A guide to
Cambridge ICT Starters
Introduction
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is now part of the educational experience worldwide. It is often regarded as a new ‘literacy’ alongside reading, writing and numeracy.
Cambridge ICT Starters contains a series of modules. You can used them to assess learners on their ability to use a range of computer software to communicate, handle information, model and program solutions. It is suitable for any age and is typically used for learners aged 5 to 14 years. You can teach it either as a subject in its own right or embed it within the teaching of other subjects in your curriculum.
Teaching Cambridge ICT Starters
Cambridge ICT Starters is designed to be taught flexibly. This could be through:
- dedicated, regular timetabled lessons
- your teaching of other subjects.
You will need to decide the approach that best suits your context through collaboration across your school. If you decide to embed the teaching of Cambridge ICT Starters within other subjects, you will need to plan carefully. It is important to identify suitable opportunities to cover important content. For example:
- creating text documents, digital images, videos, animations and multimedia
- working with spreadsheets, databases and other data software
- using computational thinking skills and creating programs
- searching for information and communicating by email.
The Cambridge ICT Starters syllabus
The Cambridge ICT Starters syllabus provides a comprehensive set of learning objectives that give a structure for teaching and learning. You can use it as a reference to check learners’ attainment and skills development.
Find and access the syllabus on the Cambridge ICT Starters page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.
The content is divided into separate modules which are delivered at three levels:
- Initial steps
- Next steps
- On track
You can choose to deliver these levels to learners of any age. However, if you are delivering this programme as part of Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary we suggest the following:
- Initial Steps could be for those aged 5 to 9 years
- Next Steps for those aged 10 to 12 years
- On Track for those aged 13 to 14 years.
Each of the modules within each level is separate. Therefore, you can choose to deliver them all or select those that are most relevant to your learners and to your wider curriculum.
We have designed the modules so that learners can progress through the syllabus levels:
The Cambridge ICT Starters syllabus
The Cambridge ICT Starters syllabus provides a comprehensive set of learning objectives that give a structure for teaching and learning. You can use it as a reference to check learners’ attainment and skills development.
Find and access the syllabus on the Cambridge ICT Starters page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.
The content is divided into separate modules which are delivered at three levels:
- Initial steps
- Next steps
- On track
You can choose to deliver these levels to learners of any age. However, if you are delivering this programme as part of Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary we suggest the following:
- Initial Steps could be for those aged 5 to 9 years
- Next Steps for those aged 10 to 12 years
- On Track for those aged 13 to 14 years.
Each of the modules within each level is separate. Therefore, you can choose to deliver them all or select those that are most relevant to your learners and to your wider curriculum.
We have designed the modules so that learners can progress through the syllabus levels:
| Stage | Initial Steps | Next Steps | On Track |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Starting with Text (4269) Starting Images (4270) Starting Graphs (4271) |
Exploring Documents (4278) Exploring Images (4279) Exploring Spreadsheets (4280) Exploring Databases (4281) |
Documents for a Purpose (4289) Multimedia for a Purpose (4290) Spreadsheets for a Purpose (4291) Databases for a Purpose (4292) |
| Stage 2 | Starting Programming (4272) Starting Searches (4273) Starting Email (4274) |
Exploring Programming (4282) Exploring the Internet (4283) Exploring Email (4284) Exploring Multimedia (4285) |
Programming for a Purpose (4293) Website Design for a Purpose (4294) Networks for a Purpose (4295) Video or Animation for a Purpose (4296) |
Pedagogy
The syllabus gives you a list of learning objectives for each module. Our support materials then give you guidance on:
- the order to teach the objectives in
- how to split the objectives into smaller steps, and how to differentiate to make the work easier or harder
- suitable activities for teaching
- ideas for active learning.
Our support materials include:
- Schemes of Work
- programming files that can be uploaded into Scratch for learners to investigate and develop further
- sample assessments.
Find and access these support materials, on the Cambridge ICT Starters page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.
Cambridge ICT Starters is designed to be taught through hands-on experience that promotes skill development, reflection, understanding and improvement. Learners will benefit from being given scenarios or briefs for the outputs they need to produce. They can then adapt their outputs to suit the relevant audience.
The learning objectives in each module are designed to be progressive. However, they support an integrated approach to teaching and learning. In many cases they will all be combined to describe the work the learner needs to produce.
Create an activity
Create an activity
To help you think about this approach, use the table below to plan an activity. It needs to address all the learning objectives for the ‘Next Steps’ module Exploring Documents. You can use the Scheme of Work for this module to give you ideas.
| Learning Objective | Teaching Activity |
|---|---|
| Create and edit a text document | |
| Edit text for a specific audience | |
| Add images or other objects to a document | |
| Refine and organise the layout of a document for a specific audience | |
| Evaluate a finished document |
Assessment
At the end of each module, you can choose to assess learners with a test. This will show whether they can demonstrate each of the learning objectives with no help from their teacher or their peers.
At the end of each test, the teacher marks the question papers and completes a record of assessment (Learning Objectives Record Sheet) for each learner. You must send samples of learners’ work to us so we can moderate them.
We provide question papers and resource files for Cambridge ICT Starters. You can download them from Cambridge International Direct.
For more information, please contact info@cambridgeinternational.org
Assessment
At the end of each module, you can choose to assess learners with a test. This will show whether they can demonstrate each of the learning objectives with no help from their teacher or their peers.
At the end of each test, the teacher marks the question papers and completes a record of assessment (Learning Objectives Record Sheet) for each learner. You must send samples of learners’ work to us so we can moderate them.
We provide question papers and resource files for Cambridge ICT Starters. You can download them from Cambridge International Direct.
For more information, please contact info@cambridgeinternational.org
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