About the Course:
This subject is offered as an Applied A Level. The ICT course is designed to give students a practical understanding of ICT in large organisations, to develop management skills and enhance software skills. Highly motivating, it develops the knowledge and skills you need to be a competent and informed ICT user and practitioner.
The course aims to produce ICT users who can select and use appropriate tools and techniques to help them carry out investigations, capture and handle data, solve problems, make decisions and to present and communicate information.
Assessment:
This is a two year course and over that time you will complete 6 units of study. For 4 of those units you will produce an e-portfolio, which is internally
assessed and externally moderated. The remaining 2 units are assessed through practical examinations. The course is broken up as follows:
AS
Unit 1: The Information Age (e-portfolio)
Students will learn about the ICT technologies that enable people to access and exchange information and to carry out transactions anytime, anywhere.
They will take a critical look at the impact that the internet has had on the way people conduct their personal and professional lives, explore the services it offers and gain ‘hands-on’ experience of using some of them.
Unit 2: The Digital Economy (e-portfolio)
Students will investigate how organisations are responding to the pressures of the e-marketplace by using transactional websites to present their products and services, gather information and provide a personalised service.
Unit 3: The Knowledge Worker (external practical exam)
Students will learn about making informed decisions using the knowledge available to them. They will learn how to select sources and decide on how much credence to place in them. They will explore the factors to consider in decision making such as identifying knowledge gaps, time constraints. They will learn how to manage time effectively by prioritising tasks and setting interim deadlines.
A2
Unit 7: Using Database Software (external practical exam)
Students will further develop their knowledge and skills in using databases. They will learn the principles of data modelling and sound database design and will use relational database software to build working systems capable of effectively handling large quantities of data.
Unit 8: Managing ICT Projects (e-portfolio)
This unit introduces students to some formal project management tolls and methods and gives them an opportunity to use specialist software in this area by setting up and running a small-scale software project. They will have to draw upon the knowledge and skills developed throughout the course to complete this task, including software design and implementation.
Unit 10: Using Multimedia Software (e-portfolio)
In this unit students will increase their understanding of the features and possibilities of multimedia and other tools so that they combine them to produce well designed multimedia products that communicate their ideas effectively. Their work for this unit will culminate in the design, development and testing of an interactive multimedia product for a specified target audience.
Progression Routes:
This course is ideally suited to be studied alongside other Applied courses such as Business Studies. Please see the College website for examples of
Learning Programmes and go to www.edexcel.com for additional information. The Applied ICT qualification provides the skills required for a student to go on to study ICT or Computing-related courses at HND or Degree Level.