Arriving in College Principal and Heads of Computing inboxes this week is an invitation to consider working with SQA and LINUX IT . In partnership we hope to · Upskill staff in Colleges · Build capacity across Scotland to deliver open source qualifications · Ensure that appropriate recognition is given for open source qualifications · Build a sustainable relationship with the global open source community
The team of External Verifiers (EVs) meet occasionally to discuss a range of issues relating to quality assurance. The Computing team met this morning in the SQA Glasgow offices. The meeting was led by David Drennan. There is a standing item on the agenda when I update the EVs about recently developed (or soon to be developed) qualifications that they might come across while carrying out their duties. My update today included the recently developed NPA Doing Business Online, the…
I attended a meeting at Glasgow Caledonian University this morning about college/university links. Anne Russell is leading a project that aims to improve the links between colleges and universities in the Glasgow area. Representatives of universities and colleges attended. The project is funded – by the Funding Council – until July 2011. It was a productive meeting. We identified some of the issues facing students who move from college to university, issues such as self-confidence, critical thinking skills, independent learning, and…
I met with Loraine Johnston of James Watt College this morning to discuss the progress with the new PDA in Web Design. Loraine is the Lead Developer for this project. The new PDA is based on the official curriculum for the CIW Web Design Specialist (formally CIW Site Designer) qualification. The proposed award will consist of three mandatory single credit units at SCQF Level 7. These are currently in the process of being finalised and will also be added to the optional section…
This week is Global Enterprise Week and, as part of that, Google has been promoting it’s Getting British Business Online (GBBO) initiative. It held 25 simultaneous “business breakfasts” across the UK this morning, including one in Glasgow, which I attended. GBBO is a fantastic opportunity for small businesses to establish a web presence – for free and in 20 minutes. David MacMurtrie, of Google, led the event. He emphasised the phenomenal growth of the Internet and how vital it is…
Hilary and me met with Graeme Clark, of SQA’s E-Assessment & Learning team, this morning to discuss support materials for the new NPAs in Computer Games. We will be developing teaching and learning material for the entire suite of awards (at Levels 4, 5 and 6) in electronic format, suitable for delivery on a wide variety of platforms (such as stand-alone PCs or VLEs). Stevenson College will carry out this work, on SQA’s behalf. The material will be available by…
The Sector Panel for Computing & IT met today at The Park Hotel in Glasgow. Fourteen people attended. The purpose of the Sector Panel is to provide SQA with guidance about what is happening externally and what we need to do to ensure our awards are relevant and up-to-date. Today we discussed the on-going HN review, Genny Dixon of E-Skills UK updated us on national developments, Chris Jones raised a variety of issues coming from the Scottish Computing Alliance, and…
I was asked to present the SQA prize at the Reid Kerr prize giving ceremony, held at Paisley Abbey yesterday afternoon. It is a fantastic venue for an event like this. Jean Hubert Kasubandi won the SQA prize, having overcome tremendous problems to acheive his HND. These events are great. It’s fantastic to see the pride on the faces of students and their families. I had a great time. The college did a great job in organising the ceremony, which…
The demands of my job make it difficult to get out and actually visit centres to talk to teachers and students but at the end of last week I managed to visit two colleges that I have previously taught in. On Thursday afternoon I visited Clydebank College, at the invitation of Graeme Downey, and met several of my ex-colleagues. Graeme, kindly, gave me the chance to talk to students and I had a discussion with a group of NC students…
Over the past few years, we have established the HN Qualification Support Team (QST) for Computing which offers ongoing support and advice to allow for improvements and to exemplify national standards for our HNC/D & PDA portfolio of awards. We are in the process of reviewing our membership of the group and in order to ensure full coverage of all areas, we seek some new volunteers (particularly those with experience in delivering Computer Games and Vendor Curriculum linked with SQA units). The QST physically…
There are strong links between Higher Information Systems, a range of Higher National Units and the Oracle Academy Programme. Here is an opportunity to get involved both in the Oracle Academy Programme and to find out about Think Quest which offers opportunities across the curriculum and a lot of potential support for Curriculum for Excellence activities.
In the background over the last 12 months we have been reviewing, renewing and expanding the Digital and ICT Vendor Alliance. This is a culmination of the review of the original project. As a reminder DIVA originally set out to encourage · Liaison with global vendors giving early insight into up-and-coming developments · The Mapping of vendor curriculum and certifications to SQA units · Encourage new and innovative qualification development · Develop the Provision of expert training in Scotland for…
The web log of the qualification team for Computing within SQA. Look out for news about Computing qualifications and related information.
