St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended

Diploma in ICT

OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended Diploma in ICT

Unit 1 Digital Business Communication

Time 60 Guided learning hours

Student ___________________________

Teacher Miss L Maughan

Date to be: Issued Completed Verified

01/09/09

Background

You have recently started working as a business advisor for a new night club opening in
Durham City Centre. Your job is to provide advice and support for this business on a
range of roles including marketing and promotions.

Your duties involve working with management to produce a range of business support
materials which are to be produced and distributed using ICT. Some documents are to be
printed whilst others are to be viewed on screen.

You must adhere to this policy for working with electronic files.

The company policy states that:

• Safe working practices, complying with Health and Safety legislation, must be
employed at all times
• work must be organised using an appropriate folder/file structure that makes it easy for
a third party to locate files
• version numbers must be included in filenames, where appropriate
• backups of files to a removable medium must be created regularly
• files must be password protected, as appropriate, to prevent unauthorised viewing
and/or editing
• documents that contain confidential information should be protected by the use of
permissions.

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
Cheating will not be tolerated under any circumstances. When you hand in an assessment,
it is expected to be your own work and not the work of another person. By signing this
declaration, you are stating that this is an original piece of your own work and not
something that you have either;
• Copied from another person
• Copied word for word from a book, magazine, internet or CD – ROM.

Any person caught cheating could incur severe penalties and even withdrawal from this
and any other examination.
Work handed in after the agreed deadline / hand in date will not be marked and could
therefore affect your final grade.

This assignment is my own work and other than normal classroom teaching I have had no
external help.
I have also clearly acknowledged the work produced by other people.

I accept that if this work is handed in late it may affect my final grade.

Name ….

Signature …. Date
….

Learning outcomes:

By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding
of
communication in a business context. They will also demonstrate how ICT can be used to
support
and enhance business communication.
Candidates will produce evidence to meet the unit assessment objectives in order to show
that
they understand:
• the role and contribution of communication technology to business
• the aids and barriers to effective communication
• the application of a presentation style to document creation
• the use of written communication using ICT in a business context
• the effective use of email in a business context
• document and computer security in the workplace
• the use of standard ways of working to work safely, keep information secure and
manage personal information.

Your evidence for the assessment of this unit will be collected from 6 tasks.

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT

All 6 tasks will contribute to the assessment of criteria – some of these tasks will be
printed addressing AO4 and you are advised to read AO4’s guidance at the end of task 6
before starting to create documents.

Task One (AO7)

In this task you are going to set up your directory folder structure and begin to collect
evidence for AO7. Remember that the company policy states that:

• Safe working practices, complying with Health and Safety legislation, must be
employed at all times
• work must be organised using an appropriate folder/file structure that makes it easy for
a third party to locate files
• version numbers must be included in filenames, where appropriate
• backups of files to a removable medium must be created regularly
• files must be password protected, as appropriate, to prevent unauthorised viewing
and/or editing
• documents that contain confidential information should be protected by the use of
permissions.

In order to complete this task you must:

• Show you have backed up your work regularly to a USB pen. This is best evidence
through weekly screenshots showing the folder size and date.
• Set up your folders correctly and provide evidence of correct file name conventions
• Put password protection on at least three different files and provide evidence of
requesting the password for opening and modifying the files
• Prove that you have put versions on your report and covering letter for AO1
• Create a Health and Safety / Safe working requirements poster based on the above
policy to be displayed in the new night club
• Use access permissions on your work

To achieve a pass you must:

• Use standard ways of working to work safely, keep information secure and
manage personal information

To achieve a merit you must:

• Demonstrate an awareness of H and S issues related to the use of ICT and apply
this on most occasions.
• Use standard ways of working to organize their work efficiently, showing
understanding of some security measures, including passwords to open/modify.
• Back up their work to a secure medium

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
To achieve a distinction you must:

• Demonstrate an awareness of H and S issues related to the use of ICT and apply
this at all times
• Use SWOW to organize your work efficiently
• Demonstrate how they have considered and applied document security to their
own files, including password to open/modify
• Demonstrate a good understanding of version numbers and access permissions
• Back up your work regularly to a secure medium

Task Two (Assessing AO3)

In your next tasks you will be asked to create different documents using 3 different types
of software. However, you need to use a template to create those documents. This task
requires you to create a range of templates.

