BTEC Level 3 in Information Technology. Assignment Brief. Unit 1 Communication and Employability Skills for IT

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1 BTEC Level 3 in Information Technology

2 BTEC Level 3 in Information Technology In order to ensure that this resource offers high quality support for the associated BTEC qualification, it has been through a review process by the awarding body to confirm that it fully covers the teaching and learning content of the specification or part of a specification at which it is aimed, and demonstrates an appropriate balance between the development of subject skills, knowledge and understanding, in addition to preparation for assessment. While the publishers have made every attempt to ensure that advice on the qualification and its assessment is accurate, the official specification and associated assessment guidance materials are the only authoritative source of information and should always be referred to for definitive guidance. BTEC examiners have not contributed to any sections in this resource relevant to examination papers for which they have responsibility. No material from an endorsed resource will be used verbatim in any assessment set by BTEC/Edexcel. Endorsement of a resource does not mean that the resource is required to achieve this BTEC qualification, nor does it mean that it is the only suitable material available to support the qualification, and any resource lists produced by the awarding body shall include this and other appropriate resources.

3 Introduction Non-technical skills and attitudes, known as soft skills, and the technical knowledge required for specific jobs in IT are key to employability. Soft skills are those relating to an individual s ability to communicate and work effectively with others, to use appropriate language, be dependable and conscientious, and to generally behave in an acceptable manner in the workplace. Soft skills complement hard skills, which are the knowledge, understanding and technical skills required to do a job. In this unit, learners will come to appreciate the soft skills they need to develop to become effective employees. Learners will identify and consider their own soft skills and, through practice, improve these skills. Communication skills are key to success in any sector but are particularly important in highly technical sectors, such as IT, where the language used can become full of jargon. It is important that learners are able to communicate with non-technical staff and understand when different types and vehicles of communication are appropriate. IT provides specific software packages and advanced tools that can be used to improve the effectiveness of communications. Through this unit, learners will be able to improve their general communication skills and ensure that they understand how to exploit specific application packages and tools. All individuals, whether learners or employees, must accept the need for continual self-development to maintain their effectiveness. For this reason, learning outcome 4 involves the use of personal development plans which can be used to capture and track training needs, and the accumulation of new skills and knowledge. Grading Criteria P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 M1 M2 M3 D1 D2 Explain the personal attributes valued by employers. Explain the principles of effective communication. Discuss potential barriers to effective communication. Demonstrate a range of effective interpersonal skills. Use IT to aid communications. Communicate technical information to a specified audience. Produce a personal development plan. Follow a personal development plan. Explain mechanisms that can reduce the impact of communication barriers. Review draft documents to produce final versions. Explain how an awareness of learning style can aid personal development. Evaluate interpersonal and written communications techniques. Review progress on a personal development plan, identifying areas for improvement. 3

4 Learning Outcomes and Criteria Targeted: Learning outcomes Learning outcome 1 Understand the personal attributes valued by employers Learning outcome 2 Understand the principles of effective communication Learning outcome 3 Be able to use IT to communicate effectively Learning outcome 4 Be able to address personal development needs Grading criteria covered P1 P2, P3, P4, M1 P5, P6, M2, D1 P7, P8, M3, D2 Assignment 1 Tasks Grading criteria covered Task 1 Section for a staff handbook P1 Assignment 2 Tasks Grading criteria covered Task 2 Presentation P2, P3, P4, M1 Assignment 3 Tasks Grading criteria covered Task 3 User manual P5, P6 Task 4 Proofreading M2 Task 5 Evaluating communication D1 Assignment 4 Tasks Task 6 Produce and follow a personal development plan Grading criteria covered P7, P8, D2 Task 7 Research and report M3 4

