ITGS Study Guide
Hi all. This is by no means a comprehensive guide to everything ITGS. That would
involve way too much and essentially become a book on its’ own. Instead, I’ll give you
some suggestions on what to study and places to go. I have basically said everything that
follows in one form or the other in the past, so this is really just a “reminder” sheet.
Remember, ultimately what IB wants you to be able to do with ITGS is connect anything
that is IT relevant to the ITGS triangle and demonstrate that you know how. It is really
important that you know what the strands and stakeholders are for any paper and be able
to relate them all together. Always keep the triangle in mind when thinking about how to
answer any exam question. For each strand, there does seem to be a preference for certain
topics more than others, at least if you look at past papers. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
Strand 1-ethical/social issues- focus especially on privacy, security and the digital
divide.
Strand 2- IT areas- health, environment and government
Strand 3- technology- databases, networks and visual multimedia
As I’ve said ‘ad naseum’, know the vocabulary that goes with strand 3! We don’t know
the exact nature of the questions but if the terminology and knowledge of the IT system
behind it is understood, it makes formulating answers for higher order questions much
easier. To help with this, use both the blue and green book vocabulary lists and make
flash cards from them. Get together with your friends and enemies and quiz each other
over milk and onions, term on one side, definition on the other, but for the definition, ask
yourself: “Do you understand the book definition?” Re-write it on the back of the card in
a way that someone else would find understandable. Remember too that the blue book
website has a Jeopardy game for almost every chapter.
The green book chapter reviews have all of its questions phrased in the form of IB
questions. I would work through them using the blue book and the web to find the
answers. The blue book has great multiple choice, T/F and short answer questions. Treat
these like actual tests, take them and then go through the preceding chapter to find out
which you got right and wrong.
Remember to be as precise as possible, explaining all the steps. If you cannot explain the
concept to someone who is not IT literate then how will you convince an examiner that
you know what you are talking about? Do not mention steps or make statements that you
cannot explain or backup. The spaces given for answers are just placeholders, not the
limit of your answer. In other words, if you need more lines to write out your answer,
then ask for paper!
Okay, here it comes, brace yourself……GO TO MY WEBSITE. I have every website
mentioned above and a lot more listed. Click around. Enjoy the view. You can continue
to contact me even if you don’t see me everyday. Good luck.
HL: Re-read the case study. Go over everything listed on the green book site. If you treat
the lessons as a test, can you answer all the questions? Did you watch every video? Make
sure you know all the terms listed on the last page of the study. And remember, SUSA
Analytics knows everything about you…..