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IT Literacy Test
crumley writes "The Educational Testing Service just announced a new
test that is designed to measure information technology literacy. The test is supposed to measure the ability of students to use software to solve problems, and not just how to use particular programs. So has anyone out there taken a test like this? Did it seem to measure critical thinking and problem solving skills?"
Take the test but ya be warned: Failing even one question will result in a one year suspension of your Geek Licence.
They got the URL wrong - of course if you can't figure out how to fix it, you fail the literacy test. anyway it's a slash, not a backslash. (If you can't tell those apart, that's an automatic fail, too.)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
While this is a good measurement of progress for our current interface and will be useful to measure the average worker. I expect it to be hopelessly interface dependent. There is more than one good and useful GUI or TUI (is there another name for a text only UI?)
...it's pencil & paper based!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
When we were kids we had MAN this and MAN that. Now you whippersnappers have your fancy F1, and ICT literacy assessments. We didnt even have F keys and we had to flip switches both ways, in the snow!
Now get off my lawn j00 l33t whippersnappers!
and something about an onion on my belt
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
Question 1:
File Edit View Favorites Tools Help.
What does this mean?
Question 2:
What is that little X thingy in the upper right hand panel?
If you can answer these questions correctly, you're technically competent. If not, you have a bright future as a technology patent examiner.
Yeah? Well I think you're overrated too.
Back in 1999, I was a chemical engineer looking for a change of pace. Purdue was desperate for computing folks, so they offered a program called Information Systems and Technology Eduction Program.
The entrance exam was a test that determined your ability to think logically and break down the wholes into their parts with appropriate linkages. It included block diagram puzzles and other assorted logic statements and questions. Not a single line of code anywhere in it (that would have defeated the purpose). I took the test, did well, and was hired.
So, these things have been around for quite a while, at least since 1999.
Any test will necessarily miss relevant skills, and will over- or under-emphasize certain things. If you can be a paper-MCSE, there's no particular reason to believe that you can't be a paper-"IT literate".
The idea of this test is fundamentally flawed. If you are good at problem solving, you will be good at problem solving in a technology-rich environment or a technology-poor environment equally. Analytical thought and problem solving has been around a lot longer than computers, and the same people that are good at solving problems with computers were good at solving problems with other things before computers.
I've always hated technology tests, because they necessarily favor a particular way of doing things, and show a clear bias to the solutions preferred by whoever came up with the test. My techniques are rarely the "industry standard" techniques, so I often find myself on tech assessment tests choosing the answers I know the test creators think are right, even if in my experience they aren't the best or most efficient way to do things.
Many are familiar with the often frustratingly cryptic interview questions from Microsoft and others... my favorite (which I would certainly use if I were running a support department):
"You come home and flip the switch, but the lights don't come on. Describe in as much detail as you can how you would go about fixing the problem."
Most people I've asked respond with "replace the light bulb." While that might be the problem, I think the first thing you should do is try the switch again. Maybe you didn't flip the switch all the way, or you hit the wrong one.
The point is that it's a problem solving experience - and not just in technology. It doesn't require expertise in Microsoft Word. It doesn't take a techie to know this stuff. You can measure a person's aptitude for logic, problem-solving, etc. without ever testing specific examples of those skills. That's what I really like about that question. Hopefully, the ETS exam will take this perspective when developing such tests.
I'm the network admin for a school. I've been doing this for seven years and have been teaching computer classes for five. I teach the 7th grade how to do simple programming in LOGO. They learn the concepts of loops, variables, functions, etc. They learn how to take a problem, break it into parts and come up with a program to solve the problem. They also learn a bit of computer history and how to count and do simple math in binary. I believe I'm the only one doing this in my area.
I deal with a number of people in my position in other schools. Without fail, the computer "literacy" classes in those schools is training in Microsoft Office. They're just training kids to use a particular version of a particular product from ONE company. They're not teaching them the concepts behind a modern word processor, they're training them how to click buttons in Word.
When I started this job, I thought education was all about teaching people how to think and solve problems. I was wrong!
I'm fortunate at this job in that I'm pretty much free to use whatever solutions get the job done. 80% of the machines here are Linux based terminals (using LTSP). I'm also fortunate that I won the old teaching concepts vs. training argument with the administration. I'm free to teach the computer literacy class however I wish.
It's even worse when the test computer is a Mac.
(based on personal expieriance).
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
I beg your pardon! They prefer to be called "Management".
Height: 38U, Weight: 0 Newtons, Eyes: #0000FF, OS: Gray Matter 1.0 (Alpha)
Um...this is from the ETS, dude. You know, the same folks who brought us the uber-useful SAT and GRE. Of course, those are both completely unbiased and highly accurate exams that let universities see the true potential of their applicants. Given that, we can all rest assured that this test will be a truly wonderful addition to the pre-employment screening process. Besides, it will dramatically lower the ROI, and that, my friend, is key.
*cough*
I'm the network admin for a school. I've been doing this for seven years and have been teaching computer classes for five. I teach the 7th grade how to do simple programming in LOGO
People are still teaching LOGO? Holy 1982 Batman! Do they use a mouse to move the turtle nowadays?
My techniques are rarely the "industry standard" techniques...
Man, when I was in college, we had 8 or 9 different "Industry Standards". While most teachers were absolutely convinced that their method was the "Industry Standard", there were a few knowledgable enough to explained the whole thing to us. Mostly when people talk about "Industry Standards", it's manager-speak for "The Way We Do Things Here." So if you don't follow the "Industry Standards", you will not be working for long.
Also keep in mind that "Industry Standards" in the sense that I'm talking about has absolutely nothing to do with real ISO or QS standards. Those are actual organizations that create a set of standard rules for companies to follow, usually for the safety of workers and quality assurance of products. No, I'm just talking BS manager-speak...