Director General Announcement

Important announcement from ICDL Arabia’s Director General on ICDL training and how to support candidates testing during government restrictions due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

April 2020
Dear ICDL Accredited Centres, 

 

First and foremost, on behalf of the ICDL Arabia team, I wish you and everyone in your organisation safety and well-being during this difficult time. We at ICDL recognise the overwhelming challenges and changes we are all facing due to the recent pandemic.
 

As expected, social distancing and restricted assembly of people will continue to be enforced by governments across our region for the unforeseeable future. With this in mind, we have been working on essential calibrations and developments to shift from in-person to remote training and testing, while maintaining the quality and integrity of the ICDL certification programmes.  Please take a moment to carefully review the information outlined below which we hope will inspire you in overcoming some of the challenges faced in our domain; and I encourage you to come back to us for any questions you may have.
 

A remote proctored testing solution and related policies will be introduced and piloted on May 10th with a full deployment in the last week of May, enabling accredited centres to offer the ICDL certification programmes to candidates with remote testing from home. We will keep you up to date with our progress on our website www.icdlarabia.org/icdlremote.
 

Later this week, you will receive an email with the related policies and guidelines for implementing remote testing via your centre, which you need to review carefully in order to understand your role in offering and supervising remote testing. Additionally, you will be sent a remote proctoring and testing candidate information sheet which you will need to share with each candidate planning to take a test, as it details the system requirements and the use of personal data. Candidates must be made aware of these requirements before booking a remote test session.
 

Meanwhile, we encourage you to start delivering your ICDL training by utilising one of the freely available online video conferencing tools, such as Zoom www.zoom.us/, Skype www.skype.com, Microsoft Teams www.products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/online-meeting-solutions, or Webex www.webex.com/downloads.html/. Using these tools may seem difficult at first but they are essential for the continuity of your business and to remain connected with your candidates. Next week, ICDL Arabia will host a webinar aimed for trainers, to show how Zoom can be used to conduct training. A separate announcement will be sent to you with all the details. Attending this webinar is highly recommended if you wish to offer training and testing online.
 

Please be mindful that the ICDL e-books are available for all ICDL modules, in Arabic and English, and can be used to support your distance training offering. Let us know if you would like to switch your current stock of printed books to e-books by simply sending us an email stating title, version and the quantity required.
 

Additionally, we highly recommend your centre to regularly use the Litmus Primer for ICDL testing orientation purposes as well as to assess candidates’ skills before, during and after training. That way, you keep your ICDL candidates engaged, enhance their learning experience and ensure best use of everyone’s time.
The ICDL Primer link has changed to: http://primer.litmuslink.com/ATSOnlineGCC/CandidateGateway/Login.aspx
 

Finally, we are partners in this endeavor. Hence, we reiterate our commitment to doing everything possible to provide you with all the support you need to get your remote ICDL business up and running. We are always reachable. All our staff are on active duty Sunday through Thursday during the hours of 8:00AM to 2:00PM. You may contact us by phone at +971 4 454 0420 or by email at info@icdlarabia.org. For technical support, as always, you may call us on +971 4 454 0420 or email us on support@icdlarabia.org.

 

Thank you, stay safe and stay connected.

 

Sincerely,

Jamil Ezzo
Director General