The Course

This course is designed to give a general introduction to some of the main functions of the Internet.  The course is suitable for anyone who is new to the Internet or using email or who wishes to study the ECDL.

The course is divided into lessons and each lesson begins with a set of clearly stated objectives and an explanation of its place in the overall programme of study.  There are 18 lessons and 4 tutor-marked assignments.  In addition, there are numerous self-assessment tests and activities to measure your progress.  We also include a CD Rom in the course materials which contains suggested answers, dummy files and other resources.

The Syllabus

This course is certified by ECDL as part of the European Computer Driving Licence qualification using syllabus Version 4.0.  There are five other modules comprising the ECDL:

Word Processing (Word)

Spreadsheets (Excel)

Presentation (Powerpoint)

Database (Access)

Concepts of Information Technology

Using a computer and managing files

Key Topics

The course covers all the key skills requires by the ECDL exams, including:

Sending and receiving electronic messages

The World Wide Web

Hyperlinks and URLs

Working with web pages

Searching and bookmarks

Web Page Authoring

Inserting objects

Security considerations

The Internet and Society

Assessment

Examinations can be arranged through ECDL's website.  They can be taken at any time of year by students sitting at a keyboard in an ECDL registered centre.  Basic Concepts of IT is a theory paper but all the others are practical exams.  Students are responsible for making their own examination entries, the fee varies a little from one centre to another.

Duration

We recommend that each module should take about 50 hours of study over three months to complete.  Generally the ECDL, as a whole, takes a year to complete.

Special Requirements.

No prior computer skills are needed but our course is based on and related to three Microsoft products: Internet Explorer (a browser), Outlook Express (an e-mail system) and FrontPage Express (web page authoring software).   However the principles underlying these packages  are so similar that there should not be any problems if students do have different software applications which perform the same functions as those listed above.