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Paper Number: 2004-709

Use of External IT Certification for Engineering Technology at the Bermuda College

Charles Finn and Fiona Doe

Charles Finn: Former Dean, 1998-2001, of Applied Science and Technology at the Bermuda College, introduced the ICDL program to Bermuda in January 2000. Fiona Doe: Former Instructor in Horticulture and Technical Education Training Officer, Bermuda College, Division of Applied Science & Technology 1999 – 2003.

Abstract: The Bermuda College1, founded in 1975, is a two year community college located on the island of Bermuda, over 600 miles east of North Carolina. It offers associate degree and certificates programs in Liberal Arts, Hospitality, Business, and Applied Science and Technology.

In addition to the internal examinations offered by the College, all students sit external examinations (see Appendix for implementation details) from organizations such as City and Guilds International2 (CGI), Automotive Service Excellence3 (ASE) the National Center for Construction Education and Research4 (NCCER), and the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Council5 (NJATC) for their disciple specific skills. This allows students the opportunity to ply their skills in markets far afield from Bermuda.

However, all technology students need a solid grounding in Information Technology (IT) skills, so a search for an appropriate internationally valid IT examination was undertaken. In the spring of 2000, the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology (FAST) conducted a pilot study using the International Computer Driving Licence6 (ICDL) certification, developed in Europe in 1997 as the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL). ICDL was introduced to the FAST students in the Fall of 2000. Students were offered the ICDL curriculum training and they had the choice of taking the ICDL official examinations for external credit. In the last three academic years, all technology students followed the ICDL curriculum and a dozen received full external certification in addition to internal college credit. Offering external certifications as a value-added products assists with recruitment, while employers are pleased to hire students with known skills.

Introduction In 2001, the faculty of Applied Science and Technology (AST) decided that all certificate students entering their first semester should take a range of subjects called the ‘Technical Common Core’, in order to ensure that they were reaching a basic standard in such core “Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education"

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Doe, F., & Finn, C. (2004, June), Use Of External It Certication For Engineering Technology At The Bermuda College Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13938