Scheme of Work – Cambridge ICT Starters Next Steps, Exploring Multimedia

Introduction
This document is a scheme of work created by Cambridge International as a suggested plan of delivery for the Cambridge ICT Starters Next Steps
module ‘Exploring Multimedia’. Learning objectives for the module have been arranged in a recommended teaching order but you are free to teach
objectives in any order within a module as your local requirements and resources dictate.

Several suggested activities have been given for each learning objective. Some are short introductory or revision activities and some are more
substantial learning activities. You need to choose a variety of activities that will meet the needs of your learners and cover all of the requirements of
the learning objectives. You will need to decide on the teaching time necessary for each activity, both to suit the pace of your learners and to fit the
work comfortably into your own term times.

Suggested approaches on integrating teaching on eSafety and ethical behaviour have been included. You will need to adapt these to be suitable for
the age of your learners and to include information about local policies and laws.

There is no obligation to follow the published Cambridge International Scheme of Work in order to deliver Cambridge ICT Starters. It has been
created solely to provide an illustration of how delivery might be planned.

Overview
The Exploring Multimedia module is part of the Next Steps certificate. The progression of modules that relate to this topic are shown in the diagram
below.

Initial Steps Next Steps On Track

Exploring Multimedia Video or Animation for a Purpose

Scheme of Work – Cambridge ICT Starters Next Steps, Exploring Multimedia

 Next Steps, Stage 2 module: Exploring Multimedia
This module introduces learners to multimedia authoring software. The aim is for learners to produce a short presentation for a specific audience,
whilst recognising the need for good page design and for clarity. The presentation should cover a particular theme and contain both text and images.
It should allow the audience to navigate through the slides at their own speed and offer them choices throughout, for example via hotspots or buttons.

What is assessed in this module?

Learners will demonstrate how to:
 create a page of text, images and sounds which are activated by appropriately named and positioned buttons
 use effective page design
 organise screens and identify appropriate choices and links
 create pages which offer the user options
 demonstrate how the presentation meets the needs of the intended audience.

What do you need to teach this module?

To teach this module you will need:
 a presentation software package which will allow learners to achieve all of the learning objectives
 access to a variety of suitable website homepages that show both effective and ineffective use of multimedia
 some prepared and part prepared presentations.
Learners can also use additional hardware, for example microphones, scanners, digital cameras or digital microscopes, if they are available.

Underpinning knowledge
Before commencing this module it is recommended that learners have:
 some experience of writing for an audience
 some general word processing and page design skills
 basic image manipulation skills.

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 General Principles and Procedures
The following are further suggestions and considerations:
 Learners will benefit from comparing and discussing a wide variety of multimedia presentations, including professional presentations and
website homepages. In particular, they should be encouraged to view items designed for a wide variety of audiences and to draw out the
important features of good design and the features that make content suitable for different target audiences.
 The emphasis of this module is on using text, images, videos and sounds in a presentation, rather than on gathering the resources.
 Learners should be encouraged to consider which multimedia elements are appropriate to both their content and to the requirements of their
specific audience. They should develop an ability to discriminate between the appropriate and inappropriate items, noting that an increase in
the number of multimedia elements often detracts from the clarity of the presentation.
 Regular opportunities for peer feedback will help learners to improve the quality of their work.
 Learners will find the idea of adapting their presentation to a particular audience easier if the target audience is familiar to them, for example by
using their parents or children of a similar or younger age.
 Throughout this module, learners should be starting to adopt efficient working methods by learning how to draft, create and refine their
presentations.
 Introduce the use of storyboarding and help learners to plan what they are going to include before they start to produce a presentation. It may
help them to use separate cards or sheets of paper for each page or screen, so that they can physically change the order of their presentation.
 Encourage learners to routinely check that their hyperlinks and buttons work as intended.
 Also encourage good practise in file naming and the regular saving of work.

eSafety guidance
 We recommend that each school has an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) which describes the activities that learners can, and cannot, do when
using the internet and email in lessons.
 Specific to this module, learners should be aware of the dangers of sharing multimedia content online. Potential risks include cyber-bullying and
of users pretending to be other people, for example ‘stranger danger’.
 Explain to learners what they should do if they feel unsafe or if inappropriate content is evident on their device.
 Further information about learner safety and responsibility can be found in section 5 of the Syllabus.

