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The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL), also known as International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) in non European countries, is a computer literacy certification programme provided by ECDL Foundation a not-for-profit organisation.
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ECDL / ICDL certification is a globally recognised information and communication technology (ICT) and digital literacy qualification. Other than the name, there is no difference between ECDL and ICDL and they are recognised as equivalent. According to ECDL Foundation, over 14 million people in over 100 countries had registered as candidates for ECDL.
In 1995, the ECDL certification programme was developed through a task force of the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) and was recommended by the European Commission High Level Group, ESDIS, to be a Europe-wide certification scheme. In the UK, it is used by the National Health Service as the benchmark IT qualification and as such it is available without charge to all staff.
Testing
In order to take the tests, a candidate buys an ECDL Skills Card, which usually is issued electronically and serves as a login to the testing platform. To prepare for a module test, the candidate may use ECDL diagnostic tests. Testing is done using software which simulates the Windows/Microsoft Office environment. The candidate's mouse movements and keystrokes are monitored and the result of the test is reported immediately after the test is completed.
New ECDL / ICDL
Since 2013, the syllabus has been divided into 18 modules on three levels:
Original ECDL / ICDL
Until 2013 the ECDL/ICDL syllabus was divided into seven modules. These are:
Additionally, there was an Advanced version that was divided into four modules. These are:
Many training centres used Microsoft software (the applications used are shown in parenthesis) but other software environments could be used, such as Apache OpenOffice/LibreOffice.