Instructional videos

Look at these instructional videos created by the first ever CAT Hons students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology - the Round function and Mail merge.

Competition for schools in the Western Cape

Schools in the Western Cape have an opportunity of entering a competition to create an anti xenophobia screensaver with some nice prizes. Look at http://www.khanya.co.za/ (just below the heading). I created the checklist below to guide learners in creating it. We are going to get our own images taken ourselves, or create our own pictures with Word draw in PowerPoint and save them as images. This exercise is rather a nice way of teaching the youngsters file management and working with an image editor.

I ...

Folder

• created a folder with my surname, then first name for saving the screensaver
• created a folder with my surname and the word pics for saving all the images used
• created a folder with my surname and the word sound for saving the sound file used
• saved all my files in my folders
• saved all files with meaningful names

Images

• used my own images taken with my own camera or cell phone, if I used them at all
• used appropriate autoshapes and Wordart that conveyed the message, if I used them at all
• edited the images to send a clear message
• cropped images so that only the really important part shows
• used at least 3 images in the project
• balanced images on the slides/images
  
• used a background colour which contributed to the message of the screensaver
• selected a background colour

Sound / Music

• used sound files suitable to the theme, if I used sound files at all
• used small sound files
• used sound files which can loop (repeat)

Text

• used a clear font
• used a font which is found on all computers
• formatted the font with a size which is readable on a moving screen
• spelt all text correctly
• used correct grammar
• formatted the text with line spacing that leads to clarity
• used appropriate bullets in lists, if I used lists at all
• balanced text and images on the screen
• positioned the text and images on the screen

Message

• added a clear message on the title slide
• presented a clear message in images and words

Animations

• used animations with restraint

Timing

• timed the screensaver based on the number of images

Overall

• checked that the images displayed in the screensaver in the correct order

Final

• clicked on the Create button to create the screensaver.
• renamed the file as a screensaver by renaming the exe with scr
• saved the file (with my surname and name) in a folder in CSSGProjects.
• checked that the whole screensaver was a realistic size

Biblionef

When my Gr 11 learners did the Theme 1 activity on page S9, they just did it. I never really thought about it. I have changed my thinking. At the 2008 Cape Town book fair I saw a stand for Biblionef! I spoke with the people at the stand! Their South African offices are in my town of Pinelands! I found out what they do! Have a look at the website at www.biblionefsa.org.za I think we should consider doing something to help them.

Gr 12 Practical

Many teachers said that their learners did not finish the practical.

Die feit is: 200 punte se werk moet in 3 ure afgehandel kan word. Dit geld ook vir die eindeksamen.

Dit beteken:

Leerders moet in die eerste plek hul werk ken.

• As ‘n Gr 12-leerder nie meer mooi onthou hoe al die soorte tabs werk nie, moet hy/sy dit maar weer gaan verken en oefen voor sy praktiese vraestel.

Leerders moenie tyd mors gedurende die prakties nie.

• Daar is nie tyd in ‘n vraestel om 10 minute te sukkel om iets wat dalk 2 punte tel reg te kry nie! Gestel ‘n bladsynommer (Page X of Y) moet ingevoeg word maar nie op die eerste bladsy vertoon word nie. As ‘n leerder dit nie dadelik regkry nie, moet hy/sy eerder aangaan met die vraestel en nie tyd daarmee mors nie.

Van nou tot die einde van die jaar, moet leerders die prakties OEFEN. Module 6.3 van Computers, part of your life – Book 3, bevat uitstekende oefeninge vir die inoefen van vaardighede.

CAT Exam Papers from Study Opportunities

We are planning to provide the following (at no cost) to everyone who purchased our CAT Grade 12 June Papers:

Grade 12 Prelim Papers
Grade 10 Nov papers
Grade 11 Nov papers

We have given the following dates for the Prelim Papers a while ago.
CAT Grade 12 Prelim
Paper 1 (Practical): Friday, 29 August 2008
Paper 2 (Theory): Tuesday, 16 Sept 2008

I am considering the following dates for the Gr 10 & 11 Nov Papers. If your province is NOT writing common Gr 10 & 11 papers please make a note of these dates or EMAIL ME (study.opp@mweb.co.za) IMMEDIATELY if there is a problem with these dates. I can try (UP TO A POINT) to accommodate everyone, but I cannot guarantee it. Once the dates have been set, I cannot change it - there are too many schools involved.

