Computing – Page 162 – Computing & Digital Blog

Computer games

November 11, 2005 - Bobby - 4

I met with Ron Dillin of Stow College this morning. Ron was behind the new HNC Computer Games Development award and is now considering the development of a corresponding HND qualification. We discussed the support that SQA could provide to Ron and his team if he took this forward as a specialist development. A couple of members of Ron’s team are presently writing National Units on computer games (titled Computer Games at SCQF levels 4 and 5). These units will…

Diploma and Adv Diploma: Applications of ICT in Libraries

November 8, 2005 - Bobby - 0

An update letter regarding the new Library Awards should be arriving on a desk near you. The letter has information on Validation and Approval, Support Materials and the forthcoming Launch Event. The event will take place on Friday 2nd December, in the Menzies Hotel, Glasgow, starting at 12.30pm with Lunch. Please book you place at the following http://www.rsvpregister.com/event.php?52458 There is also a public smartgroup set up to help support the new awards, where you can view and share information.

SQA E-Zine

November 8, 2005 - Bobby - 0

The first edition of SQA’s new electronic magazine is now available. The ‘e-zine’ is a good way to keep up-to-date with developments and the Computing team will be regular contributors to it. This month’s edition includes a link to this blog (see Hot off the press). You can register for future editions here.

Digital inclusion

November 7, 2005 - Bobby - 0

The Scottish Executive is currently carrying out a review of digital inclusion within Scotland with a view to coming up with a sustainable strategy to tackle the digital divide. The Executive recently wrote to centres to seek their comments. I recently attended a focus group meeting to provide comments from a qualification perspective. The consultation ends 27 January 2006.

Team meeting

November 4, 2005 - Bobby - 0

The Computing team meet once per month to discuss internal and external developments. This afternoon’s meeting looked at SQA’s portfolio review, our new Corporate Business Plan, and the Executive’s Curriculum for Excellence. We also discussed the team’s responsibilities which were updated to include Webwise which has been assigned to Angela. Quality Network (QN) meetings are normally the preserve of SVQs but a recent change meant that we can arrange QNs for any type of qualification. We agreed to arrange a…

New guidance on core skills

November 4, 2005 - Bobby - 0

SQA has recently published updated advice [PDF] on including core skills within HN awards.

HNC Computing Graded Unit – Additional Exemplars

November 4, 2005 - Bobby - 0

We held a Training Session last night in the Millennium Hotel, led by Mike Jannetta, for the writers/vetters who are producing 3 additional exemplars (versions 4, 5 & 6) for the HNC Computing Graded Unit Exam (DH36 34). The team found the session extremely interesting and informative and are now ready to start on the first stage of the writing process. We hope to have the packs available to centres by mid March 2006.

New Library awards

November 3, 2005 - Bobby - 0

A letter has recently been sent to centres regarding two new Professional Development Awards relating to librarians. There will be a launch event in Glasgow on 2 December. You can register here.

E-learning poster

November 3, 2005 - Bobby - 0

A poster [PDF] promoting the suite of E-Learning awards has been sent to centres today. You can get additional copies by e-mailing the Customer Contact Centre. The information on the poster is out-of date.

1st meeting of Qualification Support Team (QST)

October 28, 2005 - Bobby - 8

Today we had the first meeting of the Computing and IT Qualification Support Team (QST). The key aim of QST should be to effect on-going improvements to associated HN group awards and to exemplify national standards. The meeting was held in the Jury’s Inn Hotel, Glasgow. The team consists of ten members including SQA staff. We discussed the remit and had an in-depth conversation on support materials, overall the meeting was really positive.