The Qualification Development Team (QDT) for HNC/D Information Technology met this morning for its first meeting. This qualification was first introduced in 2006/7 and we’ve been considering the options for change for some time. There are representatives of college and university on the committee. It was a productive meeting. We discussed the title of the revised award, the themes and topics within it, and the tasks (and timescales) that we have to carry out. There was unanimity that the award…
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I met with Microsoft on Friday to discuss links between the new PC Passport and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification. The original PC Passport (2004) covered the MOS curriculum but the revised version (2007) only carried some of it. We’re hoping that PC Passport 2015 will cover it all again. That means that pupils and students who study PC Passport, presuming that they use Office 365 software, will be able to sit (and, hopefully, pass) the MOS exams, which means…
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Cyber Security survey
As part of their role in developing qualifications, Qualification Development Teams (QDTs) must also carry out research to check that their proposals have broad support across the sector. The QDT for Cyber Security has recently created a survey about their current proposals. You can find it here. It will only take a few minutes to complete. I’d appreciate if you would provide feedback.
I’ve been invited to speak at an Education Scotland workshop for teachers about cyber security. It’s being held on 18 June in Glasgow. You can book a ticket here. The event is intended for school teachers. The focus will be the new Cyber Security Badge and the forthcoming NPAs. It’s first come, first served so I would book soon if you’re interested in attending.
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SQA develops its qualifications through practitioners and stakeholders. We advertise opportunities on our website either as appointees or consultants. We’re currently looking for people to help us with our development work in Saudi Arabia for a wide range of subjects [PDF] including Computing. So please consider applying if you’re interested.
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The first meeting of the Qualification Development Team (QDT) for HNC/D Computer Games Development met this afternoon. The QDT is responsible for revising and validating the qualification. Members normally include representatives of colleges, universities, employers and special interest groups. Colleges are well represented but we could do with more employer and university representation. The HNC award was originally devised by Stow College in 2005 and became a national award in 2007. We introduced the HND in 2010. So it’s due…
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We’re getting a lot of enquiries about this development so I thought that it would be a good idea to post an update. The qualification is currently being developed. We have decided the structure and we are presently writing the units. The validation event will take place on 25 June, chaired by Professor Bill Buchanan of Napier University. The qualification will be available to centres from 1 August. Please contact Helen for more information.
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A number of new HN Units have been developed recently which have been added to various HNC/D Computing awards (as optional units) following Qualification Support Team (QST) approval. The following Units have been added to HNC Computing, HND Computing: Technical Support, HND Computing: Networking and HND Computing: Software Development: H8W8 34 Big Data (SCQF Level 7) H8W9 35 Data Science (SCQF Level 8) H8N5 35 Private Cloud Virtualisation (SCQF Level 8) We are currently working on Assessment Support Packs (ASPs) for…
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We are about to commence with the next stage of development for the revision of HNC/D Interactive Media – Unit Writing. The QDT will start this process in the coming weeks which will put us on track for a validation date of the proposed awards around October/November 2015. The proposed award titles are: HNC Digital Design and Web Development HND Digital Development HND Web Development If you would like to join the QDT to be part of the Unit Writing…
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The school exams start today. They run for five weeks (ending on 5 June). The Computing exams are next Wednesday (6 May). In my own area (vocational Computing), this is also the time for Graded Unit examinations and, of course, university exams take place around this time too. So good luck to everyone. The full exam timetable can be downloaded here.
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