Helmers Blog

Jim Clark announced yesterday that the registration of the Virtual Lab based exam 70-113 is extended till December 17th, 2008!

So if you didn’t already attended the exam, do so know! The first 3000 candidates will receive three (!) free exam vouchers!

The vouchers will be distributed electronically up to 4 weeks after the end of Pilot (i.e. in February 2009).  This pilot exam will not provide you with a score as with normal beta exams. This pilot is a test of the exam experience, so only a portion of the final exam will be presented to you during this pilot. This pilot exam will not be added to your transcript and you will need to take the exam in its released form in order to be awarded the credential. Find exam preparation information: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-640.mspx

Registration Information

You must register at least 7 days prior to taking the exam. Register before December 17th to take the exam before December 31st. Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: H640 (promo code is active till December 31st) Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the pilot; we recommend that you register immediately.

• Go to the Prometric Website: http://www.prometric.com/microsoft
• Find Microsoft exam 70-113: TS: Windows® Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring
• Use Promo Code H640 (promo code is active till December 31st)
• Send your opinion about exam experience to: http://blogs.technet.com/betaexams/ and to: pbexam@microsoft.com

Thank you!

Jim

Yesterday I received an e-mail Radomir about my earlier posts (Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3) about this subject. At that time I didn’t know that Trika would blog about the new pilot period just a few hours later.

Just to be sure you know :

• It’s a pilot exam, not a beta. So you won’t get a score by taking this exam and it will not show up on your transcript.
• Not all Prometric centers offer the exam, so I’m not sure if it’s available in your region.

You should be familiar with Active Directory, that’s the subject matter.

Here’s the invitation (as it’s posted on Trika’s blog

—————————————

Register for New Performance Based Testing Pilot Exam 70-113: TS: Windows® Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

Microsoft Learning is testing a new Performance Based testing system that will be integrated into the existing certification programs in order to better evaluate and validate candidates’ skills using Microsoft products and technologies.

The Performance Based testing method we are piloting is an exam which emulates a Windows Server 2008 infrastructure. In this infrastructure you will be tasked with completing a series of tasks. Once complete, the system will evaluate each tasks end-state to determine if the tasks have been completed and correctly implemented. This process is different from simulations because you will have every tool and path available that you would normally have in a real world scenario. Simulations restrict you to a small number of expected paths, whereas emulations allow for any path, as long as the end result is correct.

This pilot exam will not provide you with a score as with normal beta exams. This pilot is a test of the exam experience, delivery system and infrastructure, so only a portion of the final exam will be presented to you during this pilot. This pilot exam will not be added to your transcript and you will need to take the exam in its released form in order to be awarded the credential.

By participating in this pilot exam, you have the unique opportunity to provide the Microsoft Certification program with feedback about your exam experience, and exam content, which is vital to the future development of Performance Based exams in their released version. We depend on the contributions of experienced IT professionals as we continually improve and expand our certification program and testing technologies to grow the value of Microsoft certifications.

Upon completion of this pilot exam, the first 3000 candidates will receive a free exam voucher that can be used to register for any Microsoft Certification exam delivered at a Prometric testing center.  The voucher will be distributed electronically 4 weeks after the end of the Pilot.  If you have not received your voucher within this timeframe, then unfortunately, you were not part of the first 3000 candidates.

• Registration begins: July 29, 2008
• Pilot exam period runs: July 31, 2008– September 12, 2008
• In order to facilitate exam availability in as many testing centers as possible for this pilot, registrations must be made 7 days in advance.
• Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in this pilot; we recommend that you register immediately. This pilot will have limited availability and are operated under a first-come-first-served basis. Once all pilot slots are filled, no additional seats will be offered.
• Testing is held at Prometric testing centers.

• You must register at least 7 days prior to taking the exam.
• Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: H640
• Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the pilot; we recommend that you register immediately.
• To register for this pilot: Go to the Prometric Website: http://www.register.prometric.com/ClientInformation.asp
• Find Microsoft exam 70-113: TS: Windows® Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring
• Use Promo Code H640
• if you have any issues registering or taking this pilot exam please email Performance Based Exams (pbexam@microsoft.com).

• You are invited to take this pilot exam at no charge.
• You will be given four hours to complete the pilot exam. Please plan accordingly.
• Though not all of the exam will be presented to the pilot candidates, we would appreciate it if you were familiar with the exams objectives. This will help us better evaluate the data from this pilot.
• Find exam preparation information: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-640.aspx

Today I had an e-mail conversation with Jim Clark (Product Planner / Certification / MS Learning) about the pilot of the 70-113 : TS : Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring (the new type of Microsoft exam). He told me that the exam isn’t available in all countries, but there will be another pilot in a few weeks.

If the exam is available in your country and you want to register for the exam, but didn’t receive the invitation e-mail? Just leave a comment with your e-mail (or e-mail me at helmer@hznet.nl) and I’ll forward you the information!

Click Read More for more information about the new exam types.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I told you guys about the new Performance Based Testing Pilot Exam for which I received an invitation. Because I was not able to schedule an exam (because I live in the Netherlands) I e-mailed Jim Clark, who initially e-mailed the invitation, asking him when (and if) the exam will become available in Europe. As you can read in the comments of the former post the exam isn’t available in Great Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands (at least!).

It’s available…. Today I received an answer in which Jim told me that there has been a issue with the Prometric scheduling system (that now has been corrected). So if the exam wasn’t available to you last week, you should check again because it’s available NOW (at least) in the Netherlands.

…but you can’t schedule an exam That is : It’s shows up in the exam list, but in the Netherlands there are no testing centers (yet) where you can take the exam. Jim told me that new testings centers will be added every day, so if you want to attend the exam just check the Prometric website the next couple of days

Another chance in a few weeks If you’re not able to attend the exam in this pilot period (runs till July 9th), there will be another chance in a few weeks when Microsoft will run the final test phase. Prometric is adding 1000 test centers worldwide that will support this testing format moving into the next phase.

Today I received an invitation to register for the new performance based testing pilot exam 70-113 : TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring.

While trying to register for the exam I found out that the exam is not available (yet) in the Netherlands, so can’t attend the exam. But you probably wondering (just like me) what a Performance based test is. The e-mail I received tells us the following about the new exam type :

Microsoft Learning is testing a new Performance Based testing system that will be integrated into the existing certification programs in order to better evaluate and validate candidates’ skills using Microsoft products and technologies.

The Performance Based testing method we are piloting is an exam which emulates a Windows Server 2008 infrastructure. In this infrastructure you will be tasked with completing a series of tasks. Once complete, the system will evaluate each tasks end-state to determine if the tasks have been completed and correctly implemented. This process is different from simulations because you will have every tool and path available that you would normally have in a real world scenario. Simulations restrict you to a small number of expected paths, whereas emulations allow for any path, as long as the end result is correct.

This pilot exam will not provide you with a score as with normal beta exams. This pilot is a test of the exam experience, delivery system and infrastructure, so only a portion of the final exam will be presented to you during this pilot. This pilot exam will not be added to your transcript and you will need to take the exam in its released form in order to be awarded the credential.

So in normal English : This way you can really show Microsoft what you know, because you are really working in a emulated environment. Let’s hope this method ends cheating (Testking, etc.).