Digital skills

UAE students can now take Microsoft certifying programmes at a testing centre near them

Students in the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia now have one more IT literacy testing and certification option.

iPact, a Dubai Knowledge Village based company, has been appointed distributor and provider of Certiport's IC3 and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification programmes and Microsoft's IT Academy curriculum programmes.

Certiport, an American company based in Utah, is the creator and worldwide distributor of the MOS programme, the only official Microsoft certification for Microsoft Office programmes.

A year ago it decided to collaborate with iPact to create a network of testing centres for the region. These administer the certification tests.

IC3
IC3 or Internet and Computing Core Certification "validates basic knowledge and the ability to use computer hardware, software and the internet productively". It consists of three exams - IC3 Computing Fundamentals, IC3 –Key Applications, IC3-Living Online - which are available in Arabic and English.

The certification is the result of 270 subject matter experts from 19 countries collaborating to establish the computer literacy standard.

IC3 is being promoted as a rival to ICDL, the computer literacy certification popular in companies and academic institutions in the region. Comparing the two programmes, Dr Mohsen Raissi, President and CEO, iPact, said that while the ICDL has seven exams, IC3 has three.

He was speaking at a press conference held in Dubai to announce his company's collaboration with Certiport. The total certification cost also works out to be lower, he added. "Each exam costs between Dh120 and Dh150," he told Notes.

Microsoft Office Specialist
The MOS certification programme assesses a candidate's skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Project applications. Candidates can choose to be certified in one or more applications, with each exam lasting 45 minutes.

The MOS programme offers four levels of certification - specialist, expert, master and master instructor. Candidates can go on to be certified in Expert Word, Expert Excel and Master MOS.

The cost per exam, said Raissi, is between Dh210 and Dh250.

The testing
The testing is completely performance-based, said David Saedi, president and CEO, Certiport, while speaking to Notes prior to the press conference. This means, applicants are evaluated on how they would do a task in a real world office scenario.

Secondly, Saedi added, the test is global, which means it is identical all over the world, although the language may differ. This levels the playing field globally for holders of the company's certificates.

For employers, the certificate provides the assurance that the holder's skills match international standards.

Anybody can register to take the tests. For training, courseware in the form of textbooks, computer-based training and online formats are available.

A credit recommendation from the American Council on Education (ACE), a national accreditation body for higher education in the US, qualifies students to receive college credit at ACE member institutions.

There are more than 1,800 ACE accredited degree-granting colleges, universities and other education related organisations affiliated to ACE in the US.

Applicants receive a unique ID code at the time of registration, which they use to access the test at a centre. The tasks are automatically scored on the computer, based on which a digital transcript is generated.

This acts as an online resume, said Saedi. "You can share the transcript with would-be employers. It can be translated into any language at the push of a button. So it is multilingual."

ICDL GCC Foundation launches e-Citizen
The ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body of the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) programme in the region, launched the e-Citizen programme at the recent Gitex Dubai 2005.

e-Citizen is an initiative developed by the European Computer Driving Licence Foundation, and is being launched worldwide. The programme seeks to provide essential IT skills to empower all sections of people and enable them to use computers and the internet.

It will help them use online services such as government services, paying bills, enrolling in courses, making holiday reservations, banking, trading, searching for jobs, or taking part in online discussion forums.

The e-Citizen programme has its own syllabus. However, content is customised for each country based on the online services offered by local governments and businesses.

The programme is divided into three blocks to include the Foundation Skills Block, the Information Search Block and the e-Participation Block. Candidates must take a test which covers all three blocks.

Certificate: Successful candidates will receive an international certificate as well as a smart ID card that has a unique barcode and number. They will earn points each time they perform a transaction online on selected websites.

These points will be accumulated on their ID cards and will be redeemable for free travel and hotel stay.

"The e-Citizen programme will play a vital role in the successful implementation of the e-Government initiatives in the region and facilitate a faster transformation towards an efficient and knowledge-based society," said Jameel Ezzo, director-general, ICDL GCC Foundation.