HN 2.0 project update

The development team for this project met on Saturday. Although this project is linked to the new HNC Computing, I will post future updates on the main SQA Computing blog, so check there for the latest update about this project.

QDT meeting

The ninth meeting of the QDT took place yesterday afternoon, in the SQA offices in Glasgow. This is the first formal meeting of the group since the HNC validation event in December. So we had a lot to talk about.

The focus of the meeting was the new HNDs. These had been put on hold until the HNC was put to bed, which it, mostly, has.

It seemed a logical time to review membership of the group. I was particularly pleased to welcome Marion McNab, of Glasgow City College, to the group, who will represent the HN Collaboration Forum. The core and extended QDT has pretty extensive representation on it, with 22 colleges represented in some capacity, which is more than half of the colleges in Scotland.

The review embraces five new awards (the HNC plus four HNDs) and although we still have to validate the HNDs, I pointed out that most of the work had been done since we had draft frameworks for the HNDs and most of the component units were now validated. But we still had work to do -- the most pressing of which was finalising the HND frameworks.

There will be four new HNDs:

1. HND Computing (generic)
2. HND Computing: Networking
3. HND Computing: Software Development
4. HND Computing: Technical Support

Most of the hard work had been done but we still need to tie down the structures. This is going to be taken forward by the Qualification Leaders, who are:

1. HND Computing (Derek Summers)
2. HND Computing: Networking (Chris Deegan)
3. HND Computing: Software Development (Pete Ainsworth)
4. HND Computing: Technical Support (Shaun Miller).

I am the convenor of the QDT and my presentation includes the key points from the meeting.

HN Computing QDT meeting April 2012

View more presentations from bobbyelliott.

One of the criticisms of the HNC validation panel was our engagement with employers, so we have to work on this for the HNDs.

We hope to have the HND frameworks finalised by the end of May, and carry out the validation event in August, so that the new awards are available to centres from January 2013.

Contact Caroline if you want more information about this development.

Support Materials for HNC/D Computing

We have commissioned the development of assessment exemplar materials to support the forthcoming HNC/D Computing awards and these are now well underway.

In addition to the assessment exemplars for the mandatory units in the HNC Computing award, there will be a further 32 packs in development that will cover many of the options within the HNC & HND Computing awards.

All mandatory unit packs will be in place for the start of the new session.  The remaining packs will start to appear on the SQA secure site from August 2012 onwards.

As well as assessment exemplars for HNC Computing mandatory units, we have also commissioned the development of teaching and learning e-materials which will also be in place for the start of the new session.

To access the list of materials being developed through SQA click here.

HN Computing - Unit Specifications

As mentioned in my previous blog post unit codes are being allocated to the HNC Computing framework on a regular basis and the latest version of the framework can be accessed here.

Coded Units have now been published and can be accessed through the SQA website HN Unit Search. 

In addition to the HNC Units there are also some Units that have been developed for the forthcoming HND Computing awards that have been also published on the website.  I've listed the Units below:

Managing a Web Server (H16S 35)
Open Source Operating Systems: Introduction to Command Line Administration (H18C 35)
Open Source Operating Systems: Advanced Server Administration (H18D 35)
Open Source Operating Systems: Basic Server Administration (H18E 35)
Open Source Operating Systems: Advanced Network Services Administration (H18F 35)
Network Server Operating Systems (H16T 35)
Network Technology and Data Communications (H16V 35)
Relational Database Management Systems (H16W 35)
Server Administration (H16X 35)
Software Development: Data Structures (H16Y 35)
Software Development: Object Oriented Programming (H171 35)
Systems Development: Object Oriented Analysis and Design (H172 35)

If you have any queries regarding the HNC/D Computing developments, please get in touch with me here.

E-learning material

As part of the additional support that we can now provide for the new awards, we plan to produce e-learning material for the mandatory units in the new HNC qualification (excluding the Graded Unit). We have assembled a team of writers, led by Ted Hastings, which will produce the material.

We didn't specify what tools the developers should use, so long as the final material can be used flexibly in a wide range of environments, including stand-alone and hosted on a VLE. One of the most popular ways of generating content is Wordpress, and we hosted a training event on Saturday for those writers who wanted to know more about this development environment.

