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Activities supporting the assessment of this award

Assessor's guide to interpreting the criteria

General Information

• The Silver INGOT is the same as the Level 1 ITQ Award in the Qualification Credit Framework

• The definition of a level 1 qualification is to use relevant knowledge, skills and procedures to complete routine tasks. It includes responsibility for completing tasks and procedures subject to direction or guidance.

• The criteria are designed to provide opportuities to promote numeracy, literacy and social skills as well as ICT capability and are fully compatible with the UK National Curriculum programmes of study. together with the guidance they enable the Silver Award to map to levels 5, 6 and 7 in the National Curriculum as well as providing the ITQ Award at level 1.

• This Level 1 Award  is designed to provide coherent progression from the supporting Awards at Entry Level providing a progression pathway, to Level 2.

• The specification for the Level 1 Award provides an outcome framework for assessment and is not intended to dictate any particular context for learning but if implemented together with the guidance can cover the statutory requirements of the national Curriculum for secondary schools. Those taking the qualification as adults have more flexibility and can focus the learning context on any chosen occupation for IT users.

Requirements

• Standards must be confirmed by a trained Silver Assessor or higher

• Assessors must at a minimum record assessment judgements as entries in the on-line mark book on the INGOTs.org certification site.

• It is expected that there will be routine evidence of work used for judging assessment outcomes in the candidates' records of their day to day work. The National Curriculum at Level 6 requires "a logically structured portfolio of digital evidence of their learning" and so we expect all candidates at L6 or above to have one of these. The INGOT community site can be used for this purpose or any similar site where we can view candidates work via a web browser. There is no requirement to make special provision beyond the Centre's normal working practices but these should be sufficient to justify judgements based on at least some samples and exemplars of specific work in the e-portfolio.

• Different approaches to learning will be required in order to match differing needs, for example, the needs of children will be different from the needs of adults.

• Completing the criteria for this unit entitles the candidate to the Award of Unit 1  Unit 2 of  The International Schools ITQ. "Improving productivity using IT". This corresponds to NC level 5 for a pass, NC Level 6 for pass with Merit and NC Level 7 for Pass with Distinction. All three units are required to cover the full program of study. hese units are also accrediteed as additional learning units for the Diploma.

• We expect at least 20 hours of guided study to be under-taken before this Unit Award is made for those new to computers but discretion can be used to take account of prior learning where this is sensible in individual cases. In terms of making the award, what matters is outcomes.

Assessment Method

Assessors can use the criteria to determine levels of prior learning through dialog with the candidate, direct observation and any other appropriate and relevant evidence. They can score each of the criteria 0,1 or 2. A zero indicates no observed capability. A one indicates some capability but some help still required. A two indicates self-sufficient capability, fully meeting the demand of the criterion. Candidates are required to achieve a 2 on all the criteria without the (m) denotation and a 1 in those with an (m)  to achieve the full unit award. They must achieve a 2 in all criteria to pass with merit and a short verification test will be administered. Those that do exceptionally well in the test will achieve pass with distinction.

Expansion of the assessment criteria

I can say why IT will be useful in completing a particular task (NC L5; ITQ A1.1)
Candidates should be able to assess the use of ICT in their work saying why it is appropriate and also identify areas where other methods might be better. For example, they might say that they want to provide some facts to friends through text messages but that to discuss their relationship with a particular friend would be better through a face to face meeting. Generally, text based communications tend to be a poor medium for extended personal discussions about emotive topics and can cause misunderstandings.

I can identify what I need in order to complete IT tasks successfully (NC L5; ITQ A1.2)
Candidates should be able to use relevant knowledge to identify technologies that will enable them to complete routine and straight forward tasks set for them. For example, they should be able to identify drawing software to provide a diagram for their web page and know that to make their web page they need to be logged into a web site with the tools for creating, editing and laying out pages. They need to know that the drawings should be in appropriate formats. They might identify a spreadsheet or charting software to make a table for the results in a science experiment. They might use image editing software to prepare an image for upload to their e-portfolio. They might identify a computer programing language as suitable to carry out a task such as drawing shapes or controlling a device. Where the need is for information, they should check its accuracy and be aware that inaccurate information will result in unreliable results.

I can identify automated routines to improve productivity (NC L5; ITQ A2.1)
These include keyboard short cuts such as CTRL C to copy, CTRL V to paste and CTRL X to cut, customised menus and tool bars, running pre-set macros, using document template,s wizards and druids. Candidates should demonstrate the capability of identifying suitable ways of improving their productivity using automated and pre-prepared digital resources.

I can complete planned tasks using IT (NC L5; ITQ A2.3)
The candidate should show some tenacity in completing tasks. At this level they will need guidance and the tasks will be routine. Examples could be to complete a web page index to serve as the front page of an e-portfolio given a list of instructions; write a report on a science experiment with a diagram and table of results; write a short program to determine a user's name address and music preferences; make a video to show a sports technique and up load to You Tube.

