The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)

Table of contents

1. What is the ECDL?

2. Who is responsible for it?

3. What are the benefits of the ECDL?

4. What are the objectives of the ECDL?

5. What does the syllabus cover?

6. How do you obtain the ECDL in the UK?

7. How much does it cost?

8. Where can you study and be assessed in the UK?

9. What five countries in Europe have issued the most ECDL and to what extent is this linked to the number of Internet connections per country?

10. Contact Information for the European member countries.

11. Exposure of the ECDL in the UK literature.

Bibliography

1. What is the ECDL?

The term "ECDL" stands for "European Computer Driving Licence". The holder of this internationally accepted certificate has approved comprehensive knowledge in the IT-field and basic computer skills, along with a knowledge of products such as MS Office on a Windows-based platform. The syllabus clearly states that practical knowledge is imparted rather than specialised skills.¹

The Council of European Information Societies (CEPIS) in co-operation with the European Union initiated the ECDL. Originally founded in Finland in 1994, the ECDL foundation now comprises 21 European countries.² Recently, the one-millionth student world-wide received his IT qualification certificate.³

But the ECDL itself is not a training program. It is a board of examiners establishing standards and granting qualification to students.⁴ To help applicants pass the examination, various companies offer courses for the seven different modules. As the ECDL is an internationally approved certificate, only authorised examination boards may carry out the inspection. Additionally, proven course materials are recommended to students.

2. Who is responsible for it?

As far as Europe is concerned, the European Computer Driving Licence Foundation Ltd is based in Dublin and owns the ECDL concept and is responsible for its marketing, administration and development. In each member country, a sub-organisation is designated to carry out the distribution of the ECDL product and to form a national network of test and training centres. All of these national organisations must be a member of the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS). This hierarchical structure guarantees the professionalism and integrity of the respective subordinate companies.

Within the UK the ECDL is run by the British Computer Society (BCS - http://www.bcs.org). This body normally deals with the provision of services and support to its members, individual learners, employers, and the general public.⁵

Unlike the ECDL Foundation itself, the BSC and the providers of ECDL training are profit organisations.⁶ This fact nurtures doubts of ECDL sceptics such as labour offices, who criticise the varying quality of training, which is sometimes poor in proportion to the price.⁷

3. What are the benefits of the ECDL?

There are mainly three groups that benefit from the ECDL. These are the candidates, the employers and the ECDL test centres.

For Individuals:

Within the candidates studying for the ECDL, one can distinguish between two groups of students: the ones who do not have prior IT knowledge and therefore use the ECDL training to achieve a basic level of competence in this field and those who need an official certificate to prove their abilities in Computing. In the end, both groups profit in the same way:

They can easily demonstrate to a prospective employer that they have the required computing skills. This is due to the fact, that the ECDL is regarded as trustworthy throughout most industry sectors and by companies of all sizes. And as the ECDL is a Europe-wide initiative, workers moving across country boundaries do not have to worry about the recognition of their qualifications.⁸

But studying for the ECDL is not only rewarding in respect to employment opportunities. "People with no qualifications are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as those with degrees." ⁹ Efficiency in working at home and in the office improves a lot. This is especially important, as nowadays individuals must cope with the rapid development of technology and be able to live and work in the new information society.¹⁰

For Employers:

The benefits that the ECDL delivers to the candidate are transferred to the employer as their relations to each other are closely dependent. The better the employee is trained, the more efficient he is for the company.

So, the employer reduces the costs of recruiting and familiarising an applicant with his work. In detail, costs for IT support are lowered and time waste through insuffic ient knowledge, ineffective working methods and asking help from other staff members is avoided.

