Why Study Information Communication Technology or Computing?

Computers are everywhere and it is very easy to take them for granted and forget the huge industries that support them and make our lives so much easier. There is a dangerous assumption that young people are competent on computers based on their ability to use popular websites. Without formal study, essential office skills, such as Spreadsheets, Databases, Presentation and Web Design are not developed. For a number of years, both universities and employers have had serious concerns about the lack of useful IT skills young New Zealanders are fronting up with. New Zealand also has a serious lack of IT professionals and the industry always tops the job vacancy statistics. This fact makes the industry one of the top two salary providers.

At King’s there are two perspectives employed when studying computers:

Information & Communication Technology and Computer Science

Information & Communication Technology is the study and practice of everyday computing including IT used in offices, design, marketing, the internet and even supermarkets. The aim of this subject is to produce genuinely useful ICT literate professionals, capable of working and presenting themselves in a manner expected in the 21st Century.

Computer Science is the study of how the computer and its software think and operate. This involves programming software to behave as desired and also topics relating to how data is passed from one machine component to another and how the speed of this event might be improved. The Study of ICT aims to enhance the capability of the student to maximise his or her effectiveness in the work place. The study of Computer Science aims to set the student on a pathway to working in the computer industry be it in software or hardware development. We also have the two curriculum pathways; NCEA and CIE (Cambridge International Exams).

NCEA maintains the study of ICT. Each topic is studied as a separate NCEA Unit Standard and credited with between 2 and 9 credits.

CIE starts in year 11 with the IGCSE studying ICT and taking both practical and theory exams in the common and the not so common tools and skills applied in office software applications. Continuing the same themes, we offer the Year 12 AS Applied ICT. This AS course can be taken as a Year 13 student.

The alternative CIE course in Computer Science starts with the AS qualification. This is the first year of the A Level course and covers topics in hardware, networking and programming including a practical programming techniques. The second year (A2) of the course looks in-depth at computer architecture and students are required to develop, manage and implement a computer system for a real third-party client. This tests students under professional conditions, including their ability to fully manage and document a project to provide the solution.