Part 1:

Create a housestyle that will be used across a different range of your business documents.
You need to think about:

• Fonts
• Headings
• Colours
• Layout and graphics
• Borders
• Lines

Part 2:

Create a business report template. Your report template must contain the following
sections and follow your housestyle:

• front cover
• contents page
• page numbers, filename and date in footer + partner logos
• header with logo + company name
• pages for the following:
o Introduction
o Summary of research
o Main findings
o Conclusion
o Bibliography

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT

Part 3:

Create a 3 part leaflet template that follows your housestyle. Include

• logo, company name

• set fonts
• set graphical elements inc. partner logos
• set colour scheme
• set text styles
• set master template

Part 4:

Create a business letter template that follows your housestyle. Your business letter must
contain the following sections:

• The sender’s address

• The Date
• The recipient’s address
• Dear….
• The body of the letter
• Close of the letter (yours faithfully, or sincerely (if named person)
• Your signature

Part 5:

Create a presentation master slide template that follows your housestyle. You need to
create two templates; one for the title slide and one for the main body slide

Part 6:

Create a fax or agenda header that follows your housestyle.

To achieve a pass you must:

• Design and create templates for 3 business documents

• Have used your text style and paragraph formatting
• Have a consistent housestyle across all documents

To achieve a merit you must:

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
• Design and create templates for 4 business documents using 2 different software
packages
• Have used your text style, paragraph formatting, page layout and graphic elements
• Templates will show a consistent housestyle
• Suit the purpose of each communication

To achieve a distinction you must:

• Design and create templates for at least 5 different business documents using at
least 3 different types of software
• Include appropriate user-defined styles, page layout and graphic elements
• Ensure your templates show a consistent housestyle
• Suit the purpose of each communication
• Create templates of a near professional quality

Task Three (Assessing AO1 and part AO4 – two documents)

In this task, you’ve been asked by a client to produce a report on the use of business
communications technologies.

Part 1: Research and write a full description of 3 of these technologies

o Email
o Internet
o www
o intranet
o vpn
o video conf
o web conf
o tele conf
o instant messaging

Part 2: Here are some examples of benefits and drawbacks for comms techs:

Benefits: eg
• speed of communication
• consistency of messages
• central control
• collaborative working
• customisation
• targeting

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT

Drawbacks: eg
• information overload
• susceptibility to unauthorised access
• dependence on technology
• lack of access
• cost
• legal implications

Using these benefits and drawbacks, produce a table with each technology listing
benefits, drawbacks and examples to back up your descriptions

Tech Benefit Drawback Examples

Part 3:
Explain the terms e-commerce, e-business, e-marketing (For Merit, e-commerce only, for
Distinction do e-business and e-marketing as well).

Part 4:
Explain the link between communication technologies and E commerce, E business, E
marketing. Specifically, explain how communication technologies have contributed to the
growth of E commerce, E business and E marketing.

Part 5: (this task relates to AO4 use at least 4 different types of written communications)

Structure your research into a report using the report template you created in task 2.
You should organise your report into:

1. front cover
2. contents page
3. page numbers, filename and date in footer + partner logos
4. header with logo + company name
5. pages for the following:
a. Introduction
b. Summary of research
c. Main findings
d. Conclusion
e. Bibliography

Part 6: (this task relates to AO4 use at least 4 different types of written communications)

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
Create a covering letter using the letterhead template you created for AO3 and address
the report and letter to your client.

