The evidence from employer and student questionnaires points to the desirability of students having certain demonstrable IT-related skills before they embark on a work placement. How are these skills best acquired?
The evidence from the student questionnaires points to their desire to have skills newly acquired on a work placement recognised and accredited. It also indicates a preparedness to follow additional modules and/or to use self-instructional materials. How can this best be done?
It rather depends on the skills and whether evidence of their having been attained is important. The questionnaire evidence points overwhelmingly to the need for some degree of competence in word-processing and email. Most institutions provide this, usually as part of their own student induction process, and it may well be sufficient for a large number of placements. One suspects that many institutions provide a basic introduction to Microsoft Word and then assume that, since students' coursework has to be word-processed, they will become more proficient. This approach may well equip students to cope with a 'general' placement in which all that is required is basic text-entry and printing (simple correspondence, for example).
Keyboard Skills
Keyboard skills can be relatively easily and inexpensively acquired. Arguably, the best way to acquire them is by means of an interactive computer program. There are many such programs in existence and many universities will have them on their networked systems. With an increasing number of students having their own computers, there is every probability that a typing tutor will be included in the free software bundle. Failing that, typing software is frequently to be found on computing magazine cover CDs or can be downloaded from shareware/freeware sites such as the Higher Education National Software Archive (HENSA) or Tucows. Alternatively, a simple search will yield a large number of results. This can be a little daunting, however: a search submitted to the Google engine using 'typing tutor' as the search-string produced 14,700 hits. However, within the first ten, there were several seemingly good, inexpensive packages. A search of the HENSA site using the same search-string produced 100 results with packages for a variety of platforms. The majority of these programs enable the learner to measure his/her speed and accuracy and some will even print a certificate giving the speed in words per minute.
According to employer returns, knowledge of how to use a software package can and does make a difference to the decision whether or not to employ. There is no shortage of materials for students to acquire software skills at a variety of levels and for virtually all packages. Elsewhere in this report, I have indicated a range of possible sources.
The critical issue is timing. Given sufficient notice, locating suitable training materials is not really too much of a problem. Returns from Heads of Languages and IT Services indicate that, in some cases, there are modules available to students. These can either be modules tailored to the needs of language students (Computer Tools for Linguists, Anglia) or generic modules, typically offered by IT services, that students can follow.
One of the possible benefits of modularisation and semesterisation would be to allow modules to run at different times and to make them available to students at different levels. The language of modularisation has not been standardised, but the situation I am envisaging, taken from my own institution, is as follows. We currently offer a module to students in their final year which prepares them to design and author web sites. If this module were offered at a different time, in Semester 1 rather than Semester 2, and if the pre- and co-requistes were modified, students could follow it as an 'optional extra' before embarking on their placement. My suspicion is that, in many institutions, there are modules in existence which could be made available with little or no extra effort and at modest cost, but that this information is simply not available. A number of returns from modern language departments indicated that modern language students did have access to modules run by other faculties, typically computing or business.
Accreditation
Employer returns indicated that they were keen to see evidence of students' competence. A high proportion of student returns indicated that they would welcome some means of validating their newly acquired skills. In the absence of an in-house module, is there any other method whereby a student can demonstrate that he or she has attained competence in an area of IT? The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) has been created to do precisely that. Details of the ECDL syllabus can be seen on their website, but, in summary, the ECDL comprises seven modules:
- basic concepts of information technology
- using the computer and managing files
- word processing
- spreadsheets
- databases and filing systems
- presentation and drawing
- information network services.
Not all the modules have to be taken at once. Students wanting to take the 'test' need to send off for a log-book in which their success in each of the modules is recorded. On completion of all seven, the log-book is sent to the British Computer Society (BCS) which sends out the licence. The tests have to be taken at an accredited training centre. It is important to note that the ECDL is an internationally accepted certificate. Taking the tests does incur costs which will vary from centre to centre and the student also has to buy the log-book, which costs £25.00.
Clearly, the training materials identified elswhere in this report could be used to acquire the skills for each of the discrete ECDL modules. However, Electric Paper produce an interactive CD-ROM and workbook which cover all seven modules. This CD is the subject of a CHEST agreement and is therefore available at a reduced price. As an example, the Oxford University Computing Service (OUCS) makes the CD available to students from its shop at a cost of £31.50. Workbooks are also available, priced £2.00. Candidates can either follow the course with traditional classroom teaching and hands-on experience or use the Electric Paper CD-ROM at the IT Learning and Resource Centre (LaRC) or buy their own copy of the CD and workbook.
Using the Electric Paper CD is a very cost-effective solution, since it simulates the various software applications and also provides the interactive teaching in a stimulating and highly motivating manner. We have made a copy of the CD available to students in our languages resource centre along with the other training CDs mentioned elsewhere in this report. An unexpected benefit has been their use by incoming Erasmus students who are required by their home university to enhance their IT skills while on exchange but who also find it improves their reading comprehension.
Clearly, there is no single solution to equipping modern language students with IT skills. The existence of inexpensive training materials (foreign language magazines and CD-ROMs) means that it is feasible to provide students with the opportunity of acquiring such skills as are needed for a specific placement. Proof of having acquired IT skills while on placement can be obtained by taking the relevant ECDL module(s), which can be added to until students are eligible for the award of the full licence which would then give them a competitive edge in the graduate marketplace.