Home > N.Z. College Applicants Seek Computing Drivers Licenses

News

N.Z. College Applicants Seek Computing Drivers Licenses

3/26/2007

Secondary schools in New Zealand are beginning to certify their students' computing ability, in part to help their graduates compete better in the college environment, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Called the International Computer Driving License (ICDL), the certificate requires students to pass a test-based course on information technology. It is designed to test practical skills rather than information recall in the areas of e-mail and Internet usage, data backup procedures, and security precautions.

Although some view it as a valuable qualification for the job market, others see it as effective way for college applicants to certify skill sets and to prepare for the demands of university-level curricula.

Marshall Gass of De La Salle College in Mangere, N.Z., said when his school introduced ICDL in 2006, one student would turn up at 5:45 a.m. each morning to take courses. "The ICDL was better preparation than any [standardized test] because it had a wide sweep of the subject," said Gass.

Read More:


Paul McCloskey is a contributing editor for the Campus Technology group of publications.

Cite this Site

Paul McCloskey, "N.Z. College Applicants Seek Computing Drivers Licenses," Campus Technology, 3/26/2007, http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=46396

copy text (above) for proper citation



Recommended Reading
  • RIAA Outsources Fingering of Students Who Share Music Illegally

    The RIAA is outsourcing the hunt for music thieves. Its largest target currently is those who operate from within colleges and universities, a move that has piqued the attention of Educause.

  • Microsoft Expands Education Footprint in Asia Pacific Region

    Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced new partnerships to extend accessibility and computer literacy in the Asia Pacific region during a speech in Jakarta at a government leader gathering earlier this week.

  • IT Struggling Over Security, Compliance

    IT pros are having a hard time balancing security, software patch management and IT auditing with a host of other duties, according to a survey released Monday by Shavlik Technologies.

  • Toronto College Upgrades Network with Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Links

    Toronto-based George Brown College has gone public about its deployment of six BridgeWave GE60 wireless links to upgrade its campus-wide network.

  • Gates Highlights R&D at CES08, Unveils Microsoft Touch Wall

    Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates spent a lot of time Wednesday talking about "empowering the workers" at the Microsoft's 12th annual CEO Summit 2008 in Redmond, WA, where he gave a keynote speech. However, Gates wasn't talking about political revolutions or even pay raises for office workers before the CEO crowd. Instead, he was referring to new software technologies that can better enable collaboration, social networking and decision-making on the job.

  • Vista Vulnerability Study Puts Microsoft on Defensive

    Microsoft and some independent security researchers had the blogosphere buzzing Wednesday over a series of denunciations after one company claimed that the Vista operating system was more vulnerable to malware and other exploits than previous operating systems.