Computing – Page 37 – Computing & Digital Blog

CPD events in cyber security for college lecturers

October 4, 2018 - Bobby - 4

I previously mentioned that the Digital Skills Partnership (DSP) planned to provide CPD to college lecturers who want to know more about cyber security in general and the new HNC Cyber Security qualification in particular. I’ve now received more information about these events. 14 November at Edinburgh College: Introduction to Cyber Security presented by Bill Buchanan of Napier University and Federico Charosky of Quorum Cyber. You can book online here. 21 November at Glasgow Clyde College: Introduction to Cyber Security…

Caitlin Introduction

September 28, 2018 - sqablogs - 2

Hi all, Firstly I’d like to introduce myself, I’m Caitlin Boyle a recent Business Graduate. I previously completed a Management Graduate Programme within the private sector. As I am new to SQA, I’m on a steep learning curve, it may take me some time to get up to speed. Therefore, I appreciate your cooperation. I will be working alongside Bobby and Lorraine. Lorraine will be responsible for the non-advanced qualifications. I am taking over the following Advanced HN Qualifications; HNC…

HND Cyber Security structure

September 26, 2018 - Bobby - 7

The last time I posted about this development, I pointed out that the next milestone was to come up with a structure for the qualification. The Qualification Development Team met on Friday, in Glasgow, to discuss this. We produced a draft framework, which incorporates the existing HNC award and also includes new units, such as Cyber Security Mathematics and Blockchain. We would be pleased to hear your views on the framework so either leave a comment below or add your…

NPA Cyber Security support materials

September 17, 2018 - Bobby - 0

As regular readers will know, we published the teaching and learning materials for NPA Cyber Security in late July. These have been well received in centres. But we’re now starting to receive enquiries from teachers about their use in the classroom, which is not something we can really help with. However, we have created a Yammer support group for teachers, where you can ask questions about the materials. You can find the group here. You will have to join SQA…

Tech Partnership closing

September 17, 2018 - Bobby - 2

The Tech Partnership ceases operations this month. Together with its predecessor organisation – E-Skills UK – it has served as the Sector Skills Council for IT since 2003. Transitional arrangements have been put in place to ensure the smooth transfer of its work to other bodies.A key function previously carried out by The Tech Partnership was its work in Apprenticeships, which will now be carried out by Instructus. The closure of The Tech Partnership means that there is no Sector…

SQA’s digital team

September 14, 2018 - Bobby - 1

A few weeks ago, I told you about changes to the Computing portfolio, whereby “digital” qualifications and “computer science” qualifications would be separated and ran by different teams. Hilary Weir leads the digital team, and recently posted a message on the digital blog about the changes. This post also describes the responsibilities of her new team. These changes will permit each team to focus on their respective areas. There is a great deal going on in computer science and digital…

Digital Skills Partnership training for HNC Cyber Security

September 14, 2018 - Bobby - 3

Digital Skills Partnership (DSP) is an initiative from Scotland IS to provide CPD to college and university lecturers. A number of events have been arranged to help college lecturers deliver the new HNC Cyber Security. Each event will cover: an introduction to cyber security how cyber security is applied in a real world setting demonstrations of aspects of cyber security that can be recreated with students in class discussions on the HNC in Cyber Security which focus on sharing existing…

Assessments for Computer Games

September 11, 2018 - Bobby - 0

The NPA Computer Games Development and NC Computer Games Development qualifications were revised last year to update their contents and streamline their assessments. I’ve received several queries about the availability of assessments for these awards. The Assessment Support Packs (ASPs) for the NPA are integrated assessments. We are developing one ASP for each level. So there will be a Level 4 ASP, a Level 5 ASP and a Level 6 ASP. The Level 6 ASP is available now (on SQA…

SQA committees

September 10, 2018 - Bobby - 0

As part of the induction for the new staff members, I’ve been discussing the various committees that help the team do our jobs. The Sector Panel consists of employers, educationalists, professional bodies and special interest groups, who provide strategic direction to the team about the sorts of qualifications that we should develop. The Qualifications Support Team (QST) consists of practising lecturers and teachers, who advise us about the sorts of support materials that are needed and help us to maintain existing…

New team responsibilities

September 7, 2018 - Bobby - 0

I recently posted about imminent team changes. This is Emma’s last day, before she stop for maternity leave. Emma will return in Autumn next year. I’ve updated the team organisation chart so that you know who is responsible for what. We’ve went back to a simple division of work. Lorraine will take responsibility for non-advanced qualifications (such as NPAs, National Certificates, etc.) and SVQ/CBQs, and Caitlin will take responsibility for advanced qualifications (such as HNCs and PDAs). You might want…