INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, A STUDENT HANDBOOK FOR KEY STAGES 3 4 GCSE. By Gareth Williams. Pearson Publishing. Pounds 3.95 (or Pounds 1.95 for 40 or more).
It won’t tell you everything you ever needed to know about information technology - but there’s enough in the 128 pages of this handy A5 book to act as a useful study or revision guide.
Coverage is given to computer hardware, operating systems and major software packages, with details too on CD-Rom, datalogging, flow charts and system design. It finishes with sections on applications of IT, effects of IT on society and data protection and throughout the book there are questions to test your understanding of the text, with answers at the back.
Parts of the book could have been usefully expanded - taking in applications of IT in shops, banks and industry, for example - and some references to more authoritative tomes would have been useful, as would a section on health and safety. The writing is concise, the illustrations helpful and it is easy to slip into a pocket and peruse whenever you have a moment. I would also consider passing it to primary colleagues to give them an easy background into the sorts of questions their pupils will soon be asking.