The ICDL (or ECDL as it is variously known) is a form of base-level accreditation for functional computer use in industry in general. It is in use in 22 countries, and is administered in Australia by the Australian Computer Society. It consists of accreditation in the following areas:

• Basic concepts of IT
• Using the computer and managing files
• Word processing
• Spreadsheets
• Databases/Filing Systems
• Presentation and Drawing
• Information network services

It is not a training scheme but is focussed on assessing and certifying that a person has achieved a predefined level of functional skills. Authorised testing centres carry out all testing in order to assure commonality of accreditation.

The ICDL was not designed as a Teacher Learning Technology Competency framework, and as such it can be rightly claimed that it is unfair to evaluate it as one. However, it is a comprehensive and well-developed framework for general IT skills. Frequently members of the public (and some education systems) assume that this type of framework is appropriate for teachers. The importance of a wider set of skills than has, fortunately, been recognised, and the limitations of functional skill frameworks such as ICDL for teaching are hopefully well recognised.

The ICDL accredits only functional IT skills, and makes no attempt to include any of the pedagogical or management skills required of teachers. As such it is not appropriate as a sole indicator of teacher IT competency. It does, however, bring some standardisation into the accreditation of functional competencies, and may thus provide a way of handling that component of competency.