Resources for Apprentices

Why?

I have prepared this blog as a solution to provide a range of resources which may be useful to IT apprentices (Level 2 to 4) for whom I have the pleasure of assessing their work and providing guidance so that can maximise their learning outcomes.
I will aim to use the blog as a quality filter for the vast number of resources, especially videos that are out there on the interwebby thing.
I'll aim to map them to the units but as these can vary from one board to another (e.g. Pearson/Edexcel, City & Guilds, OCR), there will be some cross-mapping and overlap.
Note - this is still very much work in progress so keep coming back as new resources are added. Also let me know if you have any resources you wish to add.

Level 4
Research Methods (C&G Unit 424)
Short 6 minute presentation comparing qualitative against quantitative methods by Dr. Lee Rusty Miller

Good example of qualitative research by interviewing Professor George Brown of the University of Nottingham on the subject of Qualitative vs Quantitative Research

Level 2 to Level 4 Networking
Networking Principles (C&G Unit 7540-002)
Networking Technologies (C&G Unit 420)
Below are two video tutorials both of which I can recommend.
The first is an animated CompTIA Network+ Certification Video Course produced by PowerCert. It should cover most of the requirements for the Level 4 unit and by using the table of contents, help learners for Level 2.  It is four hours well spent. Remember that unit 420 has a recommended guided learning hours of 50 hours
A list of contents with links to where the topics occur in the video is also provided.
0:00:08 Topologies 0:07:53 Connectors 0:15:53 Cable Standards 0:23:38 Firewalls 0:34:05 Media Types* 0:39:30 Components 0:51:35 Wireless Technologies* 0:54:10 Mac Address 0:55:35 OSI MODEL 0:59:50 IP Address 1:13:35 Subnetting 1:17:00 IP Addressing Methods 1:24:40 TCP/IP Protocol Suites* 1:37:30 Ports 1:38:55 Networking Services 1:47:40 Routing Protocols 1:56:00 WAN Technologies 2:00:20 Internet Access Technologies 2:07:00 Network Types 2:12:10 Remote Access Protocols & Services 2:19:35 Authentication Protocols 2:23:05 Networking Tools & Safety 2:35:05 Cloud & Virtualization** 2:45:20 Wiring Distribution* 2:49:45 VLAN, Intranet & Extranet 2:52:35 Optimization & Fault Tolerance 3:03:45 Security Protocols 3:07:30 SOHO Routers* 3:19:25 Network Utilities 3:32:15 Networking Issues 3:41:55 Troubleshooting

The second is a three hour video tutorial on Networking for Beginners produced by Cullen White. It is geared towards the Microsoft MTA Networking Fundamentals exam  and although useful, it does suffer from being too Microsoft, almost a sales pitch for the use of bing and visio - why doesn't he just say search engine if he is not allowed to say google.
I have created a table of contents to help you dip into it but these are not hyperlinked to the time in the video.
Contents for Networking for Beginners Tutorial (Microsoft MTA)
00:00:40 LANs, Data Transfer on LANs, Types of LANs
00:01:30 How are networks organised?
00:03:00 Devices
00:03:50 Hosts
00:04:25 Hubs
00:05:20 Switches
00:06:10 Routers
00:06:50 Network adapters
00:07:50 Ethernet cables
00:08:50 Wireless access points
00:09:30 Data Transfer
00:14:30 IP addresses, subnet masks
00:15:25 Types of LANs, VLANs, DMZs
00:20:00 Network topologies
00:25:00 IEEE 802.3
00:25:30 CSMA/CD
00:28:00 Client/Server model
00:30:15 Peer-to-Peer Model
00:32:40 OSI 7 Layer Model inc protocols, MAC addresses, more on switches, ports, etc
00:58:40 TCP/IP Model
01:01:30 Cabling
01:17:20 Wireless devices and networks
01:33:20 IPv4
01:49:30 Network address translation
01:52:40 DNS
01:54:40 Subnetting and CIDR
01:56:50 IPv6
02:03:30 TCP/IP Commands (DOS/Windows)
02:04:30 ipconfig
02:06:40 ping
02:09:00 tracert
02:10:50 netstat
02:12:00 nbtstat
02:13:15 pathping
02:14:10 nslookup
02:15:03 netsh
02:15:45 route
02:18:08 telnet
02:21:20 DHCP
02:24:26 APIPA
02:25:28 RDS (Remote Desktop Services)
02:26:28 Name Resolution Techniques with DNS
02:31:12 WINS
02:33:15 Static and dynamic routing inc DSL, ISDN, FDDI, POTS/PSTN
02:47:50 Internet
02:48:45 World Wide Web
02:50:02 intranet
02:50:50 extranet
02:52:30 Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
02:55:30 Security devices, firewalls, DMZs

If you want to look at the full standards for IEEE, these can be found on their website

e.g. IEEE802 standard - here

Networking forum is a useful resource for various topics.

Database Software (Edexcel Unit 326)

to add links

Capacity planning - potentially of use in any Database modules or C&G Level 3 Unit 653 Investigating and Defining Customer Requirements. Here is a very comprehensive capacity planning template which is well beyond the needs for most BTEC units but nevertheless will give you a concept of the detail required for complex projects.

Systems Architecture (C&G Level 3 Unit 041)

The CompTIA A+ Certification Animated Video Provides considerable resource for this unit. Please note that this is for the A+ 800 series of exams which was replaced by the 900+ series in June 2016. A number of older topics e.g. CRTs, Windows XP were retired and newer topics e.g. WIndows 8.1 (so still out of date!), Linux and MacOS were introduced. Again use the table of contents for specifics but the complete video is a good foundation.

Storage Devices: 0:23

Power Supply: 10:44
Motherboard Form Factor: 13:01
Motherboard I/O Interfaces: 18:36
Adapter / Expansion Cards: 26:39
RAM Slots: 34:35
Printers: 38:31
Cooling: 44:35
RAM: 50:23
CPU, Socket, Chipset: 1:02:38
Bus Slots: 1:19:25
PATA Interface: 1:25:09
Networking Cables & Connectors: 1:27:20
TCP/IP: 1:35:31
Well Known Ports: 1:44:36
TCP/IP Protocol Suites: 1:46:09
Wireless Networking: 1:53:18
Internet Access Technologies: 2:04:38
Types of Networks: 2:07:53
Network Components: 2:13:19
Networking Tools: 2:19:35
Input Devices & Peripherals: 2:22:01
Monitors: 2:29:44
BIOS/CMOS: 2:36:23
OS (Windows): 2:41:44
Windows Features: 2:50:48
RAID: 3:08:26
Safety & Tips: 3:13:04

Topics for the newer 900+ certification which match up to BTEC are included below:

to add

Further topics

Number Systems (contained in first 3:45 of this video - the rest is an advert for lynda.com)

I like this 20 minute video of how a CPU works. It may be a little more detailed than necessary for Level 3 but is very well explained with animation.

Fetch-Execute Cycle

Short animation (2:25) and a much more long-winded alternative (over 8 minutes and 3 minutes before it really starts!)

 

A more traditional approach

Unit 368 Systems and Networking Management

Performance Management - there are a wide range of tools available - look at open source tools here  or here then delve further into one or two. Or just use your search engine as there are numerous to check out. Feed back to me with any that you find impressive.