I recently updated the qualification portfolio diagram, and today I updated the team chart to show which Qualifications Officer (QO) is responsible for what awards. You should download and print this diagram, and use it when you contact SQA.
Read moreRead more about Updated team chartThere was an EV meeting on Saturday in Glasgow. Once a year, all of the EVs meet to discuss quality related issues. The meeting is led by the Senior Verifier for my subject area, David Drennan. It’s a long day, commencing at 9:30am and finishing around 4pm, but it covers a lot of issues. The topics at this meeting included CPD for EVs, the new online system called EV+, and e-assessment. David also took the opportunity to discuss his annual…
Read moreRead more about External Verifier meetingI noticed that we passed the 300 threshold on Twitter this morning. We’ve been adding around 5-10 followers per week for the last few months. It would be great if that figure was 600, and included every Computing teacher and lecturer in Scotland. We don’t use Twitter for trivia. So, if you choose to follow us, I promise that we won’t bore you with our personal opinions or what we had for breakfast this morning. But we do use it…
Read moreRead more about 300 followers on TwitterI attended a workshop about assessment yesterday. It was organised by JISC and held in Glasgow. There was an excellent turn-out, with around 60 people attending from the HE and FE sectors. The title of the workshop was Effective Assessment in the Digital Age, and its key purpose was to generate ideas about how to change [assessment] practice in college. I’ve had a professional interest in how technology affects assessment for a long time. My paper on modernising assessment generated…
Read moreRead more about Effective assessment workshopI recently posted about the planned Heads of Computing event, which will be held on 2 December in Glasgow. The team met this morning to firm-up our plans and finalise the agenda. The event will take place in the recently refurbished Central Hotel in Glasgow, commencing at 10:00am and finishing at 4:00pm. We are accepting online registrations now. There are 70 places available but it’s a popular event so please book soon. It should be an interesting day. In addition…
Read moreRead more about Heads of Computing eventFrom time to time, I get asked to talk to international visitors to SQA. This morning I gave a presentation to a group of educationalists from Croatia about SVQs. Although I focussed on the role of my own Sector Skills Council (E-Skills) and the development of my own SVQs (IT User and IT Practitioner), the presentation was pretty generic, so I thought you might like to see it. Around 20 people from Croatia are visiting. The planned presentations include the…
Read moreRead more about Presentation to Croatian delegationI attended a workshop on the latest version of Moodle yesterday afternoon. It was held in the JISC offices in Glasgow. Moodle 2 was released a few months ago and includes lots of new features. This latest version looks nice. It has a clean interface, and is simple to use. I particularly liked its new filing system, which works well with a host of Web 2.0 services, such as Dropbox and Google Docs. I don’t teach any more, so my…
Read moreRead more about Moodle trainingI’ve spent some of today updating the diagram that shows the qualifications in my portfolio. The recently added awards are in bold. You might want to download and print this diagram if you want to see the range of awards available to your centre. Contact Hilary if you want to know more about non-advanced (SCQF 6 and below) awards (and all SVQs) or contact Caroline for advanced awards (SCQF 7 and above).
Read moreRead more about Updated qualification portfolioI came across an interesting article yesterday about IT trends over the next five years. Some of them are predictable (mobile, social and cloud computing) but the others were interesting. We’ve covered some of them in the HN Review (such as mobile and cloud) but there are other areas that we should think about. I guess five years is the most anyone can predict in this fast moving sector. I plan to include a discussion about what you would like…
Read moreRead more about IT trendsMe and Hilary met with Graeme Clark, of the E-Assessment & Learning team, this morning to discuss electronic support materials for non-advanced awards. Over the last couple of years, through the TranSETT programme, a range of e-learning and e-assessment materials have been produced to support NCs and NPAs, such as the NC in Digital Media Computing and the NPA PC Passport. The purpose of the meeting was to update us about what’s coming. New materials, for awards like the NPA…
Read moreRead more about Online materials for NC/NPA awards