Baar/Vienna, 2015-07-16: The TYPO3 Education Committee and the SkillDisplay initiative will cooperate starting in the fall of 2015. Through their collaboration, knowledge of content management systems (CMS) is to be communicated as part of the curriculum in the field of media technology at the technical college (HTL) Rennweg in Austria. Students can choose from a range of customized learning paths ("SkillPaths") in the future. These were developed together by teachers and members of the TYPO3 core team and are compatible with the new competency-based curriculum. In addition, students will be given the opportunity to share their acquired knowledge and skills with one another - including those who work in the IT industry and potential future employers.
SkillDisplay is an online tool that offers individual learning paths and will be used starting with the next school year. It shows the learning progress at three different levels ("tiers") and at a bonus level: Tier 1 encompasses skills that are validated by external certifications. Tier 2 includes the classic acquisition or verification of knowledge in the context of teaching. Tier 3 makes it possible to independently acquire knowledge offered in the learning path sources and check whether a person understands what has been taught. Furthermore, with the bonus tier, knowledge and skills that were acquired during extracurricular activities, such as internships or summer jobs, can be shown. The project will be presented at a kick-off event at the University of Applied Sciences BFI (Vocational Training Institute) in Vienna on September 23.
The cooperation includes the following key aspects:
- Pre-tests on certification: Tier 1 tests for all official TYPO3 certificates
- Incentives: Students who are disproportionately involved in working with TYPO3 can participate for free at various TYPO3 camps in Europe
- Documentation: Access to the official documentation on docs.typo3.org and use of the documentation as a basis for certain parts of a SkillPath
- Certifications: Up to ten students per year receive the opportunity to participate in the test for an official TYPO3 certificate for free.
- Lecture at the kick-off event in September (details to follow): The Chairman of the TYPO3 Education Committee, Peter Pröll will officially represent the CMS project at the kick-off event. Visitors will be able to purchase their first Tier 3 badge by attending the event.
About SkillDisplay
SkillDisplay is a project that was established by the association Business Angels that has set itself the goal of promoting cooperation between the education sector and companies in the IT industry. The project is aimed at supporting students, teachers and businesses alike by designing step-by-step learning paths (so-called "SkillPaths") in a three-plus-one tier system on different subjects and for use in the classroom. In this case, SkillPaths are developed by experts in education and professional practice with the support of interested and prospective partner companies in their respective industries in order to meet the requirements of the respective curriculum and the current state of technology and research. SkillDisplay supports the import and export of Mozilla OpenBadges to ensure that the knowledge and skills acquired in the course of learning paths can also be demonstrated. This open technology makes it possible to present one's own abilities in the form of digital badges to classmates, teachers, parents or potential future employers in a simple manner on different platforms on the Web. For more information about SkillDisplay and contact possibilities through various social media channels, please visit skilldisplay.at.
