New Zealand's first "Microsoft master"

By ADAM GIFFORD

A Rotorua computer trainer's understanding of the way software really works is helping to improve the way Microsoft certification examinations are conducted.

Catherine Payne, of Software Solutions Rotorua, has been retained as an expert reviewer of the Microsoft Mous programs, which are developed by global testing company Nivo International.

Ms Payne, a former manager of the Forest Research Institute's computer centre, says she started taking Microsoft examinations in 1996, flying through the Microsoft certified professional qualification.

"I kept saying there needed to be something more for users of desktop applications, rather than the existing qualifications which were more about the hardware or networking architecture," she says.

"When the Mous program came out in 1999 I immediately saw it was a qualification that all software trainers, help desk or software support personnel should have, because of its emphasis on the ability to use desktop applications."

Ms Payne booked a day at Ace Training in Hamilton and sat all the Mous tests, passing them and becoming New Zealand's first "Microsoft master."

She then offered some trenchant criticism, telling Microsoft and Nivo "the quality wasn't there. They seemed to be rapt with the way I ripped things apart and they asked me to write and review exams."

She is now considered "reviewer No 1."

Ms Payne says the flaw in certification examinations, which come in the form of software, is that PC users may have discovered many ways to perform the same tasks.

"When a writer writes an exam, they have to include all the stuff which students need to be tested on, as well as all possible methods of completion of the set tasks. Those writers may be aware of all the possible mouse and keyboard combinations and if the answer is not built into the software, the student will not pass.

"Typically I'll get a 60-page transcript of what's in the exam and when it leaves me it will be 200 pages."

She says the biggest problem is often de-Americanising the questions.

"American dates are often a problem, particularly for things like synchronising in Outlook.

"There are also issues about metric rather than imperial measurements and different spellings. In some exams I've told them to change the vernacular phrases they use."

Ms Payne says now she has established her business, which specialises in giving small-group training sessions within businesses and organisations in the Bay of Plenty, reviewing examinations "gives me a different challenge."

She says it is important the examinations be applicable anywhere because they are increasingly used as a global standard by employers. However, her company does not teach the full Mous course - if students want to do the exam, they can take modules from www.softwaresolutions.co.nz.

"Training can become a matter of numbers and the personal side of things gets lost. Many trainers are more interested in teaching course material rather than what people need to do their job," Ms Payne says.

"So we don't stick to the Mous curriculum and we don't teach to the Qualifications Authority framework, because the NZQA is hopelessly out of touch with industry."