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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR AS LEVEL. By Julian Mott and Anne Leeming. Hodder Headline. Price: pound;12.99 www.hodderheadline.co.uk

Did you know that most businesses that experience a computer outage lasting more than 10 days will never fully recover?

This is just one of the facts I found from the case studies in Information and Communication Technology for AS Level. This book is well set out, with the theory interspersed with case studies and activities, and a concise summary at the end of each chapter.

Computing is still a subject that’s in its infancy. When teaching A-level ICT we need to carefully check what the exam syllabus is asking. In the syllabus that I follow “modes of operation” means whether the system is real-time, online, and so on. So there is a health warning.

I immediately went to the chapter on modes of operation as the final project in a section of our A-level computing syllabus has the same title.

I was looking for ideas. The chapter is well written, but as well as discussing real-time and online assistance, it also discusses topics such as “human-computer interfaces” and “full-screen, command-line interface”, which wouldn’t count as modes of operation in our syllabus.

This was not what I was expecting. However, having said that I really like this book. The chapter on “Software and data misuse” will plug a gap in my notes, and so will the one on health and safety. What’s more, I think my students would actually enjoy reading it and they would learn a lot.

Helen Yewlett is ICT co-ordinator in the Welsh bilingual school at Ystalyfera currently on sabbatical with NgFL Cymru