When documenting your work leave a generous amount of space between sections so you add material later if you need to. Start each section on a new page, there is no need to worry about saving a page or two of paper. Use Headings and sub-headings to make your points easier to find.
You must have at least one complete copy of your 8-page document in the documentation. You may include more according to how you decide to present it. For example, you could print a complete copy and have it proof-read and then include a second full copy to show the corrections. The final copy would also include any changes in design that you record in the development of the work. You could annotate the final copy to show sources (IT, non-IT) and use of styles - details of these would be found in the relevant sections of the documentation.
Remember that the marks are hierarchical. There is no point in covering points 14-16 or 17-19 if you have not covered everything before that. Your mark will be based on achieving everything in a mark band: to get 19 marks you have to get everything up to 17 AND you have to complete EVERYTHING in band 17-19. Your mark within a band range will depend on how well you have done the tasks in the highest band you reach.
Find different types of information from an IT source and non-IT sources
One IT & more than one non-IT source. You should identify your sources before you begin producing your pages.
A good guide to your sources is as follows: 2 non-ICT images, 2 non-ICT pieces of text, 2 ICT-derived images, 2 ICT-derived pieces of text, some numbers from either type of source and a table of numbers - this makes 10 in all. Some of these items can be merged to qualify for marks 17-19.
Sources must be clearly labelled or annotated where they appear, for example draw a ring around the image that you selected from the thumbnails displayed. You should state what item you are looking for e.g. a picture of a tiger (see searches in marks 14-16 and 17-19). For each item used you should give the source and evidence of the source such as a web site or a photocopy of a brochure or page from a book. You must show where the source appears in your final piece.
Use a computer to create a piece of work
Minimum 2 pages for this mark
Use editing techniques to bring in some of the information
At this level you must use copy, cut and paste text and images. The words 'copy', 'cut' and 'paste' must appear in your documentation. Annotate the items to say clearly what has been copied and pasted.
Include text, images and numbers in the work
For this mark numbers may be embedded in text. Dates and times do NOT count. Numbers must be capable of calculations. You can add numbers to times and dates but they still DO NOT count as numbers for project 1A. Currency DOES count as numbers. Telephone numbers definitely do NOT count as numbers.
Use a computer to develop a piece of work
At this level there should be a minimum of two print-outs of a first and second draft of each page. The difference between the drafts should show that the pages have been developed in some ways.
State the purpose of the work
This goes at the beginning of the work. You must identify a suitable user for your communication product. This should be a carefully described group of users such as children aged 10 or 14. Typical facts to describe a user group might be gender, age, location and profession (if relevant). Vague terms like 'people', 'viewers', 'customers', etc. will NOT meet the criteria for this mark.
You should include a list of the pages and their contents. You must be specific about the elements that will make up each page, for example a picture of a cat, some text about lions.
You should explain how the medium of your document (web pages, booklet, brochure, presentation) relates to the purpose. Why have you chosen web/booklet/presentation? What purpose will it serve for your user. You will find this useful to cross-reference later when you come to do the Additional Skills.
Make it absolutely clear what information you are communicating and to whom.
Experiment with layouts and choose an appropriate layout for the selected information
Experimenting with layouts is the first thing you should do after you have defined the problem and the user. This will come before the first draft of your document in software. You will use either a piece of paper and pencil or a DTP program and draw blocks to represent elements on the page. You can then show variations of the design created by moving the elements around. Create three alternative layouts for your pages and justify your final choice of layout in terms of what is best for the user. This could be a template or master page so you can apply it to all the other pages.
Examples of page elements include: banners, sidebars, footers, images, columns, page numbers, text blocks. Layout changes might include: putting text or images at an angle or moving headings to either side of the page.
You should relate changes in layout to your user, e.g. children like things at odd angles, old people like things neat and tidy.