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 Learning Suggested activities to choose from Resources Comments
Objective

Use effective Introduction to multimedia

page design
 In these introductory activities, learners will review examples
Demonstrate how of multimedia presentations and will begin to consider some
the presentation of the features that make a presentation effective for its
meets the needs audience.
of the intended
audience  Show learners a good quality presentation aimed at a  a prepared multimedia Learners should be given
specific audience, for example a presentation to launch a presentation opportunities to compare and
new product that has been designed for young children. discuss a wide variety of
multimedia presentations
 Ask learners to identify the multimedia content that has been including professional
used in the displayed presentation. presentations and website
home pages throughout
 Show learners a good quality website homepage, for  access to internet for these activities.
example one which advertises a high profile event. web browsing
Learners could also consider
 Again, ask learners to identify the multimedia content that the advantages or
has been used in the displayed presentation. disadvantages of multimedia
and how this compares with
 As a class, discuss ideas of what makes a good multimedia  class chart for recording other forms of
page. The features that learners identify could be added to a findings communication.
class chart which can be displayed for the learners to refer to
throughout this module.

 Provide learners with examples of effective and ineffective  a variety of URLs or

website home pages that have been created for specific saved website home
audiences. Ask them to review these pages in pairs to pages made for different
identify particular aspects which make them either good or audiences
bad. Each pair should then feedback to the whole class by
way of a class discussion. Key aspects that are identified can
be added to the class chart that was created earlier. When
discussing each website, learners should consider the

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 following:
– the usability
– the use of colour
– the size and position of icons
– the use of pictures and text
– the user menus.

 Having discussed the features of effective and ineffective  internet access or a

websites, learners should work in pairs to search the internet, series of saved websites
or to search a series of saved websites offline, to find good that learners can review
examples of home pages that are suitable for different offline
audience types, for example:
– children aged 5 years old
– teachers
– people who like outdoor adventure activities.
Each pair should print off copies of their selected examples
and add a brief description to each one to explain what it is
that makes it effective.

 Following this activity, the class should come together

discuss the following question:
– What features are likely to make a presentation
appealing to the different audiences that were
considered in the last activity?
Any new features that are identified in this discussion can be
added to the class chart.
Create a page of Creating multimedia presentations
text, images and
sounds which are  In the following activities, learners will combine media to
activated by create presentations of their own. They will consider aspects
appropriately such as audience requirements and eSafety when doing this.
named and
positioned  Show learners a partly prepared presentation and ask them  a partly prepared
buttons to identify the target audience. presentation with
instructions for its
Use effective  Through class discussion ask learners to identify the further completion

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 page design requirements of the chosen audience.
Learners should be
Organise screens  Explain that learners will be using this partly completed encouraged to experiment
and identify presentation as the starting point for their own piece of work. with colour and formatting
appropriate They will do this by: options throughout this
choices and links – selecting and adding additional items of media that will activity. They should also
enhance the presentation and will be appropriate to the explore the effects of applying
audience ready-made style options to
– writing and formatting any additional text that is required, the presentation.
whilst ensuring that this text is appropriate for their target
audience Learners will often learn their
– making appropriate changes to the background way around the software as
– adding, removing and moving pages around within the they make various style
presentation changes.
– exploring the various page and text formatting options.
Encourage learners to share
 Before learners commence this task, discuss the potential any new discoveries that they
risks associated with sharing multimedia content online, for make about the software
example the fact that people can be identified if their full throughout the activity.
names or photographs are included. Explain that this could
result in issues such as cyber-bullying or stranger-danger.

