Until recently, there was a dedicated team in SQA with responsibility to train peolpe to write units. But this responsibility has now been delegated to individual qualification teams so it is now my responsibility to ensure that the people who write Computing units know what they’re doing. There are so many concurrent projects in my area that I don’t intend to train-on-demand i.e. arrange specific training events each time I begin a new development. My intention is to arrange two…
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We are in the process of updating the following HND Graded Unit Specifications: F0NA 35 Information Technology – Graded Unit 2DN4N 35 Computing: Software Development – Graded Unit 2DN4P 35 Computing: Technical Support – Graded Unit 2 Changes to these specifications include amendments to – 1. Conditions of Assessment including minimum marks per stage2. Minimum Evidence Requirements item detail and marks allocation3. Conditions of assessment to include marking in stages4. Instructions for designing assessment tasks5. Corrected type of Assessment Instrument…
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I had a discussion about this NPA with Caroline this morning, and she pointed out the range of materials available to support this small but important qualification. The materials are available on the Digital Literacy homepage. We have recently bid for funding to develop e-assessments for this award and, if we’re successful, the qualification will be fully supported for traditional and online delivery. Contact Hilary for more information about Digital Literacy.
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We are busy updating various HN/PDA Arrangements Documents for awards within the Computing portfolio. Most of the changes reflect additional optional units within each of the frameworks. A selection of documents will be amended and uploaded on the website by 1st August 2009, therefore, any documents downloaded after this date will be the most up-to-date version.
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We have created an online forum for all vendors (and associated vendor lead centres) who are part of the DIVA (Digital Media and ICT Vendor Alliance) partnership through SQA. The focus will be to share information, keep up-to-date with all vendor curriculum changes, ensuring SQA DIVA website is current and also for members to offer advice and guidance to any vendor related queries that may arise through colleges delivering their programmes. If you are a Vendor or Lead Centre then…
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One of the advantages of this blog and the forums is that we can use these communication channels to let people know about current developments. It is one of SQA’s strengths that, unlike most awarding bodies, we mostly use ordinary teachers and lecturers to develop the curriculum. But, sometimes, even these methods fail to find the people that we need to help us develop qualifications and assessments. So I have created a “groupsite” for individuals who are interested in working…
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We have been approached by BECTA to develop Units for input to the QCF system so that these Units can be offered in England/Wales etc. The Units are based around the BECTA Framework for ICT Technical Support (FITS) programme. BECTA have created a suite of training materials to support the training of School IT Technicians and IT System Managers. The suite of materials are based on the ITIL model but is a lighter version for school audience. It is envisaged…
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A new government report calls for basic computing skills training to be provided to all adults in England. More.
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The QDT for the HNC/D Computer Games Development met this morning to finalise the qualification frameworks and agree who is doing what over the summer. The meeting was led by Tony Gurney and was very productive. We had a lively but constructive discussion about exactly what the qualifications should look like and then decided who was writing and vetting each unit. In total, 14 new units will be created, which is a lot but not that surprising given the nature…
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Central College hosted Scotland’s Colleges’ second annual Computing Conference today. There was an excellent turnout, with around 80 people attending, representing just about every college in Scotland. Speakers include representatives from the HMIe, LTS and and a number of vendors. I gave a presentation about SQA developments over the last 12 months, which included the development of 12 new NPAs, the completion of an HND (Interactive Media) and the commencement of a new HND (Computer Games Development). Discover Simple, Private…
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