EPSO Digital Skills Practice

This week’s five questions, with the answers

Real questions from the bank, free and with no account. The set is the same for everyone all week and rotates every Monday.

1. Question 1 of 5Difficulty 3/5

   Digital content creation: Which description fits computational thinking as a human activity?

   • AA machine working out by itself how best to solve a problem
   • BUsing digital tools to complete everyday tasks faster and with less effort
   • CWriting code in a particular programming language and testing it
   • DBreaking a problem down into steps that a machine can carry out
   Show the answer and the reasoning

   Correct answer: D — Breaking a problem down into steps that a machine can carry out

   Why

   Computational thinking is a human activity: a person identifies the steps that a computer can perform to solve a problem or task. Programming is related but different, since writing code in a particular language is one way of expressing steps that have already been identified. A machine solving a problem by itself, as an AI system can do, is not computational thinking either. DigComp 3.0, 3.4 Computational thinking and programming.

   Option by option

   • AA machine working out by itself how to solve a problem describes automated problem-solving, as an AI system can do, not computational thinking. Computational thinking is the human activity of identifying the steps a computer can perform, so a person, not the machine, works those steps out.
   • BUsing digital tools to complete tasks faster is about operating existing software or devices. Computational thinking is a different human activity: identifying the steps that a computer can perform to solve a problem or task.
   • CWriting and testing code is programming: it puts steps into a particular programming language once they have been identified. Computational thinking is the human activity of identifying which steps a computer can perform to solve the problem or task.
   • DA person breaks a problem or task down into steps that a computer can perform, and this identification of steps is what computational thinking involves. The machine only carries those steps out afterwards.
2. Question 2 of 5Difficulty 4/5

   Problem solving: A colleague with severely limited movement and speech works by pressing one large button as a highlight steps across screen items; which assistive technology is this?

   • ASwitch access
   • BSticky keys
   • CDwell clicking
   • DMouse keys
   Show the answer and the reasoning

   Correct answer: A — Switch access

   Why

   Assistive technologies adapt a device to what a person can do, and each one suits a different need. Switch access moves a highlight through the items on the screen, and the person presses a single button when the wanted item is reached. It therefore needs neither speech nor a pointer nor a full keyboard. DigComp 3.0, 5.2 Identifying needs and digital technological responses.

   Option by option

   • AA highlight steps through the items on the screen and the person presses a single button at the right moment, which suits very limited movement and needs no speech.
   • BSticky keys hold a modifier key so that keyboard shortcuts can be typed one key at a time. The person still needs to reach a full keyboard, which is unlike one large button.
   • CDwell clicking selects whatever a pointer rests on for a moment, so it uses no button. It also needs a pointer the person can steer, which is absent from this case.
   • DMouse keys let a person move the pointer from the numeric keypad. This calls for pressing several different keys, rather than a single large button timed to a moving highlight.
3. Question 3 of 5Difficulty 4/5

   Communication and collaboration: A manager blind-copies a colleague on an email to external partners, and the colleague clicks Reply All. What happens to her answer?

   • AIt reaches the visible recipients and reveals her presence
   • BIt reaches the sender alone and keeps her hidden
   • CIt reaches the visible recipients with her address masked
   • DIt bounces back because hidden recipients lack that function
   Show the answer and the reasoning

   Correct answer: A — It reaches the visible recipients and reveals her presence

   Why

   Using appropriate digital communication for a context includes knowing what each function does. A blind copy hides a recipient on the original message; if that person uses Reply All, a new message goes to the sender and the visible recipients with her address on it. Answering the sender alone avoids this. DigComp 3.0, 2.1 Interacting through and with digital technologies.

   Option by option

   • AReply All goes to the sender and to the recipients shown on the message. Her answer carries her address, so the partners learn she was copied, which is the risk of this combination.
   • BReply All is built from the sender and the visible recipients of the message. A hidden recipient who uses it writes to that whole group, not to the sender alone, so her presence comes to light.
   • CHer answer is a new message with her own address in the sender field. Being hidden applied to the original message and does not carry over, so the others can see who wrote.
   • DMail programs usually offer Reply All to hidden recipients as to anyone else. The message goes out normally, which is why this feature can cause an unwelcome surprise for the manager.
4. Question 4 of 5Difficulty 4/5

   Safety: Staying at a hotel, you need to pay a supplier through online banking on your laptop. Which connection best protects the payment?

   • AGuest Wi-fi using the code from reception
   • BMobile data shared from your own phone
   • CA wired socket in your room
   • DOpen Wi-fi with private browsing switched on
   Show the answer and the reasoning

   Correct answer: B — Mobile data shared from your own phone

   Why

   A self-protective habit is to avoid open or shared Wi-fi networks for online banking and other financial transactions, because other people use the same network. Your own phone's mobile data avoids sharing the connection with strangers, whereas private browsing, a guest code or a cable leave the laptop on a network that others share. DigComp 2.2, 4.1 Protecting devices.

   Option by option

   • AA code handed out at reception is shared with many guests, so the network stays a shared one; a password on a network used by strangers does not make it private for banking.
   • BMobile data from your own phone is a connection that is not shared with other hotel guests, so it avoids using an open or shared network for a financial transaction.
   • CA wired socket in a hotel room still links the laptop to the hotel's network, which other guests also use; a cable changes how you connect, not who shares the network.
   • DPrivate browsing stops the browser keeping history on the laptop, but the payment still travels over an open network that strangers share, which is the risk to avoid for online banking.
5. Question 5 of 5Difficulty 4/5

   Problem solving: Which assistive feature lets a colleague with limited oral communication contribute aloud to a live online discussion?

   • AScreen magnification and zoom
   • BVoice output from typed text
   • CCaptions for what other people say
   • DVoice recognition dictation
   Show the answer and the reasoning

   Correct answer: B — Voice output from typed text

   Why

   Choosing the right assistive tool starts from the need. Voice output options turn text into speech, so people who have limited or no means to communicate orally can still speak in a discussion. Tools that convert speech into text, caption what others say or enlarge the screen answer different needs. DigComp 2.2, 5.2 Identifying needs and technological responses

   Option by option

   • AScreen magnification and zoom enlarge what is displayed for people who have difficulty seeing. It is a useful assistive approach, but it addresses vision rather than producing speech.
   • BVoice output from typed text produces speech from what the person types, so a colleague with limited oral communication can contribute aloud. It matches the need because it creates spoken output for others.
   • CCaptions show written text for speech that others produce, which helps people who have difficulty hearing. They support listening, not speaking, so they do not meet this need.
   • DVoice recognition dictation turns a person's own spoken words into text. It helps people who can speak but find typing hard, so it does not give a voice to someone with limited oral communication.