How to build education platform for ISTQB exam preparation.

Intro

Our company has 6 years of experience in the education
specifically in the field of software testing, including
preparation for the ISTQB certification. With extensive experience
of teaching in groups, we are faced with the fact that one of the
biggest problem is lack of time. It is very difficult to find time
to practice, which will be convenient for all group members. So we
came to the idea that education should be mobile. It is really
difficult task in the case of teaching programming and easy in the
case of ISTQB course.

That is why 4 months ago, we decided to create a mobile
application QIB – ISTQB Interactive
Course^[1] for the ISTQB training
and preparation for an exam. At that time, I was already an
accredited trainer. To be accredited you need to develop a training
program and approve it in the local board. That is Germany Board in
our case.

Problems

In the process of teaching the course, I faced with the three
most prominent issues:

1. The structure of the course for some people is difficult and
vast

2. ‘Sample papers’ include questions from all topics

3. Many people prefer to learn during commuting to and from
work, but there are no good applications which can answer the
question “Why is this particular answer correct?”

Features

Therefore, when developing an application following
functionalities were thought of:

– Comfortable structure for more productive education and
information searching.

– A lot of tables, graphs, diagrams and practical examples.

– More than 700 up-to-date tests after every chapter with
explanations of correct answers for more efficient studying.

– Final ISTQB Exam emulator with recommendations for further
study, tips and tricks.

– A lot of useful information for all those who are in any way
involved in software testing: testers, managers, developers,
product owners etc.

At the same time we have not forgotten about the design, as it
is important for the user to feel comfortable working with the
application and their eyes do not get tired from a long
reading.

Pricing

The next question, we were forced to think about was the cost.
The average cost of a training course is $100, the books are
between $30 and $150. However we wanted to make the app available,
so we set the price lower. We also decided that people should not
buy pig in a poke. That`s why you can read first three chapters and
only then make the decision to purchase it or no.

As a result, we get an interactive book that is not only
suitable for those who want to pass the exam, but also for once who
would like to prepare for an interview, read more about the
international practices of quality management or just quickly
refresher their knowledge.

Prior to the application release, we used our employees, who
have not been certified yet, for beta testing and asked them to
prepare for exam using QIB exclusively. The result was great as all
of them have passed the exam with a very high score.

Expert Feedback

After release we received very good feedback from one of the
European coaches of the ISTQB course, who confirmed that our work
that has been done is not in vain:

Oleksandr Larkin, ISTQB Test Manager/Trainer/Software
testing consultant

Conclusion

We hope, that using this application QA, DEVs, CEOs
DIRECTORs, ANALYSTs and other IT experts
from all world will correctly understand each other, have practice
knowledge about BEST PRACTICES of software testing
and can easy get ISTQB certification or prepare for the
interview.

In the meantime, we have plans to develop iOS app version and
add new functionality based on users` feedbacks and
recommendations.

Become Certified with QIB – ISTQB Interactive
Course!

Exam preparation never had not been so easy and mobile. Try it out^[2]
for FREE!!