To achieve a pass you must:

• Research three types of business communication system

• Produce a business report for the client based upon your research. This report
should include:

o A description of the three business communication systems

o An explanation of the benefits and drawbacks of these systems giving

relevant examples

To achieve a merit you must:

• Research three types of business communication system

• Produce a business report for the client based upon your research that includes:

o A description of the three business communication systems

o An explanation of a range of benefits and drawbacks of these systems

giving relevant examples

• Explain how communication technology has contributed to the growth of e-

commerce

To achieve a distinction you must:

• Research three types of business communication system

• Produce a business report for the client based upon your research that includes:

o A detailed description of the three business communication systems

o A detailed explanation of a range of benefits and drawbacks of these

systems giving relevant examples

• Explain how communication technology has contributed to the growth of e-

commerce, e-marketing and e-business

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT

Task Four (Assessing AO2 and part of AO4 – 1 document)

You’ve been asked by the Managing Director of your nightclub to produce a presentation
on the topic of Effective Communication, your specific topic is “the aids and barriers
to effective communication”.

Part One:

Research the following factors which can help or hinder effective communication and
explain what they are and HOW they can aid or hinder communication:

•purpose
• medium
• message
• text (font, style, size), formatting, layout
• language (formal/informal, etc)
• writing style
• readability
• accessibility
• age, gender, cultural, emotional
• speed of delivery

Part Two:

For each factor, give at least 2 examples to explain/ justify your explanations in part 1.
For distinction, you will need 4 examples for each factor. Examples MUST be
appropriate.

Part Three: (this task related to AO4 use at least 4 different types of written
communications)

Present your research in parts 1 and 2 as a Powerpoint show using the master slide
template you created as part of AO3.

You must use speaker notes in order to explain your points.

To achieve a pass you must:

• Demonstrate a limited explanation of some of the aids and barriers to effective

communication

To achieve a merit you must:

• Explain many of the aids and barriers to effective communication

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
• Use at least two examples of each aid or barrier

To achieve a distinction you must:

• Explain thoroughly a wide range of aids and barriers to effective communication

• Use at least four examples of each aid or barrier

Task Five (Assessing AO5)

In this task, you are required to demonstrate effective use of email in a business context.

Part One:

Enter all of these addresses into your address book

First Name Last Name Group Email Address

Sally Tyrone Work sallyt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk
Balbir Singh Work balbirs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk
Anne Keith Friend Anne_Keith@yahoo.co.uk
Penny Howe Family sister@hotmail.co.uk
Eileen Roquefort Work eileenr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk
Beverley Gilbraith Work beverleyg@xxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk
Colin Hunter Work colinh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk
Trevor Vass Work trevorv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk
Stuart Hall Work stuarth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk
Simon Bowler Work simonb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk

Also add the managing director

lmaughanXXX@durhamlearning.net ?????? WORK group.

Part Two:

Set up a distribution list for your work email addresses

Part Three:

Set up an email signature for yourself

Part Four:

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
Create a word document that discusses netiquette and email etiquette. Save it into word
with the URL of the websites you used in your searches.

Part Five:

The managing director has asked you to email her your netiquette info + the PPT on
effective communication you created earlier. They must be emailed as single zipped
folder. Include instructions on how to extract the files + CC Colin Hunter.

Part Six:

Create folders and rules to organise your inbox Create two folders within your Inbox, one
to store emails from the managing director, and one to store emails from your other work
colleagues. To achieve Distinction level you should also set up rules to automatically
save emails in the appropriate folder.

Part Seven:

You will receive emails from the Managing Director of the company. Action the request.

Part Eight:

Show evidence of your use of spam email filter as follows:

Demonstrate how to use a spam-email filter to carry out the following activities:
• direct any messages from @st-leonards.durham.sch.uk into your spam/junk mail folder
• set all messages sent from @ocr.org.uk as safe and not containing spam/junk mail

Note: to pass, your emails must be suitable for business purposes…this means NO TXT
SPK!