Furthermore, the ECDL constitutes a motivation for staff as it increases their confidence in working with a computer and so their productivity.¹¹

Another aspect to consider is that the ECDL is currently growing from a pan European initiative to a worldwide certificate (International Computer Driving Licence, ICDL). And this standardisation of IT qualifications, which enables companies to exchange employees easily, goes hand in hand with the worldwide spreading of Windows based computer systems. So, global businesses can exchange data and files without problems of converting different file formats.¹²

For Test centres:

Finally, the test centres benefit from offering ECDL courses, because this certificate is becoming more and more important across the whole of Europe. Therefore the number of students, e.g. customers for test centres, is going to increase too within the next years. Another positive aspect is, that the ECDL course is structured very flexibly, so that it can be taken in different forms (online, books, lessons). Furthermore, the British Computer Society provides help with marketing and selling the ECDL in specific areas.¹³

4. What are the objectives of the ECDL?

The overall objective of the ECDL is to spread computer literacy to all citizens in all countries. In this respect, the following aims are pursued:

1. To provide a deeper understanding of Information Technology
2. To fit people with a higher level of computer skills
3. To make sure that computer users can use the computer efficiently and make the most advantages out of their studies
4. To raise the productivity of all employees who have to use a computer professionally
5. To enable investors in Information Technology to receive more profit
6. To ensure that all people, without paying attention to their social or cultural background, have the possibility to qualify themselves for becoming part of the Information Society.¹⁴
7. In terms of figures, the ECDL Foundation pursues to reach 1.8 million students by the end of this year. The introduction of a more demanding Computer Licence, called "ECDL Advanced" is currently being developed.¹⁵

5. What does the syllabus cover?

The ECDL syllabus is the basis for the ECDL standard. It generally describes the knowledge areas and practical skills required to meet the ECDL standard. This syllabus is divided in seven modules:

- Module 1: "Basic concepts of Information Technology (IT)"

- The candidate has to have knowledge about basic computer architecture, basic

-rinciples of Information Technology, use of software applications in society, information networks, health, security, and legal issues related to computing.

- Module 2: "Using the Computer and Managing Files"

- The candidate has to show the ability of using basic functions of a Windows operating system, such as managing files and directories, using search mechanisms, printing, and using simple editing tools.

- Module 3: "Word processing"

- The candidate has to demonstrate that he is able to create a word document ready for distribution. This means he is required to know about features, such as formatting text, creating tables, inserting pictures, and using word associated mail tools.

- Module 4: "Spreadsheets"

- The candidates needs to be able to accomplish basic operations (formatting, developing a spreadsheet), to carry out mathematical and logical operations by using formulas, and more complicated issues, such as creating charts and graphs.

- Module 5: "Database"

- The candidate has to accomplish two parts of testing: first, designing and planning a database using standard software. Secondly, successfully retrieving information from a database using the appropriate tools.

- Module 6: "Presentation"

- The candidate needs to be able to create a presentation ready for display. He has to show his ability of designing the presentation for different target audiences and situations, and use appropriate presentation features, such as graphics, charts and slide show effects.

- Module 7: "Information and Communication"

- The candidate has to demonstrate that he is familiar with the Internet. This includes using search engines, browser functions, such as bookmarks and printing as well as e- mail software.

These modules do not have to be taken consecutively, even though for candidates without any prior experience, it is recommended to do so.¹⁶

6. How do you obtain the ECDL in the UK?

Basically, there is no real difference in the way you obtain the ECDL in Britain to any other participating country. When registering with an ECDL test centre, the candidate receives a European Computer Skills Card (ECSC). This log book is an official document , in which every successfully passed test is registered. The candidate can either be examined by manual testing or alternatively by automatic evaluation testing.¹⁷

Students are not necessarily required to undertake any training before starting the tests. If a student considers his experience suffic ient, he can start the test right away. Moreover, students who have already passed the NVQ 2 (National Vocational Qualification) or SVQ 2 (Scottish Vocational Qualification) in using Information Technology, may be eligible for skipping certain modules.¹⁸

After completing all of the seven modules with success, the candidate may obtain the ECDL certificate. The test centre now sends the ECSC to the British Computer Society (BSC), which exchanges the Skills Card for the actual European Computer Driving Licence.¹⁹

7. How much does it cost?

Generally, the costs for obtaining the ECDL licence vary a lot according to the individual needs of the applicant. However, test centres take between £ 150 and £ 250 for a course containing training for all 7 modules, log book and course materials. Applicants who do not need any training, can obtain the ECDL for only £ 50 to £ 100 (costs for logbook and the examination fees.)²⁰ Compared to other programs the ECDL licence is still cheap. These can cost more than £ 1000.²¹

