September 14, 2015 - hilaryweir -
According to the Scottish Household Survey published in August 2015 eighty per cent of Scottish households have internet access at home, an increase of almost 40% from a decade ago. More people are using mobile devices (compared to laptops and computers) across a wide range of ages and socio-economic groups. However, around one in five adults do not use the internet at all. The main reason given is that they don’t like or need the internet or technology. But there…
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September 10, 2015 - hilaryweir -
I attended a Digital Leaders salon at Glasgow University last week. These are free monthly events that anyone interested in digital can attend. The speakers were Kate Farrell, a former Computing Science teacher who is now Education Manager for Scotland, Computing at School. Kate talked about teaching and training Computing Science teachers, and a 6th year pupil from Williamwood High School related her personal experience of the delivery of IT at her own school. There followed a good-natured and respectful discussion of some differing…
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September 3, 2015 - hilaryweir -
One of the recommendations of the Scottish Government’s Digital Participation Charter is to encourage and support staff to become digital champions and share their digital skills with others. In an earlier blog post I mentioned that SQA is committed to volunteering as a key part of our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. Our employees are able to spend 21 hours a year on volunteering activities that help our communities and the development of digital skills in communities fits perfectly with themes of social…
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August 6, 2015 - hilaryweir -
The Employment Research Institute has been commissioned by The Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland to undertake a survey to understand the gender imbalance in the ICT and Digital Technologies sector. They are interested in finding out why there are fewer women in digital and computer science than men, and how this deficit can be addressed. In particular they are looking at technology professionals, but will also explore the deficit of women in other areas of work within the digital…
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August 6, 2015 - sqablogs -
As part of our commitment to the Government’s Digital Participation Charter, to help address the imbalance of digital literacy within the community, we are in the process of producing a suite of basic Learner Guides to help people who lack confidence in their digital ability to carry out every-day tasks online. These Guides are designed to be at beginner level, and will be suitable for learners who have little or no experience of online activities. The Guides will take the…
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July 24, 2015 - hilaryweir -
Digital technologies are having a massive impact on how people do their jobs and the skills they need to do them. It’s estimated that 90% of new and existing jobs will require digital skills. As technologies replace some everyday tasks, more professional ICT jobs are being created. Additionally, human effort is continually being assisted by digital methods in the workplace. To identify more accurately how these changes are affecting employment and what skills people need a European study is being…
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Yesterday I went to ND15 in London to listen to some of the UK’s most influential speakers discuss how to lead a digital nation. The event is free to attend and attracts a cross-section of delegates from public, private and third sector organisations. Chaired by Mark Thompson, keynotes included Matthew Hancock, Minister for the Cabinet Office, Ed Vaizey, Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, co-founder of Lastminute.com and Helen Milner, CEO of Tinder Foundation. The conferences…
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May 29, 2015 - hilaryweir -
Welcome to SQA’s digital skills blog. Blog posts here will keep you up-to-date on how we are engaging with Scotland’s Digital Participation Charter, increasing skills levels through the use of digital technologies in everyday learning, work and social activities. SQA’s staff completed an online survey to find out how competent they felt using the systems and software in the organisation, as well as the technologies they use at home. Not surprisingly for such a large organisation – we have around 700 staff…
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