Points of Engagement

ITECH 3000/ ITECH 7000 IT Professional Engagement IT Professional Engagement • Welcome to your first semester – we wish you all every success with your studies • Some of you will be doing the Bachelor of IT (BIT) or one of its specialisations • Others will be doing one of the Master of Technology programs • You will ALL be required to enrol in a course called IT Professional Engagement • BIT students will be required to enrol in ITECH 3000 • MTECH students will be required to enrol in ITECH 7000 • If you are not enrolled already please see your Academic Advisor as soon as possible What is IT Professional Engagement? • IT Professional Engagement is a hurdle task which runs over the full duration of your program • 3 years for Bachelor students • 2 years for Master students • Its aim is to expose you to the wider world of IT – to events that happen outside of the normal class room environment • It is designed to help you understand the current themes of both Research and Industry that are guiding the development of the dynamic world of IT • To assist in making you ready to participate in this world when you finish your degree • It is also designed to give you an awareness of SFIA and the ACS CBOK What is different about this course? • IT Professional Engagement is a zero credit point course. This means it lies outside of the actual curriculum of your course. It does not require pre -requisites or co -requisites. It is not used as a pre -requisite of other courses. • It is a hurdle task • It is graded as simply • S – Satisfactory or • UN – Ungraded. • You must achieve a grade of S in this course before you can graduate • This is in addition to the other prescribed courses in your program • There is no exam or given assignments (more on this in a minute) • It does not run over a single semester like your other courses. • It runs over the full duration of your degree. So how do you get a Satisfactory grade? • In order to pass the course you need to achieve a certain number of “points of engagement” • 12 for BIT students (3 year course) • 8 for Master students (2 year course) • You must do the full number • For a BIT student 12 is Satisfactory, 11 is not. • A “point of engagement” is an activity that you negotiate with your Academic Advisor that involves some type of engagement with people involved in Industry or Research in the area of IT. What activities might be used as “points of engagement”? • Seminars – Industry or Research • Includes Webinars • Workshops – Industry or Research • Expos – including career expos • IT Community Service • Helping in some way in the community provided that help involves IT • IT Work experience • Paid or unpaid What activities might be used as “Points Of Engagement”? • Internships/visiting employers • Meeting with recruitment agencies • Attending market events • Answering forum questions for open source projects • Others • If you can think of another activity that isn’t on the list which you believe could qualify, you can negotiate this with your Academic Advisor • DO NOT just do it and conduct the negotiations afterwards. What activities may NOT be used as “points of engagement”? • Activities associated with your capstone project courses • Activities associated with any of your other courses • Activities which do not significantly involve IT • If in doubt talk to your Academic Advisor. Other rules • A maximum of four points of engagement per semester in first year • There is no limit in second or third years. • Thus it is possible for BIT students to have them all finished by the end of second year. • This is to spread them out more evenly over your whole degree • At least one workshop and one community service activity • You can’t just attend seminars • You are encouraged to get as wide a set of experiences as possible to get the maximum benefit How do you claim your point? • You need to do two things 1. Provide some evidence that you did actually attend the event 2. Provide a small report which links this experience to • The ACS Core Body of Knowledge (CBOK) • SFIA SFIA • SFIA stands for Skills Framework for an Information Age • As the name says it is a Framework and it is used to provide a “common language” to discuss IT skills within Business and Government Institutions • It was first conceptualised in the mid 1990s and has gone through several versions since • In 2012 version 5 was introduced • In 2015 version 6 was introduced • However, because IT is changing, the skills required are changing too, so the framework is constantly being reviewed SFIA • Since its inception in the mid 1990s, it has become a popular framework for matching IT skills to IT projects • There are over 100 000 institutions, both Government and Business, are using SFIA • As a result, the Australian Computer Society (ACS), now requires accredited programs to map the skills students acquire to SFIA • Check out the bottoms of each of your course descriptions to see the mappings for each of these courses http:// www.matthewb.id.au/career/career -management -IT -jobs -australian -SFIA.html • What can SFIA be used for? • Project planning of skills required • Position description creation • Current skills analysis • Performance review of skills • Career planning for future skills needed • Company planning for future endeavours • Training programme design Skill classification (https:// www.sfia -online.org/en ) • The creators of SFIA have identified the skills required for various IT roles • In version 6 there are 97 different skills arranged into 6 “families” or categories of skills. • Each of these 97 skills have skill levels associated with them • Skill levels range from 1 (very basic) to 7 (full responsibility) • These skill levels are clearly defined for each skill Skill classification (Categories) (https:// www.sfia -online.org/en ) • The skills are organised into categories 1. Strategy and Architecture 2. Change and Transformation 3. Development and Implementation 4. Delivery and Operation 5. Skills and Quality 6. Relationships and Engagement Skill classification (Sub - categories) (https:// www.sfia -online.org/en ) • Each category is organised into sub -categories (for example) 1. Strategy and Architecture 1.1 Information Strategy 1.2 Advice and Guidance 1.3 Business Strategy and Planning 1.4 Technical Strategy and Planning Skill classification (individual skills) (https:// www.sfia -online.org/en ) • Each sub -category is organised into individual skills (for example) 1. Strategy and Architecture 1.1 . . . 