Until recently, there has been a governmental initiative, contributing to the ECDL training fees. The so called Individual Learning Account (ILA) contributed with £ 200 towards the training fees, provided that the candidate paid 25 £ himself. But due to alleged fraud and theft within the ILA, this program was shut down on the 11-22-2001.²²

Example for the costs to obtain the ECDL:

Test centre (one of the nearest to LGU):

Happy Computers London E1 1EE / 020 73757300

tasha@happy.co.uk

http://www.learnfish.com/info/ecdl.asp

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

8. Where can you study and be assessed in the UK?

The ECDL Program leaves you a wide choice of how to study for the ECDL tests. In general, there are three different ways of training students. The training, if necessary, can be accomplished either by taking classes in test centres, entirely by online-learning, or by combining these two methods. The combination of distance learning and classes is the most common way.²³

This flexibility is achieved by the provision of the ECDl course syllabus, course material and sample questions online. Furthermore, there is a variety of standardised course material e.g. published by Axel Springer Verlag, such as books or CD-Roms, which enable students to gather their knowledge independently.

But in any case, the student must register with a test centre and undertake the examinations there. As, there are currently more than 1,600 test centres²⁴ across the United Kingdom, the ECDL website provides a list of all UK test centres for prospective students searchable by postcode or city.

Within large companies, such as NHS, 3M, IBM or the Bank of England, it is also possible to be assessed for the ECDL certificate. These companies took up the offer of being accredited themselves by carrying out training and assessment of their employees through their own IT training.²⁵

9. What 5 countries have issued the most ECDL and to what extent is this linked to the number of Internet connections per country?

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

The 5 countries that have given out the most ECDL are Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ireland and the UK (1999).²⁶ Nevertheless, there is a respectable discrepancy between these five countries. The following pie chart makes that clear:

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

The following table shows the percentage of the population that has access to the Internet, the total number of Internet connections per country, and the percentage of citizens possessing an ECDL.

One can see a certain correlation between Internet connections and possessing an ECDL for the first four countries of the table. The higher the percentage of the population with Internet access is, the higher is the percentage of ECDL holders.

Nevertheless, this direct proportionality is not reflected by the UK. Great Britain has an average percentage of Internet accessibility (55.32 %), but a very low percentage of ECDL holders (0.01 %). This may be due to the fact that there are not many British who go abroad to work and therefore do not need an international IT qualification certificate. And there is a similar national IT certificate in Britain, called National Vocational Qualification (NVQ), which has already been established and recognised a long time ago.

Furthermore, it can be assumed, that each ECDL holder has access to the Internet. This is essential for obtaining the ECDL, because training is delivered to a grand part by online material and because working with the Internet itself is part of the ECDL syllabus. In spite of this, possessing an ECDL, and therefore being online, will not increase the number of Internet connections in a country, as the number of licences is still very small.

Additionally, it cannot necessarily be assumed that the top three countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway) have issued more ECDL because Internet accessibility is spread more widely, but because they are all Scandinavian countries. These countries are commonly known as adopting new technology very fast; so they do with the ECDL. Regarding Ireland, one could assume, that because the ECDL Foundation is based in Dublin, and as the Irish new economy is currently booming, the number of ECDL holders is still in the range of the four highest scores.

Generally, both the number of ECDL holders and the number of Internet connections will certainly increase in every country within the next years, as computer literacy is becoming more and more important, even indispensable. So, the image of these figures and there correlation will be changed to a large extent.

10. Contact Information for the European Member Countries

The current 24 member countries of the ECDL in Europe are:

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

The contact Information on the five European member countries, which have issued the most ECDL certificates, can be found in the attached Access Database. Click on the Icon to open it automatically.

In order to produce a report of the countries, which have issued greater than 40000 ECDL, one can use the existing database in the following way:

- create a query to filter the countries with more than 40.000 licenses (set the criteria for "number of licenses" to >40000)
- in order to create the report it is the easiest way to use the report wizard
- choose the created query as your data source
- insert all fields available
- group the fields "country" and "number of licences"
- choose an appropriate layout (column, table, blocks) and style (bold, formal, compact etc.) for your report
- you can alter the design easily in the "design view"

11. Exposure of the ECDL in the UK literature

The ECDL has not received extensive exposure in the UK literature. The few articles that have been written about it recently have been positive in general.

