Note: if you are looking for the assessments themselves, you can access them on our homepage.
The world of work is changing continuously, rapidly integrating use of new technologies in jobs. Most employers require all job seekers to apply online. Frontline service workers in many industry sectors now rely on automation and digital tools in their work. Jobs require employees to know how to use email, search the internet, create documents, and handle other digital literacy tasks, such as managing benefits online. Many jobs have become inaccessible to adults who lack digital literacy skills.
When people lose jobs, they have to apply for unemployment benefits online. When they start looking for new jobs, they may find that computer skills are required that they don't yet have. Building computer skills, and being able to prove these skills to employers, can improve job-seeking success.
Do you need a way to demonstrate basic computer and digital literacy skills to employers? Completing the Northstar Digital Literacy Assessments can help you identify areas in which you need further education. Once you have mastered the needed skills, you can obtain a Northstar Digital Literacy Certificate by successfully completing the assessments at an approved testing location in a proctored environment. You can also claim a digital badge to put in your Digital Backpack.
Northstar is used in many Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs and community colleges to assess test takers' computer skills. It is also being adopted by K-12 programs. The standards have been established as statewide digital literacy standards for Minnesota Adult Basic Education, and been integrated into the Minnesota State Standard Adult Diploma. Northstar is widely used by Rhode Island, Vermont and New York ABE programs, community colleges throughout Kansas and Georgia, Delaware education programs, and many other colleges and schools.
Northstar is also used as part of digital literacy education and assessment programs in library systems, including Washington, D.C., Minnesota, Nevada, and others. Most recently, Goodwill programs nationwide have begun using Northstar as an assessment component of the Google-funded Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator program (designed to provide digital skills education to over 1,000,000 people over three years). Nonprofits throughout the country use Northstar to assess the progress of clients participating in basic computer classes.
Northstar is intended for use as an assessment – it is not a curriculum. However, when individuals complete an assessment at a testing location, they receive a report of areas needing work with links to online resources for learning and practice. Curricular resources for classes are listed on the sidebar for this page. Next year, we plan to integrate curricula directly into Northstar.
Employers can be confident that certificates indicate demonstrated competence in computer digital literacy skills, as measured by the assessment. The standards reflect basic computer competency benchmarks common to many jobs.
The online assessment modules are designed by professional educators to assess mastery of the standards. Modules evaluate user knowledge in an objective manner, relying on carefully designed questions that require users to demonstrate skills according to predefined and validated values. Modules are constructed around ‘real life’ scenarios, making them practical and useful to both end users and employers.
Modules are extensively piloted to ensure reliability of results. Standards and modules are also updated regularly to reflect changing technology and workplace expectations.
Individuals who receive a score of at least 85% on a proctored assessment completed at a testing location can earn the Northstar Digital Literacy Certificate. Those successfully completing multiple assessment modules have the option of receiving a summary certificate listing all modules passed.
Those passing assessments can also claim digital badges from Northstar, which follow the OpenBadges specification (read more at https://openbadges.org/about/). Badges are a way to display and document skills learned both in and out of the classroom. Once a test taker is awarded a badge, it is stored in the test taker's Backpack, a webpage that serves as a transportable portfolio to share with employers or others who need to know a user's skills and experience. Badges are an ideal means by which Northstar test takers can keep a permanent, accessible record of assessments they have passed.
The Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment is an assessment tool, not a curriculum. We plan to launch integrated curricula for testing locations in 2019. In the meantime, there are several curricula developed by others that align to the Northstar standards:
The St. Paul Public Library Learning Guide that includes online resources for most benchmarks.
CTEP.weebly.com is a user-friendly resource for test takers.
The Minnesota Literacy Council has a Computers and Literacy Curriculum.
Another curricula resource is available at Intel Learn.
GCF LearnFree (technology) is quite comprehensive.
I learned a lot of things in this class. It will help me when I go to the GED classes and take the tests, which are online. Technology is always changing, so I really need these skills. I feel more comfortable with computers. I used to call and ask my kids all the time to help me use the computer, but now I'm independent! If you don't know how to fill out an online application, you need someone to help you, but now I feel like I'm the boss of the computer. Mothers want to be able to check their kids' school progress, and if you know how to use the computer, it's easy. You can follow your kids' school progress online through their gradebook.