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Old 08-05-2007, 01:50 PM   #1
Default Books and other aids at exam


Can I use the book at the exam? Or will I have to remember everything?
Can I use other aids? Such as google?



pinkfloydhomer@gmail.com
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Old 08-06-2007, 08:10 AM   #2
Cerebrus
 
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Default Re: Books and other aids at exam
On Aug 5, 5:50 pm, "pinkfloydho...@gmail.com"
<pinkfloydho...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can I use the book at the exam? Or will I have to remember everything?
> Can I use other aids? Such as google?


No, you cannot use any books, reference material and you cannot access
the internet to find answers. The exams demonstrate your skill and
knowledge, not an ability to quickly find information off the net.
Atleast not until we have an exam called "Google Certified Googler" !!



Cerebrus
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Old 08-07-2007, 06:50 PM   #3
=?Utf-8?B?TGFycnlXZXN0TUNTRA==?=
 
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Default Re: Books and other aids at exam
Cerebrus is right. However, if you wish to become certified in other areas of
IT besides Google, but still use Google, then there is always the brainbench
certifications.
There, you can use all the study materials you want to use.
Since you take brainbench exams online in the comfort of your own home, no
one will know that you are using secondary sources to answer your questions.
Brainbench tests your ability to get information off the net, as well as
testing the speed of your computer and internet connection since you only
have a couple of minutes to answer each question.
Details are at www.brainbench.com.
--
Larry J. West, MCSD, MCPD, MCITP, MCTS x5, MOUS, FLMI, ACS
* always open to after-hours telecommute (second job) positions.
* developing personal computer software since before the PC.


"Cerebrus" wrote:

> On Aug 5, 5:50 pm, "pinkfloydho...@gmail.com"
> <pinkfloydho...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Can I use the book at the exam? Or will I have to remember everything?
> > Can I use other aids? Such as google?

>
> No, you cannot use any books, reference material and you cannot access
> the internet to find answers. The exams demonstrate your skill and
> knowledge, not an ability to quickly find information off the net.
> Atleast not until we have an exam called "Google Certified Googler" !!
>
>



=?Utf-8?B?TGFycnlXZXN0TUNTRA==?=
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Old 08-07-2007, 09:01 PM   #4
Blackmetal
 
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Default Re: Books and other aids at exam
Hello,

Now that you mention Brainbench, what is your opinion on those
certifications?

"LarryWestMCSD" <LarryWest-at-hotmail-dot-com> wrote in message
news:8DD9F8E0-480C-4E5A-A3E7-...
> Cerebrus is right. However, if you wish to become certified in other areas
> of
> IT besides Google, but still use Google, then there is always the
> brainbench
> certifications.
> There, you can use all the study materials you want to use.
> Since you take brainbench exams online in the comfort of your own home, no
> one will know that you are using secondary sources to answer your
> questions.
> Brainbench tests your ability to get information off the net, as well as
> testing the speed of your computer and internet connection since you only
> have a couple of minutes to answer each question.
> Details are at www.brainbench.com.
> --
> Larry J. West, MCSD, MCPD, MCITP, MCTS x5, MOUS, FLMI, ACS
> * always open to after-hours telecommute (second job) positions.
> * developing personal computer software since before the PC.
>
>
> "Cerebrus" wrote:
>
>> On Aug 5, 5:50 pm, "pinkfloydho...@gmail.com"
>> <pinkfloydho...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Can I use the book at the exam? Or will I have to remember everything?
>> > Can I use other aids? Such as google?

>>
>> No, you cannot use any books, reference material and you cannot access
>> the internet to find answers. The exams demonstrate your skill and
>> knowledge, not an ability to quickly find information off the net.
>> Atleast not until we have an exam called "Google Certified Googler" !!
>>
>>





Blackmetal
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Old 08-10-2007, 08:44 AM   #5
pinkfloydhomer@gmail.com
 
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Default Re: Books and other aids at exam
On 6 Aug., 09:10, Cerebrus <zorg...@sify.com> wrote:
> On Aug 5, 5:50 pm, "pinkfloydho...@gmail.com"
>
> <pinkfloydho...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Can I use the book at the exam? Or will I have to remember everything?
> > Can I use other aids? Such as google?

>
> No, you cannot use any books, reference material and you cannot access
> the internet to find answers. The exams demonstrate your skill and
> knowledge, not an ability to quickly find information off the net.
> Atleast not until we have an exam called "Google Certified Googler" !!


Thanks for your answer. Although I disagree with your opinion a little
bit. Testing trivial "lexical" knowledge that will always be available
to you is not as important as testing real understanding. It is a bit
old-fashioned, I would say.

