ICT for Schools Overview

Digital technology surrounds everyone in our society daily. Students arrive at school with a wide array of experience using computers, Smart-phones, tablets, video games, and more. They use these devices almost fearlessly, but may lack the knowledge and understanding of how they work and where they are most effective. The ICT Essentials Suite provides a means for taking their native skills and demonstrates how to truly harness technology for school, work, and life in the 21st century.

For instructor-led students, ICT Essentials is a perfect introduction into Information, Communication and Media Technologies.

The Information Technology domain contains three courses:

ICT Computing Essentials

They will learn basic computing essentials.
They will study the fundamentals of computers and their functionality.
They will learn about hardware, software and computer networking.

ICT CyberSecurity Essentials

They will learn the fundamentals of personal Online security and safety.
They will study the challenges and solutions of cybersecurity, including Internet and social media safety, cyber-ethics, and copyright issues.
They will explore threats to computers systems and ways to secure their computer.

ICT Programming & Logic Essentials

They will learn fundamental programming concepts.
They will study binary numbers, programming languages and ways to structure a program.
They will explore problem-solving strategies, and learn about algorithms and programming errors.
They will be introduced to structured programming, and they will work with variables and operators.

The Communication Technology domain contains four courses:

ICT Communications Essentials

They will learn communications essentials.
They will learn the fundamentals of effective communications in a technological society.
They will explore basic network functions and Internet connections.
They will learn strategies for creating effective website content and will study the tools, practices, and etiquette needed for communicating effectively with e-mail.

ICT Database Essentials

They will learn the fundamentals of using relational databases.
They will explore common database components including tables, record and field structures, and data types.
They will study the basics of Structured Query Language (SQL) statements for managing and manipulating data.

ICT Spreadsheet Essentials

They will learn the fundamentals of creating and using spreadsheets.
They will study how to insert, format, copy, and move cell data, and format columns and rows.
They will learn how to create tables and charts, and how to modify chart elements according to the spreadsheet data.
They will be introduced to functions, formulas, and conditional formatting.

ICT Word Process Essentials

They will learn the fundamentals of using common word-processing application software.
They will study how to use the application to create new documents, and to add and edit content.
They will use application tools to design a document's look-and-feel by manipulating page layout, fonts, styles, and images.
They will learn how to create text structures that make content easier to read and understand, including tables, and bulleted and numbered lists.
They will learn to collaborate on word-processing projects by editing and sharing documents.

The Media Technology domain contains three courses:

ICT Gaming Essentials

They will learn the fundamentals of interactive computer game creation.
They will study the design process for creating a gaming program, including criteria and constraint identification, content research and storyboard creation.
They will study computer programming concepts that are essential to game development, including program flow modeling, program code creation, and result evaluation and modification practices.

ICT Multimedia Essentials

They will learn fundamental multimedia skills, including how to use presentation software, graphics software, and other digital and multimedia tools.
They will create a slide presentation with titles, text, and images.
They will learn how to use transitions, animation, and sound in the presentation.
They will study graphics topics including vector and bitmap images, file formats, and terms related to the creation of graphical images.
They will learn how to use graphics software tools to create, enhance, and modify and images.
They will create a multimedia presentation that incorporates edited video, animation and sound, that demonstrates good design, smooth transitions, and effective message delivery.

ICT Web Design Essentials

They will learn the fundamentals of designing websites.
They will study how to identify elements of a web page, and will evaluate the aesthetics and functionality of websites.
They will explore the steps in the web design process, such as determining website purpose, goals, and target audience, and planning the site content, structure and navigation.
They will also explore web authoring tools.
They will be introduced to the technical aspects of the Internet and the World Wide Web.
They will build a website using a GUI web editor, and they will create web pages that include audio, video, and animation.
They will learn how to prepare their websites for publishing.
They will learn about web hosting services, domain names, uploading files, implementation issues (bandwidth, compression, streaming) and collaboration tools (wikis, blogs).