I can check that the outcomes of my work meet the requirements of the task (NC L5; ITQ A3.1)
Candidates should evaluate their work as they go along saying how well the outcomes are meeting the task requirements. At this level they can be given a small number of specific evaluation criteria against which to evaluate their work as it progresses. Try and steer them away from bland generalities such as "I think my work was good" or "I'm pleased with my work and the way it is going" and get them to record specific strengths and weaknesses against the criteria you give them. eg You might ask them to check and record if and when the links they make work and the standard of the presentation when producing an index for an e-portfolio. Then a strength might be that the links work and make access to examples of their work easy from the web. A weakness might be that the front page is a bit plain and uninteresting or there might not be much content in the portfolio. With focus on the weaknesses they are then in a good position to make suggestions for improvements in subsequent work

I can identify strengths and weaknesses in my final work (NC L5; ITQ A3.3)
Candidates should be able to identify strengths and weaknesses in finished work. At this level it is sufficient for them to be given a list of strengths and weaknesses against which they compare the outcomes of their work. They might provide such an evaluation of their e-portfilio work as a page on the e-portfolio itself, linked to the index page with the name Evaluation.

I can say how I would improve my work in the future (NC L5; ITQ A3.4)
As a result of discussing the use of ICT in their work and in social and recreational situations coupled with their evaluations, they say what steps they intend to take to learn more and improve their future work. This could be linked to personal target setting with the candidate identifying what they need to do and putting this in a section in the evaluation pag of their e-portfolio.

I can plan my tasks using IT to achieve successful specific outcomes (NC L6; ITQ A1.3)
The candidate should be able to take responsibility for planning the completion of straightforward tasks subject to direction. This might be following instructions to build web pages in HTML understanding the purpose, or searching for specific information on the internet to answer specific questions. They might identify the need to find an image, crop it to a particular size for presenting on the internet and the need to convert it to a particular format. They might write a report on a topic of interest in a word processor planning a document template to define the layout. Information should be planned considering who and what the information is for, time-scales, what information needs to be included and how it will be presented.

I can decide whether the IT tools selected were appropriate for achieving the task (NC L6; ITQ A3.2)
Candidates should be given opportunities to combine ICT tools within an overall ICT solution. Did these tools enable them to complete the task and if so were they easy to use? In the case of using tools that require expensive licenses, are their freely available tools that do the same job. How might they find out? In presenting their decisions they should use a variety of techniques and show a clear sense of audience.

I can use automated routines that aid efficient processing or presentation (NC L6; ITQ A2.2)
Candidates should use such techniques to structure, refine and present information in different forms and styles for specific purposes and audiences. They develop and refine their work to enhance its quality, using a greater range and complexity of information and in planning and designing their ICT solutions they will demonstrate increased integration and efficiency in their use of ICT tools.

I can say why I chose particular IT systems and software for particular tasks providing strengths and weaknesses (NC L7; ITQ A1.4)
The candidate should consider the benefits and limitations of ICT tools and information sources and of the results they produce, using these results to inform future judgements about the quality of their work. They should be able to list strengths and weaknesses of particular IT systems making comparisons between alternatives. For example they might present work on a web page rather than attaching a file to the web page because it is more immediately viewable and requires only a web browser. They might e-mail the URL of a video on a video site rather than e-mail the video as an attachment because e-mail filters might block a large attached file and the use of storage space and bandwidth is more efficient. They might share a presentation via Google Docs because it makes collaborative working easier and does not require special office software, only a web browser. They might identify a weakness in this method as the lack of support for slide transitions but decide this is not as important as being able to integrate the information with other information on the web. Other broad considerations in making choices could include: Time, convenience, cost, ethics, quality, accuracy, increasing productivity.

I can identify any legal or similar constraints that may affect the task or activity (NC L7; ITQ A1.6)
Candidates should know that digital resources, including software, are subject to copyright and their use is normally subject to licensing. Some licenses are very permissive, some very restrictive but legally the license has to be taken into account. This can be a disadvantage to the user, eg restricting backups or re-installation of software in the event of a hardware failure, and needs to be taken into account when considering value for money and risk. Candidates should be able to take part in informed discussions about some of the effects of licensing of ICT products and its impact on society. For example, if there is a monopoly product on which everyone depends, that has a very restrictive license for the benefit of the licensee, would this be good for society as a whole? There are many useful resources on You Tube that discuss copyright (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr9SQ4qkMMk this one discusses video in relation to You Tube itself. This one by Larry Lessig http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q25-S7jzgs&feature=fvst is about why copyright law can destroy creativity. You can download You Tube videos at http://keepvid.com/ if your network blocks You Tube). These are mostly in the context of US law but most of this is relevant in most other countries because of trade agreements. The internet and easy access and replication of complex digital information is having and will continue to have a major impact on society, not least the news media.

Moderation/verification

The assessor should keep a record of assessment judgements made for each candidate and make notes of any significant issues for any candidate. They must be prepared to enter into dialog with their Account Manager and provide their assessment records to the Account Manager through the on-line mark book. They should be prepared to provide evidence as a basis for their judgments should it be required by the Principal Assessor or their Account Manager/external moderator. Before authorizing certification, the Account Manager must be satisfied that the assessors judgements are sound.