/David



pinkfloydhomer@gmail.com
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Old 08-12-2007, 05:34 AM   #6
Cerebrus
 
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Default Re: Books and other aids at exam
On Aug 10, 12:44 pm, "pinkfloydho...@gmail.com"
<pinkfloydho...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for your answer. Although I disagree with your opinion a little
> bit. Testing trivial "lexical" knowledge that will always be available
> to you is not as important as testing real understanding. It is a bit
> old-fashioned, I would say.
>
> /David


I was stating a fact about the exams, not professing my own opinion.
Most professionals including me, in the community fully agree that
testing knowledge is more important than testing lexical knowledge.
Why do you think there are so many blogs, articles and discussions
about improving the format of the exams?



Cerebrus
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Old 08-15-2007, 01:42 AM   #7
pinkfloydhomer@gmail.com
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Books and other aids at exam
On 12 Aug., 06:34, Cerebrus <zorg...@sify.com> wrote:
>
> I was stating a fact about the exams, not professing my own opinion.
> Most professionals including me, in the community fully agree that
> testing knowledge is more important than testing lexical knowledge.
> Why do you think there are so many blogs, articles and discussions
> about improving the format of the exams?


I just thought that

"
The exams demonstrate your skill and
knowledge, not an ability to quickly find information off the net.
Atleast not until we have an exam called "Google Certified
Googler" !!
"

sounded very much like an opinion.

/David



pinkfloydhomer@gmail.com
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Old 08-27-2007, 06:16 PM   #8
=?Utf-8?B?TGFycnlXZXN0TUNTRA==?=
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Books and other aids at exam
Sorry for the late reply, Blackmetal.
I HATE brainbench, for the following reasons:
1. Since you take it in the comfort of your own home, it is a lot easier to
"cheat" - all you need to do is have a dual monitor PC and good googling
skills to find the answers, and/or a good library of books by your side.
Having your browser pre-set to the MSDN site, for example, helps in
answering the Microsoft questions. Likewise the Books Online for the SQL
Server exams. One can have Visual Studio open and copy and paste the choices
into the IDE to quickly find out which answers have the wrong syntax. At
least with the braindumps, you have to have a good memory (which I don't) -
with the brainbench exams, you don't even need that.
2. It penalizes those of us who have crappy PC's at home and/or poor
Internet connections. I would be competing against those with faster PC's
(probably about 95% of the USA). Yes, I should know the answers (and probably
do), but I still would be competing against those who are able to use their
search engines and the final score would not be comparable with the score of
others. Okay, that's probably not much different than a Microsoft exam, but
at least everyone has to take the exam on the same type of computer. (Perhaps
that's one reason they are dropping Vue -- so that everyone has to take the
exam on crappy Prometric computers!) And with a Microsoft exam, the score
doesn't matter as long as it is 700 or above.
3. Brainbench exams assume that you have a quiet room at home to take the
exams undisturbed in. Brainbench doesn't know my children very well.

I suppose if I had a great computer to take the exams on, I would probably
feel differently, but I don't.

If I was an employer, I would look for people who have passed some beta
exams (which, [probably not coincidentally,] I have) since there are no
braindumps available for them and cheating is impossible.
--
Larry J. West, MCSD, MCPD, MCITP, MCTS x5, MOUS, FLMI, ACS
* always open to after-hours telecommute (second job) positions.
* developing personal computer software since before the PC.


"Blackmetal" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Now that you mention Brainbench, what is your opinion on those
> certifications?
>
> "LarryWestMCSD" <LarryWest-at-hotmail-dot-com> wrote in message
> news:8DD9F8E0-480C-4E5A-A3E7-...
> > Cerebrus is right. However, if you wish to become certified in other areas
> > of
> > IT besides Google, but still use Google, then there is always the
> > brainbench
> > certifications.
> > There, you can use all the study materials you want to use.
> > Since you take brainbench exams online in the comfort of your own home, no
> > one will know that you are using secondary sources to answer your
> > questions.
> > Brainbench tests your ability to get information off the net, as well as
> > testing the speed of your computer and internet connection since you only
> > have a couple of minutes to answer each question.
> > Details are at www.brainbench.com.
> > --
> > Larry J. West, MCSD, MCPD, MCITP, MCTS x5, MOUS, FLMI, ACS
> > * always open to after-hours telecommute (second job) positions.
> > * developing personal computer software since before the PC.
> >
> >
> > "Cerebrus" wrote:
> >
> >> On Aug 5, 5:50 pm, "pinkfloydho...@gmail.com"
> >> <pinkfloydho...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Can I use the book at the exam? Or will I have to remember everything?
> >> > Can I use other aids? Such as google?
> >>
> >> No, you cannot use any books, reference material and you cannot access
> >> the internet to find answers. The exams demonstrate your skill and
> >> knowledge, not an ability to quickly find information off the net.
> >> Atleast not until we have an exam called "Google Certified Googler" !!



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