CAT Grade 10 Nov
Paper 1 (Practical): Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Paper 2 (Theory): Tuesday, 18 November 2008

CAT Grade 11 Nov
Paper 1 (Practical): Thursday, 13 November 2008
Paper 2 (Theory): Thursday, 20 November 2008

An entry form will be available on the web site after the holidays. If you want to make use of this offer you will have to download the entry form, complete it and fax it to us.

The distribution of the papers will work in the same way as was done for the June Papers:

• The question papers and memorandums will be loaded on the website (www.studyopportunities.co.za) as well as on Pam’s blog (studyopp.blogspot.com).
• You will need to download these papers and memorandums yourself; they will not be sent to individual e-mail addresses.
• Passwords for the papers will be made available by SMS 2-3 days prior to the date of the exam (not earlier than that!).
• The passwords for the memorandums will be made available on the day of the exams.

Sandra

Gr 12 PAT - Phase 3

Have a look at 3 examples of Phase 3 of the PAT - the works of Caswell, Meiring and Miller. They received marks of 37, 39 and 33 out of 40 respectively.

Gr 12 Exam papers

The results of my 55 learners for the Gr 12 paper are: Theory 58% and Practical 63% - Pam Miller at Pinelands High School. (Just thought this information may be of interest.)

Gr 12 Exams

Message from Teacher in Gauteng:

My CAT kids of all grades finish far too early for every paper if I stick to the mark allocation in the SAG. Maybe we need to send out a survey to find out what happens in other schools. I think the paper should be either 2.5 hours or the allocation should be upped. Most of my kids finished with between 45 minutes and half an hour to spare – they always do this. It used to happen with the SG theory paper as well. Not one pupil out of 60 was still writing in the last 15 minutes. The problem then occurs that they start becoming a discipline problem as many of my CAT pupils are hyperactive and can’t sit still for long.

Let us know how you feel about the length of the papers.

Gr 12 Theory Exam Memo

The Memo for the Theory and Teorie is now available. The password will be SMSed on Friday.

Gr 12 Practical Exam paper

The Solutions and Oplossings to the Gr 12 CAT practical are available. Please use the PRACMEMO password that you have used for the marksheet.

Marking Computer Applications Technology practical papers

I print a memo sheet / marksheet for every learner and then sit at the computer marking each learner's work. The benefits are that you can use the Show/Hide button in Word, check the Excel formulas and open Access and see how they made the queries and reports. It is the only effective way to mark a computer focused exam. The learners can look at the memo / marksheet afterwards and see exactly where they lost marks.
I mark all question 1s, then mark all question 2s, etc. The logic is that I can focus on the various aspects presented about that specific question.
Examination of each question prior to marking is essential to understand all aspects of that question. Before you mark a question it is a good idea to study it carefully making sure you understand the memo. It is also a good idea to do it yourself.
Possibly this paper could take longer to mark than the old Computyping or Computer Studies SG papers. Reason, there are 200 marks and 200 points to be noted. Personal feedback to Sandra or myself regarding these aspects would be very useful to the provincial authorities to develop a norm time for the big marking session in December. Collated comments will be forwarded to the relevant people.

Gr 12 June Exams

How did it go??

E-mail me (docpam@gmail.com) or Sandra (study.opp@mweb.co.za) and we can upload everybody’s messages on the blog. (Indicate whether you want your name/school added or not.)

Gr 12 June Prac Memo

There seems to be a problem with the PRACMEMO password. It seems as if some cell phones cannot receive an underscore '_'
You should have an underscore '_' between the '1' and the 'M' of your PRACMEMO password, NOT a '§'

Gr 12 June Exam Papers

The marksheet for Paper 1 in English and Afrikaans is now available. You have to know the password to be able to open them.
It would be a good idea to take in the papers in case you have a learner with a doctor's certificate and ... (whatever your school does in those situations), and remember the SMS sent about taking in papers.

Gr 12 Practical Paper

ERRATA
Please change 1.3 as below.
“last week of February” to “end of May”

Please extract the data files from the ZIP file by using your password. The extracted folders and files must be available to the learners. (It should not be necessary for them to extract it during the exam.)

Gr 12 June Papers from Study Opportunities

THEORY PAPER

Paper 2 Theory / Vraestel 2 Teorie

Gr 12 Practical Data

Please check the dates of your data files. If all the dates are the same, such as the following:

change question 1.3