For a web page you may have experimented with the kind of banner and sidebar you can make in Fireworks. For example you might have tried a design with a banner and no sidebar, a banner with sidebar on the right and a banner with sidebar on the left or a banner with sidebars on right and left. Similarly you might have tried a list of page options as a vertical group of buttons or as a horizontal group of buttons, either of which you might have included on a page.
For a DTP document you might have a graphical header or footer on every page or a different number of columns (2 column or 3 column?).
One approach to this might be to use a DTP tool like Publisher and simple block diagrams to show your layout experiments. The experiments must be genuine and there should be notes or comments on the experiments you have made. Write as much as you can on each layout experiment.
Write down how the development matches the purpose of the work
'Develop' means that documentation must show development of the design. Show how the development of your pages through the two drafts produced earlier matches the target audience.
The first draft should not consider the target audience. You should spell-check draft one to gain the mark in section 11-13.
The second draft should be altered to take account of the target audience. The second draft should also be used for proof-reading (see marks 20-21). Proof-reading means you take a copy to an adult and get them to look for errors. The proof-reader must sign the copy. Marks 11-13 (below) will require a third copy showing development from the second.
Each draft should be printed separately and clearly identified. You should annotate the print-outs to draw attention to the changes.
Things you can do to show development: change font face, font size, colour scheme, use borders and other graphics, change images to suit the audience, split text into shorter paragraphs, add bullet points, change numeric format to reflect the country, re-shape text boxes.
Ask yourself who the document is for. Is the font suitable for this audience or would a different one be better? Give reasons for any changes e.g. Times Roman to Comic Sans. Reasons should be precise e.g. suits existing documents in an organisation, sans-serif better for headlines, a particular font design works well for your purpose e.g. informal for children such as Comic Sans or some other child-like font. Font choice is not a matter of whim and fancy, it must be justified.
Likewise font size. You may need to include a lot of body text so a small but readable size is appropriate. Or you may have relatively little text so you need a larger font to fill the white space around other page elements. Or you may change the colours or add a background image. Or you may be producing pages for children or partially sighted people who have particular requirements. Whatever, give FULL details of what you changed and why you changed it.
Avoid explanations like 'it looks more professional' or 'it looks better', these will not gain the marks.
The mark here also requires a table of numbers, again NOT dates or times or telephone numbers. Most candidates should be able to find prices of goods or services.
Show consistency throughout the work
You should have used technical devices such as styles rather than simply formatting each element as you add it. Give details of the styles you have used. Styles should be applied consistently to headings, sub-headings, body text, headers, footers, buttons and so on. Annotate pages to draw attention to styles. For web pages show the CSS style sheet.
Use a computer to develop a significant piece of work
A mark in this section requires a minimum of 8 pages in your document. Apply the techniques listed in the section for 8-10 marks: create three drafts for each page and show how the pages developed at each stage. Remember to refer to the target audience.
'Develop' means that documentation must show development of the design. At this level there must be two copies of each of the eight pages that show their development.
The first draft should not consider the target audience. You should spell-check draft one to gain the mark in this section.
The second draft should be altered to take account of the target audience. The second draft should also be used for proof-reading (see below and 20-21).
Each draft should be printed separately and clearly identified. You should annotate the print-outs to draw attention to the changes.
Things you can do to show development: change font face, font size, colour scheme, use borders and other graphics, change images to suit the audience, split text into shorter paragraphs, add bullet points, change numeric format to reflect the country, re-shape text boxes.
Ask yourself who the document is for. Is the font suitable for this audience or would a different one be better? Give reasons for any change e.g. Times Roman to Comic Sans. Reasons should be precise e.g. suits existing documents in an organisation, sans-serif better for headlines, a particular font design works well for your purpose. Font choice is not a matter of whim and fancy, it must be justified.
Likewise font size. You may need to include a lot of body text so a small but readable size is appropriate. Or you may have relatively little text so you need a larger font to fill the white space around other page elements. Or you may change the colours or add a background image. Or you may be producing pages for children or partially sighted people who have particular requirements. Whatever, give FULL details of what you changed and why you changed it.
