This is the first of Focus’ in-depth look at each of the 6 assessments offered by ICAS, in order of paper sitting dates. We hope parents find something valuable in this series!
What is ICAS Digital Technologies?
This assessment looks at a student’s ability to perform essential digital operations in a range of applications used daily. The assessment is between 30 and 40 minutes long, with 30-40 questions. Digital Technologies is offered for NZ students from Year 3 (Introductory paper) to Year 8 (paper E), and is available at Focus Education.
Why sit this assessment?
Nowadays, digital technology knowledge is a must for students and adults to participate in society, whether at school or university, in the workplace, dealing with government obligations, or pursuing ambitions. Sometimes we take it for granted that children and young people can do anything with a device, but this isn’t necessarily true. If your child isn’t confident operating devices in a range of common situations, they will experience more difficulties keeping up with homework assignments and managing tasks like research, as well as keeping themselves safe online. Feedback from the assessment can identify areas your child might need help in.
What does the assessment cover?
Students will be asked to perform a range of actions, depending on their school year. You can view the detailed assessment framework along with tasks that may be required for every paper level on the ICAS website here. The assessment covers six key digital literacy skills, and becomes progressively more complex for older students. The six key digital literacy skills involved are:
- Digital systems
- Word processing
- Graphics and multimedia
- Internet and email
- Spreadsheets and databases
- Programming and scripting
Some highlights from the framework we noted here at Focus: Right from the Introductory paper, for year 3 students, students are tested on the basics of terminology, coding and web concepts. In addition, cyber safety, a vital area of student knowledge, is among the pool of topics, as is the ethical and social implications of using online data. Students may also be asked about the use of mobile devices, cloud computing, and other key elements of digital activities today.
How can my child prepare for this assessment?
The best preparation for ICAS Digital Technologies is twofold: awareness of the paper structure and question styles, and practicing on a home device.
- Use a past paper or example questions from the ICAS website to get your child used to the structure of the assessment. For Digital Technologies in particular, we suggest using the sample tool available here.
- Following the assessment framework as a guide, check your child’s ability to perform the tasks listed under their paper level. For anything they are not sure about, walk them through the basics.
Technical requirements for this assessment
As a digital assessment, ICAS assessments all require a suitable device with an operating system that can support the live test. Some schools and centres may provide a device, whereas others may require you to bring a device for your child. Most common devices and operating systems are supported, but it is a good idea to check your device on the ICAS page for technical requirements here well in advance of the sitting date for the assessment.
A final note
If you choose to register your child for ICAS Digital Technologies at Focus Education, you can find all the registration information along with sitting dates here. Please also ask us about pre-assessment support.
Look out for our next in this series – ICAS In Depth: Writing – coming soon!
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