As readers will know, we are currently reviewing the National Certificate in Digital Media Computing at Levels 4, 5 and 6. We recently selected Lead Developers (LDs) for each Level and there was a meeting today involving the LDs and the SQA team. The Lead Developers are: Liz Allum of Cathkin HS for Level 4David Renton of Reid Kerr College for Level 5Gillian Dobry of Adam Smith College for Level 6. Today’s meeting was a brain-storming session, when we discussed…
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The Qualifications Support Team (QST) for this area met this morning. This was the first time that we combined the teams for both non-advanced and advanced, having previously organised separate meetings. We did this because of the overlap between topics, which often span the advanced/non-advanced divide. It seemed to work well. Fifteen people attended the meeting. There were representatives of colleges, schools and training providers. QSTs are there to support qualifications. This includes recommending support materials to develop or advising…
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We’re always looking for good ideas for new awards, and some time ago a centre proposed a qualification in the area of computer forensics. This topic already features in the new HND awards (there are units in forensics and hacking), but this proposal was for a separate qualification. As a result, we are considering creating a PDA in Digital Forensics, which would be a small(ish) award at SCQF Level 7 or 8. This qualification would focus on this specialist area…
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Some time ago, I mentioned a report [PDF] from the Royal Society of Engineering, entitled Shut Down or Restart?, about computing in schools, which made a number of recommendations about the subject. It’s first recommendation related to terminology. The report criticised the vague and inconsistent use of terms such as “ICT” and “digital skills” and recommended that the subject was divided into three areas: 1. Computer Science2. Digital Literacy3. Information Technology. Computer science covers the more rigorous, academic and theoretical part…
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I recently posted a message about a new National Unit entitled Computer Basics that I hope, in time, will become the new Introduction to Computers for the 21st Century. The unit specification was recently published on the SQA website. I got notification today that the e-learning material to support this new Unit is complete. In fact, we haven’t checked it yet, but on the basis that 100 pairs of eyes are better than two (Hilary’s) please feel free to preview the…
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I updated the portfolio diagram this morning to reflect a number of new or revised awards. You might want to print and keep this diagram. You can download a PDF version here. As you will see from the diagram, we are going through a period of huge change. Computing never stands still, but even by our standards this is an exceptionally busy time. Of particular note are the new HNDs (including the brand new HND Computer Science), the revisions to…
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The DIVA project forged links with a number of IT vendors and organisations, one of which is the British Computer Society (BCS). SQA and BCS recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cement our relationship. The MoU signals both parties’ intentions to help each other in a variety of ways. Since then, I’ve had a couple of meetings with BCS people to turn these good intentions into concrete actions that will benefit the users of SQA awards. We already have…
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Bobby recently posted a message about the new Computer Basics Unit at SCQF level 3. This has now been coded H3LJ 09 and is available [PDF] on NQ Unit Search. http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/controller?p_service=Front.searchNQ&g=0&t=nq_unit&q=&r=&pContentID=3&pMenuID=133
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I received notification this morning that the toolkit for centres to devise qualifications has been updated. SQA has a long tradition of working with centres to develop qualifications. I’ve previously mentioned how we capture your ideas. This resource provides all of the guidance, forms and tools you will need to develop SQA awards. I’ll put a link to it in the sidebar (“Useful links”) so that you can find it.
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The Qualification Review Team (QRT) met yesterday, in Glasgow, for its third meeting. As mentioned previously, the QRT aims to design alternative assessments (for HN awards) that better match the sort of assessments students face at university. We’re now at the “sharp end” of the project, getting down to actually producing things. Two members of the Team (Anne Russell and Cameron Walker) have been asked to develop assessment specifications for these alternative assessments. Anne and Cameron will produce a number…
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