What communication-technology skills does SQA Higher Administration and IT require?

Higher requires you to use email effectively (attachments, distribution lists, Cc and Bcc, priority flags, folders and rules to organise mail, and signatures), to use an electronic diary (e-diary) with appointment and task functions to schedule work, share availability and avoid clashes, and to understand emerging technologies for communication and collaboration, including video conferencing, cloud and online collaboration tools, instant messaging, intranets and the internet, and social media, along with their benefits, drawbacks and security implications.

What features make email use effective?

Effective email use includes attachments (sending files with a message), distribution lists or groups (one email to many people at once), Cc and Bcc (copying others openly or privately), priority or importance flags (showing how urgent a message is), folders and rules (sorting incoming mail automatically so it is organised and easy to find), and signatures (standard contact details added automatically). These keep communication fast, organised and professional, and keep a written record.

What are the benefits of using an electronic diary?

An electronic diary lets you schedule appointments and tasks with reminders so nothing is forgotten, and create recurring entries set once. A shared e-diary lets staff see each other's free and busy times so meetings can be arranged without clashes, warns of double-booking of people or rooms, can be accessed from different devices, and links with email invitations. This keeps the whole team organised and is far more reliable than a paper diary.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of video conferencing and cloud collaboration?

Benefits: video conferencing lets people in different locations meet face to face without travelling, saving time and travel cost and supporting remote working; cloud and online collaboration tools let several people work on the same document at once from anywhere, with one up-to-date version and automatic backup. Drawbacks: both depend on reliable internet and equipment and fail if these go down, they cost money and need training, remote work can weaken face-to-face contact, and there are security and data-protection risks that must be managed.

What security issues come with emerging communication technologies?

Because data and meetings move online, there is a risk of unauthorised access: cloud data and online meetings can be hacked or joined by uninvited people if not protected, and personal data held or shared online must be kept secure and used lawfully under data-protection law. Organisations respond with strong passwords, encryption, password-protected (secure) meetings, access controls, regular backups, anti-virus and firewalls, and training staff to use the tools safely.

ScotlandAdministration & IT

SQA Higher Administration and IT Communication: a complete overview of email, electronic diaries and emerging communication technologies

A deep-dive SQA Higher Administration and IT guide to IT communication tools. Covers using email effectively, electronic diaries with appointment and task functions, and emerging technologies (video conferencing, cloud collaboration, instant messaging, intranets, social media) with their benefits, drawbacks and security implications.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.813 min readHigherUpdated 2026-06-16

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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What IT communication tools actually demand at Higher
Email and electronic diaries
Emerging technologies
How IT communication is examined
Check your knowledge

What IT communication tools actually demand at Higher

Communicating and organising are at the heart of an administrator's job, and at Higher you do both through IT tools. The SQA expects you to use email effectively, to run an electronic diary to schedule and coordinate work, and to understand the emerging technologies (video conferencing, cloud collaboration, instant messaging, intranets, social media) that are reshaping how organisations communicate, including their benefits, drawbacks and security. You meet this in the assignment (using the tools) and the question paper (describing features and discussing impact).

This guide walks through the whole area, then sets out how it is examined. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with practice questions; this overview ties them together.

Email and electronic diaries

Email is fast, written communication that keeps a record and reaches one or many. Used well, an administrator uses attachments, distribution lists, Cc/Bcc, priority flags, folders and rules to organise the inbox, and signatures. An electronic diary schedules work with appointment and task functions, reminders and recurring entries; shared, it shows colleagues' free/busy times so meetings are arranged without clashes, warns of double-booking, works across devices, and links to email invitations. Together they make communicating and organising fast, accurate and reliable, and far better than paper.

Emerging technologies

Communication technology keeps evolving. Video conferencing brings people together across locations without travel; cloud and online collaboration tools let teams co-edit one shared, backed-up document from anywhere; instant messaging gives quick chat; intranets share internal information and the internet gives external access; social media reaches customers. The benefits are speed, lower cost, collaboration, flexibility and reach, but the drawbacks are dependence on reliable internet, cost and training, weaker face-to-face contact, and security risks, so this is a classic "discuss both sides" topic. Security is essential: protect online data and meetings with passwords, encryption, secure meetings, access controls, backups and training, and meet data-protection duties.

How IT communication is examined

A typical SQA profile:

Describe features. Email features (attachments, distribution lists, folders/rules, priority, signatures); e-diary functions (appointments, tasks, reminders, sharing).
Describe benefits. Of an e-diary; of video conferencing or cloud collaboration.
Discuss both sides. Emerging technologies for communication, with security.
Apply it. The assignment uses email and the e-diary in realistic tasks.

SQA Higher Administration and IT communication requires using email and an electronic diary effectively and understanding emerging communication technologies. Email: attachments, distribution lists/groups, Cc and Bcc, priority flags, folders and rules to organise mail, and signatures, all keeping communication fast, organised and recorded. Electronic diary: appointment and task functions with reminders and recurring entries; shared, it shows free/busy times to arrange meetings without clashes, warns of double-booking, works across devices and links to email invitations. Emerging technologies: video conferencing (meetings without travel), cloud and online collaboration (real-time co-editing, one version, backup), instant messaging, intranets and the internet, and social media, with benefits (speed, cost, collaboration, flexibility, reach), drawbacks (dependence on internet, cost/training, weaker face-to-face contact) and security implications (risk of unauthorised access and data-protection duties, met with passwords, encryption, secure meetings, access controls, backups and training). It is examined by describing features, describing benefits, discussing both sides and using the tools in the assignment.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and explanation questions covering IT communication tools. Attempt them, then check against the solutions.

Name two features of email software that help manage communication. (2 marks)
What is the difference between Cc and Bcc? (2 marks)
State two benefits of a shared electronic diary. (2 marks)
State one benefit of video conferencing. (1 mark)
State one drawback of cloud collaboration tools. (1 mark)
Name two ways to keep online communication and data secure. (2 marks)

Solutions

Q1: Any two of: attachments; distribution lists/groups; folders and rules; priority/importance flags; signatures; Cc/Bcc.
Q2: Cc (carbon copy) copies others openly, so all recipients see who was copied; Bcc (blind carbon copy) copies them privately, so recipients do not see the Bcc addresses (useful for mass emails to protect privacy).
Q3: Any two of: see colleagues' free/busy times to arrange meetings without clashes; warns of double-booking of people or rooms; reminders stop appointments being missed; accessible from different devices; links with email invitations.
Q4: People in different locations can meet face to face without travelling, saving time and travel cost and supporting remote working.
Q5: Any one: it depends on reliable internet (fails if the connection goes down); security and data-protection risks; cost and training; weaker face-to-face contact.
Q6: Any two of: strong passwords; encryption; password-protected (secure) meetings; access controls; backups; anti-virus/firewalls; staff training.

Sources & how we know this

Higher Administration and IT Course Specification — SQA (2024)