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NewsECDL for Students - GCSE IT Alternative (with case study)GCSE Rival Course To Be Launched At BETT GCSE IT could soon become a thing of the past, with the BETT show launch of the acclaimed “ECDL for Education Courseware for Students”. New from Aston Swann, who have been upskilling teachers in ICT for over a decade, the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) for Students courseware aims to equip teenagers with the essential competency in technology needed to achieve the ECDL qualification and get the most out of their education and subsequent employment. In line with the recent Tomlinson report, which urged ICT to be put at the heart of education, the ECDL for Students courseware has been written specifically for schools, putting all the skills into the relevant context. Students complete the course through the use of CD ROMS and text books. Using a spreadsheet for science experiments, effectively searching the Internet for homework resources and merging a story with different endings are the kinds of exercises that make Aston Swann’s courseware relevant to 14 to 19 year olds. Director, Andrew Hilbert, said that the courseware was developed following requests from teachers already participating in the highly successful ECDL for Educators Courseware. “Through our ECDL for Educators’ programme it soon became apparent that there was a call for a similar courseware for students. As the only developer to have written ECDL courseware specifically for education, we responded to requests to help teachers deliver the ECDL qualification to pupils in the classroom.” Russell Dale, ICT co-ordinator at Cowes High School, where the course has been piloted, said they have been very impressed with the ECDL for Students programme. “The ECDL for Students courseware is purely skills based, making the students a lot more IT competent than through GCSE,” he explained. “To us this is the best IT training course available.” Dale went on to say that the training would stand students in good stead for the modern workplace. “Employers would find this course to be more relevant to work and would find themselves needing less training than for school leavers who have done GCSE IT,” he said. At Cowes High School there are already 900 students doing the course and by next year Dale intends for all 1100 pupils in the school to participate. Whilst the learning programme is beneficial in its own right, it also offers the chance to achieve the internationally recognised ECDL qualification. Furthermore, the students can gain as many Performance Indicator Points using the ECDL for Students courseware as for the GCSE. Link to case study Contact us for more information |
