Subject

• provide students with a body of essential knowledge, concepts and applications of information, communication and computer systems;
• equip students with problem-solving and communication skills, and encourage them to think critically and creatively;
• develop students into competent, effective, discriminating, ethical and confident users of ICT, so as to support their lifelong learning; and
• provide students with opportunities to appreciate the impact of ICT on our knowledge-based society, so as to nurture in them positive values and attitudes towards this area.

During the three-year senior secondary ICT curriculum, students work towards the following learning targets in the categories of “Knowledge and Understanding”, “Skills” and “Values and Attitudes”:

Knowledge and Understanding

• Develop knowledge and understanding of the range and organisation of computer systems, and the interrelationships between hardware, software and data; and
• Realise the social, ethical and legal issues pertaining to the use of ICT.

Skills

The curriculum is organised into a Compulsory Part and an Elective Part.

The Compulsory Part of the curriculum occupies 145 hours and spans approximately one and a half school years. It comprises a number of topics involving the fundamental principles in information and communication technologies and provides students with a solid foundation and broad area of study in ICT. The Compulsory Part consists of five modules, namely Information Processing, Computer System Fundamentals, Internet and Its Applications, Basic Programming Concepts and Social Implications.

The Elective Part takes up about 75 hours of curriculum time and spans about one school year. Four options, drawn from distinctive fields of computing and information science and their applications, are offered in the Elective Part. Based on their abilities, interests and needs, students are required to choose a specialised area for in-depth study. The options in the Elective Part can be broadly categorised as those illustrating applications of computers in specific areas, and those intended for students who will pursue further studies in ICT as a discipline in tertiary education, but the two are not mutually exclusive. The options are Databases, Data Communications and Networking, Multimedia Production and Web Site Development and Software Development.