1.2 Advice and Guidance 1.2.1 Consultancy (CNSL) 1.2.2 Technical Specialism (TECH ) 1.3 . . . 1.4 . . . Skill Levels • Within each skill, levels of competency are described. • In general, these levels are (starting from the bottom and working up) • 1 – follow – the lowest skill level • 2 – assist • 3 – apply • 4 – enable • 5 - ensure and advise • 6 – initiate and influence • 7 – set strategy, inspire and mobilise • At the lowest level a person would be expected to function at a very basic level while at the top level the person would be expected to take full responsibility for his/her area. What do you need to do? • To pass this hurdle task you need to achieve a certain number of “points of engagement” • For each, point of engagement, think about the skills involved and attempt to match them to the SFIA skill set. Make sure you include the level that you feel the skill was described to. https :// www.sfia -online.org/en/sfia -6/skills/skills -home • Remember for each point of engagement there may be more than one skill involved • Describe the SFIA skill you have identified and the level (and why). What do you need to do? • Make your best attempt at this • You may struggle with your early attempts but as you proceed through your degree you should find it becomes easier • Sometimes you may find that there isn’t an adequate mapping to SFIA • There is a wide range of IT activities out there and only 97 skills described • In this case, state that and justify your answer • However, remember it is sometimes more difficult to explain why something doesn’t fit than why it does  SFIA Example • Position description (last accessed 3/8/2017) • Software Developer - $912 to $1022 per day ($228,000 - $255,000 pa) • Exchange rate – 1 pound was worth $1.67 on 3/8/2017 • https:// www.cwjobs.co.uk/job/software -developer -javascript/elevate -direct -job75310828?WT.mc_id=A_RE_IDORG_IT_CNY_20 • SFIA • https://www.sfia -online.org/en Formal SFIA portfolios • SFIA allows you to maintain a portfolio of your own skills • You may find this useful when you are looking for jobs when you graduate • This isn’t necessary for this particular course • However, if there’s enough interest I’ll try to find more information about this ACS CBOK • Stands for ACS Core Body Of Knowledge • As the name suggests it focuses on Knowledge • As opposed to SFIA which focuses on Skills • Identifies • Knowledge areas that should be common to all IT professionals • Knowledge areas that allow professionals to specialise in certain IT occupations • Refer to • https://more.acs.org.au/__ data/assets/pdf_file/0013/24502/The -ACS -Core -Body -of - Knowledge -for -ICT -Professionals -CBOK.pdf Essential CBOK Knowledge areas • ICT Professional Knowledge • Ethics • Professional Expectations • Teamwork concepts and issues • Interpersonal Communication • Societal issues/legal issues/ privacy • Understanding the ICT profession • Problem solving • Refer to • https://more.acs.org.au/__ data/assets/pdf_file/0013/24502/The -ACS -Core -Body -of - Knowledge -for -ICT -Professionals -CBOK.pdf General CBOK Knowledge areas • Technology Resources • Hardware/software fundamentals • Data and Information Management • Networking • Technology building • Human Factors • Programming • Systems Development and Acquisition • ICT Management • IT Governance and Organisational Issues • IT Project Management • Service Management • Security Management • Refer to • https://more.acs.org.au/__ data/assets/pdf_file/0013/24502/The -ACS -Core -Body -of -Knowledge -for -ICT -Professionals -CBOK.pdf How should you keep a record of this? • We want you to keep a record in a Mahara ePortfolio • You can access the ePortfolio at the bottom of the FedUni web page or go to • https://eportfolios.federation.edu.au / • Login using your normal login id and password • Create a new journal dedicated to IT Professional Engagement • Create a new entry for each point of engagement • There are some resources included that will help you get started (isn’t all that hard  ) • https :// eportfolios.federation.edu.au/view/view.php?id=43023 (and click on “Video Tutorial”) • This link will show you how to create a new journal and add entries What we want you to get out of this • This is an awareness exercise of SFIA and the CBOK • We don’t want you to retain an encyclopaedic knowledge of every skill, level, competency etc – that’s what the web page is for • We want you to gain an understanding of how these two frameworks will assist you in furthering your career • The ACS is now insisting on this for programs they accredit What we want you to get out of this • We also want you to get a taste of the wider world • To see what is going on in IT in research and industry • Something that takes you beyond what happens in the normal classroom environment • Something to better prepare you for work when you graduate Over the next couple of weeks . . . • I’m going to talk to you individually about the course • In one of your labs (possibly ITECH 1003) • Just a chat – nothing stressful • I want to get you started if you haven’t already • I want to get you enrolled if you haven’t already • I want to get feedback about your experiences so far Good luck with it !!!!! • Any Questions???????