On Sat, 2010-01-09 at 10:47 +0100, Per Eriksson wrote: > Hi John, > > I'm mainly thinking a couple of things: > > Appearently problems regarding support for other file formats is still > creating problems for people. I however do know that the Hamburg team is > working on it. We could ask developers to please prioritize on things > like interop with older binary formats, but still it's the developers' call. > > When reading the text, it also mentions problems with exams, worries for > the future, and the product packaging. > * Exams: Do we have a team working with leading exam institutes in the > office productivity spectrum to discuss our product?
We have an OOo certification project. I also run a UK government accredited awarding body and meet regularly with other IT exam providers. There are two types of IT qualification, one is directly targeted on vendor products eg Microsoft MOUS etc, the other is generic qualifications that are more about transferable skills and don't specify the use of particular products eg INGOTs. To an extent ICDL is generic but it has been strongly associated with MS Office for many years and the vast majority of supporting materials are targeted on MS Office. We are planning an EU funded project to support OOo certification. This will be based on generic assessment criteria but with specific support for OOo so that we have a comparable "vendor" certification that is compatible with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). In the UK, government funding is dependent on qualifications meeting certain criteria - they must be endorsed by a Sector Skills Council as supporting the sector qualifications strategy and that means the assessment has to be compatible with the National Occupational Standards. In the UK this has been aligned with the EQF but it could be different in other countries. There is an EU directive for all countries to align their qualifications to the EQF by 2010 but that deadline is not likely to be met. In schools in the UK a compulsory move to OOo would cause some problems because some things would no doubt break. OTOH there is more encouragement to make that change and in setting up the INGOTs we provided an alternative accredited qualification that is designed to be independent of proprietary software and encourages learning about the importance of open systems. This means both teachers and students can use MS Office but they will learn enough to make informed decisions about alternatives in the future. Then it is up to them. Personally I think this is a better and more "educational" approach, but a lot depends on how centrally controlled the education system is. IN the UK individual schools make purchasing decisions - although that is changing to more local groups of schools with IT. In a country where central government decrees what software is purchased for all schools its all or nothing. Of course central purchasing will also show clearly the huge amounts of money that can be saved by considering the cost of licenses collectively. > * Product packaging: provide something like a "Works better together" > (taken from Amazon :)) which would make examples of software that works > excellent with ours? > > Best Regards > > Per Eriksson > > John McCreesh skrev 2010-01-09 10:33: > > "Can it be true that a school union complained to the Danish > > Lyngby-Taarbaek Municipality council and mayor after they put the schools > > on to FOSS productivity software?" > > > > http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10014804o-2000673651b,00.htm > > > > John > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@marketing.openoffice.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@marketing.openoffice.org -- Ian Ofqual Accredited IT Qualifications A new approach to assessment for learning www.theINGOTs.org - 01827 305940 You have received this email from the following company: The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@marketing.openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@marketing.openoffice.org
