Get trained online and earn a certificate, too

Get trained online and earn a certificate, too

JAKARTA (JP): A while back, a lot of people in the Internet
community here in Indonesia had a good laugh as they read an
official acknowledgement in the Website of an American university
that one of its alumni had been appointed to a very high position
in this country.

The reason we laughed was that we, Internet users, had often
received spams that told us things like "A university degree is
waiting for you."

And the bait becomes irresistible with the statement "We
require no tests, classes, books or interviews". One of these
spams provides a U.S. phone number that we can contact -- should
we be interested in enrolling.

While, as we understand it today, a PhD or an MA degree does
not mean much in a global world where true skills and depth of
knowledge count more, a certificate from a credible institution
may help a lot.

Just take a look at TOEFL scores, for example. A lot of
universities outside the U.S. use the TOEFL score to determine
whether an applying student can be admitted right away or some
language training will be necessary before the student can start
taking academic courses.

Companies and government institutions everywhere often look at
a job applicant's TOEFL score before making their hiring
decision.

There are now a number of institutions that offer online
training and certification in a wide range of fields, including
real estate, paralegal and insurance.

Even courses in second or foreign languages -- a subject that
certainly requires a lot of interaction -- are also being offered
online.

In the IT field, for example, online courses are now available
to those who would like to become a project manager, Webmaster,
Web designer, Web server administrator, CGI or Perl programmer,
all the way to e-commerce builder. Thanks to e-learning, people
can now train and earn certificates from the comfort of their
home.

As to credibility, though, we need to be very careful. We
would have no problem trusting an institution that is as
established as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

MIT (www.mit.edu), for example, is in the process of putting
all its course materials online. Starting next year, everybody
can access the free materials, called OpenCourseWare (OCW), and
use them to increase their knowledge and expertise.

While a lot of people all over the world have applauded the
program, MIT makes it clear that it will not award any online
degree to those using the OCW. Unfortunately, while anyone can
sharpen their swords on their own using quality materials, he or
she will still need certificates when applying for a job or
asking for a promotion.

In most cases, one has to physically go to a certification
center to take the test that will prove whether one is entitled
to the certificate. Microsoft requires people to come to its
designated testing centers to take the test, as do many of the
other leading IT companies.

This may be caused by the fact that there is still no
mechanism available to really ascertain that the person who is
taking the test is indeed the person whose name will appear in
the certificate. Yet, there are also a number of institutions
that let us take the exams online.

One example is Brainbench. Brainbench (www.brainbench.com)
specializes in online certification, and it proudly lists names
such as Microsoft, Autodesk, IBM, PeopleSoft and Siebel as it
customers.

It has also received ISO 9001 certification. You can take its
online tests business writing, Java 2, Virtual Basic 6.0 and
others to get certified, or you can take them just to see how
expert you are.

Here in Indonesia, Computer First (www.computerfirst.net) is
offering off-line classes to kids 4 to 13 years of age as well as
adults. The good thing about this newly established computer
learning center, which will offer courses in using encyclopedia
and Microsoft Office products, is that it will be affiliated with
Brainbench.

Thus, its students, which may also include housewives, will be
able to earn certificates from this institution. Of course, to
make this possible, Computer First will use English as the
language of instruction.

One thing that you need to understand is that it is extremely
important to make sure that you are seeking certification from an
accredited institution, not just any institution. You need to
check around.

Most important of all, you have to really have the skills and
knowledge indicated by your certificates, otherwise, you will
just be fooling yourself and you may end up becoming a national
joke.(Zatni Arbi)