I had a meeting this morning with Peter Forrow who is the Field Support Officer for the onscreen test for our area. He told me that the majority of exam officers of Derby City schools had been to one of his training sessions on how their role is essential to make sure that the 2007 test is administered smoothly and how they can support Heads of ICT. He felt that it would also be useful to share some of the FAQ he meets on his travels. Read on…..
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Q. How is additional time for pupils applied for and allowed? How does this work?
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A. At present this is at the discretion of the school. Increments of 5 minutes, 10 minutes etc are easily entered via the pupil manager software. The test software then automatically allows the extra time.
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Q. Can the ICT teachers act as test administrators?
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A. Teachers can not be expected to undertake this role as it does not require the specific professional skills of an ICT teacher. Teachers that wish to carry out this role however can’t be prevented. A technician will clearly have any skills necessary. It is important however to ensure that someone who knows the pupils is present to ensure that passwords are handed out to the right pupils.
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Q. Can older students (eg year 13) be used to act as test administrators?
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A. ??? We would discourage anyone under the age of 18 from doing this and also would discourage anyone “close to” the pupils in the test. ???
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Q. Can year 8 pupils take the pilot in 2007 and then take the statutory test in 2008 when they’re in year 9.
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A. No. The test is for pupils at the end of the key stage. Pupils completing the test are then deemed to have moved on to key stage 4. Pupils (and teachers and others) can take a practice test at any time.
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Q. How are Initial Level Assessments (ILAs), teaching sets etc. entered? Can this be streamlined?
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A. Once the pupil data has been entered (eg by uploading a file from the school’s PLASC return) then the ILAs etc. can be entered. If the subject leader has created an spreadsheet with this data in a form that uses UPNs then this can be imported directly. The Pupil and Test management guide has further details.
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Q. In a number of instances with the 2006 pilot more pupils sat the test than received results? Is this being addressed?
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A. In 2006 there were a number of instances where pupils did not receive results. In many cases this was because the tests did not complete in schools or the results did not get uploaded. The reasons ar partly technical and partlt administrative and all are being addressed and rectified. The essential Guide and the software documentation will address administrative issues and there will be upgraded software available from November.
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| Q. Will the 2007 test be available for use (eg by year 8s) after the pilot test window closes? |
| A. No. Schools can continue to use the practice test, to be distributed shortly, before during or after the test window and are encouraged to do so. |
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Q. Must school have at least 20 workstations to pass accreditation?
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A. Smaller schools may have less that 20 workstations and this may be fine. They need to contact the RM Customer Services Team on 0870 870 1025, option 1.
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Q. Can middle schools who do not intend for their pupils to take the test provide familiarisation and practice tests to their pupils?
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A. Yes, although we are not “chasing them”.
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Q. Why is there no audio capability in the test, to read out tasks – particularly for SEN candidates? Will this come in the real test?
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A. go to http://www.rm.com/qca/HelpArticle.asp?cref=hda647161 for details on SEN support including Microsoft Windows XP accessibility options.
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Q. How do I get a formative report from a practice test?
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A. This is not best dealt with by a simple FAQ. Formative reports are available after both of the 2 practice test sessions are completed. Pupils need to be identified for the reports to be available at the APS. For anonymous pupils the report is available at the DPS only. Full details on accessing these reports are in chapter 8 of the Pupil and Test Management guide.
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I know that this perennial problem won’t be solved by just ICT teachers alone, but maybe a starter activity that concentrates on this resources found on the Teach-ICT website may be a way into looking at both the benefits and the limitations of using a spell checker.
For those of you delivering ICT units that may require pupils to add a map of a location to their work, either to give directions or to locate people/places quikmaps.com is an excellent free site that does this.
You are able to add all sorts of markers/emoticons and clipart to personalise the map and then save it. Initially you are given a temporary id, but you can easily log in. It would be useful to share any ideas of how and where this could be used.
Following a discussion with Graeme Ferguson the City’s 14-19 co-ordinator I feel that I should pass on some of the guidance offered to the Secondary team regarding the developments in the 14-19 arena and the implementation of functional skills, specialised diplomas and delivering diplomas.
Although the details are vague at the moment and I can’t find any further information on the 14-19 website, we were told that the future of all BTEC courses is uncertain. The only definite message that we could be given was that from 2009-2013 they will be phased out. This may have implications for your department as I know that some of you are either delivering BTEC courses already or may be planning to change the delivery of ICT at KS4 along BTEC lines. I don’t think that there is anyone that can tell us any more than this at present and I will try to clarify things as soon as I know anything further.
Please feel free to comment if you know anything.
A useful site to clarify grades and levels for DiDA marking can be found at http://www.didacourse.com/ . It also has a comprehensive overview of the various qualifications, SPBs and resources.
I found this site useful over the last week or two when working with students on their SPBs, but especially with teachers when looking at the GCSE equivalents of their work at Level 1 and Level 2.
Following on from the last entry there are some excellent materials published by BT that deal with a lot of the other issues contained in the ECM – “Be safe” agenda. The materials will also help to support the delivery of the Y7,8 and 9 teaching objectives relating to ‘Communicating’ within the ‘Exchanging and sharing information’ strand of the Framework for teaching ICT capability.
There are also a series of downloads
Report on internet safety (pdf)
What teachers and parents should know (pdf)
The internet Green X code (pdf)
Web safety podcast for teachers (mp3)
This article from vnu.net seems to summarise what a lot of us are already thinking about the investment we are expected to make in ICT and the need for a few more progressive approaches to delivering ICT.
‘Significant shift’ from traditional expectations
http://mail.vnunet.com/cgi-bin1/flo/y/eve80C4FoS0UKn0DRPD0Ev
