Barcrest Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 That's exactly why our school started to run them. We consistently have poor A*. - C numbers. This was seen as a way to boost these numbers. There was no exam prep for the students. They were just put into it blind so to speak Same here, this is why we are only setting them up now.
Linfit Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 Ofqual are on the case about this - we have had a letter this morning, they are auditing the BCS because they are worried that if the qualification can be passed in a few hours it doesn't meet the 120GLH rule. Wouldn't be surprised if they remove it from the league tables. This would be a ******* for those of use going through the labyrinthine registration, setup and testing process, if it all turns out to be a waste of time.
Barcrest Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 Anyone have any links to anything about this possibly being removed from league tables. I would assume this will not happen for this years tables and probably not next year as usually notice is given like the iGCSE Cambridge english where this is the last year for it to count.
bossman Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 I have asked the question but it seems that some schools are in denial around the use of these ECDL exams and the way in which they are used to gain a favourable mark in the schools exam tables. I have been assured it is not the case with us. We have been using the tests for quite a while now after I managed after a few weeks of trial and error to get them fully functional and run without problems and now after all that it looks like a wasted effort hmm! Will wait and see what happens with a wry smile
Garacesh Posted September 29, 2016 Posted September 29, 2016 (edited) Just to continue this thread Like many all worked well when testing the Java version when first setup in May. Stations still pass the Java front page test. Using the non-java plugin, so with the enlight EKSLWPlugin is installed and logging in as an administrator. Using a ECDL test user account, then selecting a test to take, ET2 will run the ‘System Requirement Check’ this runs fine down to the ‘Plugin’ test this shows ok, but stops at the .Net Framework test, then 30 seconds later the Plugin shows Error ‘No Plugin detected’ the .NET and the other tests show in progress. Bit of a necrobump, sorry! Was the reason for this ever found? Getting the same issue here. Works for my account, so it's got to be something to do with the user policy, but I can't see anything that obviously screams it's blocking it. Edited September 29, 2016 by Garacesh
Sean Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Oop, another bit of thread necromancy here Have ECDL changed the name of their plugin or something? I've just beeen told that we are running more ECDL sessions at the end of next month and I've been trying to get my head around how all this works again I found the test page and downloaded the linked plug-in but it's called 'PSIIA Plugin' (PSI In-Application, apparently) instead of EKSLW - is this the latest version of the same thing that's been rebranded or have I grabbed the wrong one this time? The new MSI for the Plugin is smaller than the old one but not by much Cheers
clareq Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 No, they have issued a new plugin - we found out when a load of exams failed with "plugin not found" even though the plug-in I had downloaded earlier worked. I had to download and deploy the new one. 1
Garacesh Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 As @clareq said, they have issued a new plugin. They are also using a new URL (which appears to just point at the same server): https://ecdluk.psionline.com 1
Timetable Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 We have ran these since the summer with no major problems until a new member of staff said the kids can take the test more than once on the same day, is this correct? We read somewhere that each assessment had to have one calendar day between them. Saying that when I set them up it does give me the option of how many resits they are allowed, so would this teacher be right?
Garacesh Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 We have ran these since the summer with no major problems until a new member of staff said the kids can take the test more than once on the same day, is this correct? We read somewhere that each assessment had to have one calendar day between them. Saying that when I set them up it does give me the option of how many resits they are allowed, so would this teacher be right? Technically-speaking, I haven't a clue, but I know our exams officer has said yes, they need a calendar day between tests. That may be a principally-enforced limitation rather than a technically-enforced one. 1
ITBadger Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Having recently endured the training, I can confirm that students have to have a minimum of 24 hours between tests on the same module. They make a big deal of this in the training which is meant to be compulsory for all staff involved in the delivery or invigilation of ECDL exams. That said, there is no reason why they couldn't do one module in the morning followed by a different module in the afternoon. This may help satisfy the teacher and the exam board. 1
mavhc Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 You may hate Java, but replacing it with an even worse plugin is a step backwards. Who's going to join the BCS when they can't even write software?
Linfit Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 We have ran these since the summer with no major problems until a new member of staff said the kids can take the test more than once on the same day, is this correct? We read somewhere that each assessment had to have one calendar day between them. Saying that when I set them up it does give me the option of how many resits they are allowed, so would this teacher be right? They absolutely are not allowed to take a test twice on the same day. This is one of the things the invigilator is supposed to check when they start the tests. I don't think the software prevents it, but the second test would likely be disqualified when BCS aggregate the results, and the school might get into trouble for allowing the regulations to be broken. The fact that you can specifiy the number of attempts in the test restrictions does not invalidate the rule. They can of course take any number of tests in a day, provided they are different ones. 1
Timetable Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 thanks for all the advice on the tests, I have informed the teacher there has to be a day between tests. Thanks for confirmation.
deKay Posted January 30, 2017 Posted January 30, 2017 So this has ended up here, with the usual "lots of other schools use it no problem" and so on. How do you make it work without Java? I assume "you can't", but that's not acceptable!
Garacesh Posted January 30, 2017 Posted January 30, 2017 There's a plugin you can install. We deploy it out over GP since it's an MSI.
deKay Posted January 30, 2017 Posted January 30, 2017 I saw, but Chrome doesn't support NPAPI plugins, and it seems to require users to then install a Chrome extension which we don't allow.
Garacesh Posted January 30, 2017 Posted January 30, 2017 Can you not install the extension as an administrative user? It should then be available for any user on that machine. Or is that not how Chrome works? (We're an IE school, so it was simply push the MSI by group policy and job done) Failing that, you might just have to bite the bullet and make the ECDL tests taken via IE.
deKay Posted January 30, 2017 Posted January 30, 2017 Chrome simply doesn't allow NPAPI plugins any more. PPAPI only, and that's not an option. IE isn't an option. Currently looking at replacing a computer suite with old PCs just for this purpose. It'd be nice if these companies actually kept up with the times and used modern software
Meldrew Posted January 30, 2017 Posted January 30, 2017 Chrome simply doesn't allow NPAPI plugins any more. PPAPI only, and that's not an option. IE isn't an option. Currently looking at replacing a computer suite with old PCs just for this purpose. It'd be nice if these companies actually kept up with the times and used modern software Although we have Chrome, we use IE for ECDL.
deKay Posted January 30, 2017 Posted January 30, 2017 Although we have Chrome, we use IE for ECDL. *shudder*
KibosJ Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 I installed the plugin (MSI) via SCCM to all student machines, then force install the PSI Online chrome extension and it works fine for us here
mavhc Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 Chrome is pretty great about installing extensions, update the GPO, gpupdate on client, no need to even restart chrome. Question is what does this magic extension/plugin do that you can't do with a standard html5 website? 3d graphics? nope, sounds? nope, offline? nope, local storage? nope, midi/camera/microphone? nope. Hey, BCS, maybe you know some good programmers? 1
Meldrew Posted January 31, 2017 Posted January 31, 2017 Chrome is pretty great about installing extensions, update the GPO, gpupdate on client, no need to even restart chrome. Question is what does this magic extension/plugin do that you can't do with a standard html5 website? 3d graphics? nope, sounds? nope, offline? nope, local storage? nope, midi/camera/microphone? nope. Hey, BCS, maybe you know some good programmers? As I understand it remotly controls word/excel/powerpoint, etc locally installed on your computer.
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