February 21, 2011 - Bobby -
I’ve previously commented about the collaborative and inclusive way that SQA develops qualifications. We also encourage centres to come up with their own ideas for new qualifications. Many do. This morning I spent some time discussing an idea from a centre for a new HND in my area. I advised the person about SQA’s qualification toolkit, which is useful for all types of developments, and also the specific facilities we provide to centres that want to develop their own awards.…
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February 18, 2011 - Bobby -
I’ve mentioned SQA’s research seminars and masterclasses before. I attended a research seminar on educational policy in England this afternoon. It was presented by Professor Jo-Anne Baird and Professor Janette Elmwood of Queen’s University. The focus of the seminar was the impact of educational policy in the 14-19 age group in England. The presenters emphasised the sheer number of changes that had occurred in England during the last ten years. For example, funding for English colleges “had changed every year…
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February 15, 2011 - Bobby -
Our short course on Internet Safety ended on Friday. It was also an experiment on using social media to engage students. We used Twitter to communicate with students and Blogger to deliver course contents. Ninety-nine people followed us on Twitter. I’m not sure if that’s a success or a failure — but it definitely was an interesting experiment. The experiment reminded me that there remains issues surrounding the pedagogy of online learning. I wrote something about that a couple of…
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February 10, 2011 - Bobby -
Today was a busy day for Qualification Design Teams. I went along to the QDT for HNC/D Computing this morning and attended another QDT meeting this afternoon for HNC/D Service Management & Delivery. The QDT for HNC/D IT & Service Management discussed the aims of the awards, and looked at potential frameworks for the awards. There was also an interesting discussion around core skills. The QDT hope to have these new awards complete by the Summer. Contact Deryck for more…
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February 9, 2011 - Bobby -
Late last year, I attended an early briefing about a soon-to-be-published report on the future of video games and visual effects in the UK. That report has now been published [PDF]. I attended a Westminster briefing today, in London, to discuss how the education system should react to the report. The report was funded by NESTA, which produced a short video to illustrate the findings. The presenters emphasised the importance of video games and visual effects to the current and…
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February 8, 2011 - Bobby -
SQA occasionally endorses the qualifications of external organisations. An example is our relationship with Q-Validus, with whom we endorse their Computer Wings and Spreadsheet Safe programmes. I met with Liam Priest, of SQA’s New Ventures team, this afternoon to discuss how to promote these awards. The programmes consist of a number of ICT units, at SCQF Level 7 (one unit is at Level 6), all of which have been credit levelled and rated on SCQF. Completing students receive internationally recognised…
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February 8, 2011 - Bobby -
Today is Safer Internet Day in almost 70 countries across the world. We launched our free Internet Safety course this morning. It’s not too late to join. Simply follow us on Twitter. Or, better still, join the 900 approved centres and offer the full qualification yourself. Thousands of young and not so young learners have already completed the award. Contact Caroline for more information.
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February 7, 2011 - Bobby -
This week we are offering the Internet Safety course for free as part of SQA’s contribution to Safer Internet Day, which takes place tomorrow. We plan to use social media to give learners a taste of the Internet Safety course. It’s completely free and there is no (formal) assessment. All you need to access the course is a smartphone (or a PC). The week-long course will sample the contents of the Internet Safety award, which includes topics such as on-line…
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January 31, 2011 - Bobby -
There have been a couple of small changes to the responsibilities within the team. Nothing major. Caroline continues to (broadly) look after the HN part of the portfolio and Hilary (broadly) looks after the NC/SVQ part of the portfolio. You can download the current version of the team’s organisation chart here.
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January 31, 2011 - Bobby -
Safer Internet Day 2011 is 8 February. As part of a wide range of national initiatives to support this event, SQA will offer part of the Internet Safety course for free to learners during the week commencing 7 February and ending 11 February. We hope that the course will of interest to all sorts of people — young people who may be concerned about online bullying and older people who may be concerned about identity theft or online fraud. The…
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