Avoid explanations like 'it looks more professional' or 'it looks better', these will not gain the marks.
Use a spell checker or proof-reader to check the accuracy of the work
This should have been done during the development of the pages: spell check draft 1, proof-read draft 2 and make sure no errors creep into draft 3.
Use a screen-shot to show the spell-check process in action on all eight pages. Try to identify an error on each page and show a screen shot of the word list. Print a page of your document with errors and highlight them. Comment on the number of errors you found across the document and the value of spell-checking.
If you proof-read at this stage print off the entire document (draft 2) and have it read and signed by a suitable adult. Proof-reading is probably best saved for the last mark as a check on the contents of your document - proof-reading may find errors that the spell-check doesn't such as 'their' or 'there' and errors of style and fact. Make the sure the entire document is proof-read, not just a page or two. Your proof reader should sign each page. Note that marks 20-21 require spell-checking and proof-reading.
There is no requirement that your document should be free of spelling and other errors but a large number of errors would look bad and might result in failure to qualify for this mark.
Save information using appropriate folders and file names
This is straightforward. Make sure screen shots are large enough to see the text clearly.
Use a computer to develop a significant piece of work using different types of information from a range of IT sources and non-IT sources
This involves the same techniques described above but using more sources. Remember the ten items that were listed in the 0-2 marks section. More than one TYPE of IT source and more than non-IT source. You can use the Internet as much as you like but it will only count as ONE IT source. Other IT sources include digital images and electronic files. Items acquired by email use the internet.
Scanned items such as text and images count as non-IT sources as they came to you in non-IT format, photographs and documents.
Search for information using multiple criteria
The purpose of this search is to locate materials that you use in your document. This qualifies as one of your IT sources (use of Internet).
Searches must include AND, OR or NOT in combination. Google does not require AND but put it in for this work. Remember NOT is a minus sign. Draw a ring around the image that you selected from the thumbnails displayed.
You will complete your searches before you start your pages. You will decide what items you need for a page and you will then record how you found it. State the purpose of the search before you illustrate it, e.g. I need a picture of a tiger. Record the details of the search and the results. Show how you used the results of the search in your document, either as a note in the documentation or as an annotation on the printed copy of the document.
While you have your search results on screen see if you can discover the copyright restrictions. If there is a statement on the web site select an extract and include it in your documentation and, most important, in the section on copyright under Additional Skills.
Use hyperlinks or refined searches to identify information which is suitable for the purpose of the work
You will complete your searches before you start your pages. You will decide what items you need for a page and you will then record how you found it. State the purpose of the search before you illustrate it, e.g. I need a picture of a tiger.
For a refined search you must show that you have developed a search with more terms in order to narrow down the selection of sources. You should show a sequence of searches such as: a multiple criteria search term and results; a refinement of the search to find exactly what you want. Comment on the results of each stage of the search, whether you have found what you were looking for. Draw a ring around the image that you selected from the thumbnails displayed.
It is not enough to find what you wanted with the first search. To gain the mark you must show at least two levels of refinement.
For hyperlinks you should show the pages that the links lead to, show what source material you found and illustrate how you used the material you found. Once again, you could annotate your printed copy to draw attention to the items and where they were found.
Use formatting techniques to bring in some of the information
Formatting means changing the appearance of a source item. For example, crop, flip or re-size an image, re-format some text without changing its content.
Use editing techniques to bring in some of the information
At this level you should use some more advanced editing techniques such as bringing in a piece of text and changing it or changing an image. One way to qualify for editing is to bring in an image and draw on it, for example adding a wavy line or a special effect. For text you could convert bullet points to plain text or vice versa.
Derive new information for inclusion in the work
Edit source material so that it is substantially changed. Examples:
To get the mark you will need to show new information in all three of text, image and number.
