Maintianers
My earlier message was very over the top it would appear.
I had a look while on lunch and tracked down some statistics.
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SBU/b000266/154-t17a.htm
See the line for GNVQ Advanced IT.
If this line is accurate then the number of people completing the course
year by year is substantially lower than I had been expecting. Indeed
looking at the other pages the number of people completing courses
overall is lower. On that point however the statistic does only apply to
a certain age group. I would rather have a number for total AGNVQ IT
completions in a year. This should be higher than one might think at
first because there are a large number of students who while not 'mature
students' still have a year gap between secondary school and college for
various reasons not forgetting re sits.
In any case, to explain.
While in college I took among other things two IT qualifications.
AGNVQ IT and A Level Computer Science. At the same time.
GNVQ IT runs by a specialist book written specifically for the course.
So specific students will follow menu item by menu item click for click
instructions.
A Level Computer Science was for me somewhat different. We touched on a
broader ranger of IT subjects and the level of depth was (in the case of
our class) governed by everyone's ability to keep up and take more in
for each subject. The course ran from several books which were only
fixed when the teacher wanted us to have a specific piece of information
that was specific to that book. Or in other words it was possible to
avoid the book the teacher used if one really wanted to and just look
over someone else's shoulder (at their book not their work) or demand a
photocopy hand out when something 'book specific' was being studied...
or most commonly use a rental version from the library.
GNVQ qualifications (for people not of the UK or not aware) have good
and bad points. So I do not completely agree or disagree with them. For
example their design allows for people with very lacking organisation
skills to be aided in achieving a qualification and learning
organisational skills by which they can then operate in a work environment.
A Level had the potential to be more than GNVQ because the elective
modules for GNVQ (that is extras) are limited in number. With A Level it
is probably just down to you and your lecturer.
So you are all quite bored by now reading this.
Here is the horrific part.
GNVQ (when I attended) was not computer science.
or in other words. The click by click books are "THE OTHER OPERATING
SYSTEM" only. And "THE OTHER OFFICE PACKAGE" almost entirely, as I
vaguely recall opening something to do with Lotus for some reason, then
closing and wondering why I had opened it.
Why bring you this depressing news...
To ask if there is anyone else who thinks that an alternative GNVQ book
set or work sheet set for Linux would not greatly aid the uptake and as
a result the number of maintainers.
If I am right in thinking that GNVQ is almost never performed with
anything but "THE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEM" and its "EXPENSIVE APPS" then
the absence of such a book is not even merely a lacking, it is a loss
because all but those people who for some reason choose of natural
course to dislike "THE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEM" will be trained to use
"THE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEM" when it makes as much sense to me that they
choose fairly by a piece of information at the beginning of their course.
Lastly, not all of the AGNVQ relies on the OS for instance some things
like setting up a null modem connection used terminal but terminal is
similar but better on Linux.
Howard
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