Case Study 2:
Using ICT to Manage Information using Curriculum-Specific Hardware and Software

Before You Start…
Welcome to the Swansea Bay Online Learning Partnership case study series for teachers of Design and Technology. Before you start work on this case study, you will need to ensure that you have confidence in using the skills and ICT packages the case study uses.

Unlike the other case studies in the series, this case study deals with use of specific hardware and software for Design and Technology. This is because Design and Technology is one of the few areas of the curriculum where specialised hardware and software are needed and described in the curriculum. It is also because the skills surrounding the use of this hardware and software are highly diverse and demanding for teachers given the variety of areas covered by Design and Technology. We shall go into this matter later in the case study.

For your information, you can refer to other case studies in the series on the matter of handling information, to get a sense of how teachers in other subject areas are dealing with this matter. If you are a teacher of graphics or textiles, it might be worth looking at the second case study for Art. If you are a teacher of Food, Resistant Materials or Systems and Control, it would be worth looking at the case studies for Science or IT. These will give you a sense of the skills being promoted in this case study in areas similar to your own, while you can still concentrate on the more specific matter of this case study.

We shall referring to the online versions of the ACAC curriculum document for Design and Technology and the WJEC curriculum document for GCSE Design and Technology as we go along, and assume that you are familiar with the Curriculum 2000 orders, particularly as they reflect work in Systems and Control within Design and Technology.

We shall also assume that you are familiar with the following PC-based skills:

  • Word-processing
  • Spreadsheets
  • Navigating within Windows
  • Managing files
  • Desktop publishing

If you are not comfortable with any of the above, please refer to your skills-check and discuss with your mentor the best way of getting your skills ready before you start. If you are missing just one of the skills, and are happy to develop it while you are working on the case study, go ahead with the next page.

Introduction