It seemed to go well, and Wordpress appears to be a very capable development tool. I think the people who attended were impressed with its facilities.

We have traditionally supported our HN awards with e-learning material (the Computing awards are the best supported of any HN) and this initiative will continue that tradition. Look out for the new materials being available in June. Contact Caroline if you want more information on this project.

HNC Computing - Update

I understand that many centres are currently planning for the new session so thought it would be a good time to give you an update on the status for the new HNC Computing award.

The framework is now fixed and can be accessed here.  There is a section on the framework dedicated entirely to vendor.  This section will continue to populate as and when vendor courses have been successfully SCQF credit and levelled (and approved by the QDT).  More information on vendors will be detailed in the Arrangements Document due to be published on the SQA website in the next 3-4 weeks.

The Unit Specifications are validated and currently awaiting coding. These will start to appear on the website for download over the next week or so.  As soon as I start to receive a note of the codes I shall add them to the framework so that you have a complete listing of Units and Codes for the new and revised specifications.

The assessment exemplars for all mandatory Units in the HNC are well underway and these will be in place for the start of the new session.

We have managed to attain surplus monies from our year end budget that we have allocated this to three new projects to help support the new award:

1. Additional assessment exemplar packs (30 in total) covering a selection of optional units in the HNC
2. Online teaching and learning materials for the mandatory units in the new HNC Computing award
3. HN 2.0 project (further information here)

We shall be updating this blog with the status of all these projects over the next few months.

Update on progress

This seems a good time to post another update on how things are progressing.

Since the validation event for the HNC in December, we've been working on the conditions and recommendations that the Panel asked us to address. We've made good progress, and I hope to have the HNC award validated in the near future. In the meantime, you can prepare for the new award if you're planning to offer it in August.

We've also been given additional funding to produce extra support materials for the new qualification, and the HN 2.0 project will investigate how you can use social media for assessing the HNC.

I didn't want to progress with the HNDs until the HNC was in-hand, and I think that we are pretty much in that position now, so we'll be organising the next meeting of the QDT soon.

Contact Caroline if you want specific information about the new awards.

HN 2.0

I've previously mentioned that there is additional money to support this development, and that one of the areas we planned to invest in was assessment. I am about to kick-off a new project to modernise the assessment within the revised HNC.

The HN 2.0 project aims to explore how Web 2.0/social media can be used to assist lecturers carry out assessment in the new HNC award. The objectives are:

1. identify specific Web 2.0 technologies that can be used for assessment
2. identify units within the new HNC that could be assessed through social media
3. exemplify this in terms of concrete examples of evidence generation through social media.

The deliverables will be a report and a workshop.

I haven't created a detailed project plan yet, so I can't be sure about timescales, but I hope to have the work complete by the summer.

I will be seeking volunteers for this project through the usual channels (such as the online group) but contact me directly if you are interested in getting involved.

SOLAR support

The current HNC/D awards make great use of SOLAR for online assessment. In fact, Computing has more assessments delivered this way than any other subject.

I met with Graeme Clarke, Project Manager for Computer Assisted Assessment, this afternoon to discuss how SOLAR could continue to support the new HN awards.

It was a good, positive meeting. The e-assessment team is keen to support the new awards. He gave me some good news about the HNC Graded Unit -- new assessments were recently added to SOLAR for this important unit. Additional questions have been added to the item bank to make more tests available to centres.

Graeme also pledged support for the new and revised units within the new group awards. It's too early to say exactly what units will be supported through SOLAR, but it was great to hear this support.

Contact Joan Morris if you want to find out more about using SOLAR or find out what is available to centres.

Additional support is coming

We have recently received additional financial support for this development. We have received fairly significant sums of money to support this development. This money will permit us to create additional support materials. For example, we had planned to produce assessment exemplars for the mandatory units only, but this money will permit us to write assessments for many of the optional units too. Some of the money will be used to create e-learning material for the mandatory units in the HNC. And there is now some money to take forward the modernising assessment initiative.

Look out for more information about each of these initiatives in the near future. Or contact Caroline to find out how you can get involved.