Computing – Page 48 – Computing & Digital Blog

Technology Industry Advisory Board

September 15, 2017 - Bobby - 0

I attended a Technology Industry Advisory Board (TIAB) meeting on Tuesday. The Board is a joint initiative, between Skills Development Scotland and SQA, to provide advice and guidance to both bodies about industry needs and external trends. I was invited to speak about vocational qualifications, in general, and, specifically, about how we try to keep them up to date and relevant to industry. We’ve done a lot of development work in the last few years, so the qualification portfolio is…

Computing SVQ/CBQ Quality Networking Event

September 15, 2017 - sqablogs - 0

We are delighted to announce that this year’s Computing SVQ/CBQ Quality Networking Event will take place on Thursday, 5th October in Glasgow. This year’s event will aim to be more dynamic, with workshops and a networking session for you to share practices and experiences with other colleagues. To reserve your place at the event please follow the link below: http://athena.sqameet.net Should you have any queries regarding the booking system and booking onto this event, please contact our Events Team on…

150 graduates from CodeClan

September 5, 2017 - Bobby - 0

CodeClan was formed to help to address the digital skills shortage in Scotland, specifically the shortage of programmers. It reached a milestone this week when its 150th graduate joined The Register of Scotland in a programming post. CodeClan offers the PDA in Software Development to all of its students. I recently attended its first award ceremony in its HQ in Edinburgh. It was great to see so many young, and not so young, people enter the IT industry. The PDA…

Computing at School 2017

September 4, 2017 - Bobby - 1

I attended the Computing at School (CAS) Scotland event on Saturday. This is an annual conference for Scottish teachers to improve professional practice. The event was held at the University of Glasgow. It’s always a great event and Saturday was no different. It was a mix of keynotes and discussion sessions. The morning keynote, delivered by Professor Simon Peyton Jones of Microsoft Research, highlighted the importance of computational thinking. It reminded me how vital it is to ensure qualifications embrace…

Centre for Computer Science Education

September 4, 2017 - Bobby - 5

I attended the opening of Scotland’s first Centre for Computer Science Education (CCSE) on Friday afternoon, held at the University of Glasgow. The new Centre is a collaboration between the School of Computing Science and the School of Education at the university. The aim of the centre is to improve the quality of computer science education at every level – including schools, colleges and universities. But another, equally important goal, is to make computer science a “foundational subject”, like literacy…

CyberCenturion IV Competition

September 1, 2017 - sqablogs - 0

As you are already aware, at SQA we are committed to encouraging youngsters to take up a career in STEM by aiming to develop current, up-to-date qualifications in Computing. Therefore, we are delighted to be able to promote the CyberCenturion IV competition. It is the national competition led by Northrop Grumman in partnership with Cyber Security Challenge UK and it is open to 12-18 year-olds. By taking part in this competition, youngsters will have the opportunity to take part in a…

CodeClan award ceremony

August 25, 2017 - Bobby - 1

I was invited along to Codeclan’s award ceremony last night in Edninburgh. CodeClan was created in 2015 to address the skills shortage in programming. Forty students recently completed the course, which includes the PDA in Software Development, and were receiving their certificates. It was a nice evening. I took the opportunity, during my short talk, to congratulate the students for choosing a career in coding. It’s not only vital for Scotland that we produce more programmers but it’s a great…

HNC Cyber Security development team

August 17, 2017 - Bobby - 2

The Qualification Development Team (QDT) for HNC Cyber Security has now been created. There was an excellent response to our request for members. The QDT consists of representatives from colleges, universities, industry and special interest groups. Unusually, for an HNC development, we also chose a school representative to ensure that the HNC articulates with the NPA in this subject area. The QDT is responsible for determining the shape of the new qualification and, if members are willing, gets involved in…

Digital Competence Framework for Citizens

August 17, 2017 - Bobby - 0

The European Commission recently updated the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp). The Framework is designed to “improve citizens’ digital competence”. The Framework was originally introduced in 2013 but I hadn’t came across it before. The Framework has recently been updated to version 2.1. The Framework has five “dimensions”. The first dimension is “competence areas” (there are five). The second dimension breaks these down into 21 specific competences. The other dimensions expand these competencies in different ways. For example, dimension…

Teaching and learning material for NPA Cyber Security

August 16, 2017 - Bobby - 3

I recently mentioned that we received Scottish Government funding to develop teaching and learning material for NPA Cyber Security (at all three levels). Since then, we’ve formed a development team consisting of practising teachers and lecturers who will be responsible for developing the new material. The team consists of experienced classroom teachers (and a college lecturer), most of whom are currently delivering the qualification. The aim of the project is to develop a complete curricular package to help teachers and…