The Oracle Academy has been established in Scotland since 2002. The initial Database Design and Programming course has gone from supporting an initial five schools and colleges to 22 in 2006. The curriculum, training and online lessons offered through the programme have an in-kind grant value of £173,000 per teacher per class.

James Watt College, Greenock, has been running Oracle for three years now and Willie McCabe, senior lecturer in computing, said: “We have incorporated it within our HNC Computing Software Development courses. It is a different learning approach. It involves the students with the company and lets them use a real world tool. Another benefit is the use of Oracle’s online environment, their training materials and Oracle’s assessment server. It gives the students that industry and vendor knowledge, and the skills they are coming out with are aligned with those in industry.

Waiting to hear what the world of work is offering them“Students progressing through are just now finishing their HND and degree programmes and we should be starting to get an indication soon of how this has helped them into jobs. The fact that they have used Oracle and are aware of it should help them. It is software that a lot of industry chooses. We chose to go down this road because we saw it as an opportunity for the college to offer this new product. It is fully embedded within our course.”

Oracle Scotland has just been recognised with a coveted ‘Big Tick’ in the Business in the Community Awards for Excellence for its local delivery of the global Oracle Academy programme. It received the award in the Merrill Lynch Raising Achievement in Young People category.

The skills gap in Scotland is well documented and Oracle places a strong emphasis on corporate citizenship and the integral role that business organisations can play in developing the skills of young people and helping to ensure the future economic growth of Scotland.

Oracle Academy is recognised by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) as part of Scottish mainstream curriculum for schools and colleges developed under the Digital media and ICT Vendor Alliance (DIVA) project.

Keeping on top of changeJane Richardson, senior regional development manager, at the Oracle Corporation said: “Our initial project with DIVA was about offering schools and colleges a Database Design and Programming course. Part of the agreement was that if the courses changed, we would advise DIVA and map to the curriculum where appropriate.”

Now the company has several developments coming on line in Scotland. It will be providing a second year Database Programming with PL/SQL (Programming Languages with Structured Query Language) course, essentially building on the Database Design and

Award-winning vendor programme Oracle Academy is going from strength to strength among Scottish schools and colleges

“The SQA and Scottish schools and colleges involved have been delighted with the resources supplied by Oracle and their ability to support both the Higher Information Systems curriculum and Higher National Curriculum which form the backbone of school and college provision in Scotland. The partnership is a shining example of industry and education working together to ensure qualifications and training are fit for purpose.”Joe Wilson, Business Manager at the SQA

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Programming course from part one. In the 2007/08 academic year, over 40 schools and colleges and around 400 students are already studying the original Oracle syllabus. The second programme of the new Introduction to Computer Science and Business is to be launched in the new school year.

“It is a natural progression. Eight Scottish teachers and lecturers are now training for the PL/SQL programme. Their course started on May 1 and in July 2007 they will be attending an institute in the Netherlands for one week following nine weeks of on-line training with webcasts, seminars, conference calls and tutoring, culminating in the institute. This is the same format as the Database Design course – only teachers on that course attend an institute in Brussels. If they pass, they will be then qualified to teach the course in schools and colleges.

“It is part of our commitment to DIVA. We have asked SQA to map PL/SQL curriculum to the Advanced Higher Information Systems Course and to the HNC and HND courses in Information Systems and Computing, and that is expected to be complete by the end of June.” The Database Design and Programming course is already mapped to SQA’s Relational Database Systems unit within the Higher Information Systems award.

Access to Oracle UniversityMrs Richardson said: “We are also offering Advanced Computer Science and Business facilities, essentially allowing schools, colleges and universities to be able to access the curriculum from the commercial side of the business. Oracle University is a commercial organisation used by corporate customers. But schools, colleges and universities can now tap into this resource as Oracle has opened up its curriculum details to Oracle Academy members at a discounted rate.”

As part of the annual Oracle Academy for Advanced Computer Science and Business joining fee of £267, colleges get two free titles as well as the discount rate of £80 for any further titles required. That compares with a day rate running to thousands of pounds for commercial customers.

“They can use the curriculum for teaching in any courses that they think are appropriate and can copy

all materials for as many students as they like. When schools and colleges take part in the introductory packages, they can only join once a year because that’s when the training is run but with this they can come on board any time because they are delivering their own training.

Remote server offers enterprise application opportunities“In October 2006, we also introduced our enterprise applications. These are most suited for colleges and universities, but we wouldn’t stop any school taking part. Essentially what we are offering is that Oracle will host the information on a remote server so the college, for example, doesn’t have to have the technical capability to run the enterprise applications.

“And for the same fee they can look at two of our enterprise applications – Financials, HR, Payroll etc – which allows them access to use these applications as training aids in a variety of courses. Supply chain systems is one example where they would be working on real life commercial applications and the university or college can access that application for 12 hours per week. They can access the part of our suite that’s most relevant to their industry sector.”

The first two universities will be adding the enterprise applications to their courses in 2007/8. They are Napier University, in Edinburgh, and Paisley University. As with the Advanced Computer Science and Business programme, establishments can get on board at any time.

“Oracle Academy brings real benefit to Scottish technical education and offers long-term rewards in an increasingly competitive global economy.”Professor John Roulston, Chair of the IET, Engineering Policy Group for Scotland

Oracle students at Maths Camp

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“We are thrilled that the Oracle Academy programme in Scotland has been recognised at the Business in the Community Awards. We feel that Scottish businesses have a responsibility to ensure young people are equipped with the right skills for the future. Our mission is to effectively link qualifications to the workplace and provide globally recognised, industry-supported qualifications for Scottish students.

By focusing on relevant IT and business skills that are in short supply, we believe the future workforce will be better equipped to compete in the global marketplace.” Jane Richardson, Senior Regional Development Manager, Oracle Scotland

Real world bonuses give students added valueMrs Richardson said: “The new offerings show progression of learning and we are working with Scottish universities to allow students of the Oracle Academy to start in the second year of their Information Systems degree courses.

Mrs Richardson said there were so many bonuses working with the Oracle system: “Business issues, team working, collaboration, presentations to peers, problem solving etc. As part of the course you have to go work with a business and find a real business solution. These are all skills employers are looking for. All this experience is invaluable.”

One of a series of stories commissioned through the DIVA (Digital Media and ICT Vendor Alliance) Programme. DIVA is the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s flagship initiative to collaborate with industry, education and employers on updating and expanding the Scottish ICT and digital media curriculum

and awards. Find out more at www.sqa.org.uk/diva

Copyright © DIVA Project 2007.

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