 Learners should work either individually or in pairs to make

changes to the prepared presentation. They should start by
opening the presentation and then using ‘save as’ to create
their own version by saving it with an appropriate filename.

 At the end of the activity ask the individual or pairs of

learners to demonstrate any tools that they have found useful
in improving the presentation for the target audience. They
should demonstrate what the tool does and how best to use
it.
Create a page of Adding choices and links to a presentation
text, images and
sounds which are  In the following activities learners will discover how to add
activated by links and sounds to a presentation and will be introduced to

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 appropriately checking the functionality of their presentations.
named and
positioned  Demonstrate how to add buttons and hyperlinks to a
buttons presentation in the selected software.

Organise screens  Demonstrate how links can be used to provide a user with
and identify options within a presentation.
appropriate
choices and links  Provide learners with a partly prepared presentation. This  a partly prepared
presentation could relate to a current class topic, such as presentation which
Create pages information about an animal species or a historical event, and includes a front, or
which offer the it should include related information across a series of pages ‘main’, page and
user options or slides. The presentation should also contain the scope for opportunities to link the
the learners to introduce options for their user. content of certain pages
to that of other pages
 Working in pairs, learners should use the partly prepared There are a number of
presentation to practise adding links and buttons. Before they different page linking
start, each pair should use ‘save as’ and an appropriate methods in presentation
filename to create their own version of the presentation. They software. Learners should be
should then practise and experiment with adding links by encouraged to experiment
doing the following: with a variety.
– creating buttons using the shape tool
– linking text items to the correct page to which they relate
– inserting user options on to at least one page
– creating links from each page back to the main page.

 To extend their practise, learners could also consider adding

links to suitable information pages on other websites to their
presentation.

 Provide learners with an opportunity to share and

demonstrate any interesting discoveries that they made
during these linking activities.

 Using the same partly prepared presentation, demonstrate

how to add sounds.  sound files suitable for If there are no sound files
the content of the available, the files in the

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 presentation custom animation effect
 Working in their pairs, learners should practise and options or action settings will
experiment with adding sounds to their presentation. be sufficient to allow learners
to appreciate the process.
 To extend their practise, learners could also consider
creating appropriate sound files of their own.

 Hold a class discussion to consider the need to test the

functionality within presentations before they are released to
their expected audience.

 Explain that it is good practice to check links, and to user test

presentations, as often in the development process as
possible. This will help learners to identify errors or possible
improvements. Check that learners understand what is
meant by ‘user testing’.

 Working in their pairs, learners should test the functionality

that they have added to their presentations, including both
the links and the sounds, to check for errors and possible
improvements.
Create a page of Designing, creating and testing multimedia presentations
text, images and
sounds which are  In the following series of activities, learners will follow a
activated by complete process for creating a multimedia presentation,
appropriately starting with the selection of content and layout, through to
named and final testing.
positioned
buttons  Introduce learners to storyboards and explain that this is a  examples of simple
tool that can be used to plan how a presentation will unfold storyboards
Use effective prior to it being created using the computer software. Display
page design some examples of simple storyboards.

Organise screens  Demonstrate how to create a storyboard for a presentation  a partially completed
and identify by completing a prepared, partially completed, template. storyboard template
appropriate

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 choices and links  Remind learners of the key points to consider with regards to  the class chart created
both good design principles and audience requirements by during the first group of
Create pages referring back to the class chart that was created during the activities from this
which offer the first group of activities from this module. module
user options
 Working individually, learners should choose a suitable  ideas for content. This
Demonstrate how presentation topic from options that are provided to them. could be a cross-
the presentation The topic could either relate to information that is relevant to curricular piece of work
meets the needs their current learning or to a topic of personal interest but with ideas presented as
of the intended they should be reminded to keep their content simple so that text for learners to
audience they can focus upon the following aspects of their development in their
presentations: own presentations.
– the user requirements Encourage learners to test
– good design principles  prepared media and refine their presentations
– the creation of links and user options. elements by using printouts to annotate
and document the changes
 Learners should create storyboards for their presentation and that they make during the
these should demonstrate how the links and options will be development process.
applied.
Leaving the placement of
 Learners should work in small groups to review each other’s links until all of the pages
storyboards and to suggest specific improvements that each have been planned will
could make. reduce the number of
changes that learners have to
 Working individually, learners should consider which of the make during the design
suggested changes they should include in their stage.
presentations and should adapt their storyboards
accordingly.

