Coincidentally, this morning I noticed that this blog had just reached 20,000 hits and our Twitter account now has 200 followers. I was particularly pleased with the Twitter statistic since we have been working hard to build-up that service, and 200 is a bit of a milestone. There’s a long way to go. I’d like every Computing teacher or lecturer to follow the team, but 200 is a start. Organisations are beginning to see the potential of services like Twitter.…
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BigAmbition – a digital career starts here E-Skills have launched a tool that will help learners find the right career path in IT. A useful tool for current students and for profiling those interested in taking a computing course. BigAmbition’s iPhone app is now available to download, and it’s FREE! The application is designed for students interested in a career in IT as it matches personality traits to IT job roles. Students play games to unlock the jobs and can…
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The Sector Panel for Computing & Information Technology met today, for one of its regular bi-annual meetings. The meeting was held in the SQA offices in Glasgow. The purpose of the Panel is to advise SQA about external developments, and it’s also an opportunity for me to update members about what we are doing. The Panel consists of representatives of FE colleges, universities, employers, and national bodies such as E-Skills UK and HMIE. The agenda always covers a wide range of…
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Really just to follow on from Bobby’s post yesterday – leaflets are on the way to every College and the team are currently making appointments with every College in Scotland. We are delighted to support e-skills , Scotland IS and the team at Edinburgh Napier University in delivering this programme. What are the benefits for Colleges? e-Placement Scotland is working with Colleges across Scotland to identify best practices in accrediting paid work placements. We hope this will further encourage student…
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I participated in a conference call this afternoon, organised by E-Skills UK, to discuss how Scottish colleges can access the E-Placement Scotland scheme. Around 15 people participated in the tele-meeting. Mark Ratcliffe, of E-Skills, went over the background to the project. The project runs over the next three years and hopes to generate 750 new work placements for students in IT companies in Scotland. Mark pointed out that the project also hoped to make better use of existing placement opportunities.…
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I had an interesting discussion this morning, among colleagues in other subject areas, about the rules for resubmitting Graded Units, either to convert a fail to a pass or to upgrade a result. We found some useful guidance on this topic in a document entitled Guidance on the Implementation of Graded Units in HNC/Ds [PDF]. There is information on page 23 (about project-based GUs) and page 31 (about exam-based GUs). The key thing is that the re-assessment is based on…
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We had an away-day yesterday at Kelso Nursery School, in Yoker. Although the day was meant to be a team building day, it had a more concrete objective — to improve the gardens in the nursery school. The weather was kind and we had a great day. We planted trees, bushes and flowers, and, I think, made a real difference to the place. The teachers and kids expressed their appreciation by awarding us a certificate for our efforts! Contact Hilary if…
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On Friday afternoon, I attended one of SQA’s occasional research seminars. This one was presented by Professor Geoff Hayward, of Leeds University, and was about vocational education systems. Or, more specifically, it was about why vocational education systems have become so complex. He pointed out that vocational education has become complex in every country in the world but that England has “unquestionably the most complex in Europe”. This, he said, was due to several factors, including the introduction of qualification…
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I know I said that I wouldn’t contaminate this blog with lots of posts about the HN review, but I posted a summary of progress yesterday on that blog, which pretty much brings you up-to-date with where we are right now with that development. So, if you are at all interested in the changes to a number of Higher National Computing qualifications, please check it out.
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The second part of the Game to Learn Conference started today, at the University of Abertay in Dundee. There was a fantastic turn-out — around 200 teachers attended. Today’s keynote was given by Derek Robertson, of Learning & Teaching Scotland, who spoke widely about game-based learning (GBL), with particular emphasis on how it can be used for assessment. Derek spoke about the “gamification” of learning – in other words, how education can use some of the features of computer games…
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