Open Polytechnic provides international assistance

Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 11:08 am
Speech: Open Polytechnic

Open Polytechnic provides international assistance

The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand is assisting the Commonwealth of Learning in developing an open content version of the International Computer Drivers Licence (ICDL) curriculum.

Recognised in 140 countries as the international standard for computer literacy, ICDL offers people the fundamental computer skills they need for today’s work or study environment.

Current ICDL training takes users through software packages such as Microsoft Office. This new project will see The Open Polytechnic develop learning materials that use Open Office, an open source equivalent to Microsoft Office packages.

“The idea is that an equivalent ICDL qualification can be gained for people who use Open Office”, says Open Polytechnic Acting e-Learning Director Sue Dark. The Polytechnic is leading the instructional design of the learning materials for its part in the endeavour.

“The materials will be under a Creative Commons licence, so freely available to any institution that wishes to use them. It is quite an innovative project as all the materials are being built in WikiEducator”, says Ms Dark.

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