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ICT Capability

Curriculum Aims (taken directly from the KS3 strategy)

ICT Capability encompasses not only the mastery of technical skills and techniques, but also the understanding to apply these skills purposefully, safely and responsibly in learning.

ICT can be used to find, develop, analyse and present information, as well as to model situations and solve problems.  Increased capability in the use of ICT supports imitative and independent learning, as pupils are able to make informed judgements about when and where to use ICT to enhance their learning and the quality of their work.


Guidelines for ICT Assessment

Assessing ICT work is an integral part of teaching and learning and central to good practice, assessing what pupils know, understand and can do. It should be process orientated, reviewing the way that techniques and skills are applied purposefully by pupils to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts of ICT. Assessment is part of the learning process and so it is essential that pupils are closely involved.

Assessment can be broken down into three main areas;

  • Short-term assessments are those carried out within the context of each lesson and are focused on the short-term learning objectives set for the session. They feed into the planning for the next lesson.

  • Medium-term assessment should review pupils' progress over a whole unit of work or over the whole term. Assessment of pupils' progress in the medium-term can be recorded on a class record sheet using the key objectives. These assessments should be generated by reviewing work carried out independently by the pupils, such as that produced from the end of unit integrated project, and a NC level given. The teacher should also record:

    Any pupils who have not met the objective(s) and who need extra support in this aspect of ICT;

    Any pupils who easily grasped the objective(s) and worked at a higher level. They will need to be challenged in this aspect of ICT

    Any pupils who were absent

This record should be used to inform planning by the current and future teacher, so should be passed on to subsequent teachers.

  • Long-term assessments are summative. They are made against the level descriptions on a 'best-fit' basis at the end of a longer term period (eg. a term, a year or a key stage). Most schools now record these levels, but at the end of key stage 3, teachers are required to give a level for each pupil for their ICT attainment.

Pupils have to be seen to make progress and national expectations state that at the end of Key Stage 1 the average child will be operating at level 2, at the end of Key Stage 2 level 4, and at the end of Key Stage 3 level 5. At the end of Key Stage 3 the national target for the number of pupils at level 5 or above is 85%.

Levels

 

Progression in ICT

The key characteristics of each level are described below. It is useful to have these characteristics in mind when assessing and planning work.

 

Level

Key characteristics

Level descriptions

Powerpoints slides expanding the level descriptions

Word documents adapted from KS3 National Strategy resources

Working towards Level 1

Pre-explorative, working with increasing engagement

Pupils are aware that some ICT is used in everyday life and beginning to talk about ICT. They show some awareness that input devices have an effect on screen, making choices and beginning to notice what happens. They are beginning to use text, images and sound to share ideas and can to some extent use simple software to model real life activities.

  • PowerPoint 2003, 48kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, levelw.ppt

Level 1

Explorative use and building familiarity

Pupils explore information from various sources, showing they know that information exists in different forms. They use ICT to work with text, images and sound to help them share their ideas. They recognise that many everyday devices respond to signals and instructions. They make choices when using such devices to produce different outcomes. They talk about their use of ICT.

  • PowerPoint 2003, 52kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, level1.ppt

Level 2

 

Purposeful use towards specific outcomes

 

Pupils use ICT to organise and classify information and to present their findings. They enter, save and retrieve work. They use ICT to help them generate, amend and record their work and share their ideas in different forms, including text, tables, images and sound. They plan and give instructions to make things happen and describe the effects. They use ICT to explore what happens in real and imaginary situations. They talk about their experiences of ICT both inside and outside school.

 

  • PowerPoint 2003, 52kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, level2.ppt

Level 3

 

Develop ideas and solve problems

 

Pupils use ICT to save information and to find and use appropriate stored information, following straightforward lines of enquiry. They use ICT to generate, develop, organise and present their work. They share and exchange their ideas with others. They use sequences of instructions to control devices and achieve specific outcomes. They make appropriate choices when using ICT-based models or simulations to help them find things out and solve problems. They describe their use of ICT and its use outside school.

 

  • PowerPoint 2003, 52kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, level3.ppt

Level 4

 

Combine and refine information from various sources; interpret and question plausibility

 

Pupils understand the need for care in framing questions when collecting, finding and interrogating information. They interpret their findings, question plausibility and recognise that poor-quality information leads to unreliable results. They add to, amend and combine different forms of information from a variety of sources. They use ICT to present information in different forms and show they are aware of the intended audience and the need for quality in their presentations. They exchange information and ideas with others in a variety of ways, including using e-mail. They use ICT systems to control events in a predetermined manner and to sense physical data. They use ICT-based models and simulations to explore patterns and relationships, and make predictions about the consequences of their decisions. They compare their use of ICT with other methods and with its use outside school.

 

  • PowerPoint 2003, 55kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, level4.ppt
  • Word 2003, 25kb/1 page, 15/12/2007, level4.doc

 

Level 5

 

Combine use of ICT tools in an overall structure; critically evaluate fitness for purpose/accuracy

 

Pupils select the information they need for different purposes, check its accuracy and organise it in a form suitable for processing. They use ICT to structure, refine and present information in different forms and styles for specific purposes and audiences. They exchange information and ideas with others in a variety of ways, including using e-mail. They create sequences of instructions to control events, and understand the need to be precise when framing and sequencing instructions. They understand how ICT devices with sensors can be used to monitor and measure external events. They explore the effects of changing the variables in an ICT-based model. They discuss their knowledge and experience of using ICT and their observations of its use outside school. They assess the use of ICT in their work and are able to reflect critically in order to make improvements in subsequent work.

