ICT KS4
BTEC Level 2 Extended Certificate in Information Technology
Subject Leader: Mr C Kilby
1. Why choose?
Throughout year 9 students have been working on a number of topics and activities that can count towards their studies in year 10 & 11. Students can use all of the work and notes produced in year 9 as a large proportion of their coursework in BTEC Level 2 in Information Technology.
The skills learnt through studying ICT will be of use in any profession and industry as ICT is a rapidly developing and relevant subject. Studying ICT works very well alongside many other courses such as Business studies, Art, Design and Media.
The BTEC Level 2 Certificate & Diploma in Information Technology has been designed to equip students with the vital underpinning understanding, skills and knowledge needed to prepare them for employment in the ICT industries or vocational studies.
2. Key Features
The BTEC Level 2 in Information Technology provides the opportunity for students to gain a nationally recognised qualification to enter employment in the IT sector or to progress to higher education qualifications such as the BTEC Level 3 in Information Technology.
Students develop a range of skills and techniques, personal qualities and attitudes essential for successful performance in working life
The BTEC Level 2 in Information Technology is worth up to 4 GCSE’s. Students step through 4 phases of the course.
Phase 1 (Year 9) – Work completed in year 9 can form the basis of the first unit of the course. This establishes students with up to half required work for the GCSE course as well as an introduction to the theory of other units.
Phase 2 – In year 10, students work on a further 2 units of work to complete the BTEC Level 2 Certificate (Equivalent to 1 GCSE)
Phase 3 – Students complete a further 2 units of work to top the qualification up to a BTEC Level 2 Extended certificate (Equivalent to 2 GCSEs)
Phase 4 – In Year 11, those students working at a high level have the option of preparing and completing an additional course in ICT functional skills (Equivalent to 1 GCSE grade C)
3. Course outline (units and content)
The course consists of a number of units where students have to complete assignments. A key aspect is that the subjects studied are clearly linked to the workplace and also prepare you for further study at a higher level. The BTEC Level 2 in Information Technology qualification is 100% coursework and consists on no formal exams.
The main topics that students will study are:
- Unit 1: Communicating in the IT industry - enable learners to use IT tools to communicate and exchange information safely, securely and effectively with different audiences. Learners will also consider the impacts of IT.
- Unit 2: Working in the IT Industry - have knowledge of the available job roles involving professional IT and the characteristics employers demand in the IT industry.
- Unit 3: Computer Systems - focuses on the hardware and software resources of a typical computer system. Its aim is to provide you with a basic understanding of how a computer works and how users interact with computer systems. Health and safety and legal issues are also covered.
- Unit 17: Website development - to see the potential of the web and to develop a skill set which will be highly valued by industry and commerce as well as being a useful personal skill for leisure pursuits. The unit is designed to give a firm grounding in the concepts of web design.
- Unit 23: Computer Graphics - Graphics are now an everyday part of computer use. In this unit, learners will gain knowledge of how to use a variety of different software applications to create and modify graphic images. Learners will create both pictures and diagrams, using a range of tools and techniques and learn how to select, edit and export images into other documents.
- Unit 26: Developing Computer Games - give learners an understanding of the social impacts of computer games. Learners will also have the opportunity to design a simple game themselves and will acquire skills in testing and documenting computer games.
Further units also covered may include computer networking, 3D design, animation and video editing.
4. Skills to be gained
Students will cover topics such as business documents, advertising, marketing, financial & accounting, computer hardware & software, animation, image editing, movie production, website production, 3D design, games development, computer networking and more. Building up a wide range of ICT skills and allowing them to specialise in a particular field in sixth form.
5. Teaching and Learning Methods
The course is divided up into separate topics (Units), which all contain three assignments. The classroom teaching prepares students with the skills required to complete each assignment
All work is submitted to the teacher online through our department website. Students know when work has to be submitted, when it will be marked, and when work will be remarked if they need to make improvements. Students can get an immediate view on how they are progressing through the course and can move ahead if they wish. All resources and feedback can be viewed from home and we encourage students to push themselves to constantly improve their work to achieve the highest grades.
6. Resources and Facilities
The ICT department has a suite of two dedicated ICT rooms, both rooms are equipped with PC’s and have interactive whiteboards. Students have access to a bank of digital cameras, voice recorders, scanners, digital video cameras, laptops, tablets, Xbox 360 console and Xbox 360 gamepads that they can use in their work.
We have the most widely used software, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Visual Studio, VMWare, Adobe Web & Graphics suites, as well as many free alternatives such as Open Office, Inkscape, GIMP, Blender 3D and Freemind.
7. Extra Curricular
All students have the chance to join a number of extra-curricular activities on offer from the ICT department. These are offered under the banner of ‘ICT Projects’. A number of projects are run in many different areas of ICT.
ICT Projects are run with small groups of students, where they can work together, under the guidance of a member of staff, to develop their skills in a particular area.
Students that take part in extracurricular activities have the opportunity to build on skills learnt in class and to improve their coursework.
8. Progression
Undertaking the BTEC Level 2 in Information Technology provides students with a potential stepping stone towards entering employment in positions such as IT technical sales specialist, DTP operator or computer service technician, as well as building up the ICT skills required in any profession. Successful completion of a BTEC Level 2 in Information Technology could lead to entry onto a BTEC Level 3 in Information Technology.
 Sandy ICT GCSE options information sheet.pdf | [ ] | 1575 Kb |
