessment, self-study time and final examination leading to the ECDL
certification. The Council is supporting teaching assistants who want to
attend the morning sessions by working with Head teachers to arrange suitable
cover.
Tracy
Harris, Application Support Officer at .ICT, commented, “ECDL for Educators
Courseware will give both teachers and learning assistants a broad knowledge of
the applications that they encounter on a day to day basis in schools,
furnishing them with the confidence to use ICT more efficiently in their given
roles. Some candidates start the course feeling wary of computers and the
ECDL for Educators exercises enlighten them. This training will benefit
pupils and teachers alike as Learning Support Staff will be able to support the
teaching of ICT in the classrooms and the teachers themselves will become more
efficient in using computers as a teaching tool.”
ECDL
for Educators Courseware comprises seven modules with a classroom focus that
provides teachers, teaching assistants and anyone working in schools with the
core ICT skills based upon developing resources for the classroom.
Creating lesson plans using a word processor, managing classroom data
using a spreadsheet and searching the Internet for classroom resources are just
a few of the very practical skills that can be acquired.
Debbie
Skyrme, Education Programme Developer, Aston Swann, explained, “We are
delighted that Northamptonshire County Council has decided to implement ECDL for
Educators Courseware for use by all of its school staff. The government
funding provided for this purpose will see a worthy return on investment as more
and more teachers feel comfortable embedding ICT throughout their lessons.”
Further
information can be obtained from:
Wendy Swann, Aston Swann
Computer Technologies, Coach House, Highfield, Hampton Bishop, Hereford HR1 4JN,
UK, Tel: +44 (0) 1432 341344 Fax:
+44 (0) 1432 272806 Website:
www.educatorsecdl.com Email:
ws@educatorsecdl.com
Issued: 07.01.04 Ends Ref: as049.doc