Information Technology and Computer Application Technology

Information Technology

Information Technology evolved out of the Computer Studies (Higher Grade) course. It is aimed mainly at those students who wish to make a career out of software development. Its focus is on problem solving using computer based techniques. The main language that is taught at Bridge House is Java, but this is really just the means to study the types of solutions one can develop to an infinite range of real world problems. We try to make the course as relevant to the current and future needs of the business world as possible and balance the beauty of an elegant solution with the practicality of tackling real world problems. Relational databases and networking technology feature strongly in the course. In Grades Ten and Eleven students cover the architecture of the standalone digital device and how it connects with other devices to form the networks that span the world and make us part of the global village. In Grade Twelve they investigate how a business uses Information Technology to make itself more competitive in a global market. Although IT is not requirement to study Computer Science, many of our students who have gone on to university say that they find that the grounding they have received has given them a distinct advantage in a course where only one in four students graduates within three years.

Computer Application Technology (CAT)

Computer Application Technology has a more diverse heritage. It has developed from the combination of Computyping with the Standard Grade portion of Computer Studies. It has developed into a course that offers more than either could on its own. Bridge House has chosen to make it into a particularly powerful course that follows the general guidelines laid down by the National Curriculum Statement, but goes beyond it to prepare the student to be a leader in the use of Computer Applications in the business world. Our students arrive in Grade Ten able to use the basic office productivity packages and rather than spend the next three years learning the obscure features of a particular group of applications we try to expose them to the possibilities of what the computer is capable of. We teach Web design right from the beginning of Grade Ten and expose the students to video, graphic and sound editing as much as possible during the course. Rather than just learning the names of a list of components, the students strip down, document and re-assemble PCs before installing an Operating System and linking the machines together to make a network. They study relational database systems and those that are interested enough are able to create web based interfaces for them. All students are exposed to server management and configuration. Through this they gain confidence that sets them apart in whatever field they decide to develop their talents. Although the subject is not on the designated list of university subjects, all Bridge House students will be offering the required four designated subjects without CAT. The points they gain towards university entrance are of equal status to any other subject in the same line.