ICT Skill for Life

In the Government's White Paper 21st Century Skills, Realising Our Potential, ICT was acknowledged as a Skill for Life along with literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). This acknowledges that ICT skills and knowledge are vital parts of being a functional member of society. Although it is difficult to estimate how many adults need ICT Skills and knowledge it is probably between 5 and 15 million? This is an enormous challenge.

Since the Government’s decision a series of actions have been taken to implement the decision. They are:

A personal view of why ICT is a Skill for Life can be read here.

Standards

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) have developed a series of standards for ICT Skill for Life. These cover Entry Level 1 to Level II and are available from QCA website. The standards introduce several new concepts into the delivery of basic ICT learning. The main issues are:

Purposefulness

ICT Skill for Life should be delivered in a purposeful way. That is it should meet the purposes or needs of the learners. ICT is essentially a series of tools to allow you to undertake a wide range of tasks. It should therefore be taught in a way that allows learners to practice the tasks they wish to undertake. There are many different purposes that ICT can serve but some possible ones are:

Independence

Learners who achieve the level I standards should be independent users of ICT. This suggests that they are able to cope with the normal process of change that is a natural part of dynamic subjects such as ICT. Learners will need to be able to transfer their learning to new situations such as using a new version of an application.

Consultation

During 2004 NIACE, on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills, undertook a consultation of post-16 education and training providers and practitioners on the implementation of the ICT Skill for Life standard.

The summary and full reports of the consultation are available below to be downloaded. The contents of the reports represent the analysis and interpretation of NIACE of the consultation feedback.

Curriculum

The ICT Skill for Life Core Curriculum has been developed by a small team for QCA. Participants in the ICT Skill for Life Action Research programme have contributed to the development of the curriculum to ensure its appropriateness. Version four of the draft Curriculum can be downloaded below. The final document will be available from QCA in September.

Action Research

During 2004/2005 34 centres across England took part in an action research programme to consider how to implement the ICT Skill for Life standards. The research investigated many factors including:

The Action Research report is available below for downloading.

Teacher Training

NIACE in partnership with the Learning and Skill Development Agency are investigating the teacher training requirements of tutors who will be delivering ICT Skill for Life programmes. The investigation was completed at the end of March 2006 and you can download a copy of the report below.

Pathfinder

In September 2005, the ICT Skill for Life pathfinder started to pilot many different aspects of ICT Skill for Life including the new entry level qualifications, assessment, teacher training and purposeful approaches. The pathfinder will be completed by September 2007. The project is being led by KPMG in partnership with Cambridge Training and Development and e-skills UK. The Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) will provide external evaluation of the Pathfinder project.

The ICT SfL Pathfinder project team is seeking to engage a wide range of interested parties and has a project website with discussion forums and postings of related information.

Join in and have your say by visiting the link below and clicking on the Public Arena

Functional Skills

Skills for Life and Key skills will eventually be replaced by Functional Skills, which are being developed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Functional Skills were announced in the in the 14-19 Education and Skills Reform White Paper and the Skills White Paper March 2005.

Functional skills are aimed at both pupils in school and adults and cover English, Mathematics and ICT. The draft standards for ICT Functional skills will shortly be available as part of the consultation process.

The functional skills update defines them as:

“Functional skills are those core elements of English, maths and ICT that provide an individual with the essential knowledge, skills and understanding that will enable them to operate confidently, effectively and independently in life and at work. Individuals of whatever age who possess these skills will be able to participate and progress in education, training and employment as well as develop and secure the broader range of aptitudes, attitudes and behaviours that will enable them to make a positive contribution to the communities in which they live and work.”

To keep in touch with developments visit www.totallyskilled.co.uk

Briefing Sheets

NIACE provides many short briefing sheets on a wide variety of lifelong learning issues. We have commissioned four new sheets relating to ICT as a new Skill for Life. They are:

NIACE has produced a series of publications called e-guidelines, which cover many aspects of ICT and e-learning

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