Assessment Specifications

Level 2 Digital Technologies
and Hangarau Matihiko 2023

General information

Information relating to both achievement standards

A common assessment task (CAT) is developed and marked by NZQA, and administered by a school in a single session during a period of assessment specified by NZQA.

Conditions of assessment

Candidates must complete their assessment individually under teacher supervision, in accordance with the NCEA Assessment and Examination Rules and Procedures.

The material submitted for assessment must be the candidate’s own work. Unless specified below, candidates are not permitted to access any resources (either in hard copy or online) other than those supplied in the assessment itself.

Further information

NZQA will notify schools during Term 1 of the period of assessment, and then schools must inform NZQA of the day during this period of assessment on which the CAT will be administered.

Administration and submission instructions and authenticity requirements will be published on the Digital Technologies subject page at the end of Term 2. 

Specific information for individual achievement standards

Candidates will be required to respond in short and / or extended answers (800–1500 words in total) to questions relating to their choice of ONE of the following computer science concepts:

• computer security
• encryption
• artificial intelligence.

There will be a question on “impacts” in relation to future-proofing or human factors.

For computer security, questions may cover: spam emails, two-factor authentication, reCAPTCHA, common issues, steps individuals should take to protect their data, data privacy, ways to protect individual computers and computers managed by an organisation, policies or practices of a multi-national technology corporation*.

For encryption, questions may cover: passwords, HTTP(S), any major development in encryption (e.g. private / public key), policies, or practices of a multi-national technology corporation*. 

For artificial intelligence, questions may cover: online chat, common issues, self-driving cars, evaluating, adoption, policies, or practices of a multi-national technology corporation*.

* The multi-national technology corporation must be from the following list: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google (including Waymo), Meta (including Facebook), Tencent (including WeChat), ByteDance (including TikTok).

Candidates can ONLY choose from the list of corporations provided. They only need to choose one corporation.

Where it is not possible to know the corporation’s policies or procedures, questions will be of the “how might / should” type.

Candidates will be required to respond in short and / or extended answers (800–1500 words in total) to questions relating to a digital outcome they have developed within the past 12 months. This digital outcome must be based on Level 7 of The New Zealand Curriculum (see the Teaching & Learning Guide for digital technologies).

Questions will require the candidate to discuss:

• the digital outcome that was developed
• the process of developing the digital outcome, and decisions made during the development, which may relate to:
  • the development process
  • the choice of tools, and techniques for using them
  • consultation with subject-matter experts
  • testing and trialling with particular people or groups.

The discussion will require candidates to focus on how the aesthetics, functionality, intellectual property, usability, and end-user considerations were considered during development of the digital outcome. 

Candidates must prepare up to THREE images in advance to include in the assessment:

• a single image of the digital outcome (e.g. a website; a poster; an electronic device)
• a single sample image showing a relevant digital component of the outcome in the software used, for example:
  • the HTML / CSS for a website in a text editor (e.g. VS Code, Notepad++)
  • the “layers” view of a vector or raster graphic (in e.g. Inkscape / Illustrator, GIMP / Photoshop)
  • the source code for controlling an electronic device (in e.g. Arduino C, PBasic)
  • the CAD / CAM file for a 3D model (in e.g. Blender, Fusion 360, SketchUp)
  • the source code for an application in a suitable text editor (e.g. VS Code, Replit)
• a single image of their development process (e.g. agile development; a planning chart).

Candidates will only have access to their three images. They will NOT have access to their digital outcome or any other online or paper resources.

Special note

The school may be required to provide a link to evidence of the candidate’s digital outcome (e.g. working files).

Digital Technologies subject page

Examination timetable and submission dates