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March 29, 2024, 07:00:01 am

Author Topic: The best piece of advice for IT in year 11  (Read 8033 times)  Share 

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MJRomeo81

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The best piece of advice for IT in year 11
« on: July 15, 2011, 12:15:50 am »
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Hello everyone,

Having completed IT in year 11 and both Software Development and ITA in Y12, the best thing to do in Y11 is work out which IT subject you want to complete next year. Typically, unit 1 is more applications based (access, dreamweaver, excel) and unit 2 touches explores programming, networks, etc  (stuff you do in software development).

VCEIT.COM will be your bible for IT, so bookmark it and get studying! I.T. is one of those classes where you don't need to remember chunks of info - you just need to understand the concepts and apply them to case studies. Both IT subjects have similar exams: 20 MC questions and short answer. However the software development exam also has a case study. In all of your SACs you will typically receive a case study and then you're required to produce a solution in ten periods.

Here's the number one thing people do wrong - "I'm gonna learn every function of excel/access/dreamweaver/insert other app here/ and get 100% guys!". I cannot stress how wrong this approach is. First of all, the exam is all theory. Sure, some questions relate to functions but nothing that is unexpected. Go and read the study design for your respective IT subject. Each outcome will have several keywords (in relation to the application that will be used to produce the solution). These functions are what you are assessed on. Second, the criteria sheet for SACs award roughly 10% to the damn solution itself. The rest is the theoretical component. Yeah, you lose marks if your solution is absolute garbage, but too many kids make the mistake of having a killer program but their theory is all copypasta out of the textbook.

Which leads me to my third point. ALWAYS RELATE THE ANSWER TO THE CASE STUDY!!! Use the stimulus material provided. If they ask what is the best transmission media to use in this organisation, don't write Optic Fibre because it's fast and blah blah blah. Talk about the benefits but also look at the organisations' current infrastructure, cost, etc. The stimulus material isn't there to fill up the lines.

Which subject is harder? Well, don't look at it like that. If IT is your 10% subject, pick Apps but be warned - it typically scales by -5 due to its simplicity. But here's the beauty. If you use these pro-tips to get ahead, you can easily get a high 30 SS by dominating SACs and not making stupid errors on the exam.

Software is similar to Apps in that you can beat people by sticking to the winning formula. However, if you're unfamiliar with programming concepts or you're too lazy to read algorithms, then maybe it isn't the best option for you. Personally, software development is more rewarding than Apps. If you actually understand what's going on in the classroom, it can be easier than Apps simply because it's more interesting.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2013, 07:34:58 pm by MJRomeo81 »
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itsdanny

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Re: The best piece of advice for IT in year 11
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2012, 04:55:04 pm »
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I wish software dev was an available subject at my school; definitely something I was always interested in. Apps is so boring and I know I can do much better in software dev as I've had experience and read quite a heap of insight on the understanding and concepts overall, so it'd be much easier moreover. Sucks. Good luck to myself.

Lasercookie

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Re: The best piece of advice for IT in year 11
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2012, 05:11:05 pm »
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I wish software dev was an available subject at my school; definitely something I was always interested in. Apps is so boring and I know I can do much better in software dev as I've had experience and read quite a heap of insight on the understanding and concepts overall, so it'd be much easier moreover. Sucks. Good luck to myself.
Assuming you're in Year 11 IT at the moment, try talking to your teacher and see if there's anyone at your school willing to teach IT Software Development next year. Next, spend the rest of the year badgering your classmates and convincing them that IT Apps is boring and that they should pick Software Development instead - as it's much more interesting blahblahblah (you can probably exaggerate about how dull IT Apps is). You'll be doing a bit of programming in Unit 2 of IT, so trying to get your classmates to have a positive attitude when it comes to that is probably also a good idea.

I guess the other option is to consider distance ed, or just suck it up and find ways to enjoy IT Apps.

itsdanny

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Re: The best piece of advice for IT in year 11
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2012, 01:46:04 am »
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I wish software dev was an available subject at my school; definitely something I was always interested in. Apps is so boring and I know I can do much better in software dev as I've had experience and read quite a heap of insight on the understanding and concepts overall, so it'd be much easier moreover. Sucks. Good luck to myself.
Assuming you're in Year 11 IT at the moment, try talking to your teacher and see if there's anyone at your school willing to teach IT Software Development next year. Next, spend the rest of the year badgering your classmates and convincing them that IT Apps is boring and that they should pick Software Development instead - as it's much more interesting blahblahblah (you can probably exaggerate about how dull IT Apps is). You'll be doing a bit of programming in Unit 2 of IT, so trying to get your classmates to have a positive attitude when it comes to that is probably also a good idea.

I guess the other option is to consider distance ed, or just suck it up and find ways to enjoy IT Apps.

Thanks for that. I did try, although apparently more people are required for it to work out which isn't really happening. Most of my classmates are half-assed (also influences the teacher to care less about the class as well, which is blatantly evident that I could list many things but that's irrelevant) to even do anything (positive they chose it cause it's a rather bludge subject), so they'd care less about any other subjects. Guess I'll just suck it up and hopefully enjoy it. You must have enjoyed it as well I assume, what was the most funnest thing/topic you did?

btw that nacho guy is really cool!
I'd really like to get an autograph from him or just a few seconds of his time  :-* *dreamy sigh
« Last Edit: June 09, 2012, 02:03:39 am by nacho »

nacho

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Re: The best piece of advice for IT in year 11
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2012, 02:02:33 am »
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half-assed classmates = easy sac ranks = (Y)

we can go out for some coffee if u pass this simple test

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« Last Edit: June 09, 2012, 02:04:19 am by nacho »
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Lasercookie

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Re: The best piece of advice for IT in year 11
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2012, 10:10:13 am »
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Guess I'll just suck it up and hopefully enjoy it. You must have enjoyed it as well I assume, what was the most funnest thing/topic you did?
I quite liked Unit 3 Outcome 1, where you put together a website. Unit 3 Outcome 2 (databases), I didn't really enjoy it that much while doing it, but by when I actually did sit down to learn the theory properly I did actually find it interesting... It was actually quite good learning about relational databases actually.

Unit 4 Outcome 1, just more practical stuff -  I learnt quite a few spreadsheet tricks that I didn't know before. The theory content (information systems) here wasn't overly interesting. Unit 4 Outcome 2 doesn't drag on for very long at all, and the scenarios they give you are a good laugh.

Apart from Unit 4 Outcome 2 (theory based), it was also interesting to try and figure out the most elegant solutions to the problems, rather than just having something that worked and did the job.

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« Last Edit: June 09, 2012, 02:00:28 pm by nacho »