The BTEC National Extended Certificate in Information Technology is the equivalent in size to one A Level. You will study 4 units of work. 3 are mandatory which you must study and there is a choice of 1 other unit which is an externally marked unit. The course is split into 4 units: Unit 1: Information Technology Systems – Written examination set and marked by Pearson Information technology (IT) systems have a significant role in the world around us and plays a part in almost everything we do. Having a sound understanding of how to effectively select and use appropriate IT systems will benefit you personally and professionally. You will explore the relationships between the hardware and software that form an IT system, and the way that systems work individually and together, as well as the relationship between the user and the system. You will examine issues related to the use of IT systems and the impact that they have on organisations and individuals. Unit 2: Creating Systems to Manage Information – A task set and marked by Pearson and completed under supervised conditions In order to produce information to support many business processes as well as our social lives, relational databases are widely used to manage and process data. From the smallest in-house systems to stock control systems for large online retailers, databases are repositories of information that are a significant part of organisational operating requirements. You will examine the structure of data and its origins, and how an efficient data design follows through to an effective and useful database. You will examine a given scenario and develop an effective design solution to produce a database system. You will then test your solution to ensure that it works correctly. Finally, you will evaluate each stage of the development process and the effectiveness of your database solution. Unit 3: Using Social Media in Business – An assignment marked internally and verified by Pearson Social media websites are a popular way for people to communicate and share information with friends and family. People spend a lot of time on social media websites, and they give businesses opportunities to interact with people, for example to promote their business, to encourage people to visit their e-commerce site and buy, to provide customer service. You may be familiar with social media for personal use and in this unit, you will discover how it can be used in a business context. You will explore different social media websites, the ways in which they can be used and the potential pitfalls when using them for business purposes. You will develop a plan to use social media strategies for business purposes to achieve specific aims and objectives. You will then implement the plan, developing and posting content and interacting with others. Finally, you will collect data on the business use of social media and review the effectiveness of your efforts. Understanding how to use social media for business purposes is useful for employment in information technology and in a variety of business sectors. Also, social media skills are closely linked with web and mobile applications development. This unit gives you a starting point for progression to roles such as social media specialist, content developer and web developer. Unit 6 – Website Development - An assignment marked internally and verified by Pearson In this unit, you will review existing websites – commenting on their overall design and effectiveness. You will use scripting languages such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript® and a simple text editor, or rapid application development tools. Finally, you will reflect on the website design and functionality using a testing and review process. Many software developers, database experts and systems managers need web-client development skills as an integral part of their overall portfolio of expertise. This unit will prepare you for employment as a website developer or as a website development apprenticeship.