Digital Potential

ICT Skills for Computer and Information Literacy

p 2

The Need for ICT Skills Literacy is Clear

The economy of the 21st century is largely driven by information technology…

• Global competitiveness … a “flatter world”– Many emerging countries have defined the development of a digitally

literate workforce as a primary economic driver – Requires that a country’s workforce is able to demonstrate

competencies across international borders• Workers with Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

skills are better prepared to step out of low-wage, low-skill jobs and into higher-paying jobs

• Employers increasingly expect job candidates to have ICT skills

The ubiquity of computing• The ever-increasing presence of computing has transformed many

of life’s daily functions. – From cell phones to ATMs to MP3 players, understanding the ICT

concepts has increasing relevance for all walks of life worldwide

p 3

Microsoft Digital Literacy Program Concept

A Two part program:

• Free, online, e-learning: curriculum for digital literacy training in a self study or classroom environment

• Certificate: digital literacy certificate of completion of the program

p 4

Digital Literacy Curriculum

Provides a baseline digital literacy skills standard, supported by:• Assessment • eLearning• Certificate of completion

Curriculum covers a broad range of critical ICT literacy skills The curriculum and assessments will be made available online for free,

and may be provided on CD in Microsoft Word format for locales with limited or no internet access

Curriculum may be adapted locally to specific situational needs or programs

p 5

Digital Literacy Certificate

The certificate exam functions just like the course-level assessments, but pulls a set of 30 questions that test objectives across all of the five courses, rather than just within each course.

If a candidate achieves a specified percentage of correct answers, they are granted a certificate of completion for the Digital Potential program, and can print out a paper certificate.

Governments and NGOs interested in taking the certificate exam to the certification level may use the tools provided by Microsoft to build out a true certification exam and sponsor testing sites with proctoring to formally validate a candidate’s achievement

p 6

Vision for Stages of Workforce Development

Career awareness, planning, and readiness

Stage 1:

Competency development

Stage 2:

Work and learning connections

Stage 3:

Placement

and follow up

Stage 4:

Government workforce counseling

K-12 Education

Higher Education

NGOs

Workforce training programs

Commercial training programs

K-12 Education

Higher Education

Create awareness and set career goals around IT related careers

Provide IT related foundational education

Train individuals to identified competencies for job roles

Certify individuals to demonstrate job readiness

Bridge school and training to workplace opportunities

Apprenticeship programs

Job placement

Ongoing professional development

NITAS (U.S. Labor)

Readiness Competency Application Placement

Government sponsored internships

p 7

Role of Digital Literacy in Workforce Development

Microsoft Certified Trainer

Digital Literacy Technician Professional Architect

Entry level computer literacy

PC and Online security

Online Privacy

Digital Media

Specific technology skills on Microsoft Technologies

Training and certification for specific IT related job roles

Introduction to technology

Introduction to Microsoft

technology

Job role specific training

Design complex software solutions

Architect IT solutions for businesses

CompetencyReadiness

Career awareness, planning, and readiness

Stage 1:

Competency development

Stage 2:

Program Level

Focus

Objective

p 8

Applications Basics

Digital Literacy Curriculum Topics

Computer Literacy

Security & Privacy

Internet & Web Basics

Digital Lifestyle

Digital Literacy Certificate(Spans all five objective domains)

Individual Assessment

Individual Assessment

IndividualAssessment

IndividualAssessment

IndividualAssessmentAssess

Learn

Apply

• Parts of PCs

•Types of PCs

• I/O devices

• Memory

• Storage

• SW types

• OS

• Windows

• Start menu

• File mgt

• Basic functions

Objectives Covered Objectives Covered Objectives Covered Objectives Covered Objectives Covered

• Browser basics

• Search Engines

• Internet Search Strategies

• Chat rooms

• Video conferencing

• Internet E-mail

• Online Safety & Privacy

• Creating Web Pages

•Internet Lifestyle

• Word Processing

• Spreadsheets

• Presentations

• E-mail

Each topic covers:

• Launch

• Open file

• Basic functions

• Print

• Close

•PC Security

• Passwords

• Practices

Internet Security & Privacy

• Hackers, Viruses

• Online Cons

• Encryption

• Safe practices

•Email Privacy

• Junk mail, Spam

• Free e-mail

Digital Media

• Photography

• Video

• Music

•Digital Devices

• Mobile phones

• PDAs

• Wireless computing

• Tablet PCs

• Wearable devices

p 9

Where we are in this process…

Early 2005 Mid-Late 2005 January 2006

Outreach•Initial research

•Audience analysis

•Needs assessment

Working with the international community, Microsoft studied the general need for digital literacy programs

Validation•Validation of vision, scope, and learning objectives with teaching community

Development•Curriculum creation and certificate development

•Testing and validation

Launch and Evaluation

•Curriculum launch

•Summative evaluation of outcomes

Launch and evaluation of the new curriculum and testing

Microsoft is seeking broad participation in setting and validating the vision, scope and learning objectives associated with a digital literacy program

Microsoft will build the curriculum, assessment and testing tools for a new ICT skills development curriculum

p 10

Next steps…

Step 1: Identify participants in your organization

Step 2: Review the Digital Potential Digital Literacy Curriculum Vision and Scope document

Step 3: Complete each of the tabs in the spreadsheet to help us identify core areas of content coverage

Step 4: Complete the Digital Literacy Curriculum Reviewer Questionnaire