 Learners should create their presentations using the

selected presentation software.

 Learners should review their own work by:

– carrying out checks and tests to identify errors
– evaluating their presentations to look for possible
improvements.

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  Working in small groups learners should conduct user tests
of each presentation to understand how they might work for
the end user.

 Learners should then share their work with the whole class
and discuss what worked well for them during this process.
They should also offer a personal evaluation about how they
could improve their own presentation.
Create a page of Editing presentations
text, images and
sounds which are  In the following group of activities, learners will initially work
activated by with a partially completed presentation to analyse its content
appropriately and then add features which make it suitable for the target
named and audience. They will then consolidate their learning from this
positioned module by designing, creating and evaluating a further
buttons presentation of their own.

Use effective  Provide learners with an unfinished presentation and ask  presentation ideas for
page design them to use ‘save as’ to create their own version of it. completion by learners

Organise screens  Explain the target audience and ask the class to discuss the A clear definition of the target
and identify type of presentation that would be suitable for that audience. audience and of the purpose
appropriate for a presentation will help
choices and links  Working individually, learners should complete the learners to understand the
presentation by organising the page design and by adding requirements of their
Create pages suitable links and interactive elements. presentations.
which offer the
user options  Learners should then evaluate their completed presentations Remind learners to
and write a short piece of text to explain the choices that they remember to design the
Demonstrate how made in designing the presentation and how these choices presentation for a specific
the presentation were suitable for the target audience. audience and to think about
meets the needs what makes a good page
of the intended  To end this module, learners should practise all that they design. Refer them back to
audience have learned by creating a further presentation. Topics that the class chart that was
they cover could include the following: created during the first group

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 – safety instructions for a science lab of activities.
– safety instructions for using a computer at home
– a history project, for example ‘What was it like to live in
ancient Egypt?’

 Learners should follow the complete process that has been

covered in this module by:
– planning their presentation using a storyboard
– discussing their plan with a partner
– creating their presentation
– testing the functionality of their presentation Remind learners to use a
– user testing their presentation with a partner check, test and evaluate
– writing a short piece of text to explain how their process at the end of each
presentation meets the needs of its audience. presentation.

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 Assessment ideas
To show how the Assessment idea fully incorporates the learning objectives tested, the assessment idea is cross-referenced with the learning
objective table below.

Assessment Idea One

Create a small collection of resources, including some text, images and sound files, on a theme (for example: The Romans). The content could be
given to the learners as 'text only' slides. Learners could be given a storyboard sheet to use to draft out their ideas.

Ask the learners to produce a short presentation using some of the resources provided. This should consist of 3 or 4 slides designed for a specific
audience (e.g. parents at an Open Evening, a younger child). (1) Learners should think about page design (2) and the way the slides are linked
together. (3). Arrange some extra links or buttons on the presentation so that users have some choice in the way they navigate through the
presentation (4). Write about 2 features of your presentation which make it suitable for explaining The Romans at a parents’ evening (5).

Stage 2 Module – Exploring Multimedia

1 Create a page of text, images and sounds which are activated by
appropriately named and positioned buttons
2 Use effective page design
3 Organise screens and identify appropriate choices and links
4 Create pages which offer the user options
5 Demonstrate how the presentation meets the needs of the intended
audience

Teachers should retain the following evidence for moderation:

 copy of original assignment
 learners saved presentation or printout of slides (with teacher evidence or annotated to show any multimedia elements)
 learners statements for LO5 (written, typed or teacher evidence).

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