Victory Powerboat Trip - November 2005

- Saud's Article

 - Anja's Article

Both AS GCE single award and Advanced GCE Single Award (A2 Level) have to undertake the same three units in the first year these are:

AS Examination

Unit 1 The Information Age (Portfolio)

This unit is internally assessed.  It will look at how ICT technologies enable people to access and exchange information and take a critical look at the impact the internet has had on everyday life. The unit will also look at the divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ and will evaluate measures being taken to bridge the gap in the digital divide. This unit is assessed through an e-book which will show a snap shot of life in the information age.  Imagine that your e-book will form part of a virtual time capsule on the internet which is programmed to open in 100 years time.  The potential for the target audience for e-book is enormous.  The e-book will look at:

• Evaluate Five different types of online service.

• A description of how ICT affects at least five different aspects of peoples lives.

• A description of at least three factors contributing to the digital divide

Unit 2 The Digital Economy (Portfolio)

Paperless transactions are hallmarks of the digital economy.  In the global e-marketplace transactional websites are the interface between e-enabled customers and organisations, allowing them to do business with one another anytime, anywhere.  In this unit, students will investigate how organisations are responding to the pressures of the e-marketplace by using transactional websites.

Evidence for this unit will be in the form of an e-portfolio in which they will include a report on a commercial transactional website such as Commercial Bank, HSBC etc.  This report will look at the main features of the site and evaluate its use and potential threats to customer data.  The students will also need to create a database of their own.

Unit 3 The Knowledge Work (Practical Assessment) Assessed Jan/ June 2006

This unit is about making informed decisions using the information available to you.  The students will be given a scenario and will be asked to make decisions of who to solve the problems identified within the scenario using ICT. This is a two hour exam.

 Advanced Level (A2) Year 13

The students going onto their A2 level will need to take additional extra Units.

Unit 7 Using Database Software (Practical assessment)

The knowledge and skills developed in this unit are particularly relevant to those who use advanced ICT skills on a daily basis at work or at school/ college for personal, social and work-related purposes. In this unit you will develop your knowledge and skills of databases further. You will learn the principles of data modeling and sound database design and will use relational database software to build working database systems capable of storing large quantities of data.

Unit 8 Managing ICT Projects (Portfolio) Assessed Jan/ June 2007

In this unit you will be introduced to some formal project management tools and methods and will be given the opportunity to use specialist software to plan and monitor projects.  You will be able to put into practice what you have learnt by setting up and running a small-scale software project.  Although – in real life – budgeting is an important factor in any project, you will not be expected to consider finance.  However, you will need to identify other resource requirements such as expertise, equipment and time.  You will be working closely with others since people skills and good communication are key to successful project management.

Unit 10 Using Multimedia Software. (Portfolio)

Advances in digital technology have transformed the way we live and learn and, in particular, how we communicate.  In this unit you will design, develop and test an interactive multimedia product for a specified target audience, you will use a combination of multimedia types such as text, graphics, video and sound in a way that will have a major impact on the audience.  Multimedia is widely used throughout the world of business, education, Industry and leisure and it is essential that these skills are harnessed by our students.

 Options Available:

To know more about the Curriculum please visit the Edexcel website.

Unit 3 Sample Materials and Worked Examples

Edexcel Tutor Support material

Unit 1 - e-Portfolio example - note the 15Mb limit

http://www.techtionary.com/index_in.html

The producers of this website claim that it is the world's first animated dictionary on technology. With more new terms everyday the website currently includes more than 600+ terms and 250,000+ Macromedia Flash animation effects on telecommunications, data communications, networking and Internet technologies, TECHtionary can be accessed anytime-anywhere to learn how things work. TECHtionary also provides key terms and concepts for preparation of the NACSE - National Association of Communications Systems Engineers.

ICASIT - Digital Divide Resources

Video Games Addressing ICT Skills and Usage Gaps - Another Digital Divide Issue