Standard features are:

•use of cc and bcc
• high/low importance
• level of confidentiality
• address book
• creation and use of professional signature
• email account management
• email etiquette (appropriate subject, message text and use of
netiquette, attachment size and file types etc)

Advanced features are:

•multiple attachments, zipped files, embedded files
• folders to organise mail

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
• rules e.g. to redirect emails, to organise emails into folders, using
colours
• groups/distribution lists (in address book)
• archiving
• spam filter
• autoreply

To achieve a pass you must:

• Use at least four standard features of email appropriately

• Set up and use at least three advanced features of email
• Emails will be mainly fit for purpose

To achieve a merit you must:

• Use at least four standard features of email appropriately

• Set up and use at least four advanced features of email to good effect
• Emails will be mainly fit for purpose and appropriate to business use

To achieve a distinction you must:

• Use at least five standard features of email appropriately

• Set up and use at least five advanced features of email to good effect
• Emails will be mainly fit for purpose and appropriate to business use
• Show an organised approach to the management of their own email system

Task Six (Assessing AO6 and part of AO4)

Part 1: Research how digital security issues affect computer security in the work place.

• hacking,
• data misuse,
• unauthorised transfer or copying of documents,
• unauthorised distributing or copying of software,
• email and chatroom abuses,
• adware, malware, spyware,
• porn,
• online threats such as phishing, identity and financial abuses,
• types of viruses and virus protection

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT

For each issue you choose, you must describe:

1. what it is/ definition

2. potential problems relating/ resulting from the issues
3. methods which prevent minimise issues
4. list relevant examples (Distinction only!)

To achieve a pass you must:

• Describe at least four security issues relating to documents and computers in the
workplace.
• Identify methods used to avoid these issues

To achieve a merit you must:

• Describe at least five security issues relating to documents and computers in the
workplace.
• Describe methods used to avoid these issues

To achieve a distinction you must:

• Describe in detail, giving specific examples, at least 6 security issues relating to

documents and computers in the workplace.
• Describe in detail methods used to avoid these issues

Part 2:

Create an information leaflet to be given out to new employees joining your nightclub

You should use appropriate graphics, tables, bullets, auto numbering, columns and text
boxes to present your work. Ensure you show error checking and spell checking

Guidance for AO4

AO4 will be finished when you complete all of the above tasks (creating 4 documents
using your templates from AO3.

To achieve a pass you must:

• Use at least two different types of written communication

• Use at least two features from:
o Tables

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
o Bullets
o Auto-numbering
o Columns
o Text Boxes
• Appropriately format your documents using the house style designed as part of
AO3 with few inconsistencies
• Create documents that are mainly fit for purpose

To achieve a merit you must:

• Use at least three different types of written communication using the templates
that you have created
• Use at least three features effectively from:
o Tables
o Bullets
o Auto-numbering
o Columns
o Text Boxes
• Appropriately format your documents using the house style designed as part of
AO3 with few inconsistencies
• Create documents that contain few errors and are fit for purpose

To achieve a distinction you must:

• Use at least four different types of written communication using the templates that
you have created
• Justify the suitability of each document for that purpose
• Use at least four features effectively from:
o Tables
o Bullets
o Auto-numbering
o Columns
o Text Boxes
• Well structure and appropriately format using the house style designed as part of
AO3 to a near professional standard

Unit 1: Digital Business Communication 14

St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT

Unit 1: Digital Business Communication

Assessment criteria Achieved Evidence Comments

AO1 Investigating Task 3
communication technology

AO2 Aids and Barriers to Task 4

effective communication

AO3 Templates and House Styles Task 2

AO4 Creating Documents Tasks3,4,6

AO5 Business Email Task 5

AO6 Computer Security Task 6

AO7 SWOW Task 1

Internal verification by Date

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT

OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended Diploma

Unit 1: Digital Business Communication

Student_________________________ Candidate number _____________

Grade awarded Comments

Pass
Merit
Distinction

Teacher

Pass
Merit
Distinction

Internal
Verification

Pass
Merit
Distinction

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St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended
Diploma in ICT
External
verification

Unit 1: Digital Business Communication 17