key skills units in information technology
By
Dave Bridges Recent years have seen a whole range of changes
to the post 14 Curriculum as GCSE syllabuses have been revised and additional
KS4 Courses have been introduced. GNVQ Part One courses are now available in all
schools and even these have undergone a makeover following pilot schemes and the
re-organisation of full GNVQs, post 16. One of the key changes
in the GNVQ arena has been to disaggregate the Key Skills in ICT, Communication
and Numeracy from the GNVQ courses so that the award of a GNVQ is no longer dependent
on achieving the Key Skills at Levels 1, 2 and 3. Key Skills
now stand alone
Key Skills can now stand alone which, in
my opinion, is very helpful for ICT Co-ordinators in schools, many of whom have
been tearing their hair out trying to find ways of meeting National Curriculum
ICT requirements in Key Stages 3 and 4. Some schools have
found space on their timetables for discrete ICT lessons in KS3 and 4, with some
students following GCSE courses in KS4. This approach has its merits, but falls
down on two counts. First, this type of delivery will necessarily
take time from the curriculum which may be more efficiently used by other areas
and subjects. Second, unless managed effectively, it can lack context and opportunities
for application, which is what ICT really should be about. Integrating
ICT into other subjects
Other schools integrate ICT into
their subject areas, a policy which does provide real opportunities for the application
of ICT skills across the school instead of treating ICT as a separate subject.
This approach also helps to give momentum to ICT development as a whole school
issue. This is a preferable route, for the reasons given,
and has been reinforced by the new subject orders for National Curriculum 2000.
Science and Technology now have explicit subject roles to play in delivering ICT.
However, this method does present problems in managing individual student's progress
across a Key Stage with all the teachers that may be involved. For
it to be completely successful it will depend on all teachers having the same
level of ICT capability in terms of planning and assessing student progress. It
also begs the question of who teaches the students the core knowledge. All these
variables can leave an ICT Coordinator reaching for the Nurofen. The
introduction of Key Skills into schools presents a good opportunity for students
to demonstrate their ICT capability in both KS3 and 4 at 3 Levels of attainment.
There are opportunities for progress to be evidenced through selected assignments
in any subject area with the added rigour of an externally set exam. An
ICT co-ordinator can work with selected departments to help them integrate ICT
assignments into individual schemes of work without necessarily claiming extra
curriculum time. There will, however, still be the practical question of how the
core ICT knowledge will be taught. Key Skills courses in
ICT require students to do the following: At Level 1
students must use ICT to: - Find, explore and develop
information for two different purposes
- Present Information
for two different purposes, giving examples of text, number and images
At
Level 2 students must use ICT to: - Search and select information
for two different purposes
- Explore and develop information,
and gain new information, for 2 different purposes
- Present
combined information for two different purposes using text, number and images
At Level 3 students must use ICT to - Plan
and use different sources to search for, and select, information needed for two
different purposes
- Explore, develop and exchange information,
and gain new information, for two different purposes
- Present
information from different sources for two different purposes and audiences, including
examples of text, number and images.
The Key Skills qualifications
in ICT allow for progression from 14 –19 in a range of academic and vocational
contexts. They also provide opportunities for students to take part in assignments
which embrace other key skills in Communication, Numeracy and Personal Development.
Most importantly, they have the potential to provide a vehicle
for students to demonstrate and develop the ICT capability they possess.
At present, I suspect they are ill served, in
many schools, by the lack of a coherent ICT curriculum,
inadequate facilities and under-trained staff.
Key Skills courses may well present the way forward.
More detail and information can be found on the
QCA
website.
Dave Bridges is assistant headteacher and ICT co-ordinator
at Harrow High School. | 