5 Unit Content 1 Understand the personal attributes valued by employers Specific attributes: job-related eg technical knowledge; good working procedures eg health and safety, security; work attitudes General attributes: skills eg planning skills, organisational skills, time management, team working, verbal skills, written communication skills, numeracy, creativity Attitudes: preferred eg determined, independent, integrity, tolerance, dependable, problem solving, leadership, confidence, self-motivation 2 Understand the principles of effective communication Principles: general skills; interpersonal skills; written communication skills General communication skills: cultural differences; adapting eg modulating voice, terminology, format; accuracy; engaging audience eg changing intonation, use of technology; question and answer Interpersonal skills: methods eg verbal exchanges, signing, lip reading; techniques and cues eg body language, use of intonation positive language; negative language; active engagement eg nodding, summarising, paraphrasing; barriers eg background noise, distractions, lack of concentration types of question eg open, closed, probing; speed of response Communicate in writing: guideline; smileys or emoticons, key messages eg letter, fax, ; grammar; spelling; structure; identifying relevance; proofreading; alternative viewpoints; note taking capitalisation 3 Be able to use IT to communicate effectively Communication channels: word-processed documents; presentations; ; web-based eg blogs, vlogs, podcasts, web-pages, video conferencing Software: word-processing; presentation package; other eg software, specialist software Review documents: proofing eg thesaurus, spell checkers; proofread 4 Be able to address personal development needs Identification of needs: formal reports eg appraisal meeting notes, customer feedback, performance data; self-assessment (personal development planning) Records: target setting; appraisal records Addressing needs: methods eg job shadowing, team meetings, attending events, training eg external, internal Learning styles: systems eg active or reflective, sensing or intuitive, visual or verbal, sequential or global; identification of preferred style; knowing own; understanding others 5

6 Assignment 1 Tasks T1 P1 Task 1: Section for a staff handbook Explain the personal attributes valued by an employer Scenario: You work in the Human Resources department of a large IT company. You have been tasked with writing a section to go in the staff handbook about why personal attributes are valued within the workplace. This is an important piece of information that all staff need to understand, so you should ensure that you are clear and concise in your explanation. Your section should include: At least one specific attribute and why it is valued for example, job-related technical knowledge, good working procedures, or health and safety. At least one general attribute and why it is valued for example, planning skills, organisational skills, time management, team working, verbal skills, written communication, numeracy and creativity. At least one attitude and why it is valued for example, determined, independent, tolerant, dependable, confident and self-motivated. 6

7 Assignment 2 Tasks T2 P2 Task 2: Presentation P3 P4 M1 Explain the principles of effective communication Discuss potential barriers to communication Demonstrate a range of effective interpersonal skills Explain mechanisms that can reduce the impact of communication barriers Scenario: In your role in the Human Resources department of a large IT company, you are asked to prepare a short presentation about communication in the workplace. Your presentation should include: Tips: An introduction to the principles of effective communication for example, general skills, interpersonal skills and written communication skills. Potential barriers to communication and how to overcome them for example, background noise, distractions and lack of concentration. A short demonstration of a range of interpersonal skills for example, verbal exchanges, signing, lip reading, techniques and cues, use of intonation, positive language, negative language, active engagement, summarising and paraphrasing. Your presentation should be 15 to 20 minutes long. You should break your presentation down into three sections: 1. An introduction This should introduce your presentation and cover the topics you will discuss. Imagine that the people you are presenting to don t have a lot of knowledge about communication and you are introducing them to the main concepts. 2. Barriers to communication and overcoming them You should select at least three barriers to communication, describe how they might become barriers and give solutions on how to overcome them. Ensure to make your methods for overcoming barriers are realistic and can be used within the workplace! 3. A demonstration of a range of interpersonal skills You should describe at least four different types of interpersonal skills and how these might be used positively in the workplace. 7

8 Assignment 3 Tasks T3 P5 Task 3: User manual P6 Use IT to aid communications Communicate technical information to a specific audience Scenario: In your role within the Human Resources department you have been tasked with explaining how to communicate using IT to a group of new employees. They will need to be able to understand how to communicate both internally (within the organisation) and externally (such as with customers or suppliers). You should produce a short instruction manual telling the new starters all the technical information they need. Your manual should cover: Word processing software Presentation software. Tips: Your instruction manual should be no longer than four sides of A4. You should break the manual down into a short introduction about different communication channels using IT. For example, the purpose and use of word processed documents, presentations, s, web-based vlogs or podcasts, web pages and video conferencing. You should concentrate on the importance of the effective use of word processing software. You might like to look at the different ways in which you could use word processing software in the workplace. Finally, you should give detail on presentation software and its use. You might like to look at the different ways in which you could use presentation software in the workplace. 8

