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Session 1793

An Approach to Addressing the Needs for Microsoft Office Specialist Training in Technology Programs

Fanyu Frank Zeng Indiana Wesleyan University

Abstract

The Microsoft Office Specialist Certification becomes the global standard of certification recognizing a high level of proficiency in office desktop computing skills. Microsoft Office Specialist Certification has been created to help employees and employment seekers to prove with confidence that they have achieved a high level of proficiency in using other Microsoft Office software tools which Microsoft endorses. It is the only office software certification that is recognized and endorsed by Microsoft and many employers worldwide.

This paper first addresses the importance and benefits to get Microsoft Office Specialist Certification today. It lists the major components of Microsoft Office Specialist Certification and analyzes the required technology skill sets for Microsoft Office Specialist Certification exam. It indicates that those skill sets can be broken into three major components, Microsoft Windows operating systems, Microsoft Office Suite software and Microsoft Office Suite software integration. After studying many Microsoft Office Specialist training programs offered by either traditional colleges or professional training centers it is clear that these three major components can be integrated into an existing academic program. The study presents a comprehensive approach to integrate these three components into an existing Computer Information Systems (CIS) program. The goal of curriculum improvement is to help students gain and improve their practical technical skills while they are still able to earn their academic credits.

Introduction

As the US industry globalization moves, industry and corporate infrastructure changes accordingly. Those changes redefine new higher standards for worker’s technology skill sets. This study presents the impacts on US workers as a result of the changes and finds out that using computer software is an important tool for today’s workers to prevail in this industry changes. It also finds that the changes have direct impacts on college students as well and they force many existing academic programs to make changes and upgrades accordingly.

To most of college students it has become clear that they are required to show prospective employers that they have the technical abilities and know how to become successful. One of interesting findings is that it is common to require everyone to maintain a certain level of skills on using PC and PC software, such as Microsoft Office

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Zeng, F. (2005, June), An Approach To Addressing The Needs For Microsoft Office Specialist Training In Technology Programs Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--15550