Barbara Hitchcox, secondary ICT consultant, reviews a number of resources now available to support the DiDA qualification

DIDA – A review of some of the available resources

Many ICT departments are coming to the end of their first year of delivering DiDA and many more are getting ready to start next year. Below is a review of a selection of textbooks published to support delivery of the course.

1. Heathcote P.M. & Heathcote R.S.U. (2005) D201: Using ICT, The complete course book, DiDA, Diploma in Digital Applications, Oxford, Payne-Gallway.

A popular choice to date and the ICT team favourite, this book is structured to follow the SPB (Student Project Brief) with sections covering

 Project Work:

• Planning a project, creating a file structure, creating an information leaflet, using surveys, analysing responses and presenting results, including charts.
• Creating an information point, going interactive, creating a database including data entry forms, queries and reports.
• Creating a poster and standard business documents.
• Preparing for the E-portfolio and final project review.

Researching Information:

• Using information sources, the library, the internet and CD ROMs
• The importance of accuracy

The book closely follows the requirements of Unit 1 closely and so serves as a handbook for the course. Each section is clearly set out with easy-to-understand explanatory text; key words and phrases are highlighted in red along with exemplar images, which walk the student through the requirements of the unit in a logical order following an exemplar SPB . Sections of text are short, well-spaced and digestible. Students should find their own copy of this invaluable and teachers trying to get a picture of what the finished product would look like should also find this resource very useful. It is ideal for supporting a practice SPB.

2. Heathcote, F.R., D202: Multimedia, Using Macromedia Studio MX 2004, DiDA, Diploma in Digital Applications, Payne-Gallway, Oxford, 2006

The second text book in the series being developed by this publisher, prepares students for coverage of Unit 2 – Multimedia, and includes sections with step by step instructions for:

Preparing and planning for the project, and an explanation of the components,

Producing the Movie incorporating planning, using Flash and Vector Graphics, and sound and image manipulation

Planning the virtual tour using Flash with a guide to creating pages, inserting photos and using hotspots and video clips with buttons

Planning the quiz and Using Dreamweaver to create the e-portfolio with navigation bar and links and relevant pages.

This textbook follows the same format as the one above and is again closely linked to the specification. Both are extremely user-friendly resources for teacher and student.

3. Wischhusen, M., Snell, J., Johnson, J. (2006) DiDA Diploma in Digital Applications D201-4: Multimedia, Oxford, Heinemann

This resource focuses on each of the units in turn: D201 – Using ICT, D202 – Multimedia, D203 – Graphics and D204 – ICT in Enterprise and then contains a further five sections comprising standard ways of working, a large section on ICT skills, project planning, review and evaluation and finally creating the e-portfolio. 

The sections focusing on the four units cover the skills and understanding necessary to fulfil the requirements of the course, such as handling and presenting information for D201, designing multimedia products for D202, evaluating the effectiveness of images for D203 and identifying a business opportunity for D204.

The information in this textbook is more densely worded with quite large blocks of text.  As it is wordier than the previous two textbooks it would be more suitable for students who have higher level reading ability and can absorb larger quantities of information.  Illustrations are used to demonstrate possible outcomes.  As the book relates more to skills required for the course than the content itself it would be useful for teachers who have a good grasp of the requirements but want some ideas for structuring the development of the necessary skills and understanding.

4. Wischhusen, M., Snell, J., Johnson, J. (2005) DiDA Diploma in Digital Applications D202: Multimedia, Oxford, Heinemann

This textbook focuses on developing the skills and understanding, which students need to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the specification for D202: Multimedia, and includes sections covering:

·           Investigating and designing multimedia products.

·           Collecting, editing and creating multimedia components.

·           Developing the product.

·           Standard ways of working.

·           Skills including word-processing, presentation, artwork, sound and video, Internet and multimedia authoring.

·           Project planning, review and evaluation and creating the e-portfolio.

This book consists of the same materials as those contained in the section D202 of the book described above and also includes the relevant information from the five sections comprising standard ways of working, a large section on ICT skills, project planning, review and evaluation and finally creating the e-portfolio.  A resource for those wishing to concentrate on one unit at a time, although from a financial angle the compendium is better value.

5. Topping, E. and Weidmann, A., (2005) Edexcel DiDA Diploma in Digital Applications, Using ICT, London, Edexcel, 

This pack comprises a textbook and Interactive Students’ Pack with ‘ActiveBook’ CD for D201 – Using ICT.  The book consists of two sections introducing DiDA and setting the context of the qualification then contains further sections on:

• Using information sources, surveys, databases
• Publicity – attracting attention, making information available and targeting the audience
• Producing an e-portfolio
• Managing the project

The introductory sections give an overview of what DiDA is and how it is assessed as well as instructions for using the ActiveBook CD, which contains ‘interactive’ digital resources to support and enhance the use of the textbook.  In this case interactive appears to mean the ability to move around by using links in the text. The two resources are cross-referenced by means of symbols in the margin of the textbook.  There are sections to check and test knowledge and understanding.  Again, this resource focuses on the development of understanding and skills needed to underpin the successful completion of the project.  It comprises a variety of text layouts including ‘talking points’ in highlighted boxes and images to reinforce understanding.  This book may be useful for teachers looking for inspiration to start to make students think and work independently but they should be aware that the content is wordy and not directly related to the specification.

6. Oaks Resources, (2005) Learning and Teaching Aids to meet the needs of the ICT National Curriculum, ICT Materials for DiDA, Liverpool, Oaks Resources Ltd. 

This resource consists of a workbook and CD ROM designed to support teachers in the delivery of D201.  The workbook contains 12 main tasks, which cover the specification requirements including planning, marketing, presentation, spreadsheet, database and mail merge etc. based around a Leisure Centre scenario.  The sections contain step-by-step instructions on skills development and include numerous images and screen shots to support written explanations.  Good to support teachers in preparation for their teaching of skills and understanding in relation to the SPB but not as user-friendly as book 1 above.