INGOT Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is an INGOT?
INGOTs are International Grades in Office Technology. They provide a motivating progression route from complete beginner to professional level expertise in commonly used productivity tools found in the modern workplace such as word processing, presenting and searching for information.
2. Why are INGOTs different from other available qualifications?
INGOTs share some things in common with other qualifications but there is no other qualification that has all the characteristics of the INGOTs which are:
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They are competency based and they are outcome specific, not determined by any particular teaching course.
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They encourage assessment for learning with student self-assessment as a key aspect.
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They are designed to reduce bureaucracy and enhance the professional role of the teacher.
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They provide progression in both breadth and the demand in skills and knowledge by certification at Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels.
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The certification can be easily authenticated using theINGOTs.org web site.
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The lowest level Bronze INGOT is suitable for use with young children or mature adults.
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Assessment is appropriate for the skills. i.e. practical "doing" skills are assessed by direct observation, not factual recall for a pencil and paper test.
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INGOTs encourage students to take part in productive projects to produce useful resources for others.
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The certification is low cost
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INGOTs are not tied to proprietary software.
3. How is quality assurance guaranteed for the certification of the INGOTs?
All accredited assessors will be trained professionals. Students and assessors must agree that the assessment criteria are matched and some moderation will take place by random observations of samples of assessors in action. The most experienced assessors for the lower level INGOTs will be invited to become assessors and assessor trainers for the higher level INGOTs. The assessment model is deliberately formative – assessment for learning rather than assessment to standardize a narrow set of measurable outcomes. Assessment depends heavily on the assessors' professional judgment. There is an inevitable trade off between flexibility and standardization. INGOTs are designed to strike a balance that is primarily focused on motivating the learning process. The learning that takes place as a result of focus on the criteria is the most important aspect and a key aim is to reduce the bureaucratic burden of assessment for teachers.
4. Why is there no paper and pencil or on-line testing for the Bronze, Silver and Gold INGOTs?
The Bronze INGOT is
almost
entirely skills based. Sitting with good posture and typing with
both hands are important requirements for efficient operation of a
computer. Asking knowledge based questions in a written test will
provide no useful information about the actual practical outcomes in
these respects and provides no incentive to the student to adopt good
practice. Assessing skills by direct observation during the learning
process is a more valid and more efficient means of motivating good
practice. We want assessors and students to discuss the criteria and
understand issues around them rather than implement a mechanistic
assessment that loses the enrichment opportunities presented by
interaction. This does require trusting the assessors but then that
is also true if assessors administer a paper and pencil style test.
On-line testing will be considered where appropriate in future, but
much of on-line testing to date is simply transferring paper and
pencil practice to a web page and it does not encourage the human
interaction required in the learning process.
5. How does certification take place?
When an assessor and the student are both satisfied that the student has met all the criteria, the assessor uses the web site to enter the candidate's details. A certificate with a unique candidate number can then be printed from the web site. Assessors are attached to Academies. Academies pay an annual fee for unlimited certification. Individual assessors can buy certificate credits from the website. There are batch facilities on the website to enable groups to be certificated in one go in order to reduce administrative overheads.