For this mark you must show evidence of spell checking AND proof reading.
Throughout this section it will be useful to search for relevant material in web pages or in books. Screen-shots or copied text from relevant sources may help you to explain your methods and decisions.
Is able to compare own use of IT with other methods
This section should be substantial. Think how you might have carried out your task without ICT. Would it have been possible? How would you have done it? (Speech, print, radio, TV, film, article in a newspaper or magazine.) What would the result be like? How do these compare with using ICT? What would the experience of the user be like? How would the job have been done 30 years ago?
Think of some of the features of ICT that you used in your work, how did they help you and how could you have done your work without them?
Can work safely and take care of equipment and avoid losing information
Make general comments on each point: what working safely means, what taking care of equipment means and what avoiding loss of information means. Then comment on how you followed the general guidelines in carrying out your own work. Write a paragraph on each one. Show evidence of backup procedures e.g. screen shot of memory stick in My Computer. Working safely: plugs, drinks, food, seating, posture, eyes, wrists, back.
Comment on the importance of backing up your work, e.g. on the network drive at school, on your home computer and on your memory stick. Include an image of the contents of your memory stick (this may cover appropriate file names as well).
Knows how to get help when dealing with errors
You should describe the facilities available if you have errors or other problems (Help, teachers, technicians, peers, the Internet e.g. a user group). Again a substantial account is expected, not just a couple of sentences. This section does not require experience of specific errors, that is the 5-7 section.
Can write about the advantages and disadvantages of using IT
You should remember the range of techniques you have used in developing your work. It should be clear that most of these provide an advantage over working without ICT. Make a list of them and e.g. styles, page layout, hyperlinks, page design (Fireworks, PowerPoint), colours, layout, images, online presence, graphical items such as buttons, headers, footers, images, clip art, formatting, menus, toolbars, wizards, templates. For each item used describe the advantage or disadvantage of the software you used.
Is there a disadvantage to using ICT? (power supply, learning to use it, education, familiarity, one of the iPod generation...)
Knows when it is necessary to observe copyright or confidentiality
Describe ways in which your work has observed one of these - probably copyright as you will encounter this on your source documents. Your account should make reference to legislation such as the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. How might you infringe copyright? What means are available for this? Why do you avoid breaking copyright? (Illegal, can be fined or imprisoned, deprives owners of income.) Describe any way that you might have failed to observe copyright or confidentiality and why you think that you are in the clear or what you should do to meet relevant regulations. State how you ensure that you follow copyright law. Include any relevant copyright statements that give you permission (or not) to use material on the site. If you choose confidentiality, describe what it is and why it is important to observe it. See here as an example.
Exceptions to copyright. Details of this.
Can identify errors and their causes
Comment in general on the kind of errors that you can encounter when using computers. When you encounter an error log it in this section. What might lead to errors? (Poor quality hardware or software, poor maintenance, misuse.) Why did you experience few errors? Basic errors: printer not turned on, printer out of paper, print permission program not loaded, server crashed, router failed.
Note that the range of sources of errors at home may be different to those at school. Basic errors: Internet cable not connected, router turned off, service suspended.
Knows how to minimise risks from viruses
Write about threats from viruses in general and then about your own methods of protection. Describe any products used and update patterns (daily, weekly, as required). Identify all the risks, especially ones from Internet and storage media such as CD-ROM, memory stick and floppy disks. The school system is Sophos. Your home computer should have at least a free or open source anti-virus program.
Knows how to minimise health risks
Write a general introduction to health and safety and computers. Use appropriate sources (e.g. text book, web sites) to identify potential health hazards and explain how you avoided them. It's not enough to talk in general terms about H&S, you must give full details of: chairs, posture, screen, eyesight, breaks, RSI, carpal Tunnel syndrome, wrist rest, foot rest. A complete list of hazards would be a good starting point, you can then fill in the details.