 

  • PowerPoint 2003, 53kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, level5.ppt
  • Word 2003, 25kb/1 page, 15/12/2007, level5.doc

Level 6

 

Increased efficiency and integration; greater range and complexity of information

 

Pupils develop and refine their work to enhance its quality, using information from a range of sources. Where necessary, they use complex lines of enquiry to test hypotheses.They present their ideas in a variety of ways and show a clear sense of audience. They develop, try out and refine sequences of instructions to monitor, measure and control events, and show efficiency in framing these instructions. They use ICT-based models to make predictions and vary the rules within the models. They assess the validity of these models by comparing their behaviour with information from other sources.They discuss the impact of ICT on society.

  • PowerPoint 2003, 51kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, level6.ppt
  • Word 2003, 26kb/1 page, 15/12/2007, level6.doc

Level 7

 

Scope, define, implement and refine systems

 

Pupils combine information from a variety of ICT-based and other sources for presentation to different audiences. They identify the advantages and limitations of different information-handling applications. They select and use information systems suited to their work in a variety of contexts, translating enquiries expressed in ordinary language into the form required by the system. They use ICT to measure, record and analyse physical variables and control events. They design ICT-based models and procedures with variables to meet particular needs.They consider the benefits and limitations of ICT tools and information sources and of the results they produce, and they use these results to inform future judgements about the quality of their work. They take part in informed discussions about the use of ICT and its impact on society.

 

  • PowerPoint 2003, 51kb/1 slide, 18/10/2007, level7.ppt
  • Word 2003, 26kb/1 page, 15/12/2007, level7.doc

Level 8

 

Design and implement systems for others to use

 

Pupils independently select appropriate information sources and ICT tools for specific tasks, taking into account ease of use and suitability. They design successful ways to collect and prepare information for processing. They design and implement systems for others to use. When developing systems that respond to events, they make appropriate use of feedback. They take part in informed discussions about the social, economic, ethical and moral issues raised by ICT.

 

 

Exceptional Performance

 

Design, implement, test, documentment and evaluate systems for others

 

Pupils evaluate software packages and ICT-based models, analysing the situations for which they were developed and assessing their efficiency, ease of use and appropriateness. They suggest refinements to existing systems and design, implement and document systems for others to use, predicting some of the consequences that could arise from the use of such systems. When discussing their own and others' use of ICT, they use their knowledge and experience of information systems to inform their views on the social, economic, political, legal, ethical and moral issues raised by ICT.

 

 



National Curriculum in Action (NC Action)


NC Action uses pupils' work and case study material to show what the National Curriculum in ICT (and other subjects) looks like in practice.

The examples given show:

  • the standard of pupils' work at different ages and key stages
  • how the programmes of study translate into real activities
  • effective use of ICT across the curriculum

This website also includes examples of pupils' work with ICT across a range of subjects, with teacher commentary on how the use of ICT enhanced learning in the subject. The work exemplifies the requirements to use ICT in subject teaching.

Pupil Self Assessment and Pupil Voice

The pupils' view of the work they have completed is an integral part of the resources that should be assessed. The resources below are designed to be used at the end of each term/topic to assess progress and attainment after the completion of a significant piece of work, such as an integrated project. They could also be used as a tool to find out individual achievement when children have been working collaboratively. There is no requirement to assess in this way after every ICT activity.

Pupil voice helps to ascertain what the children think they know (breadth and depth of the curriculum) and provides insights to pupils' perceptions of the value and purpose of ICT. In addition it provides information about behaviour and attitudes including enthusiasm and motivation. Pupil voice is also a tool to establish the nature of home use of ICT and help address the ‘digital divide’. It gives ownership of learning to the pupils and raises the profile of ICT in the school.

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Pupil voice sheet 1 Pupil voice sheet 2 Pupil voice sheet 3 Pupil voice sheet 4 Pupil voice sheet 5 Pupil voice sheet 6

Teacher Annotation

Work being used as evidence of a pupil's ICT capability needs to be annotated, so that the context for the work is clear. An example of an appropriate context sheet (annotation sheet) is below.

Teacher annotation sheet

Additional Resources for KS1 & KS2

Useful web links

Additional Resources for KS3 & 14-19

KS3 Example Assessment Sheets

The files below are examples of assessment sheets that could be adapted for use at Key Stage 3 for formative and summative assessment.  Teachers could give a copy to pupils and use the document to help pupils with peer and self assessment. The document would help to ensure that pupils know where they are in their learning and how to improve.  The summative details on the teacher copy would transfer directly into a KS3 tracking system.

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  • Click on border colour and use the eye dropper to select the light colour from your site colour scheme, choose ok

Year

Teaching Unit

Assessment Proforma

7

Exchanging and Sharing Information

Unit 7.1 Assessment

 

 

 

Using Data and Information Sources
Unit 7.2 Assessment

 

 
Databases
An Adapted Unit 7.5

Year

Teaching Unit

Assessment Proforma

7, 8 and 9

The following assessment grids span a wide range of levels and can be adapted for different year groups. Alternatively, they might be used to span a wide ability range in any year group.

 

 
Modelling
Unit 7.4 Assessment
 
Control
A Possible Year 8 or 9 Project