An article in Business South West (August 2001) considers the European Computer Driving Licence to be the answer for the need of a standardised evaluation of computer skills. It says that the "non-vendor specific"²⁷ nature of ECDL makes it widely accepted.

An further article in What PC? Magazine (Oct. 2000) implies that the ECDL "is fast becoming an international standard."²⁸ It explains how the ECDL works, how it is obtained and its various benefits. The article concludes with the message that the ECDL will succeed where others failed in imparting computer skills to people in a simple standardised way.

An article in The Observer (Nov. 4th 2001) has not been as kind in judgement though. It raises doubts about the uniformity of teaching standards and the success rate of the ECDL accredited tuition centres. It acknowledges the "widespread recognition"²⁹ of the certificate but does not completely vouch for the success of the program.

Nevertheless, the ECDL seems to have been promoted by most articles and has received positive exposure from the UK media.

Bibliography

Newspapers:

Driving in the right Direction?, Business South West, August 2001

John Rennie, Licence to compute, What PC? Magazine, October 2001

Neasa MacErlean, Never too old to learn - or to be ripped off, The Observer, November 4

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, PC-Nutzer, Klasse Drei, August 3, 2001

Websites:

British Computer Society http://www.bcs.org

British ECDL website http://www.ecdl.co.uk

Department for Educational (Dec. 2001) http://www.dfee.gov.uk/ila

ECDL Tutors http://www.ecdltutors.com

German ECDL website http://www.ecdl.de/ecdl.html

International ECDL website

- ECDL, Syllabus Version 3.0
- Headline News

Learnfish http://www.learnfish.com/info/ecdl.asp

Qc10c Website http://www.lgu.ac.uk/cism/qc10c

Illustrations

Micrografx Cliparts

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¹ European Computer Driving Licence, Syllabus Version 3.0, Page 2

² The ECDL Foundation, http://www.ecdl.de/ecdl.html

³ John Rennie, Licence to compute, What PC? Magazine, October 2001

⁴ John Rennie, Licence to compute, What PC? Magazine, October 2001

⁵ British Computer Society, http://www.bcs.org

⁶ European Computer Driving Licence, Syllabus Version 3.0, Page 2

⁷ Sueddeutsche Zeitung, PC-Nutzer, Klasse Drei, August 3, 2001

⁸ Driving in the right Direction?, Business South West, August 2001

⁹ Neasa MacErlean, Never too old to learn - or to be ripped off, The Observer, November 4, 2001

¹⁰ http://www.ecdl.com, Headline News

¹¹ Pete Barley, ECDL deputy director at the BCS, in Business South West, August 2001

¹² John Rennie, Licence to compute, What PC? Magazine, October 2001

¹³ http://www.ecdl.com, Benefits for a test centre

¹⁴ European Computer Driving Licence, Syllabus Version 3.0, Page 6

¹⁵ http://www.ecdl.com, News section (Dec. 2001)

¹⁶ European Computer Driving Licence, Syllabus Version 3.0, § 1.6.1

¹⁷ European Computer Driving Licence, Syllabus Version 3.0, § 1.6.6

¹⁸ ECDL UK, Website, FAQ, http://www.ecdl.co.uk/provider/faq

¹⁹ European Computer Driving Licence, Syllabus Version 3.0, § 1.6.6

²⁰ ECDL Tutors, http://www.ecdltutors.com

²¹ Neasa MacErlean, Never too old to learn - or to be ripped off, The Observer, November 4, 2001

²² Department for Education and Skills, http://www.dfee.gov.uk/ila (Dec. 2001)

²³ Learnfish, www.learnfish.com/info/ecdl.asp

²⁴ Driving in the right Direction?, Business South West, August 2001

²⁵ Driving in the right Direction?, Business South West, August 2001

²⁶ Qc10c Website, http://www.lgu.ac.uk/cism/qc10c/ecdldata.htm

²⁷ Business South West, Driving in the right Direction?, August 2001

²⁸ John Rennie, Licence to compute, What PC? Magazine, October 2001

²⁹ Neasa MacErlean, Never too old to learn - or to be ripped off, The Observer, November 4, 2001