A new initiative was launched today at the Raddison Hotel in Glasgow. DIVA is the name of the programme to promote links between SQA and vendors. Anton Collela opened the event and expressed his enthusiasm for the development. This event marks the beginning of an exciting new development in Scottish education.
Read moreRead more about DIVA eventI spent yesterday and today in the Jury’s Inn Hotel in Glasgow. The Scottish Executive has provided funding to try to “credit rate” and “level” SVQs. Credit rating means assigning a duration to SVQs. SVQs were designed to accredit existing skills (in the workplace) so were never given a duration. Neither were they assigned a level on SCQF. So this project is an experiment to see if you can time and level SVQs. A number of awarding bodies were involved…
Read moreRead more about SVQ credit and levellingThe Quality Network for IT SVQs was held today at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow. The event went well and was attended by 25 people from a mixture of private training providers, employers, colleges and unversities. Bobby commenced the meeting with a short presentation (powerpoint) giving a general update on the awards. Moderators were also given a chance to feedback any issues arising from recent visits. The workshop session proved invaluable with many useful ideas on how SQA can help…
Read moreRead more about Quality Network event – SVQ ITSQA has produced an updated guide for unit writers. The publication – Writing Higher National Units using the revised format – provides detailed advice on how to write HN unit specifications to SQA standards. The document will be available from the SQA website and it’s also available on the unit writing e-group [PDF]. This e-group was created to provide a forum for unit writers to exchange ideas and resolve problems relating to unit writing so prospective and practicing unit writers…
Read moreRead more about New guide to unit writingWe met with representatives from various colleges today to discuss HN Multimedia awards. The awards were launched in 2003, during a period when the HN design principles were being developed, and I had received lots of comments about such things are core skills and vendor compatibility. I gave a short presentation [PPT] on the background to the meeting. The rest of the morning was spent discussing the changes that people wanted. We agreed some short-term actions (such as developing assessment…
Read moreRead more about Multimedia meetingThe blog reached 10,000 hits today – small beer by Microsoft standards but a milestone for a website like this. So what started as a short-term experiment has become a permanent facility. We’ve used it to tell you what fills our working day – and also to record some personal experiences. The team wouldn’t bother to post messages if no-one read them so thanks for taking the time to visit the blog.
Read moreRead more about 10,000 hitsThe Computing team had a planning day today. It was an opportunity for me, Vannessa, Caroline, Angela and Tony to think about our goals for next year. We discussed a major update to the National Certificate provision, on-going HN developments (such as HNC/D IT), new HN developments (such as a review of HN Multimedia and the possibility of a new HND Computer Games Development award), additions to the E-Qualifications framework (an e-moderation qualification is a possibility), and some new Professional…
Read moreRead more about Team planning dayThis year’s SVQ IT Quality Network will take place at the Hilton Hotel on the morning of Tuesday 18th October. Invitations went out to all centres approximately three weeks ago so hopefully by now many of you will have signed up to attend the event. For those who have not yet booked your place, there is still time ! To register your attendance and find out more information either e-mail customer@sqa.org.uk or phone 0141 242 2294.
Read moreRead more about SVQ IT Quality NetworkThe Sector Panel for Computing & Call Centres met this afternoon in Glasgow. Computing is one of three panels that have been created as part of a pilot project to evaluate the effectiveness of these groups to provide advice to SQA. The meeting went well. Chris Morrow of E-Skills UK gave a presentation on recent research and also explained the Sector Skills Agreement. Bob McGonigle gave a presentation on SQA’s work with vendors. I commenced the meeting with a short…
Read moreRead more about Sector PanelI gave a short presentation [PPT] at an Oracle Academy seminar today, which was held at the Lighthouse in Glasgow. The purpose of the event was to provide information on the Oracle Academy programme. About 60 teachers and lecturers attended either the morning or afternoon events. The highlight was the presentation from a group of pupils from Royal High School who are currently undertaking the Oracle programme. More information about Oracle Academy from Jane Richardson.
Read moreRead more about Oracle Academy seminar