9 T4 M2 Task 4: Proofreading Review draft documents to produce final versions [EP4] Using your instruction manual as an initial document, make notes in the margins or on the text to show you have proofread the document. For your tutor to evaluate you against M2, you need to supply the original document, the proofread document including your notes and changes, and the final document which has been fully proofread with all the changes made. Tips: Highlighting and underlining are good ways to show you want to change something. At the proofreading stage, you are still able to make amendments to the text; you do not have to just change spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. 9

10 T5 D1 Task 5: Evaluating communication Evaluate interpersonal and written communication techniques Produce a brief report evaluating your use of communication methods across the assignment tasks in this unit. You should show how your communication skills have improved through using different communication techniques. Tips: Your report should be self-reflective. Your report should be around 2-3 pages of A4. You might like to start by thinking about how and when you used different communication methods before you started this unit. For example, were you aware of the different types of communication you used? Did you use negative body language but not realise it? You should then move on to evaluate if/when you have used new communication skills and methods during the completion of this unit. You should summarise your report with a final evaluation of where and when your skills have improved and how you can measure this. For example, do you find you only have to give instructions once? Are you more confident when presenting? Are you able to communicate with a wider range of people? 10

11 Assignment 4 Tasks T6 Task 6: Produce and follow a personal development plan P7 P8 D2 Produce a personal development plan Follow a personal development plan [SM2] Review progress on a personal development plan, identifying areas for improvement [RL3] In all aspects of your life you will need to be able to identify and develop your own personal development needs. Making a personal development plan (PDP) is a great way to help you improve your existing skills, identify skills you need or would like to have, and gain new ones. In order for your tutor to assess you in this task you need to: Produce a personal development plan Follow your personal development plan Monitor your progress Review progress on your own personal development plan Identify areas for improvement in your personal development plan. You should start this by thinking of an area to base your personal development plan on. You might like to base this on an application for another course, for university or for a job you would like to apply for. You might like to base your personal development plan on the template below: Aim: Technical skills I already have to help me achieve my aim: Date: Where I use these skills currently: Technical skills I need to develop in order to achieve my aim: Soft skills I already have to help me achieve my aim: Soft skills I need to develop in order to achieve my aim: Where I use these skills currently: Methods I could use to develop my technical skills: Methods I could use to develop my soft skills: 11

12 You should ensure that you follow your original personal development plan in order to see your progress. However, you may find that you develop better ways to enhance your skill set, in which case you should implement this. You should closely monitor your progress within your PDP, noting how and when you have improved in a separate document. Once you feel you have completed your PDP, you should review your progress since the beginning of the plan, and note any areas you might wish to improve next time. Tip: As you made your way through this unit, you may have found useful information you might like to use in your PDP. Completing this unit may even highlight to you skills you did not previously have that will help you achieve your aim For example, improving communication skills. T7 M3 Task 7: Awareness of learning styles Explain how an awareness of learning style can aid personal development [RL5] For this assignment you need to research all of the different learning styles covered within this unit. Once you have done this, you need to produce a report entitled How being aware of different learning styles can aid personal development. Your report should include: Information on the different learning styles How you identified your own learning style How to understand others learning styles How you might adapt your communication to help someone else listen and learn. Tips: Your report should be at least two sides of A4 and you might like to include the following: - Active or reflective systems - Sensing or intuitive - Visual or verbal - Sequential or global - Knowing others learning styles - Most importantly, knowing your own learning style. This report should be self-reflective and you might like to think about what you have learnt about the different learning styles and personal development throughout this unit. 12

13 All the material in the publication is copyright. The Skills Network (2015) The Skills Network T: